Facial recognition test in the elderly: Norms, reliability and premorbid estimation

The Facial Recognition Test (Benton, Hamsher, Varney, Spreen, 1983; Benton, Sivan, Hamsher, Varney, & Spreen, 1994) was examined in an age-, education- and gender-stratified sample of 346 healthy older adults. Internal consistency reliability estimates were .72 for the Long Form (FRLF), .53 for the Short Form, and .69 for a new short form. Mean FRLF scores did not change over a 1-year interval (p > .5), and the stability estimate was .71 (n = 100). The first of the methods below yielded the highest correlation between estimated and obtained FRLF scores in cross-validation (n = 67): (1) multiple regression based on oral reading and demographics, (2) multiple regression based on age, education and gender, and (3) mean scores by age group.