Ca. Riccio et al., EXECUTIVE FUNCTION AND THE WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TEST - RELATIONSHIPWITH BEHAVIORAL RATINGS AND COGNITIVE-ABILITY, Developmental neuropsychology, 10(3), 1994, pp. 215-229
The frontal lobes are thought to be responsible for executive function
s, behavioral regulation, and social discourse. It has been proposed t
hat frontal lobe dysfunction may be responsible for many deficits obse
rved in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The most widely accepted measure of executive function in adults is t
he Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST; Heaton, 1981). The WCST has been
interpreted as a measure of frontal lobe functioning in children as w
ell. Although a number of studies have lent support to the involvement
of the frontal lobes in developmental behavior disorders, results hav
e not been consistently replicated using the WCST and other measures.
Further, the sensitivity and specificity of the WCST as a measure of f
rontal lobe dysfunction has not been consistently demonstrated. The pu
rpose of this study was to explore the relationship between performanc
e on the WCST and behavioral measures commonly employed in the diagnos
is of developmental behavior disorders as well as cognitive ability. R
esults indicate that performance on the WCST correlates with different
behavioral symptomatology depending on age. Similarly, correlation wi
th cognitive ability varied with age. Notably, results of the WCST wer
e not found to correlate with attention for any of the age groups stud
ied.