Used primarily to assess perseveration and abstract thinking, the WCST is also considered a measure of executive function because of its reported sensitivity to frontal lobe dysfunction. As such, the WCST allows you to assess your client’s strategic planning; organized searching; and ability to utilize environmental feedback to shift cognitive sets, direct behavior toward achieving a goal, and modulate impulsive responding.

Features and benefits

• Completion of the WCST requires the ability to develop and maintain an appropriate problem-solving strategy across changing stimulus conditions in order to achieve a future goal.
• Unlike other measures of abstraction, the WCST provides objective measures of overall success and identifies particular sources of difficulty on the task (e.g., inefficient initial conceptualization, perseveration, failure to maintain a cognitive set, inefficient learning across stages of the test).
• When used with more comprehensive ability testing, the WCST is helpful in discriminating frontal from nonfrontal lesions.

Test structure

Four stimulus cards incorporate three stimulus parameters (color, form, and number). Respondents are required to sort numbered response cards according to different principles and to alter their approach during test administration. To complete the task, clients should have normal or corrected vision and hearing sufficient to adequately comprehend the instructions and to visually discriminate the stimulus parameters.

Technical information

• Raw score to normalized standard, percentile, and T-score conversions are provided.
• Normative data were derived from a sample of 899 normal children, adolescents, and adults.

Available in Spanish

All WCST materials, including the manual, have been translated into European Spanish and designed especially for Spanish-speaking clinicians and their clients. Normative data were collected primarily in Spain, with additional data collected in some Latin American countries. As a result, norms may not generalize to Spanish-speaking groups in the U.S. Certain test items and stimuli in this translation vary from the English version because of cultural and linguistic differences between the countries and their language. Learn more or order.

Training DVD also available

This informative DVD tutorial provides detailed training in the standardized WCST administration and scoring procedures developed by Dr. Robert K. Heaton. The training package is particularly helpful for individuals who are just learning to administer this multifaceted neuropsychological instrument. It is also an excellent review for experienced clinicians and psychometricians.

A comprehensive list of research articles related to the WCST is available via Mendeley, a free reference management tool. After accessing the link, you will be prompted to create an account. A white paper describing how to use this research repository can be found here. Use of this resource is encouraged to facilitate research using the WCST. Both the list and the white paper are available in the Resources tab above.