Organization & recall : a study of the Rey Complex Figure test

Patients with frontal damage show deficits in the copy and recall of the Rey Complex Figure. Lhermitte, Derouesne & Signoret (1972) have reported improvement in the copy and recall performances of such patients following a structured copying procedure. However, their study suffers from methodological deficiencies. This thesis reports a single experiment which examined Lhermitte et al.'s claims using a modified design, incorporating several methodological improvements. In addition, generalization of improvement following training was investigated. A sample of brain-damaged subjects with likely frontal involvement recalled and copied the Rey Figure following either a structured or an unstructured copying procedure. The structured procedure segmented the figure in accordance with normal perceptual principles. The unstructured procedure presented a segmentation which violated those principles. A reference group of normal subjects also received the unstructured copying procedure. Generalization was tested for each group using the Taylor Complex Figure. Following the structured copy, recall of the Rey Figure improved relative to baseline whereas there was no improvement following the unstructured copy in either the brain-damaged or normal subjects. Both brain-damaged groups showed an improvement in copying strategy but no special advantage was conferred by the structured training. No evidence of generalization was obtained. The possible reasons for the differential effect of training are discussed. Although the present results broadly confirm Lhermitte et al.'s claims that recall of the Rey Figure can be affected by a training procedure, the present data do not distinguish between the positive effects of the structured copying procedure and the negative effects of the unstructured procedure. The study is the first to test Lhermitte et al.'s (1972) findings using an improved experimental design and it comprises the first application of a relatively comprehensive scoring system to the strategy of copy drawings by a brain damaged sample. It also provides the first data on the baseline memorability of the various units of the Rey Figure. Organization and Recall: A Study of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test The Rev Figure Test: Introductory Comments The Rey Figure1 is a widely used neuropsychological test sensitive to deficits in visuo-spatial perception, graphomotor co-ordination and visual memory. Although not originally designed as a test of 'planning', deficient performances on the test have also been frequently observed to include a problem with this process. The figure is comprised of a range of geometric shapes, lines of axis and some additional details which amount to a complex figure, nearly free of representational content and relatively culturally unbiased (see Figure 1). Because of its complexity, it is difficult to encode verbally and is therefore particulary useful in testing visual memory. The figure also challenges the subject in several domains. In addition to quantitative information about copying accuracy and recall performance, the clinician is able to gain qualitative information through observing the nature of patients' errors and the manner in which they perform the task. The figure is therefore a potentially rich source of interpretive material. 1 The figure is also referred to as the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test. It was initially devised by A. Rey (1941). Osterrieth's (1944) contribution was considerable, involving the creation of a scoring system for the figure which has been in widespread use ever since. Osterrieth divided the figure into elements for scoring purposes and applied the criteria of presence, accuracy, completeness and distortion to the assessment of copy productions. The use of the same scoring system for assessing memory performances was also his development. In addition, Osterrieth was responsible for obtaining norms for the figure and for categorizing the copying procedures of different subjects.