WCST

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WCST

Basic Characteristics

• Description

The Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST) is a neuropsychological test of set-shifting. Set shifting requires an ability to display flexibility in the face of changing schedules of reinforcement. A number of cards are presented with shapes on them which vary by color, quantity, and design. The task requires participants to match 128 cards to one of 4 target cards.The administrator of the test decides if the cards are to be matched by color, design, or quantity. Participants are given a stack of additional cards and are asked to match each card to one of the stimulus cards forming separate piles for each. Throughout the test the participant is not told how to match the card, but they are told if a certain match is right or wrong. During the test the rules of matching change after a certain number of consecutive correct matches. Rules are changed without informing the participant The time taken to learn the new rules as well as the mistakes made during the learning process are looked at to determine a score. The original version of this test was administration by paper cards however computerized versions of the test are now available. The WCST takes approximately 12-20 minutes to complete. The WCST can be used in assessing for schizophrenia as well as frontal lobe dysfunction. Success on this test requires the ability to shift and maintain cognitive sets. The number of categories completed, total errors, nonperseverative errors, perseverative errors, perseverative responses and percent perseverative errors are all recorded.

• History

• References

Related Information

• Cognitive construct associated with this task (vote for your favorite, or nominate a new construct label by editing this page):

working memory 1,2,3

error handling 1,2,3 ** each article refers to this term with slightly different phraseology, but the phenomenon referred to is the same in each case.

attention 1

cognitive control 1

set-shifting 1,2

executive function 2

• Indicators (dependent variables, conditions, or contrasts; measurement variables used for analysis) associated with this task (vote or nominate by editing this page):

• Closely related pages (vote or nominate related pages by editing this page):

• CNP Level : Cognitive

External Resources

• Links out:
  • Google: WCST
  • Wikipedia: WCST
  • PubBrain: WCST
  • PubMed: WCST
  • -ucla cognitive atlas- (coming soon!)

• Database links
  • Phenowiki Papers For WCST

Task Details

• Task Structure (please given an overview of the task procedures here [i.e., overall design, block, trial, and within-trial event structure and timing])
  • procedure
    • block:
    • trial: 128 trials (or until rule has been accomplished)
• Stimulus Characteristics
  • sensory modality (e.g., visual, auditory, somatosensory, gustatory, olfactory): visual
  • functional modality (e.g., linguistic, spatial, numerical, categorical): categorical
  • presentation modality (e.g., human examiner, paper, computer display, headphones, speaker): human examiner or computer display
• Response Characteristics
  • response required -
    • effector modality (e.g., vocal, manual, pedal): manual
    • functional modality (e.g., words, drawing, writing, keypress, movement): movement or keypress
  • response options (e.g., yes/no, go/no-go, forced choice, multiple choice [specify n of options], free response)-
  • response collection (e.g., examiner notes, keyboard, keypad, mouse, voice key, button press)- examiner notes, keyboard or mouse for computerized version
• Assessment/Control Characteristics
  • timing- approximately 12-20 minutes to complete
    • monthly cycle dependent??
    • circadian dependent??
  • control assessment
    • 5 senses??

References

1. >Chuh-Hyoun Liea, Karsten Specht, John C. Marshall and Gereon R. Fink. Using fMRI to decompose the neural processes underlying the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. NeuroImage; Volume 30, Issue 3, 15 April 2006, Pages 1038-1049. PMID: 16414280

2. f>Oury Monchi, Michael Petrides, Valentina Petre, Keith Worsley, and Alain Dagher. Wisconsin Card Sorting Revisited: Distinct Neural Circuits Participating in Different Stages of the Task Identified by Event-Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The Journal of Neuroscience, October 1, 2001, 21(19):7733-7741. PMID: 11567063.

3. Herrero MT, Barcia C, Navarro JM. Functional anatomy of thalamus and basal ganglia. Childs Nerv Syst. 2002 Aug;18(8):386-404. Epub 2002 Jul 26. PMID: 12192499