Benton Visual Retention Test: characteristics and how to use it

Neuropsychological tests allow us to evaluate people to determine cognitive status and other higher functions.

The Benton Visual Retention Test is a test used to determine if the patient has a deterioration in the perception and visual memory, as well as other types of motor skills that involve copying and reproducing shapes and drawings.

Here we explain in more detail What does the Benton Visual Retention Test consist of and what does it evaluate?, what are its main characteristics, its mode of application and correction, and the uses that it is given in clinical practice.

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What is the Benton Visual Retention Test and what does it evaluate?

The Benton Visual Retention Test is a neuropsychological test originally developed by A.L. Benton and designed to assess cognitive decline in three main areas: visual perception, visual memory, and visuoconstructive skills.

Visual perception is a concept that implies the interpretation that our brain makes of the different stimuli received through the sense of sight. This perception encompasses a whole set of processes by which the person organizes, selects and interprets, in a meaningful way and through their previous experience, visual information. It is an active process in which information is not only captured, but also transformed and given meaning and coherence.

When it comes to visual memory, it allows us to identify a stimulus, examine it, and assign meaning to it. This type of memory involves a process of perception, encoding, storage and retrieval of stored knowledge and representations arising from cognitive processing. Visual memory uses information to evaluate, compare and locate objects, places and people, by building a mental image.

For its part, visoconstructive skills refer to the ability we have to plan and execute movements necessary to organize a series of elements in space and form two- or three-dimensional drawings and structures.

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Characteristics

The Benton Visual Retention Test has demonstrated its sensitivity to literacy problems, non-verbal learning problems, traumatic brain damage, attention deficit disorder, Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

This test has been validated as effective in evaluating difficulties in the perception of spatial relationships and in the recall of newly acquired visual stimuli, as well as for the diagnosis of brain damage, both in children and in Adults.

The studies carried out confirm that the test is reliable and there is a correlation between the different forms of the evidence, although there is evidence that administration A in form C seems slightly simpler than forms D and E.

The validity of the Benton Visual Retention Test has also been confirmed, using other neuropsychological tests, such as the Rey complex figure test or the WAIS cube test, and also by comparing different groups of patients (with cognitive impairment and alterations) and subjects healthy.

However, this neuropsychological test does not appear to have specific sensitivity to lesions in the hippocampus of the right hemisphere, unlike other tests such as the Warrington Face Memory Test or the Wechsler Face Memory Subtest (WSM-III).

Mode of application and interpretation

The Benton Visual Retention Test has 3 alternative forms (C, D and E), and at the same time equivalent, that can be administered under different conditions. During the test, the patient is presented with 10 cards (most contain 3 figures, two large and one small) for several seconds, with unique designs in each of them.

After the time for each of the administrations has elapsed, the person is asked to make an immediate reproduction of the design of each card (in a memory exercise visual).

In the second phase, you are asked to copy from each of the 10 card designs, with the cards in sight. The results of each task are evaluated and transcribed into six categories: omissions, distortions, preservations, rotations, mislays, and size errors.

The final score varies from 0, if a multitude of mistakes are made, to 10, if everything is correct. The test must be corrected taking into account the age of the patient and her IQ.

The four possible types of test administration:

• Exposure for 10 seconds and immediate reproduction of the memory.
• Exposure for 5 seconds and immediate reproduction of the memory.
• Copy of the drawings (no time limit). For older adults with advanced cognitive impairment.
• Exposure for 10 seconds and delayed playback of the memory (at 15 seconds).

Clinical uses of the test

The Benton Visual Retention Test is sensitive to cognitive impairment, brain injury, and various mental illness, although it is difficult to diagnose a particular disorder using this proof.

Regarding the results of the test, it has been shown that a large number of perseverations could suggest damage to the lobe frontal, while many omissions in the peripheral designs would suggest possible brain trauma, especially in the parietal lobe right.

On the other hand, the general performance in the test does not seem to distinguish between people with unilateral damage to the left or right hemisphere. However, it seems that clinicians are able to distinguish between motor, perceptual or memory deficits, based on the analysis of the test results.

The diseases that have been shown to greatly reduce the test score in an individual are: dementias, brain injury, thalamic stroke, and Alzheimer's disease.

Both the copy and keepsake versions seem to be especially sensitive to the detection of dementias, and could help identify subjects at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in a future. Likewise, the test has also been able to detect children with learning difficulties.

Finally, it should be noted that the Benton Visual Retention Test was one of the tests included in the NCTB battery of the World Organization of Health for more than 30 years, with the aim of being able to identify the effects caused by chemical exposure in the nervous system human; Since then, it has continued to be used to assess such exposure in the workplace, showing a high sensitivity to various chemical components, such as mercury, lead or pesticides.

Bibliographic references:

• Benton, A. L., Abigail, B., Sivan, A. B., Hamsher, K. D., Varney, N. R., & Spreen, O. (1994). Contributions to neuropsychological assessment: A clinical manual. Oxford University Press, USA.
• Benton, A. L., Varney, N. R., & Hamsher, K. S. (1978). Visuospatial judgment: A clinical
• test. Archives of Neurology, 25, 364-367.
• Vidal, J. L. B., & Campos, E. R. (2009). The Benton visual retention test in brain injured adults. Quaderns de Psicología, (18), 19-35