The relationship between intelligence, brain damage, and Hutt-Briskin errors on the Bender-Gestalt

Abstract

PROBLEMThe Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test@) is a popular test for diagnosing organicity. In 1960, Hutt and Briskin introduced a scoring system for the BenderGestalt in which a S would be diagnosed as organic if he made 5 or more of the following types of errors on the Bender-Gestalt: (1) rotation, (2) overlapping difficulty, (3) closure difficulty, (4) cohesion, (5) perseveration, (6) retrogression, (7) angulation difficulty, (8) fragmentation, (9) collision, (10) simplification, (11) impotence, and (12) motor incoordination'E). Brilliant and Gynther ( 3 ) found the Hutt-Briskin scoring system to be quite easy t o apply and, more importantly, quite effective in differentiating normal Ss from organic Ss when used with a heterogeneous sample of psychiatric patients. Brilliant and Gynther (3 ) and other researchers ) also noted a significant correlation between intelligence and performance on the Bender-Gestalt. It seems reasonable, therefore, to question whether the Hutt-Briskin scoring system is equally effective in differentiating normal Ss from organic Ss a t different I& levels. This study evaluated the relationship of I& t o Bender-Gestalt errors as measured by the Hutt-Briskin scoring system and examined the discriminative power of this scoring system for various I& ranges. METHODThe Ss were 240 patients hospitalized in a large state mental hospital. Of these Ss, 120 were diagnosed chronic brain syndrome by their admitting physician. The physician's diagnosis was made without knowledge of the results of psychological testing. Moreover, these patients met a t least one, and in many cases several, of the following criteria above and beyond that of diagnosis of CBS by the admitting physician: (1) history of epilepsy; (2) history of seizures; (3) abnormal EEG; (4) diagnosis of CBS by a consulting neurologist; ( 5 ) identifiable brain lesion or tumor; (6) established destruction of brain tissue through intrusion of foreign bodies or through stroke.The remaining 120 Ss were patients diagnosed as functional disorders with no history of alcoholism, brain trauma or other neurological disorders, and who appeared normal on a neurological examination. All Ss had been administered both a Full Scale WAIS and a Bender-Gestalt as part of an admission evaluation. On the basis of the WAIS I& scores, 20 organic and 20 nonorganic Ss were assigned to each of the following groups: I& 60 -69; I& 70 -79; I& 80 -89; I& 90 -99; I& 100 -109; I& 110 and above. Each organic S who had a secondary diagnosis of psychosis or neurosis was matched with a nonorganic S from the same I& range who also had a diagnosis of psychosis or neurosis respectively. All organic Ss without secondary diagnoses were matched with nonorganic Ss with diagnoses of personality disorder. The Bender-Gestalt of each patient was then coded to avoid patient identification. Following coding, each of the three authors of this study was randomly assigned 80 of the 240 Bender-Gestdts for scoring according to the Hutt-Briskin scoring system. Prior to such scoring, however...

Differentiation of organics from functional psychiatric patients across various IQ ranges using the Bender-Gestalt and hutt scoring system

“…The results of this study are highly similar to those found in the Johnson et al (1971) study, in which diagnostic accuracy was reflected in only the borderline or dull normal range of intellectual functioning. Consequently, the results warrant a word of extreme caution to clinicians in making a judgment of brain damage on the basis of the BenderGestalt when either the Hutt-Briskin or Hutt Scoring systems is used.…”

“…Lacks cited Bender's (1965) corroborated observation that "epilepsy has no specific organic critical pathology which would interfere with the perceptual-motor or gestalt function demonstrable in this test" (p. 189). Although the number of epileptics in the early study (Johnson et al, 1971) is not known, only 8 patients of the 90 OBS had a diagnosis of epilepsy in the present study. (See Table 1.)…”

“…Hypothesis 2 was tested for 60% hit rate accuracy or better, which is in accord with the past research of Johnson et al (1971). Percent hit rate accuracy also was tested at the -05 level.…”

“…As neuropsychological diagnostic techniques are becoming more established, more articles (Bigler & Ehrfurth, 1980, 1981Johnson, Hellkamp, & Lottman, 1971) are appearing that question the appropriateness of the ways in which the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test (BVMG) is used as a diagnostic instrument for identifying brain dysfunction.…”

Using the Bender Gestalt in South Africa: Some Normative Data for Zulu-speaking Children

“…In her normative study Koppitz (1960) found strong correlations between educational level and performance and proceeded to establish norms for this variable, which have been included in her Scoring Manual for the Developmental Bender Scoring System (Koppitz, 1960). Although not as conclusive, studies by Johnson and Lottman (1971) and Koppitz (1960) both indicated that intelligence is a correlative variable. They have proposed that the BO test may also prove useful as a short, non-verbal intelligence test for young children since there is a close relationship between performance on the BO and both the WIse Performance Scale IQ and the Arithmetic Subtest score.…”