California Verbal Learning Test

ABBR: CVLT A neuropsychiatric test to measure the ability to remember heard words and the categories in which they belong. The subject listens to 16 items (four items in each of four categories) and then repeats as many of those items as he or she can recall. The subject is assessed on the number of terms retained and on the ability to recall that a particular item that he or she failed to recall may be from a particular category, e.g., a fruit or a color. A second set of 16 items is then presented. Finally, after performing a series of tasks lasting 20 minutes, the subject is asked to recall the first 16 items again.