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.)