The introduction of a temporal variable to the allen cognitive level (ACL) test in adult psychosocial patients

The purpose of this study was twofold: to introduce a temporal component measure to the Allen Cognitive Level Problem Solving (ACL-PS) test version (Josman and Katz, 1991) of the original ACL, and to enhance the test's construct validity by studying an adult psychosocial sample and a control group. Sixty subjects participated in the study: 30 subjects were hospitalized psychosocial adult patients, and 30 normal adults served as a matched control group. The ACL-PS test was used in this study, with an added component of task performance-time for each separate subtest. Each psychosocial patient admitted to the ward during the two-month study period was assessed within the first two weeks. Descriptive statistics for the ACL- PS test performance of both subject groups show that ACL-PS differentiated between the patient and control groups. Control subject performance was significantly higher than patient performance on all variables. Task performance-time of the second subtest significantly differentiated between patient and control groups. Performance-time for the third subtest did not significantly differentiate between patient and control group. Statistically significant negative correlations between problem-solving and performance- time scores were obtained on the highest subtest in the patient group. Results point to the importance of incorporating a measure of performance- time as a component to be evaluated in the initial evaluation. Implications for theory, measurement, and research are discussed.