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Details
Purpose
Assesses perseveration and abstract reasoning
Authors
David A. Grant, PhD and Esta A. Berg, PhD; Professional Manual by Robert K. Heaton, PhD, Gordon J. Chelune, PhD, Jack L. Talley, PhD, Gary G. Kay, PhD, and Glenn Curtiss, PhD
Administration Formats
Additional Details
Assess Perseveration and Abstract Thinking
Used primarily to assess perseveration and abstract thinking, the WCST is also considered a measure of executive function because of its reported sensitivity to frontal lobe dysfunction. As such, the WCST allows you to assess your client’s strategic planning; organized searching; and ability to utilize environmental feedback to shift cognitive sets, direct behavior toward achieving a goal, and modulate impulsive responding.
Features and benefits
- Completion of the WCST requires the ability to develop and maintain an appropriate problem-solving strategy across changing stimulus conditions in order to achieve a future goal.
- Unlike other measures of abstraction, the WCST provides objective measures of overall success and identifies particular sources of difficulty on the task (e.g., inefficient initial conceptualization, perseveration, failure to maintain a cognitive set, inefficient learning across stages of the test).
- When used with more comprehensive ability testing, the WCST is helpful in discriminating frontal from nonfrontal lesions.
- Administration and scoring for the WCST and WCST-64 are available on PARiConnect. Choose the 64- or 128-card version, or decide after administration.
- Learn how to administer the WCST remotely in our white paper located in the resources area below.
Available in Spanish
All WCST materials, including the manual, have been translated into European Spanish and designed especially for Spanish-speaking clinicians and their clients. Normative data were collected primarily in Spain, with additional data collected in some Latin American countries. As a result, norms may not generalize to Spanish-speaking groups in the U.S. Certain test items and stimuli in this translation vary from the English version because of cultural and linguistic differences between the countries and their language. Visit WCST Spanish to order.
Training DVD is available
This informative DVD tutorial provides detailed training in the standardized WCST administration and scoring procedures developed by Dr. Robert K. Heaton. The training package is particularly helpful for individuals who are just learning to administer this multifaceted neuropsychological instrument. It is also an excellent review for experienced clinicians and psychometricians.
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FAQs
What is the technical information for the WCST?
Test structure
Respondents are required to sort numbered response cards according to different principles and to alter their approach during test administration. To complete the task, clients should have normal or corrected vision and hearing sufficient to adequately comprehend the instructions and to visually discriminate the stimulus parameters.
Administration
- Administration should take place in a quiet room with illumination adequate for viewing the WCST stimuli.
- A table or desk and two chairs, one for the examiner and one for the subject are required.
- A clipboard to hold the record booklet is also desirable in order to shield the record booklet from the client’s view.
- Prior to administration, the examiner should inspect the WCST response card decks to ensure that cards are properly oriented and are in proper numerical sequence within each deck.
Scoring and reporting
- The subject is presented with four key cards and two decks of 64 response cards, but not told in what way the response cards should match.
- Each response a client makes can be thought of as occurring in three separate dimensions and, thus, is evaluated on each. These dimensions are: Correct-Incorrect, Ambiguous-Unambiguous, and perseverative-nonperseverative.
- Successful performance on the WCST requires a client to first determine the correct sorting principle on the basis of examiner feedback and then to maintain this sorting principle or set (e.g. color) across changing stimulus.
Reliability, validity, and norms
- Raw score to normalized standard, percentile, and T-score conversions are provided.
- Normative data were derived from a sample of 899 normal children, adolescents, and adults.
- The WCST has been used extensively in clinical and research applications as a measure of executive function.
- Clinical groups investigated have included subjects with focal and diffuse brain damage, seizure disorders, Parkinson’s disease, multiple Sclerosis, and psychiatric disturbances such as schizophrenia.
- Interscorer agreement was found to be excellent for both the standard scoring instructions and for standard scoring instructions with supplemental material.
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