Research Alert: Cognitive ability retest/practice effects by type of cognitive operation - #practiceeffect #retest #BIS #schoolpsychology #schoolpsychologist #forensicpsychology #CHC

 

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This is an open access article that can be read/downloaded here.

Abstract

The term “retest effects” refers to score gains on cognitive ability as well as educational achievement tests upon repeated administration of the same or a similar test. Previous research on this phenomenon has focused mainly on general cognitive ability scores—often using manifest difference scores—and has neglected differences in retest effects across different types of cognitive operations underlying general cognitive abilities. Additionally, these studies have focused primarily on average group-level test scores, neglecting interindividual differences in retest effects. To address these gaps, we used latent growth curve modeling to examine retest effects in N = 203 participants across three test sessions, considering both general cognitive ability and its four underlying operations according to the Berlin intelligence structure model, namely, processing capacity, processing speed, creativity, and memory. Results show a linear improvement in overall performance of 53.60 points (about 10.45 IQ points) with each assessment, corresponding to two thirds of a standard deviation. Participants' slopes—that is, their rates of improvement across test sessions—did not vary significantly, and thus did not correlate with their initial cognitive ability levels. Statistically significant operation-specific differences in the magnitude of retest effects were found, with memory showing the largest retest effect and creativity the smallest. Although participants did not vary in their rates of improvement on the processing-capacity and memory operation, there was significant interindividual variation in the slopes of the other two operations. These findings highlight the importance of considering operation-specific scores in research on retest effects. Implications for cognitive ability retesting practices are discussed.

IQs Corner: Practice effects persist over two decades of cognitive testing: Implications for longitudinal research - #practiceeffect #cognitive #neurocognit #IQ #intelligence #schoolpsychology #schoolpsychologists

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MedRxiv preprint available at.  https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.16.25329587

Elman et al. (2025)

ABSTRACT 

Background: Repeated cognitive testing can boost scores due to practice effects (PEs), yet it remains unclear whether PEs persist across multiple follow-ups and long durations. We examined PEs across  multiple assessments from midlife to old age in a nonclinical sample.   

Method: Men (N=1,608) in the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA) underwent 
neuropsychological assessment comprising 30 measures across 4 waves (~6-year testing intervals) spanning up to 20 years. We leveraged age-matched replacement participants to estimate PEs at each wave. We compared cognitive trajectories and MCI prevalence using unadjusted versus PE-adjusted scores. 

Results: Across follow-ups, a range of 7-12 tests (out of 30) demonstrated significant PEs, especially in episodic memory and visuospatial domains. Adjusting for PEs resulted in improved detection of cognitive decline and MCI, with up to 20% higher MCI prevalence.  

Conclusion: PEs persist across multiple assessments and decades underscoring the 
importance of accounting for PEs in longitudinal studies.

  
Keywords: practice effects; repeat testing; serial testing; longitudinal testing; mild cognitive impairment; cognitive change

Law Review Article: Evaluating Intellectual Disability: Clinical Assessments in Atkins Cases (Ellis et al., 2018)

This new law review article is, IMHO, the best overview article regarding the history of ID, the legal issues in Atkins cases, and good discussion of the major conceptual and measurement issues found in many Atkins cases. An excellent introduction to ID issues in Atkins cases.

EVALUATING INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: CLINICAL ASSESSMENTS IN ATKINS CASES

James W. Ellis, Caroline Everington, Ann M. Delpha

ABSTRACT

The intersection of intellectual disability and the death penalty is now clearly established. Both under the U.S. Supreme Court's constitutional decisions and under the terms of many state statutes, individual defendants who have that disability cannot be sentenced to death or executed. It now falls to trial, appellate, and post-conviction courts to determine which individual criminal defendants are entitled to the law's protection. This Article attempts to assist judges in performing that task. After a brief discussion of the Supreme Court's decisions in Atkins v. Virginia, Hall v. Florida, and Moore v. Texas, it analyzes the component parts and terminology of the clinical definition of intellectual disability. It then offers more detailed discussion of a number of the clinical issues that arise frequently in adjudicating these cases. For each of these issues, the Article's text and the accompanying notes attempt to provide judges with a thorough survey of the relevant clinical literature, and an explanation of the terminology used by clinical professionals. Our purpose is to help those judges to become more knowledgeable consumers of the clinical reports and expert testimony presented to them in individual cases, and to help them reach decisions that are consistent with what the clinical literature reveals about the nature of intellectual disability and best professional practices in the diagnostic process.

