OTROS ESPACIOS DE SOCIALIZACION

A battery o f standardised tests was selected in order to assess aspects o f executive function.

7.1.2.3.1 Deductive reasoning

The measure o f deductive reasoning used in the current study was Raven’s Advanced Progessive Matrices, Set I (Raven, 1976). The test consisted o f twelve items, which all contained an abstract pattern with a section missing, and six choices as to what the missing section could be. Participants were given a score out o f twelve, which was then converted to an age-scaled score. The task involves reasoning about which option is the most appropriate from a set o f alternatives. Performance might be expected to relate to similar processes in everyday problem­ solving. In relation to the Predicaments task. Raven’s matrices scores might be most closely related to selection o f optimal and personal solutions, and Judgement o f Alternatives.

7.1.2.3.2 Attention and set-shifting

The ability to shift attention between competing sets o f items is thought to reflect the ability to be flexible in behaviour (e.g. Kolb & Whishaw, 1996). In real-life problem-solving, impairments might be expected to contribute particularly to difficulties in generating a range o f solutions under time pressure.

Three measures of attention and set-shifting were included, the Trail Making Test (Reitan, 1958), the Rule Shift Cards test (Wilson et al, 1996), and Cancellation tasks (Wilson et al, 1987). The Trail Making Test consists o f two parts, both o f which are timed. In part A, participants are asked to draw a line to join dots numbered 1-25 in numerical order. In part B, they have to alternate between

numbers and letters, starting at 1, and finishing at 13. The Rule Shift Cards test is a subtest o f the BADS battery, and consists o f two parts, both o f which involve presenting the participant with a booklet depicting red and black playing cards. The pages are turned over one at a time, and in the first part, participants are asked to say ‘yes’ if the card is red and ‘no’ if it is black. The second part o f the task involves a change o f rule, such that they have to say ‘yes’ if the card is the same colour as the previous card, and ‘no’ if it is a different colour. Performance is graded according to a ‘profile score’ out o f four, which reflects the numbers o f errors made, plus a penalty for slow performance on part B. The cancellation tasks were from the Behavioural Inattention Test. The Star Cancellation task involved crossing out small stars from an array containing small and large stars, plus letters and numbers as distractors. The Letter Cancellation task involved an array o f letters only, and the task was to cross out all the Es and Rs. Participants were asked to perform both tasks as quickly as possible without missing out any target items, and they were timed until they indicated they had finished.

7.1.2.3.3 Inhibition and strategy generation

Inhibition o f a prepotent response is related to attention and set-shifting in that it also reflects flexibility o f behaviour. The ability to generate and use strategies appropriately can aid problem-solving performance. Impairments in these related skills would be expected to lead to difficulties in generating ideas in real-life problem-solving. Therefore, in the Predicaments task, it would be predicted that the strongest relationships with these tests would be with the solution fluency measures, when participants were asked to generate as many solutions as they could.

Two measures were included measuring aspects o f inhibition and strategy generation. Letter Fluency (Thurstone & Thurstone, 1962), and the Hayling Test (Burgess & Shallice, 1996a). The version o f the Letter Fluency task that was administered required participants to write down as many words as they could beginning with the letter ‘S ’. They were allowed five minutes to do this, but had to obey rules, such that they were not allowed to score for names o f people or places,

numbers or days o f the week, or more than one word from the same root. The Hayling test consists o f two parts, which both involve the verbal presentation o f fifteen sentences which have the last word missing. In part A, participants are asked to complete the sentence with a sensible completion as quickly as they can. In the second part o f the task, participants have to complete the sentences with words that made no sense in the context o f the sentence. This therefore involves inhibition o f prepotent, sensible completion words. Burgess and Shallice argued that the time taken on part A reflected initiation, while successful performance on part B often involved the effective use o f strategies. The time taken to complete each task was measured, and error scores were given for any sensible completions in part B.

7.1.2.3.4 Multitasking

Multitasking performance has been related to planning and decision-making processes (e.g. Burgess 2000a; Burgess et al, 1998). Performance on measures of multitasking would therefore be expected to relate to decision-making in real-life- type problem-solving, including the selection o f optimal and personal solutions, and Judgement o f Alternatives in the Predicaments test.

The modified Six Elements Test from the BADS battery was administered (Wilson et al, 1996). In this test participants are presented with three different types o f tasks, all o f which have two parts. Their instructions are to complete something from all subtasks within ten minutes, but without ever attempting two parts o f the same task consecutively. They are awarded a ‘profile score’ out o f four to reflect how many tasks they attempted, with deductions for rule breaks.

7.1.2.3.5 Strategic encoding/retrieval

In terms o f real-life problem-solving, strategic encoding and retrieval might be expected to be related to the generation o f problem-solving ideas, since one method o f achieving this would be to search memory for experience o f similar situations, in order to evaluate what courses of action were taken. In addition, retrieving information about how successful previous strategies were might contribute to the adequate selection o f appropriate actions.

The Story Recall Test from the Adult Memory and Information Processing Battery was administered (Coughlan & Hollows, 1985). A prose passage was read to participants, and they were then asked to recall as much o f it as they could (Immediate recall). After a thirty minute delay, they were asked again to recall as much o f the story as possible (Delayed recall).

7.1.2.3.6 Dysexecutive Questionnaire

In addition, participants filled out the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) from the BADS (Wilson et al, 1996), and they were also asked to obtain a rating from a relative or friend who knew them well. Two o f the participants within the focal lesion groups gained ratings from professional staff (one occupational therapist, one care worker), in the absence o f an appropriate family member. This questionnaire was intended to give some information about everyday life dysexecutive problems including emotion and personality, motivation, behaviour and cognition. Thus, scores on this measure may give some reflection o f the difficulties participants have in their daily lives, including in their interpersonal relationships. Therefore, although DEX scores might be related to all aspects o f real-life problem-solving in the Predicaments test, they may be expected to be most strongly related to participants’ ability to appreciate the important details o f the problem, and select socially appropriate solutions.

7.1.3 RESULTS