Executive Functioning and Verbal Memory test

Post Reply New Topic

Hey, the following is a test of executive functioning and verbal memory. http://www.brainfitnesscentersofflorida.com/quiz.php

I kind of wonder what typical scores are for those with AS? It's been purported that executive functioning is impaired in autism, which leads to difficulty in switching attention, and I'm wondering if this is true in reality.

I scored in the 93rd percentile for verbal memory and in the 47th percentile for executive functioning and my NT/AS status is unknown. I definitely have some "social impairments" of unknown origin, though.

Last edited by swbluto on 18 May 2011, 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Verbal Memory - 73rd Percentile
Executive Functioning - 3rd Percentile (and I actually thought I had done pretty well until I received the score )

AS Status: Unknown, but highly suspected by a trained psychologist of having HFA, PDD-NOS, or AS.

Verbal - 81 percentile
Executive Functioning - 2 percentile

...and to think I sometimes question my aspieness.

That's my exact reaction.

I scored 1st percentile on verbal and 53 executive function

I took this about six months ago. My results then:

Verbal memory:

Subject Score: 38
Standard Score: 52
Percentile: 1% "Very low."

Executive Function:

Subject Score: 30
Standard Score: 81
Percentile 10% "Low Average." (2% above low)

I took a second time and got scores of 45 for verbal (5%) and 31 for executive functioning (12%).

These tests confuse me. I consistently get in the lower 1 percentile in verbal memory. I've done the test 4 times. I never get better than the lowest percentile but my executive function test has gone as low as 2 percentile to as high as 97th percentile. Someone told me this is due to fatigue. At work though, I can't seem to multi-task suggesting I should have a very low executive function test. But sometimes it's quite high. In school, I did extremely well in memory courses (organic chemistry, life sciences) and yet my verbal memory is extremely low. I know my memory for some stuff is bad because at work I can't remember people's names, histories, drug names, etc. I'm quite bad and it shows. Maybe these tests are useless?

Last edited by Kon on 18 May 2011, 9:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Verbal memory: 34th percentile

Executive functioning: 66th percentile

I'm wondering if these tests are normed off age... That is, your particular percentile is determined by your particular age group. This would be important because older testers would be expected to have lower verbal memory as memory declines with age and if they weren't stratified by age, then someone older would have unusually low scores.

This part of the intro suggests that they do, though: "You are asked your age only to allow scoring of the test by the computer."

However, it seems there's a noticeable difference in verbal memory scores, so far, between younger and older testers. So, they might not.

Also, this test only tests relatively immediate verbal memory and "sort of delayed" memory. Real "delayed memory"(I.e., more than 2 hours, the kind tested by school tests) is something different and Wechsler uses a delay of at least an hour for his tests, so the delayed memory part of this test might not be indicative of your delayed memory in "real life". Also, the kind of memory used during school tests is not only verbal memory, but also semantic memory and visual memory which aren't specifically tested here.

Last edited by swbluto on 18 May 2011, 10:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Well, its late at night and I've had a long day, so that may be one of the reasons, but really...

My memory score was in the 77th percentile... ok, but not that good for someone with as much memorized as me.
On the other hand, my executive function score was in the 1st percentile... I didn't think it'd be *that* low.

I am not sure if I'm an aspie or not, and I'm undiagnosed.

Verbal memory: 70th percentile
Executive Functioning: 2nd percentile

I made a stupid mistake on the verbal component due to zoning out momentarily. I could have probably done better on it if not for that.

Verbal Memory: 88th percentile
Exec Functioning: 7th percentile

This doesn't surprise me at all. I've always been proud of my skill with words, and consistently let down by my executive functioning abilities.

Was anyone else "thinking in pictures" when it came to the verbal memory part? That is how I do things... I see a word and immediately associate it with the first concrete image that comes to mind. Made it easier to remember which words I had seen... They were the ones with pictures.

Yep. In mine, the sailor was on the boat that was parked near the house that had a lamb in front it.

But, when actually taking the test, I didn't reference the "mental imagery" -- I just quickly knew whether I had 'seen it' or not.

Last edited by swbluto on 18 May 2011, 10:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Back in a previous thread with the same test I got the following scores:

Verbal memory test: 109 (70th percentile - average range)
Shifting attention test: 79 (8th percentile - low range)

As my signature indicates, I'm not diagnosed but have enough autistic tendencies that they're recognizable to knowledgeable people.

EDIT: For people interested in ages, I'm in my late 20s.

Last edited by Cassia on 19 May 2011, 12:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

Verbal Memory: 1th percentile/38 subject score/52 standard score
Executive Functioning: 1th percentile/11 subject score/57 standard score

Not officially dx'ed AS so take the data as you like.

Very tired today, and I have previous neuropysch testing with similar results (though not quite that low), so not too surprising. I think I remember taking that test a month or so ago and doing better on the verbal memory part.

The shifting attention test reminds me of the Stroop color-word test, in that it actually feels hard to do. Post-burnout that kind of thing has always seemed palpably harder.

Verbal memory: 93rd percentile (I think my score was 122.)
Executive function: 96th percentile (I think my score was 126.)
---
I wasn't at all surprised by my memory score. As others have said, I "think in pictures," so I always excel at tests of this kind. If I saw the same picture in my mind as before, that was a word I saw. If I got a new image, I saw a completely new picture and felt surprised. I automatically "see" a picture whenever I read anything (I wasn't just doing this to remember the words), so it's an obvious advantage to many aspects of life.

As for the executive function part, I was surprised here, because I do have executive function problems, particularly when it comes to switching tasks. But this test really isn't an example of the executive function tasks one encounters in the real world. This test was all about reaction time and following rules, and I have gotten extremely high scores on official IQ tests when it comes to processing speed. So, when you look at the EF test that way, it makes sense that I did so well.

Wanted to add here that I'm 23 and a diagnosed Aspie.

Last edited by OddDuckNash99 on 18 May 2011, 11:09 pm, edited 4 times in total.