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On testing the face validity of planning/problem-solving tasks in a normal population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1997

K. L. KAFER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
M. HUNTER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia

Abstract

Clinically, tests of executive functions tend to be chosen on face validity. If such tests are to be used to evaluate a clinical population, their ability to measure executive functions should be reliably demonstrated in a normal population. In order to investigate the reliability of such tests, a sample of 130 normal adults (74 women, 56 men) ages 17 to 55 years were administered 4 tests purporting to measure planning/problem-solving: the Tower of London Test, the Six Element Test, the Twenty Questions Test, and the Rey Complex Figure Test. A structural equation modeling approach provided by the LISREL 8 program was used to evaluate three models hypothesized to explain the relationship among the test variables and the latent construct of planning/problem-solving. An adequate model was unable to be estimated, thus raising questions about the meaning of the latent construct planning/problem-solving and the psychometric structure of the Tower of London Test. (JINS, 1997, 3, 108–119.)

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1997 The International Neuropsychological Society

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