Summary: The Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) is a laboratory-based memory test that has been criticized for its lack of ecological validity and for not testing long-term memory. A more recent memory test, which aims at testing everyday memory, is the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test (RBMT); it tests prospective memory and other forms of memory not tapped by WMS. However, even this test does not capture all aspects of everyday memory problems often reported by adults. These problems are the object of the Everyday Memory Questionnaire (EMQ). This study aimed at identifying the relationships between these three memory tests. The differential effect of Alzheimer's disease (AD) on the above relationships was also studied. The sample consisted of 233 healthy adults (20 to 75+ years of age) and 39 AD patients (50 to 75 years of age). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the following latent factors: Verbal Memory, Visual Reconstruction, Orientation, Message (action embedded in spatial context), Visual Recognition, Spatial Memory, New Learning/Association Forming, Prospective/Episodic Memory, and Metamemory. These first-order factors were further explained by two second-order factors: Semantic Memory and Coordination of Semantic and Visuo-Spatial Memory. This basic structure was preserved in the sample of AD patients, although AD patients performed less well on the WMS and the RBMT. Some interesting findings regarding semantic memory, face recognition, and metamemory in AD patients are also reported. Age, education, but no gender effects on memory performance were also detected.
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