Memory tests, such as the Learning Efficiency Test-I1 (LET-11), have frequently been used to describe the memory characteristics of special populations such as persons with learning disabilities, brain damage, or Alzheimer's disease. Yet, few research studies have examined the memory characteristics of normally functioning children and compared these characteristics to their performance on ability tests or real-life achievement criteria. This study investigates the predictive and concurrent validities of the LET-I1 for performance on the Kuhlmann-Anderson Tests (K-A), class grades, and actual grade level functioning in reading and mathematics for third and fourth grade children of average intelligence. The LET-I1 memory factor scores correlated significantly with the K-A scores, class grades and actual grade level functioning in reading. The relevance of these findings for norm-referenced psychological tests, and in particular memory tests, in real-life settings is examined. 0 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
There remains a paucity of studies examining the relationship between memory test performance with intellectual ability and actual measures of real-life functioning for children. The Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) has been found to correlate well with intelligence test measures for adults of average ability (Cauther, 1977;Kear-Colwell, 1973;Prokopcakova, 1992; Waldman, Dickson, & Kazeleskis, 1990). The Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test for Children (RBMT) was shown to correlate with intelligence test scores for normal five-and sixyear-olds (Aldrich & Wilson, 1991), as well as a variety of special populations, including adults with dementia, depression (Goldstein, McCrue, Rogers, & Nussbaum, 1992), amnesia (Linnemann, 1991), brain damage (Cockburn, Wilson, Baddeley, & Hiorns, 1990), and stroke victims (Lincoln & Tinson, 1989). The Benton Visual Retention Test is another memory test frequently used with exceptional populations. Scores from this test have been compared to measures of achievement for children with learning disabilities (LD) (Leton, Miyamoto, &