Brown Location Test

Last Updated

November 07, 2016

Purpose

The BLT assesses visual memory for location of identical objects within a persons visual field. The BLT was originally developed to assess visual memory difficulties that are generally associated with right temporal lobe epilepsy or cortical damage within the right medial temporal lobe.

Link to Instrument

Instrument Details

Acronym BLT

Area of Assessment

Attention & Working Memory
Cognition
Vision & Perception

Assessment Type

Performance Measure

Administration Mode

Computer

Cost

Not Free

Actual Cost

$175.00

Cost Description

The BLT is not free; however, it can be purchased for a significantly reduced price for research purposes.

BLT Kits Hand Admin $175 USD
BLT Computer Admin $175 USD
Both Hand and Comp $250 USD
Research Kit (Pre-Approved) $80 USD

Non-Specific Patient Population

Number of Items

Test booklet
Red chips
Response forms

40 minutes

Includes 20 Minute Delay

Required Training

Reading an Article/Manual

Adult

18 - 64

years

Elderly Adult

65 +

years

Instrument Reviewers

Link, J.S & Lashley, L.K.

ICF Domain

Body Function

Measurement Domain

Cognition
Sensory

Considerations

There is currently limited research on the BLT as it is a relatively new measure. Additional research is necessary to established the validity and reliability of the BLT across various patient populations.

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Normative Data

Brown et al., 2007 (n= 110; 79 females, 31 males. 84% Caucasian, 11% African American, 4% Asian American, and 1% Hispanic. The average age was 33.15 years (SD= 16.1); average education was 14.8 years (SD = 2.43).

Mean Scores for the two forms of the BLT
	BLT-A (n=105)	BLT-B (n=46)
Subtest Score	Mean	Standard Deviation	Mean	Standard Deviation
Trial 1	5.02	1.87	5.17	2.28
Trial 2	6.80	2.21	6.63	2.11
Trial 3	8.06	2.45	8.15	1.99
Trial 4	9.24	2.15	9.46	2.00
Trial 5	10.17	1.92	10.43	1.72
Trials 1-5	39.28	8.57	39.85	8.35
Interference	4.58	2.13	4.59	1.64
Short Delay	8.80	2.50	9.00	2.40
Long Delay	8.81	2.59	8.93	2.48
Rotated Long Delay	7.56	2.71	8.33	2.33
Recognition Total	19.02	2.73	19.41	2.68
True Hits	9.87	1.57	10.04	1.30
False Positives	2.70	1.75	2.46	1.95

Brown et al. 2015 (n=29; 12 males and 17 females; Mean Age= 36.65, SD= 14.23)

Scores provided in standard z-scores:

BLT Learning Trial for LTLE (mean = -0.31; SD = 1.12)
BLT Long Delay for LTLE (mean = -0.25; SD = 1.02)
BLT Learning Trial for RTLE (mean = -1.45; SD = 0.86)
BLT for Long Delay for RTLE (mean = -1.75; SD = 0.84)

Test/Retest Reliability

(Brown et al. 2007)

Excellent split-half reliabilities for Learning Trials 1-5
- .82 for the BLT-A (N = 110) and .78 for the BLT-B (N = 41)
Excellent alternate form test-retest reliabilities
- r= .84 for Trials 1-5
- Pearson correlation coefficients significant (p < .01) for each subtest of the BLT and are comparable to those reported for the CVLT-II standardization sample

Internal Consistency

Brown et al., 2015 references Brown et al., 2007 saying it showed good internal consistency.

Construct Validity

Construct Validity: (Brown et al., 2007)

Demonstrated Evidence for construct validity via a Factor analysis of a brief neuropsychological test battery that revealed that all of the BLT subtests loaded on a single visual memory factor.
Factor Analysis:
- 3 factors accounted for 59% of the variance
- First factor accounted for 31.31% of total variance, consisted of all the BLT subtest scores.
- The second factor accounted for 19.65% of variance, consisted of all the CVLT-II subtest scores.
- The third factor accounted for 8.17% of variance and consisted of the Vocabulary, Matrix Reasoning, Estimated Intellectual Functioning standardized scores
- Cancellation test loaded minimally on each of the three factors.

Bibliography

Abrahams, S., Morris, R. G., Polkey, C. E., Jarosz, J. M., Cox, T. C. S., Graves, M., & Pickering, A. (1999). Hippocampal involvement in spatial and working memory: a structural MRI analysis of patients with unilateral mesial temporal lobe sclerosis. Brain and cognition, 41(1), 39-65.

Abrahams, S., Pickering, A., Polkey, C. E., & Morris, R. G. (1997). Spatial memory deficits in patients with unilateral damage to the right hippocampal formation. Neuropsychologia, 35(1), 11-24.

Bornstein, R. A., & Chelune, G. J. (1988). Factor structure of the wechsler memory scale-revised. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 2(2), 107-115.

Benton, A. L. (1974). Visual retention test. Psychological Corporation.

Brown, F. C., Hirsch, L. J., & Spencer, D. D. (2015). Spatial memory for asymmetrical dot locations predicts lateralization among patients with presurgical mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior, 52, 19-24.

Brown, F. C., Roth, R. M., & Katz, L. J. (2015). Allocentric but not egocentric visual memory difficulties in adults with ADHD may represent cognitive inefficiency. Psychiatry research, 228(3), 649-658.

Brown, F. C., Roth, R. M., Saykin, A. J., & Beverly-Gibson, G. (2007). A new measure of visual location learning and memory: development and psychometric properties for the Brown Location Test (BLT). The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 21(5), 811-825.

Brown, F. C., Tuttle, E., Westerveld, M., Ferraro, F. R., Chmielowiec, T., Vandemore, M., ... & Spencer, D. D. (2010). Visual memory in patients after anterior right temporal lobectomy and adult normative data for the Brown Location Test. Epilepsy & Behavior, 17(2), 215-220.

Conroy, S. K., McDonald, B. C., Ahles, T. A., West, J. D., & Saykin, A. J. (2013). Chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea: a prospective study of brain activation changes and neurocognitive correlates. Brain imaging and behavior, 7(4), 491-500.

Golby, A. J., Poldrack, R. A., Brewer, J. B., Spencer, D., Desmond, J. E., Aron, A. P., & Gabrieli, J. D. (2001). Material-specific lateralization in the medial temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex during memory encoding. Brain, 124(9), 1841-1854.

Heinly, M., Vitelli, K., Murah, J., Mangini, D., Stryjewski, A., Brown, C., & Brown, F. (2015, September). An Alternate Forms Reliability Study of the Brown Location Test Paper vs. Computer-Based Versions within a Single Testing Session. In Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology (Vol. 30, No. 6, pp. 586-586). Great Clarendon St., Oxford OX2 6DP, England: Oxford University Press.

Lee, T., Yip, J. T., & Jones‐Gotman, M. (2002). Memory deficits after resection from left or right anterior temporal lobe in humans: a meta‐analytic review. Epilepsia, 43(3), 28

Moye, J. (1997). Nonverbal memory assessment with designs: Construct validity and clinical utility. Neuropsychology review, 7(4), 157-170.

Osterrieth, P. A. (1944). The test of copying a complex figure: A contribution to the study of perception and memory. Archives de Psychologie, 30, 286-356.

Parslow, D. M., Rose, D., Brooks, B., Fleminger, S., Gray, J. A., Giampietro, V., ... & Vythelingum, G. N. (2004). Allocentric spatial memory activation of the hippocampal formation measured with fMRI. Neuropsychology, 18(3), 450.

Wechsler, D. (1945). A standardized memory scale for clinical use. The Journal of Psychology, 19(1), 87-95.