Organizing (Executive Functions) Tests
Comprehensive Trail-Making Test (CTMT)
The CTMT is a neuropsychological measure widely used to assess brain and executive function impairment. The CTMT has been standardized for use with individuals who are 8 to 74 years of age and provides T-Scores with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. Five trail-making tasks are utilized in which the examinee is instructed to connect numbers which are in numerical form or spelled out and letters in a predetermined order as fast as possible. A T-Score is derived from the raw score for each trail and these scores are summed to calculate a composite index T-Score.
-Cecil R. Reynolds, PhD
Stroop Color & Word Test – Adult Version (Stroop)
The Stroop is a neuropsychological measure of cognitive processing and executive functions such as inhibition used in various populations to examine brain impairment, cognition, and psychopathology. The adult version of the Stroop can be given to individuals 15 to 90 years and takes around five minutes to administer. It is available for administration in both individual and group settings. The test uses three basic scores, a raw Word Score, a raw Color Score, and a raw Color-Word score. From these scores one derived Interference Score can be calculated. Raw scores are converted to T scores which are used for clinical interpretation along with associated percentiles. There are many theories regarding the Stroop although the authors state it remains a bit ambiguous since no theory fully explains the range of behaviors and correlations exhibited.
-Charles Golden, PhD
The Tower of London – Second Edition (TOL-II)
The TOL-II is a neuropsychological test used to assess executive functioning (a set of mental skills that help individuals complete tasks), specifically problem solving and planning. It is used in the evaluation of attention disorders and other executive functioning difficulties related to planning with individuals from ages 7 to 80 years. The tasks on this test involve arranging red, green, and blue beads on a peg board to match the configuration of beads on the examiner’s pegboard in as few moves as possible. Raw scores for each are based on either the number of moves made, the time it takes to complete each problem, or the number of violations that are made. Each raw score is converted into standard scores with a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15. These categories evaluate a specific aspect of executive planning, among other executive functions, which provides an overall profile of the individual being tested.
-William C. Culbertson, Ph.D. & Eric A. Zillmer, Psy.D.
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test – Revised & Expanded (WCST)
The WCST is a neuropsychological assessment of abstract reasoning and executive functioning in clinical populations with suspected neurologic dysfunction. Specifically, the WCST assess a person’s ability to both develop and shift problem-solving strategies based on changing environmental criteria. Normative data is available for use with those aged 6 years, 6 months to 89 years. The test consists of four stimulus cards and 128 response cards that have figures with different characteristic forms, colors, and numbers. There are a number of various scores which all convert a raw score into standard scores, T scores, and percentiles. In addition, a Learning to Learn score can be calculated which is a measure of efficiency across test stages.
-David A. Grant, PhD and Esta A. Berg, PhD