THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES AND CLINICAL UTILITY OF A CANCELLATION TEST IN CHILDREN

This research consists of three studies designed to assess the psychom etric properties and clinical utility of a cancellation test, the Targ et Detection Test (TDT), in normal children and child psychiatric pati ents. The TDT contains six subtests that vary in the number and comple xity of target and distractor stimuli. The TDT generated age-related s cores from ages 6 through 11 years and had satisfactory test-retest re liability. Factor analysis of the six TDT subtests yielded two factors . Factor 1, which contained loadings from tests with single targets, c orrelated significantly with an objective measure of inattention and w ith teacher ratings of hyperactivity. Factor 2, which contained loadin gs from tests with trigram targets, was significantly related to measu res of academic achievement and to an objective measure of impulsivity . Finally, child psychiatric patients were found to perform significan tly worse on the TDT compared to a group of normal controls matched fo r age and socioeconomic status.