Executive Functioning: A Comparison of the Tower of London^DXand the D-KEFS Tower Test

Abstract

This study compared the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Tower Test to the Tower of London (TOL)(DX) in assessing executive functioning (EF) during a psycho-educational assessment by examining students' performances on both tests. Forty-two university students were administered both tests in a counterbalanced order. Findings indicate that students did not perform significantly differently on the D-KEFS Tower Test than on the TOL(DX), but that the tests only shared 22% of their variance. Although the moderate correlation found between overall achievement scores indicates that the D-KEFS Tower Test assesses some similar EF abilities as the TOL(DX), the different problem spaces between these tests may be tapping into different constructs and may account for the non-shared variance.

The link between maternal and child verbal abilities: An indirect effect through maternal responsiveness

“…The examinee is then asked to move the disks with the least amount of moves in order to reproduce the ending position while being timed and following specific rules. The total achievement score was used in the current study as an indicator of spatial planning (Larochette et al, ); (c) Inhibition . The D‐KEFS CWIT includes four timed conditions (Delis et al, ).…”

“…To this end, we performed a secondary analysis in which we tested our proposed indirect effect (maternal verbal abilities → responsiveness → child verbal abilities) after inclusion of a simultaneous indirect effect from maternal EF to child language through maternal responsiveness (maternal EF → responsiveness → child verbal abilities). We do this using three separate measures that are considered robust indicators of EF: cognitive flexibility, spatial planning and inhibition (Larochette, Benn, & Harrison, ; Lippa & Davis, ; Rhodes, ). This secondary analysis allowed us to examine the evidence for a significant indirect effect involving maternal verbal abilities beyond anything that EF might contribute to.…”

Use of the Tower of London – Drexel University, Second Edition (TOLDX) in Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury

“…They have some similarities, in that all involve a multi-step transport problem. However, studies have found that subtle alterations in the test design and instructions can lead to significantly different performance (Larochette, Benn, & Harrison, 2009;MataixCols & Bartre´s-Faz, 2009;McKinlay et al, 2009). Moreover, many variants have been validated in research samples but do not have large normative samples or other elements of standardization required to make them clinically utilizable.…”

Behaviour planning and problem solving deficiencies in children with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from the Balobedu culture, Limpopo province, South Africa

“…The poorer performance of the two ADHD presentations was not unexpected. Several studies have reported that children with ADHD scored significantly lower on tests that measure frontal lobe functioning, especially planning, problem solving, mental flexibility and spatial working memory than their matched peers (Chiang, Huang, Shur-Fen Gau, & Shang, 2013;Culbertson & Zillmer, 1998;Hughes, 1998;Klorman et al, 1999;Larochette, Benn, & Harrison, 2009;Macallister et al, 2012;Nigg, Blaskey, Huang-Pollock, & Rappley, 2002;Solanto et al, 2007;Tripp et al, 2002). However, Houghton et al (1999) did not find that the ToL discriminated between children with and without ADHD.…”