Quiz 8 - Trail Making Test (TMT) Flashcards
The TMT, also known as the Trail Making Test, measures all the following EXCEPT:
a. Visual scanning
b. Visual-motor construction
c. Divided attention
d. Visual-motor tracking
e. Cognitive flexibility
b. Visual-motor construction
What evidence does Lezak et al. (2012) cite to suggest that the test-taker’s performance on
Trails B is highly dependent on working memory?
a. Speed for Trails B completion is correlated to speed for completing the Wisconsin Card
Sorting Task (WCST).
b. It takes longer to complete Trials A, as compared to Trails B.
c. Speed for Trails B completion is correlated with performance on digit span’s Digit
Backwards task.
d. Speed for Trails B completion is correlated to accuracy for completing the Digit Symbol
test.
c. Speed for Trails B completion is correlated with performance on digit span’s Digit
Backwards task.
Lezak et al. (2012) talks about Reitan’s scoring method for the TMT. What is the text’s
opinion of that scoring method? (PICK TWO ANSWERS)
a. The textbook states that the best way to correct problems with Reitan’s scoring method is
to compute a difference score (Trails B - Trails A) for the TMT.
b. The textbook praises Reitan’s scoring system because it lets test-takers spend more than
4-5 minutes completing a TMT trial.
c. The textbook explains that Reitan devised a simple, straight-forward, and generally
flawless scoring method for the TMT.
d. The textbook states that Reitan’s scoring system is less reliable because it does not
control for differences in how test-givers respond to errors (i.e., reaction time and
correction style) in scoring the TMT.
a. The textbook states that the best way to correct problems with Reitan’s scoring method is
to compute a difference score (Trails B - Trails A) for the TMT.
d. The textbook states that Reitan’s scoring system is less reliable because it does not
control for differences in how test-givers respond to errors (i.e., reaction time and
correction style) in scoring the TMT.
All the following brain regions appear play an important role in a test-taker’s ability to
complete Trails B, EXCEPT?
a. The right dorsal-medial prefrontal cortex
b. The left dorsal-lateral prefrontal cortex
c. The left medial-frontal cortex
d. The caudate of the basal ganglion
a. The right dorsal-medial prefrontal cortex
What is the most accurate statement about test-takers’ tendency to make errors on the TMT?
a. Perseveration and impulsivity- related errors are most common in people going though
drug withdrawal.
b. There is little benefit to careful observation of how/where/when test-takers make errors
on the TMT.
c. In healthy controls, errors on the TMT are very uncommon
d. One of two error on the TMT is relatively common, even in healthy controls
d. One of two error on the TMT is relatively common, even in healthy controls
Which of the following statements is NOT an accurate description of how individuals with
other psychiatric / psychological difficulties tend to perform on the TMT? (CHOSE TWO
ANSWERS).
a. People with clinical depression perform slower on Trails B, as compared to nondepressed
controls.
b. Deteriorating TMT performance is often seen in patients who are suffering from early
stages of dementia
c. Schizophrenia seems to have a much greater impact on TMT performance, when
compared to depression.
d. People in the early stages of Huntington’s disease perform better on the TMT, as
compared to those in the early stages of ALS (a.k.a., Lou Gehrig’s disease).
c. Schizophrenia seems to have a much greater impact on TMT performance, when
compared to depression.
d. People in the early stages of Huntington’s disease perform better on the TMT, as
compared to those in the early stages of ALS (a.k.a., Lou Gehrig’s disease).
Lezak et al. (2012) would most likely agree with which of the following statements?
a. The pattern of how the circles are arranged on the TMT pages, make the Trails A and
Trails B tasks equally difficult.
b. The pattern of how the circles are arranged on the TMT pages, make the Trails A task
more difficult than the Trails B task.
c. The pattern of how the circles are arranged on the TMT pages, make the Trails B task
more difficult than the Trails A task.
d. Trails A is more difficult because he path
c. The pattern of how the circles are arranged on the TMT pages, make the Trails B task
more difficult than the Trails A task.
Which of the following is true about how healthy / normal controls perform on the TMT?
a. Healthy controls with more than 12 years of formal education tend to do better on the
TMT than those with less than 10 years of formal education.
b. As healthy controls age, from their teens to their twenties to their thirties, their TMT
completion times get longer.
c. Men tend to have longer completion times for the TMT, as compared to women.
d. In healthy controls, the ability to switch from A,B,C to 1,2,3 seems highly dependent on
age-related changes in motor speed.
a. Healthy controls with more than 12 years of formal education tend to do better on the
TMT than those with less than 10 years of formal education.
What is the most accurate statement about how individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury tend
to perform on the TMT?
a. Patients with mild TBI tend to be slower, when completing the TMT, as compared to
patients with severe TBI.
b. Performance on the TMT is a strong predictor of how independent a TBI patient will be
in their living environment.
c. Over the long-term, patients with TBI continue to show slowed performance on Trails A,
when tested 2-5 years after their brain injury.
d. Even in patients with mild brain injury, performance on the TMT is obviously impaired
in almost all cases.
b. Performance on the TMT is a strong predictor of how independent a TBI patient will be
in their living environment.
