APA Dictionary of Psychology

a memory test requiring the participant to learn verbal material, generally lists of unrelated nouns, over several spoken presentations. In the standard format, the examiner reads aloud a list of 15 words and asks the participant to repeat all the words they can remember, in any order. After writing down the words recalled by the participant, the examiner rereads the list four more times, and each time the participant recalls as many words as possible. Next, the examiner presents a second list of 15 different words, allowing the participant only one attempt at recall. Immediately thereafter, the participant is asked to remember as many words as possible from the first list. Finally, after a 20- to 40-minute delay, the examiner again asks the participant to recall as many words as possible from the first list. In certain cases, the examiner also asks the participant to identify the original 15-word list from a written list of 30 to 50 words. The RAVLT evaluates immediate memory, delayed recall, and recognition memory and is often administered as part of a neuropsychological assessment. Also called Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT). [originally developed in 1941 by André Rey (1906–1965), Swiss psychologist]