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The Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS) has been reported relatively frequently in the literature, despite the psychometric and factorial properties of the scale not being well established. We argue that a detailed understanding of the meaning of individual items is the proper starting point for scale development and used this approach to develop shorter (11-item rather than 26-item) parallel versions in both Italian and English. Data collected from samples of Italian (n = 230) and English speakers (n = 100) were analysed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), comparing a 5 models based on previous published research and underlying theory. A four-factor model that mirrored four elements of Attention Restoration Theory (ART) had the best fit to the data. The resulting composite scale was invariant across nationality and gender.

The objective of this study was to seek evidence of the particular sensitivity of proper name retrieval and to check the usefulness of proper names as diagnostic material in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Whether a generalized naming deficit is an early symptom of AD it is not yet clear. Previous studies suggest that proper names might be the category of names that is indeed more sensitive to AD. Seventy AD patients (subdivided into "very mild", "mild" and "moderate") and 47 control subjects participated in the study. The performances in two short distinct tests requiring proper name retrieval (Naming People on Definition and Naming Faces), one test of common name retrieval, short (MMSE, 3MS) and long (MODA) batteries for the detection of dementia were compared. Proper name retrieval tests were shown to be more sensitive to early AD than any other tests and batteries that failed to distinguish "very mild" AD from controls. These findings suggest that proper name retrieval tasks might be profitably included in diagnostic tools for the early diagnosis of AD.