Biowill has released the network edition of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test software (WCST). It was developed with the support of psychology and psychiatry specialists and validated over more than a year of system testing with large numbers of subjects. The network edition places no limit on the number of client stations: every computer on the same local area network can run the software at the same time, and it can also be used on phones and tablets.
What the test measures
The WCST is a single neuropsychological measure, first used by Berg in 1948 to examine abstract thinking in normal subjects and now one of the few tests sensitive to localised frontal lobe damage, particularly to dorsolateral lesions. It examines the ability to classify and generalise from previous experience, to hold information in working memory and to shift cognitive set.
Administration and scoring
Four stimulus cards and 128 response cards are presented. The sorting principle changes from colour to shape to number, with ten correct cards required on each principle, and the test ends after six completed categories or after all 128 cards have been used. Twenty indices are reported, covering total, correct and error responses with their percentages, perseverative responses and errors, conceptual level responses, categories completed and thinking times.
Records
Subject records are stored in quantity and can be exported to Excel, while results can be exported to a text file for editing and printing. Stimulus and response cards are never given the same design, which removes an avoidable source of interference.