Convergence of Different Versions of the Continuous Performance Test: Clinical and Scientific Implications

Abstract

The Continuous Performance Test has been used for the last 40 years to measure sustained attention or vigilance in many different populations. Different versions of the test have been developed, but little is known about how similar these tests are, and to what extent performance on different versions of these tests overlaps. In order to examine convergence of the different versions of the CPT, three different CPTs were administered in both the Auditory and Visual Sensory Modalities. Subjects were selected from consecutive admissions to adolescent acute care units at a private psychiatric hospital (n=100). Auditory test modalities uniformly elicited poorer performance than visual tests, while each set of task demands consistently elicited differences in performance. Despite the high test-retest reliability of the individual subtests, the average correlation between tests was r=.42, with the average correlation between visual tests at r=.48 and the average correlation between the auditory tests was r=.45. The correlations within task demands across sensory modalities ranged from a low of.37 to a high of.52. Controlling for IQ did not influence the correlations to a substantial degree. These data suggest different versions of the CPT are correlated with each other at a level consistent with construct validity, but that they do not constitute alternate forms of the same test.

Using Dual Tasks to Test Immediate Transfer of Training Between Naturalistic Movements: A Proof-of-Principle Study

“…This study used an auditory task that required sustained listening attention, or “vigilance” (Aylward, Brager, & Harper, 2002; Borgaro et al, 2003; Curtindale, Laurie-Rose, Bennett-Murphy, & Hull, 2007; Erickson, Goldinger, & LaPointe, 1996; Seli, Cheyne, Barton, & Smilek, 2011). An auditory vigilance task was selected because of its ecological validity, as sustained auditory attention is often concurrent with real-world actions (Hubal, Reyes, & Newlin, 2009; Pang et al, 2005; Yantz, Johnson-Greene, Higginson, & Emmerson, 2010).…”

Reverse translation of the rodent 5C-CPT reveals that the impaired attention of people with schizophrenia is similar to scopolamine-induced deficits in mice

“…21 The CPT is the ‘gold standard' test of attention in SZ, and although numerous human CPTs exist with differing demands on differing aspects of cognition, for example, perception, working memory and/or contextual processing demands, 22 all CPTs use both target and nontarget stimuli. 23 Thus, CPTs assess a specific aspect of attention, that is, the maintenance of vigilance over time where subjects must respond to signals (target stimuli) and inhibit from responding to noise (nontarget stimuli). 24, 25 Despite the fact that CPTs are commonly used to demonstrate poorer vigilance in people with SZ throughout the session, 19, 26 there are few animal CPT paradigms available that have demonstrable translational validity.…”

“…Although human CPTs assess various aspects of attention, the necessity of inhibiting from responding to nontarget stimuli is considered a core feature of human CPTs and their assessing vigilance, 23, 30 yet this aspect is lacking in most rodent attentional tasks. Whereas the 5-CSRTT contains only stimuli to which the rodent must respond, the dSAT requires rats to determine the presence or absence of a stimulus and respond appropriately.…”

Sleep deprivation impairs performance in the 5-choice continuous performance test: Similarities between humans and mice

“…With the inclusion of non-target stimuli, CPTs measure vigilance and are the gold-standard tests of attention in psychiatric populations [19]. In the limited studies conducted on the effects of SD on CPT performance, several days of sleep restriction increased misses to target stimuli and reduced responses to non-target stimuli, thereby overall impairing vigilance and reducing responsiveness [20, 21].…”