Frequently used tests

Question 1

Aachen Aphasia Test (AAT)

Answer 1

An extensive test battery used to assess various language functions, such as language comprehension (using the Token Test(, language production, repeating, reading and writing on dictation.

Question 2

Amsterdam Short-Term Memory test (ASTM)

Answer 2

Contrary to what the name suggest, this is not a short-term memory test but instead a symptom validity test to detect possible underperformance. It is used to study participants’ motivation and mental effort.

Question 3

Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI)

Answer 3

A structured interview used to inquire about details concerning important stages of life (such as the name of the secondary school the participant attended to or their wedding date) as a measure of the (retrograde) autobiographical memory.

Question 4

Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS)

Answer 4

An extensive test battery consisting of daily tasks used to identify impairments in the executive functions, such as planning skills and response inhibition.

Question 5

California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)

Answer 5

This test requires sixteen words from four semantic categories to be remembered. An interference trial (a list containing sixteen new words) is provided after five learning trails. Next, immediate and delayed free and cued recall are tested, as well as recognition.

Question 6

Corsi Block-Tapping Test

Answer 6

A visuospatial working-memory test, analogous to the digit span. The participant is required to repeat a series of tapped blocks in forward and backward order until the series can no longer be maintained. the longest repeated series is the block span, which is used as a measure of working-memory capacity.

Question 7

Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX)

Answer 7

A self-report questionnaire that assesses the occurrence of daily symptoms of dysexecutive functioning. the questionnaire can be completed by both the participant him/herself or a significant other or therapist.

Question 8

Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)

Answer 8

A short cognitive screening instrument that is used to assess severe cognitive impairments that indicate Alzheimer’s dementia.

Question 9

National Adult Reading Test (NART)

Answer 9

a reading test used to estimate the premorbid intelligence level by means of the pronunciation of a series of irregularly spelled nouns.

Question 10

Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT)

Answer 10

A divided attention test in which participants are asked to add up numbers under increasing time pressure.

Question 11

Psycholinguistic Assessment of Language Processing in Aphasia (PALPA)

Answer 11

An extensive test battery for studying the psycholinguistic capacities of patients with aphasia. The PALPA makes it possible to select tasks that are geared to the impaired and intact capabilities of individual participants.

Question 12

Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM)

Answer 12

A non-verbal intelligence test requiring participants to complete the missing parts of a pattern. this test measures fluid intelligence (reasoning skills) and consists of three variants:
1. Coloured
2. Standard
3. Advanced

Question 13

Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test

Answer 13

A verbal learning and memory test which requires participants to remember a list of 15 non-associated words. the list is shown 5 times in a row, in each instance with a free reproduction test, followed by a delayed reproduction test and a recognition test.

Question 14

Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT)

Answer 14

A test that requires the copying of a complex figure. After a few minutes the patient is asked - unannounced - to draw the figure once more from memory. The copy trial is a measure of visuoconstructive praxis; the memory test a measure of incidental learning.

Question 15

Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test (RBMT)

Answer 15

A test battery that assesses various daily aspects of episodic memory, such as remembering a route, a message, faces or a newspaper report.

Question 16

Stroop Colour Word Test

Answer 16

An executive function test that measures selective attention or interference sensitivity. The test, which consists of 3 stimulus cards, involves naming the colour of colour words printed in an incongruent colour as quickly as possible (card 3). this performance is compared to the reading speed of colour words (not printed in a colour, card 1). and the speed of naming colours (card 2).

Question 17

Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART)

Answer 17

Computer test (go/no-go paradigm) in which numbers are sequentially presented on a computer screen. The participant is asked to press a button as quickly as possible when a number appears, but not to press when the number 3 is shown. The test also tests sustained attention and response inhibition.

Question 18

Token Test

Answer 18

This test involves measuring language comprehension (which may be impaired in the case of aphasia) by asking the participant to carry out various tasks with round and rectangular tokens, such as: take the red rectangle and touch the white circle.

Question 19

Trail Making Test (TMT)

Answer 19

A test in which successive numbers must be connected in an ascending order as a measure of motor speed (part A). The participant is then asked to connect the numbers and letters in an alternating order (1-A-2-B-3-C) as a measure of mental flexibility (part B).

Question 20

Visual Object and Space Perception battery (VOSP)

Answer 20

A test battery that assesses various aspects of visuospatial perception, such as the perception of forms, figure-background segregation and spatial perception.

Question 21

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales (WAIS)

Answer 21

An intelligence test battery consisting of various subtests, each of which measuring a certain aspect of intelligence. The WAIS can be used to measure the intelligence quotient.

Question 22

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)

Answer 22

An executive-function test in which participants are asked to sort cards showing various shapes in a certain colour according to a sorting rule (shape, colour or number) that they have to work out. They are given feedback during the test. The changing rule of the test assesses their capacity to adapt a mental set (concept shiftingP.