Test of Memory and Learning – Senior Edition (TOMAL-SE)

Why a memory test just for the senior population?

 

After TBI patients, seniors are the most likely group to exhibit memory issues, yet most memory batteries are either too long for them—they fatigue more easily and become progressively more distractible than younger examinees—or are very short, assessing only 1 or 2 aspects of memory. The TOMAL-SE is just right! Long enough to assure a thorough assessment yet short enough to enhance motivation and the ability to stay on task and give appropriate effort on the entire battery.

 

The Test of Memory and Learning–Senior Edition (TOMAL-SE):

 

TOMAL-SE provides comprehensive coverage of memory assessment in a senior friendly standardized battery.

 

 

The TOMAL-SE was normed on more 428 adults ages 55-0 through 89-11, drawn from 15 states representing all major regions of the United States. The sample was designed to be representative of the U.S. population as a whole on gender, age, ethnicity, urban/rural residence, and geographic distribution. The TOMAL-SE also was evaluated at the item and subtest levels for gender and ethnic bias. The results of these studies provide strong evidence for a lack of bias and favor consistency across gender and across U.S. born ethnic populations.

 

TOMAL-SE scores include standardized or scaled scores and percentiles. Subtest scaled scores appear in a familiar metric with a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3. Composite scores and indexes also are scaled to a familiar metric for ease of use and comparability with other tests (M = 100; SD = 15). Reliability was determined using standard methods for estimating the internal consistency of the subtests and composites. Reliability estimates are uniformly high across age levels and for various clinical samples, with all composite score average reliability coefficients having values of .94 or higher. Subtest scores have a majority of average reliability coefficients in the .90s as well, with the lowest value being .81 for Facial Memory. Test retest reliability coefficients are all .80 or higher for the subtest scores, and for the composite indexes all coefficients are .92 or higher.

 

The 6 core and 3 delayed recall tasks are designed to give information on specific and general aspects of memory and are used to derive the Core Indexes and the Supplementary Indexes. Subtests include Memory for Stories (MFS), Facial Memory (FM), Word List Learning (WLL), Object Recall (OR), Visual Sequential Memory (VSM), and Memory for Location (MFL) along with 3 verbal delayed recall tasks.

 

Core Indexes: Verbal Memory Index, Nonverbal Memory Index, and Composite Memory Index.

 

Supplementary Indexes: Verbal Delayed Recall Index, Learning Index

 

Learning Curves—For subtests in the Learning Index, you can also plot learning curves for each individual examinee against the standardized learning curves for persons the same age in the standardization sample.