Executive Skill How the skill may appear in testing situations Tests/subtests that may capture this skill a,b Where it might be seen on a behavior rating scale b How it might look in school or in the home c Response inhibition Answers questions without thinking. Gives up quickly on challenging tasks. Gives a quick answer and then changes it. Answers question before it s been asked. Tries to begin task without listening to all the instructions. Conners Continuous Performance Test-II Response Speed Commission Errors Perseverations Inhibition Statue Auditory Response Set Delis-Kaplan Trailmaking Color Word Interference Tower 20 Questions BRIEF Inhibit Scale ADHD Rating Scale Hyperactive/Impulsive subscale Connors Rating Scale, Hyperactivity/Impulsivity subscale Teacher Report Form (Achenbach Scales) Hyperactive/Impulsive subscale Talks without raising hand. Interrupts. Talks back. Makes insensitive comments. Has difficulty waiting turn. Has physical contact with peers or siblings. Can t wait while a parent is on the phone. KABC-II Riddles Stroop Color Word Test Test of Everyday Attention Working memory Asks to have questions or instructions repeated. Remembers the last piece of information but loses information that came early in a sequence (or remembers what came early and loses the information at the end). Pauses while working and needs to be prompted to get back to work. Digit Span (especially Digits Backwards) Number-Letter Memory Arithmetic Matrix Reasoning (later items) Word List Interference Geometric Puzzles WRAML2 Verbal Working Memory BRIEF Working Memory Scale (look at specific items) Brown ADD Scales Memory Cluster Forgets assignments or parts of assignments. Forgets to bring materials to or from school. Forgets to hand in homework. Loses or misplaces belongings (school books, assignment book, sports equipment, etc.). Forgets classroom procedures. Forgets to do chores.
Symbolic Working Memory KABC-II Rover (remembering all the rules) Block Counting Word Order (especially the interference items) Forgets part or all of verbal directions for tasks or chores. WJ-III Numbers Reversed Analysis-Synthesis D-KEFS Sorting DAS Recall of Designs Matrix Reasoning CMS Dot Location Sequences Test of Everyday Attention Emotional control Becomes visibly upset or easily frustrated when tasks or items become challenging. Displays a range of emotions during testing (silliness, anxiety, discouragement, etc.). Won t admit he or she doesn t know the answer to a question (waits for examiner to prompt or go on to next question). May make negative statements while working We know of no formal tests or subtests designed to assess emotional control directly. BRIEF Emotional Control Scale Brown ADD Scales Affect Cluster Achenbach Scales Internalizing and Externalizing Problems, as well as individual scales BASC-II Internalizing and Externalizing Problems, as well as individual scales Has frequent tantrums. Overreacts to small problems Has frequent mood changes. Becomes overly anxious. Temper flares quickly. Slow to recover from disappointments.
(e.g., This is tricky, I don t think I can do this ). Sustained attention Rushes through or gives up quickly on tedious tasks. Stops working when an obstacle is encountered. Asks frequently when the testing will be over. Is drawn off tasks by little distractions. Irrelevant talking in the middle of working on a subtest. Scores on subtests requiring working memory are comparatively lower than scores on other subtests or indexes (e.g., Working Memory Index of or Sequential Index of KABC-II). Auditory Attention Auditory Response Set Coding BRIEF Working Memory Scale (look at specific items) Brown ADD Scales Attention Cluster, Effort Cluster Fails to complete work or chores on time. Stops before work is finished. Switches frequently between activities, including play activities. Has difficulty listening to stories read aloud. Distracted by things happening around him/her when doing seatwork/homework. Auditory Continuous Performance Test Test of Everyday Attention Letter-cancellation tasks such as the Mesulam Tests of Directed Attention Conners Continuous Performance Test Omission errors Variability Hit RT Block Change Hit RT ISI Change Task initiation Weaknesses with this skill are difficult to assess in a formal way since the evaluator is present to make sure student starts on time. See comments at left. BRIEF Initiate Scale Brown ADD Scales Activation Scale Needs reminders to get started on classwork, homework, or chores. When one task is completed, slow to start another one.
