2.3.1 Behavioural Assessment of Dvsexecutive Syndrome ( BADS)
Purpose
This assessment aims to measure Dysexecutive syndrome previously described as frontal lobe syndrome. It is designed to pick up the characteristic deficits within this syndrome. The battery has six test components and a questionnaire. In this study we have chosen three items from the battery and the questionnaire.
Items
The three items used in this study are Rule Shift Cards Test, Key Search Test and Modified Six Elements. The questionnaire will be discussed later.
Description
The Rule Shift Card Test examines the pariciapant’s ability to respond correctly to a rule and to shift from one rule to another. In the first part of this test the participant is asked to look at a set o f 21 pictures o f playing cards and respond ‘Yes’ to a red card and ‘No’ to a black card. Time taken and the number o f errors are recorded. In the second part of the assessment the participant is asked to respond to a different rule, participants are asked to respond ‘Yes’ if the card that has been just turned over is the same colour as the previously turned card and ‘No’ if it is a different colour. In both conditions the rule is placed in front o f the subject in large print. The test is designed to measure the ability to shift from one rule to another and to keep track o f the colour o f the previous card and the current rule.
The Key Search Test requires the participant to imagine that they have lost their keys in a field which is represented by a square on a piece o f paper. They are then asked to draw a
line, starting from a black dot outside the square, to demonstrate where they would search the field to be certain that they would find their keys no matter where they were.
This task is designed to examine the participant’s ability to plan an effective and efficient course o f action. The tester can also look at the participant’s ability to monitor their own performance. The scoring o f the strategy used relates to the efficacy o f the search.
Modified Six Elements Test This is a simplified version o f the original ShaJlice and Burgess (1991) test. It involves the participant being given instructions to follow. There are three tasks, dictation, arithmetic and picture naming. Each task is divided into parts A and B. Thus there are six separate tasks in total. The particiapnt is required to attempt something from each o f the six tasks within 10 minutes. The participant is told that there is a rule, that is that they are not able to do two parts o f the same task consecutively. This assessment is described as making demands on an individuals ability to plan, organise and monitor behaviour.
Scoring.
In each task the score is scaled to yield a profile score o f between 0-4. In the Rule Shift Cards assessment, the number o f errors in task two is measured. In the Key Search assessment the task is broken down into its strategic components and the participant is awarded marks for efficacy each component, for example using a predetermined pattern, where the search finishes, likelihood o f finding the keys and attempting to cover all ground. In the Six Elements task the marker records how many o f the tasks were attempted and how many times rules were broken. A mark is deducted if the participant spends more than 271 seconds on one task.
2.3.2 Poisoned foods.
Purpose
This is a deductive reasoning task first designed by Arenberg (1968).
Items
In this study we initially gave the participants two sample problems followed by twelve different sets o f meals (3-5), each meal containing four foods.
Description
In the original study the task was to decide which o f nine foods had been poisoned, this has been replicated in the present study. The participant was given a set o f meals that people had eaten and information on whether they had lived or died. If the person lived then poisoned food could not have been included in the meal and if they died one o f the foods they had eaten was poisioned.
Scoring
The participants response and response time was recorded.
2.3.3 Trail-making
Purpose
The original test was standardized on 200 subjects with past or present brain damage and 80 controls. It is designed to measure how well the participant can switch from one set to another.
Items
In this assessment the participant is asked to first follow a trail o f numbers ( 0-25) with a pencil and secondly follow a trail o f numbers and letters, alternating between each so, 1, A, 2, B continuing up to 13.
Description.
The two tasks are preceded by a short practice trail with 8 items. The participants are instructed to complete the task as quickly and as accurately as they can. Errors are pointed out to the participant who must then correct them and continue. The two conditions are matched on number o f items, but in the second task the participant has to alternate between letters and numbers.
Scoring
Completion time is recorded for each task. The Time taken on task A can be divided by taken on task B to estimate how efficiently the participant can alternate from letters to numbers.