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Related Experiment Videos

The trail making test, part B: cognitive flexibility or ability to maintain set?

Kathleen Bechtold Kortte1, Michael David Horner, Whitney K Windham

  • 1Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29401-5799, USA.

Applied Neuropsychology
|September 7, 2002
PubMed
Summary

The Trail Making Test Part B primarily assesses cognitive flexibility, not just maintaining a response set. This finding clarifies the cognitive demands of this widely used neuropsychological assessment.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuropsychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Clinical Neuroscience

Background:

  • The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a widely used neuropsychological tool assessing cognitive function.
  • Ambiguity exists regarding the specific cognitive demands of TMT Part B beyond TMT Part A.
  • Competing hypotheses suggest TMT Part B relies on cognitive flexibility or the ability to maintain a response set.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether TMT Part B performance is more strongly associated with cognitive flexibility or the ability to maintain a set.
  • To differentiate the primary cognitive abilities underlying performance on TMT Part B.

Main Methods:

  • 121 Veterans Affairs patients underwent the TMT and other executive and cognitive function tests.
  • Regression analyses were employed to determine predictors of TMT Part B performance.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Cognitive flexibility was operationalized by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) perseverative errors; set maintenance by WCST failure to maintain set.

    • Main Results:

    • TMT Part B performance was significantly predicted by measures of cognitive flexibility.
    • The ability to maintain a set did not significantly predict TMT Part B performance beyond TMT Part A.
    • Preliminary evidence suggests cognitive flexibility is a key component of TMT Part B.

    Conclusions:

    • TMT Part B performance appears more sensitive to cognitive flexibility than to the ability to maintain a set.
    • This finding helps clarify the specific cognitive processes engaged by TMT Part B.
    • Understanding these cognitive demands aids in the interpretation of TMT results in clinical settings.