Some observations on the use of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability in adults with head injury.

Current research specifies the varied cognitive and psychoeducational deficits in the adult with head injury, and the clinical assessment of this population is widespread, though often only traditional intellectual measures are used. This article provides descriptive data in the first reported study using the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJTCA) (Woodcock & Johnson, 1977) in an outpatient sample of 39 adults with closed head injury. The study also addressed (a) the relationships between the various cognitive clusters of the WJTCA and a measure of injury severity (coma duration) and (b) the relationships between the WJTCA and several Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological measures. Correlational analyses indicated significant relationships between coma duration and performance on the Perceptual Speed and Memory clusters of the WJTCA. No relationships were found between the Halstead Category test and any of the WJTCA cognitive clusters, though the Trail Making test correlated significantly with many of the WJTCA clusters. Time since injury did not correlate with any of the WJTCA test results. Other findings are presented, and the advantages and disadvantages of this set of cognitive tests in relation to other psychoeducational and cognitive measures are reviewed.