Two studies were conducted to examine the relationship
of acculturation to neuropsychological test performance
among (1) medically healthy, neurologically normal African
Americans (N = 170); and (2) HIV positive (HIV+)
subgroups of African Americans and Whites (Ns
= 20) matched on age, education, sex, and HIV disease stage.
Acculturation was measured through self report for all
participants, and linguistic behavior (Black English use)
was assessed in a subset of medically healthy individuals
(N = 25). After controlling for the effects of
age, education, and sex, medically healthy African Americans
who reported less acculturation obtained lower scores on
the WAIS–R Information subtest and the Boston Naming
Test than did more acculturated individuals. Black English
use was associated with poor performance on Trails B and
the WAIS–R Information subtest. HIV+ African Americans
scored significantly lower than their HIV+ White counterparts
on the Category Test, Trails B, WAIS–R Block Design
and Vocabulary subtests, and the learning components of
the Story and Figure Memory Tests. However, after accounting
for acculturation, ethnic group differences on all measures
but Story Learning became nonsignificant. These results
suggest that there are cultural differences within ethnic
groups that relate to neuropsychological test performance,
and that accounting for acculturation may improve the diagnostic
accuracy of certain neuropsychological tests. (JINS,
1998, 4, 291–302.)