Datasets for: Estimation of Premorbid Intelligence and Executive Cognitive Functions with Lexical Reading Tasks

Data supporting a manuscript which has not yet been submitted for publication. The data involves interrelations between four different lexical tasks, IQ and, executive function test scores. The lexical tasks are the Word Accentuation Test (WAT), the WAT-sentences, a lexical decision task (SpanLex) and a stem completion naming test (SCIRT). The IQ test is the WAIS-IV Spanish (7-subtest version). The executive function tests are Cognitive Estimates, Proverb Interpretation, Reading Span, Phonemic Fluency, Category Fluency, Alternating Fluency, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and the Faux Pas Test. The samples were healthy adults, and patients with dementia. The data was all collected in Ecuador and all tests were administered in Spanish.

Objective: Estimation of premorbid function is essential to accurate identification of cognitive impairments. We explored how lexical tasks can be used to estimate various cognitive functions. Method: Adults with cognitive impairment due to neurological illness (n = 15) and a nonclinical sample of adults (n = 143) completed tests of word pronunciation, lexical decision, and stem-completion naming. In three studies lexical-task performance associations with intelligence Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale 4th edition (WAIS-IV), episodic memory, executive functioning, and theory of mind were explored. Results: At the group level, word pronunciation was robust in the presence of cognitive impairment. However, as a case series, patients showed idiosyncratic patterns of preservation of lexical skills. All of the lexical tasks were highly correlated with intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in the nonclinical sample, suggesting that they may function well as estimators of premorbid intelligence. Simulated impairments in nonclinical adults revealed that the median score from the three different tasks had the highest correlation with, and provided the most accurate and precise estimates of, measured IQ, and was also the least sensitive to impairment. We also show that these methods predict executive functions, in particular, proverb interpretation, phonemic/semantic alternating verbal fluency, and working memory span performance. Conclusions: Several lexical tasks are potentially useful in predication of preillness cognitive ability. However, due to the heterogeneity of impairments between patients, estimation of premorbid levels could be improved by the use of average estimated values from multiple tests. This could potentially improve diagnostic accuracy and quantification of neuropsychological impairments.

Dataset for: Pluck, G., & Ruales-Chieruzzi, C. B. (2021). Estimation of premorbid intelligence and executive cognitive functions with lexical reading tasks. Psychology & Neuroscience, 14(3), 358–377. https://doi.org/10.1037/pne0000264