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The Reliability and Validity of the Action Fluency Test in Healthy College Students
Thomas P Ross1, Sydne O'Connor1, Graham Holmes1
1Department of Psychology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.
Summary
The Action Fluency Test (AFT) shows good reliability for correct words but mixed validity for executive functioning. Vocabulary and processing speed appear more influential than executive functions in fluency tasks.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuropsychology
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Executive functioning is a complex set of cognitive processes crucial for goal-directed behavior.
- Fluency tests are commonly used to assess aspects of executive functioning, but their precise construct validity is debated.
- The Action Fluency Test (AFT) is a relatively new measure, necessitating rigorous evaluation of its psychometric properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the test-retest reliability of the Action Fluency Test (AFT).
- To examine the construct validity of the AFT, specifically its convergent and divergent validity.
- To determine the extent to which the AFT measures executive functioning versus other cognitive abilities.
Main Methods:
- A correlational design was employed with 128 healthy college students.
- Participants completed the AFT, alongside measures of verbal fluency, figural fluency, executive functioning, vocabulary, working memory, and attention.
- Test-retest reliability was assessed over an average interval of 39.21 days.
Main Results:
- Acceptable test-retest reliability was found for AFT correct words (r = .76), but not for errors or perseverations.
- Divergent validity was mixed: AFT scores were unrelated to working memory and perceptual reasoning.
- Convergent validity was also mixed: AFT scores correlated with other fluency tasks but showed weak or no correlation with executive functioning measures; correlations with vocabulary and processing speed were stronger than with executive measures.
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest that vocabulary and information-processing speed play a more significant role in fluency performance than executive functioning.
- The AFT appears to capture unique variance not explained by semantic and letter fluency tasks.
- The AFT holds potential for diverse research and clinical applications, though its interpretation should consider the influence of vocabulary and processing speed.
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