Diagnostic validity of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery—Children's Revision.

Abstract

Diagnostic validity of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision (LNNB-C) was assessed and compared with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) for the following relevant diagnostic groups: neurological, psychiatric, and normal controls. Ninety-six subjects, divided evenly between the three groups and balanced for sex and two age levels, were tested.Interrater reliability was demonstrated. A multivariate analysis of variance showed the effect of diagnosis on scaled subtest scores for both tests to be significant. Separate stepwise discriminant analyses using six variables (subtest scores) selected by each test correctly classified 81% (LNNB-C) and 85% (wisc-R) of the psychiatric and neurological groups of subjects. This method of classification requires replication that might obtain significantly reduced hit rates. No clear incremental validity for the use of the LNNB-C over the wisc-R was demonstrated. The similarities and differences in content need to be considered when deciding which test or part thereof to administer.A new neuropsychological instrument, the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision (LNNB-C), has recently become available (see Golden, 1981;Plaisted, Gustavson, Wilkening, & Golden, 1983). This battery is based on a revision of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (for adults) and has been standardized by Golden and his associates for use with children from 8 through 12 years of age. The children's

Neuropsychological aspects of 10-year-old children

“…The choice of tests proved correct, which is in agreement with a study found in specialized literature (15) in which the authors showed that the LNNB-C battery and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for ChildrenRevised (WISC-R) discriminated normal children from those with neurological alterations, besides psychiatric alterations, with similar accuracy.…”

Neurological Impairment and Hypersensitivity Among Psychiatrically Disturbed Adolescents

“…The intelligence variable, however, was also found to correlate significantly with both cerebral impairment (r = -.660, p < .01) and hyperactivity (r = -.487, p < .01). The important question to be addressed then is whether or not the neuropsychological measure provides incremental validity beyond the assessment of general intelligence (see Carr, Sweet, & Rossini, 1986, for a discussion of this issue).…”

Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery—Children's Revision: Concurrent validity with three learning disability subtypes.

“…The Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery—Children’s Revision ( LNNB—C ; Golden, 1981, 1984) was designed for use with children from 8 to 12 years of age. Several recent studies have assessed the validity of the LNNB—C in discriminating between various groups, including normal, brain-damaged, learning disabled, and psychiatrically disordered children (Carr, Sweet, & Rossini, 1986; Geary, Schultz, Jennings, & Alper, 1984; Gilger & Geary, 1985; Nolan, Hammeke, & Barkley, 1983; Teeter & Malsch, 1984).…”

“…Carr et al (1986) compared the diagnostic accuracy of the LNNB—C with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised ( WISC—R ; Wechsler, 1974) in differentiating normal, neurologically impaired, and psychiatrically disturbed children. The groups showed significant differences in WISC—R Full-Scale IQ (normal group, M = 113; psychiatric group, M = 103; neurological group, M = 80).…”

“…The present study examined the concurrent validity of the LNNB—C in discriminating between a sample of children clearly identified as learning disabled and classified into three groups according to WISC—R VIQ/PIQ differences: The three groups were designated auditory—linguistic ( VIQ < PIQ ), visual—spatial ( PIQ < VIQ ), and mixed ( VIQ = PIQ ). Because general intelligence has emerged as a critical variable in previous studies on the diagnostic utility of the LNNB—C (Carr et al, 1986; Geary et al, 1984), the three groups were closely matched on Full-Scale IQ scores as well as age.…”