BVRT - Scoring system and time delay in the differentiation of lateralized hemispheric damage

The Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) was administered to 29 subjects, 8 patients with damage to the right cerebral hemisphere (RH), 11 patients to the left hemisphere (LH) and 10 subjects as a control group. Correct and error scores on the immediate and delayed reproduction conditions were analyzed. An overall control group over patients groups advantage emerged in all conditions. In contrast, time delay had a differential effect on the patient groups when measured only by correct scores and not by error scores, despite a significant correlation between the two. The performance of the RH group declined with time, while the LH group's performance improved. These results indicate: 1) The importance of analyzing both correct and error scores. 2) Retention of familiar figures, for a short delay period (15 seconds) is mediated by visual images rather than by verbal codes.