What's Your IQ

A list built to reveal strategy

Its design was novel in 1987.¹ Because the list contains four hidden categories, the order you recall words in shows whether you're organising them by meaning or simply by position.

16Nouns, four categoriesSixteen words from four semantic categories, four words each.³

1 sRead aloud in fixed orderThe examiner reads the list at one-second intervals, in the same order every time.⁹

×5Five learning trialsAfter each reading you recall as many as you can, in any order. The five trials show a learning curve and primacy and recency effects.²

BA second listA different list is then read once, before recall of the first list is tested again.⁸

↻Delays, cues, recognitionShort- and long-delay free recall, recall with category cues, and a recognition test.⁹

TRY IT · THREE LEARNING TRIALS

Watch 16 words, then type what you remember

Words appear one per second, always in the same order. After each run, type every word you remember, in any order. The page then scores the process as well as the total.

Words recalled per trial

—

Trial 1Trial 2Trial 3

An invented list and a shortened procedure (the real test uses five trials, a second list and delayed recall). These aren't CVLT words or norms.

READY · 16 WORDS · 3 TRIALS

Grouped by category0

Grouped by list order0

Intrusions (not on list)0

Repeats0

Recall by list position, all trials

First 4 (primacy)—

Middle 8—

Last 4 (recency)—

You used category and list-order grouping about equally.

Adult, child, second and third editions

1987CVLTadultThe original, from The Psychological Corporation, San Antonio.⁴

1991Alternate formadultA second, parallel form for retesting.⁵

1994CVLT-Cages 5–16:11A 15-item "Monday list" from three categories (fruit, clothing, toys), over eight trials with a 20-minute delay.⁴

2000CVLT-IIages 16–89Internal consistency .78–.94, norms much more representative of the US population, and recognition split into source and novel components.⁶

2017CVLT3ages 16–90Major scoring changes and updates from the CVLT-II.¹

What the profile can show

Everyday practiceThe CVLT and CVLT-II are among the five instruments clinical neuropsychologists in North America use most.⁵

Frontal-lobe injuryEleven patients with focal frontal lesions learned fewer words, made more intrusions and did worse on recognition than controls.⁶

AgeingOlder adults score lower, in line with normal age-related declines seen in other normative samples.³

Clinical trialsLong-delay free recall was the primary outcome in a multiple sclerosis supplement trial.⁸

CRITICISMThe original was said to suffer from poor control of item selection and an inflated normative sample, from 273 nonclinical people.^7,9 Sources also give the fourth author as both Barbara A. Ober and Beth A. Ober.^4,10

References

[1]Essentials of CVLT3 and CVLT-C assessment: chapter 1, overview (ISBN 9781119578567). Wiley excerpt (PDF).catalogimages.wiley.com

[2]California Verbal Learning Test: an overview. ScienceDirect Topics (Neuroscience).sciencedirect.com

[3]California Verbal Learning Test–Second Edition (study of CVLT-II recognition discriminability in Huntington's and Alzheimer's). ResearchGate.researchgate.net

[4]California Verbal Learning Test, Children's Version (CVLT-C). Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer.link.springer.com

[5]Woods, S. P., Delis, D. C., Scott, J. C., Kramer, J. H., & Holdnack, J. A. (2006). The CVLT-II: test-retest reliability, practice effects, and reliable change indices. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. ScienceDirect.sciencedirect.com

[6]Criterion validity of the CVLT-II after traumatic brain injury (2006). Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. ScienceDirect.sciencedirect.com

[7]Verbal list learning tasks (thesis). University of Houston Institutional Repository.uh-ir.tdl.org

[8]Lipoic acid and omega-3 fatty acids for cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (NCT02133664), outcome: CVLT-II. ClinicalTrials.gov.clinicaltrials.gov

[9]Wikipedia contributors. California Verbal Learning Test (accessed 30 Sept 2026).en.wikipedia.org

[10]California Verbal Learning Test. Grokipedia (2026).grokipedia.com

HOW TO CITE THIS PAGE

What's Your IQ. (2026). California Verbal Learning Test (1987). In Historical IQ Tests Archive. Retrieved September 30, 2026, from /en/historical-iq-tests/cvlt-1987

EDITORIAL RECORD

First published2026

Last reviewed30 September 2026

Sources10, all from visible search results

Open questionsFourth author's first name; 1987 norm sample details; the adult list's actual categories

Canonical URLwhats-your-iq.com/en/historical-iq-tests/cvlt-1987

Related historical tests

Same process school1983

Boston Naming Test

Edith Kaplan co-wrote both. Each looks closely at how a person fails, through cues, errors and intrusions, not just at a total score.

ReferenceRead more →

Memory inside IQ1955

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

The WAIS includes Digit Span, a short working-memory task. The CVLT studies verbal learning and long-term recall in far more detail.

ReferenceRead more →

Age and memory1981

WAIS-R

WAIS-R data showed how scores change with age. CVLT scores likewise fall with normal ageing, which is why age norms matter.

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Also a trial endpoint1962

d2 Test of Attention

Another focused neuropsychological test used as a clinical-trial outcome. The d2 measures attention; the CVLT measures verbal memory.

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Child memory1949

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

The children's Wechsler includes Digit Span. The CVLT-C adapted list learning for children aged 5 to 16.

InteractiveTake it →

Part of the Historical IQ Tests Archive. Editorial content under CC BY-SA 4.0. The CVLT is published by Pearson; no CVLT word lists are reproduced. The list on this page was made up for it.

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Not just how much you remember. How.

A list built to reveal strategy

Watch 16 words, then type what you remember

Adult, child, second and third editions

What the profile can show

References

Related historical tests

Memory is one piece. See the whole profile.