Exploring age-related decline on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

It is well established that performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) tends to decline with advanced age, but the reason for this decline has not been established. The objective of the present study was to clarify this question using a qualitative approach to the task. The WCST was administered to 19 older adults and 25 younger participants. In addition to standard testing procedures, all participants were asked to verbalize their response strategy when placing each card. Results of this procedure implicate poor set shifting and set maintenance, consistent with reduced efficiency of feedback utilization, as the primary cause for age-related decline on the WCST.