Édouard Claparède and the Auditory Verbal Learning Test

Abstract

This paper describes the role of the Swiss psychologist Edouard Claparède (1873-1940) in developing the Test de mémoire des mots (Test of Memory for Words), a test consisting of one free-recall trial of a 15-word list that is the antecedent of the auditory verbal learning tests (AVLT) of Rey and others. The fact that Claparède's test has survived in modified form for 80 years makes it one of the oldest mental tests in continuous use. In addition to developing the AVLT, Claparède's pioneering contributions to neuropsychology include forensic assessment of cognitive deficits and research on implicit learning in amnesia.