Wisconsin Card Sorting in adolescents: analysis of performance, response times and heart rate

• Published in: Acta psychologica Vol. 104; no. 2; pp. 227 - 257
• Main Authors: Somsen, Riek J.M., Van der Molen, Maurits W., Richard Jennings, J., van Beek, Bert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.05.2000; Martinus Nijhoff
• Subjects: Adolescent; Analysis of Variance; Attention - physiology; Child; Cognition - physiology; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Feedback inspection time; Female; Frontal lobe function; Heart Rate; Heart rate responses; Humans; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; Normal adolescents; Psychology, Adolescent; Reaction Time; Stimulus–response time; Supervisory attention; Task Performance and Analysis; WCST PCA analysis; Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; 2820; Feedback inspection time; Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; WCST PCA analysis; 2520; Heart rate responses; Stimulus–response time; 2560; Frontal lobe function; Normal adolescents; Supervisory attention
• ISSN: 0001-6918; 1873-6297
• DOI: 10.1016/S0001-6918(00)00030-5

Forty-nine adolescents performed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). A main PCA component of WCST performance was identified as ‘efficiency of reasoning’. This factor was related to feedback processing. From the WCST, a perseveration score can be derived. Perseveration is the continued application of a rule, after it has been disconfirmed. We compared more and less perseverating subjects in relation to stimulus–response (SR) time, feedback inspection time and cardiac acceleration and deceleration. Less perseverating subjects responded faster, and had longer and more adaptive inspection times of error feedback. We examined the switch from rule application to rule search, and the difference between correct and error responses. A transient cardiac deceleration at the initiation of rule search was interpreted as a change in supervisory attention. An error-related deceleration to negative feedback was interpreted as a disturbance of higher control processing. Previous trial feedback influenced current processing time, feedback inspection time, and the cardiac acceleration and deceleration responses.