NINDS CDE Notice of Copyright

Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT)

Availability: Please visit this website for more information about the instrument:

Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test.

Classification: Basic: Acute Hospitalized Traumatic Brain Injury, Moderate/Severe Traumatic Brain
Injury and Concussion/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Supplemental: Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Sports-Related

Concussion (SRC) Persistent/Chronic ( 3 months and greater post concussion) and
Epidemiology Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Exploratory: Sports-Related Concussion (SRC) Acute (time of injury until 72 hours) and
Subacute (after 72 hours to 3 months)

Short
Originally developed in the 1940s, the RAVLT has evolved over the years, and several
Description of
variations of the test have emerged. The standard RAVLT format starts with a list of 15
Instrument:
words, which an examiner reads aloud at the rate of one per second. The patient's task
is to repeat all the words he or she can reme mber, in any order. This procedure is
carried out a total of five times. Then the examiner presents a second list of 15 words,
allowing the patient only one attempt at recall. Immediately following this, the patient
is asked to remember as many words as possible from the first list.
The RAVLT has proven useful in evaluating verbal learning and memory, including
proactive inhibition, retroactive inhibition, retention, encoding versus retrieval, and
subjective organization. Because the test is brief, straightforward, easy to understand,
and appropriate for both children and adults (ages 7 through 89), it has gained
widespread acceptance. However, until now, data about the RAVLT-norms, validity
studies, different administration and scoring procedures-have been scattered in
various sources.
Epilepsy Specific Information: The RAVLT is a verbal learning test that has been used
widely, both in North American and in Europe, as well as Australia (Weintrob, 2007). In
addition, a Spanish version is available ((WHO-UCLA AVLT). It is structured in the same
format as the CVLT (5 learning trials, distracter trial, and immediate and delayed recall
of initial list), but consists of words that are not semantically related.
TBI Specific Information/Comments:
This is a performance based measure which requires the subject to understand what is
required and participate in the testing. It requires a functional level in the severe
disability or above on the GOS/GOSE.
Sports-Related Concussion Specific Comments: The RAVLT has proven useful in
evaluating verbal learning and memory, including proactive inhibition, retroactive
inhibition, retention, encoding versus retrieval, and subjective organization. Because
the test is brief, straightforward, easy to understand, and appropriate for both children
and adults (aged 7 through 89), it has gained widespread acceptance. Advantages:
include costs (in the public domain). The RAVLT has been translated into multiple
languages including Spanish (Los Angeles Auditory Verbal Learning Test), which
facilitates its use across a wider segment of the population not only in the US, but to

Recommended Instrument for CP, Epilepsy, MS, SRC, TBI Page 1 of 3

 NINDS CDE Notice of Copyright
Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT)
compare across studies from other nations. The RAVLT has been widely used to
characterize verbal memory in epilepsy patient series.
The primarily disadvantage of the RAVLT is its normative information, with a variety of
norms appearing in different contexts. Although meta-norms are available, the
norms were not obtained in a systematic fashion such as with tests from formal test
publishers.
Age Range: 789 years
Rationale /
The advantages of the RAVLT include costs (in the public domain) and its purported
Justification:
greater sensitivity than the CVLT to lateralized temporal lobe seizure onset. The RAVLT
has been translated into multiple languages including Spanish (Los Angeles Auditory
Verbal Learning Test), which facilitates its use across a wider segment of the
population not only in the US, but to compare across studies from other nations. The
RAVLT has been widely used to characterize verbal memory in epilepsy patient series.
The primarily disadvantage of the AVLT is its normative information, with a variety of
norms appearing in different contexts. Although meta-norms are available, the
norms were not obtained in a systematic fashion such as with tests from formal test
publishers.
There is no universally agreed upon recognition format for the procedure. The
committee has selected one to permit consistency across studies, although there are
also discussions to create a new recognition form due to certain limitations of current
recognition approaches.
This measure has good psychometric properties, is widely used, translated into
multiple languages, has multiple forms, and is in the public domain. It is a legacy
measure for the NIH Toolbox Episodic Memory subdomain.
References:
Schmidt M. Rey Auditory and Verbal Learning Test: A Handbook. Los Angeles: Western
Psychological Services, 1996.
Strauss E, Sherman E, Spreen O (2006). Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. In
Compendium of Neuropsychological Tests (3rd Edition) Oxford University Press. pp.
776807.
Weintrob DL, Saling MM, Berkovic SF, Reutens DC. Impaired verbal associative learning
after resection of left perirhinal cortex. Brain. 2007;130(Pt 5):14231431.
mTBI:

Brenner LA, Terrio H, Homaifar BY, Gutierrez PM, Staves PJ, Harwood JE, Reeves D,
Adler LE, Ivins BJ, Helmick K, Warden D. Neuropsychological test performance in
soldiers with blast-related mild TBI. Neuropsychol. 2010;24(2):160167.

McCauley SR, Wilde EA, Anderson VA, Bedell G, Beers SR, Campbell TF, Chapman SB,
Ewing-Cobbs L, Gerring JP, Gioia GA, Levin HS, Michaud LJ, Prasad MR, Swaine BR,
Turkstra LS, Wade SL, Yeates KO; Pediatric TBI Outcomes Workgroup.
Recommendations for the use of common outcome measures in pediatric traumatic

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 NINDS CDE Notice of Copyright
Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT)
brain injury research. J Neurotrauma. 2012;29(4):678705.

Sroufe NS, Fuller DS, West BT, Singal BM, Warschausky SA, Maio RF. Postconcussive
symptoms and neurocognitive function after mild traumatic brain injury in children.
Pediatrics. 2010;125(6):e1331e1339.

Wljas M, Lange RT, Hakulinen U, Huhtala H, Dastidar P, Hartikainen K, hman J,

Iverson GL. Biopsychosocial outcome after uncomplicated mild traumatic brain injury. J
Neurotrauma. 2014;31(1):108124.

Studer M, Goeggel Simonetti B, Joeris A, Margelisch K, Steinlin M, Roebers CM, Heinks

T. Post-concussive symptoms and neuropsychological performance in the post-acute
period following pediatric mild traumatic brain injury. J Int Neuropsychol Soc.
2014;20(10):982993.

Sport-Related Concussion:

Wilkinson, A. A. (2011). An Investigation of the Effect of Sports-Related Concussion on

Verbal Learning and Memory Performance in Youth (Doctoral dissertation, University
of Toronto).

Maher ME, Hutchison M, Cusimano M, Comper P, Schweizer TA. Concussions and

heading in soccer: a review of the evidence of incidence, mechanisms, biomarkers and
neurocognitive outcomes. Brain Inj. 2014;28(3):271285.

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