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Practice or retest effects in measures of working memory capacity (Gwm): A meta-analysis

Retest effects in working memory capacity tests: A meta-analysis
Jana Scharfen, Katrin Jansen, Heinz Holling. Article link

© Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2018

Abstract

The repeated administration of working memory capacity tests is common in clinical and research settings. For cognitive ability tests and different neuropsychological tests, meta-analyses have shown that they are prone to retest effects, which have to be accounted for when interpreting retest scores. Using a multilevel approach, this meta-analysis aims at showing the reproducibility of retest effects in working memory capacity tests for up to seven test administrations, and examines the impact of the length of the test-retest interval, test modality, equivalence of test forms and participant age on the size of retest effects. Furthermore, it is assessed whether the size of retest effects depends on the test paradigm. An extensive literature search revealed 234 effect sizes from 95 samples and 68 studies, in which healthy participants between 12 and 70 years repeatedly performed a working memory capacity test. Results yield a weighted average of g = 0.28 for retest effects from the first to the second test administration, and a significant increase in effect sizes was observed up to the fourth test administration. The length of the test-retest interval and publication year were found to moderate the size of retest effects. Retest effects differed between the paradigms of working memory capacity tests. These findings call for the development and use of appropriate experimental or statistical methods to address retest effects in working memory capacity tests.

Keywords Meta-analysis · Retest effect · Practice effect · Working memory



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Practice effects and progressive error practice effects on speeded tests

Journal of Intelligence

Response Time Reduction Due to Retesting in Mental Speed Tests: A Meta-Analysis (article link)

Jana Scharfen, Diego Blum and Heinz Holling


Abstract

As retest effects in cognitive ability tests have been investigated by various primary and meta-analytic studies, most studies from this area focus on score gains as a result of retesting. To the best of our knowledge, no meta-analytic study has been reported that provides sizable estimates of response time (RT) reductions due to retesting. This multilevel meta-analysis focuses on mental speed tasks, for which outcome measures often consist of RTs. The size of RT reduction due to retesting in mental speed tasks for up to four test administrations was analyzed based on 36 studies including 49 samples and 212 outcomes for a total sample size of 21,810. Significant RT reductions were found, which increased with the number of test administrations, without reaching a plateau. Larger RT reductions were observed in more complex mental speed tasks compared to simple ones, whereas age and test-retest interval mostly did not moderate the size of the effect. Although a high heterogeneity of effects exists, retest effects were shown to occur for mental speed tasks regarding RT outcomes and should thus be more thoroughly accounted for in applied and research settings.

Keywords: meta-analysis; mental speed; processing speed; retest effect; practice effect; response time; reaction time; automatization


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Research bytes: WAIS-IV practice effect study

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www.themindhub.com

Research byte: Practice effects on neuropsych and IQ measures: Meta-analysis

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IQ test "practice effects"

A practice effect is a major psychometric issue in many Atkins cases, given that both the state and defense often test the defendant with the same IQ battery (most often a Wechsler), and often within a short test-retest interval. Click here to view all ICDP posts that mention practice effects.

Dr. Alan Kaufman has summarized the majority of the literature on practice effects on the Wechslers. He published an article in The Encyclopedia of Intelligence (1994; Edited by Robert Sternberg) that summarized the research prior to the third editions of the Wechsler scales. That article is available on-line (click here).

The most recent summary of the contemporary Wechsler practice effect research is in Lichtenberger and Kaufman (2009) Essentials of WAIS-IV Assessment (p. 306-309). The tables and text provide much about WAIS-IV and some about WAIS-III. The best source for WAIS-III is Kaufman and Lichtenberger, Assessing Adolescent and Adult Intelligence (either the 2002 second edition or the 2006 third edition), especially Tables 6.5 and 6.6 (2006 edition). Below are a few excerpts from the associated text from the 2006 edition

"Practice effects on Wechsler's scales tend to be profound, particularly on the Performance Scale" (p. 202)

"predictable retest gains in IQs" (p.202)

"On the WAIS-III, tests with largest gains are Picture Completion, Object Assembly, and Picture Arrangement"

"Tests with smallest gains are Matrix Reasoning (most novel Gf test), Vocabulary and Comprehension

Block Design improvement most likely due to speed variance--"on second exposure subjects may be able to respond more quickly, thereby gaining in their scores" (p. 204)

One year interval results in far less pronounced practice effects (p. 208).

"The impact of retesting on test performance, whether using the WAIS-III, WAIS-R, other Wechsler scales, or similar tests, needs to be internalized by researchers and clinicians alike. Researchers should be aware of the routine and expected gains of about 2 1/2 points in V-IQ for all ages between 16 and 89 years. They should also internalize the relatively large gain on P-IQ for ages 16-54 (about 8 to 8 1/2 points), andn the fact that this gain in P-IQ swindles in size to less than 6 points for ages 55-74 and less than 4 points for ages 75-889" (p. 209).

"Increases in Performance IQ will typically be about twice as large as increases in Verbal IQ for individuals ages 16 to 54" (p. 209)

Finally, the latest AAIDD manual provides professional guidance on the practice effect.


"The practice effect refers to gains in IQ scores on test of intelligence that result from a person being retested on the same instrument" (p. 38)

"..established clinical practice is to avoid administering the same intelligence test within the same year to the same individual because it will often lead to an overestimate of the examinee's true intelligence" (p. 38).


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Intelligence test "practice effects": New review overview article

New overview article of intellectual testing "practice effects" over at sister blog--ICDP

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