A Normative Study on the Battery of Writing Tests in Healthy Individuals in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Po-Ya Cheng, 程柏雅
• Other Authors: 花茂棽
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/85076744395428376280

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 心理學研究所 === 104 === Background: Agraphia (disorders of writing) is a common symptom in clinical patients, but there is a lack of validated and standardized Chinese writing test for research and clinical practice in Taiwan. The Battery of Writing Tests is a comprehensive assessment tool, consisting of three types of tests: spontaneous writing, writing to dictation, and copying. Objective: The present study aimed to construct a representative Taiwanese norm for the Battery of Writing Tests. Psychometric properties and influences of demographical variables on the performance of the writing tests were investigated. Method: We recruited 319 healthy adults stratified by age, educational level, gender, and area of residence. A subgroup of 30 participants was retested at least 2 months later for test-retest reliability examination. Another subgroup of 30 participants completed other neuropsychological tests for validity examination. Results: Education and age significantly influenced writing performance, and the effect of education was larger than that of age. Gender affected performance on two writing tests, but the effect size was very small. Our results revealed adequate test-retest reliability and construct validity of the Battery of Writing Tests. The normative data showed good representativeness, recency and relevance. Conclusion: The Battery of Writing Tests had adequate reliability and validity. Our study provided representative and demographic-corrected normative data for research and clinical settings.