ABSTRACT
The Trail Making Test (TMT; Reitan, 1955) is one of the most often used tasks of neuropsychological functioning. Survey studies consistently report TMT as one of the favored tasks for evaluation of executive functioning (e.g., Butler, Retzlaff, & Vanderploeg, 1991). The more difficult TMT-B requires cognitive set shifting, working memory, visual scanning, and motor skills. In its primary form, TMT is a strong indicator of brain dysfunction (e.g., Alekoumbidies, Charter, Adkins, & Seacat, 1987; Dodrill, 1978; O'Donnell, 1983) and one of the most sensitive to brain dysfunction in the Halstead Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery (Reitan & Wolfson, 1985). TMT is sensitive to recovery of function in individuals evaluated longitudinally (Stuss, Stethem, Hughenholtz, & Richard, 1989). Finally, the measure has demonstrated predictive validity in vocational outcome in brain-injured individuals (Lewinsohn, 1973). The set-shifting aspect of TMT-B is assumed to tap executive functioning abilities, commonly considered to be mediated by anterior portions of the brain. Thus, patients who perform poorly on other measures of executive functioning typically also perform poorly on TMT-B (Jarvis & Barth, 1994).