Problems with task initiation may be seen on open-ended writing tasks, but this may reflect problems with flexibility or metacognition rather than task initiation. Waits for someone else to begin in group activities. Needs cues to begin over-learned routines. Planning/ prioritization The planning required on virtually any standardized measure is very different from the planning skills parents and teachers expect from students. You can catch glimpses of it when you see a child use a systematic strategy to complete a task (such as working block-by-block on the Block Design subtest or beginning with configuration lines on the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure). Students who do well on tests purported to measure planning cannot be assumed to have good planning skills for real life tasks. Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Porteus Mazes D-KEFS Tower Test Clocks Block Design KABC-II Rover Triangles Pattern Reasoning Story Completion CAS Matching Numbers Planned Codes Planned Connections WJ-III Planning BRIEF Planning/Organization Scale (look at specific items) Has difficulty carrying out a long-term project, deciding what needs to happen first, second, etc. Can t make and follow a timeline for project completion. Doesn t offer useful suggestions for how to complete a task when working on a group project. Can t organize a group game at recess or with friends at home. Can t complete tasks in the order of priority or importance. Can t take notes in lectures that focus on the most important information. DAS Recall of Designs VMI Bender Gestalt Test Organization As with planning, the organizational skills required on any standardized measure See list of subtests for Planning above. BRIEF Planning/Organization Scale (see individual items) and Has messy desk.
is very different from the organizational skills parents and teachers expect from students. the Organization of Materials Scale Has messy notebooks, backpacks, etc. Can t find belongings when asked. Can t produce an organized piece of writing. Time management This, too, is a skill that is difficult to tap in formal assessments. It may show up, in a constricted form, when youngsters are given timed tasks, since they are required to adjust their response speed to fit task instructions. Any time tasks, such as the Coding and Symbol Search subtests or the Fluency or Processing Speed subtests of the WJ- III. We know of no rating scales for children and youth that assess time management per se. Has difficulty completing tasks on time. Misses deadlines for assignments. Has difficulty estimating how long it takes to do something. Can t adjust schedule to fit in new tasks, special events. Can t complete routines consistently on time. Goal-directed persistence Stops working on tasks when they become difficult. Doesn t say thing likes, I m going to get this one! while working. This skill is most evident on tasks that require problem solving and when the problem is a challenging one. Puzzle tasks, such as Block Design and Triangles, as well as multistep tasks, such as more complex math word problems may be good places to look for evidence of this skill. We know of no rating scales for children and youth that assess this skill. The GEC (Global Executive Composite) and the two Index scores of the BRIEF may capture this skill to some extent. Doesn t stick with challenging tasks. Doesn t return to a task if interrupted. Can t sustain attention well to tasks that are intrinsically interesting. Flexibility Unable to generate multiple answers to questions. Adjusts slowly to tasks when the instructions Picture Concepts Comprehension (questions eliciting multiple responses) BRIEF Shift Scale Easily upset by changes in plans, disruptions in routines, etc.
change as the task goes along Can t figure out a new approach to completing a task when the first approach doesn t work Matrix Reasoning Animal Sorting Word Generation Design Fluency DAS Matrix Reasoning DKEFS Sorting Trailmaking Verbal Fluency Design Fluency Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Struggles with openended tasks. Doesn t try multiple approaches to solving problems. Excessively rulebound. Metacognition Shows no evidence of thinking through problems either knows an answer or doesn t. May not realize he or she doesn t understand directions for tasks. Not aware that more than one strategy may be necessary. Doesn t check work. D-KEFS Sorting 20 Questions Word Context Proverb Test of Problem Solving (both elementary and secondary school versions) Problems with this skill are more likely to be evident on more complex problem solving subtests, such as puzzle tasks, multistep math word problems. BRIEF Monitor Scale Asks for help rather than trying to solve a problem on his or her own. Doesn t notice how others react to his or her behavior. Doesn t like tasks or games that involve problem solving. FIGURE 2.3. Assessment chart. Be very careful when interpreting performance on formal tests. Just because a child does well in a structured, formal evaluation does not mean the child displays the same skill level in typical classroom or home situations. Furthermore, subtests tap into a number of skills, so it is not always clear that the child has succeeded or failed on the basis of the presence or absence of a specific executive skill. b This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of tests or checklists. It includes the ones we are most familiar with or that are designed specifically for the purpose of assessing the particular executive skill identified. c The behaviors in this column will be more or less developed depending on the age of the child. For a fuller description of what skill level is expected at different ages, see Smart but Scattered (Dawson & Guare, 2009).