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WCST®

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test®

David A. Grant, PhD and Esta A. Berg, PhD; Professional Manual by Robert K. Heaton, PhD, Gordon J. Chelune, PhD, Jack L. Talley, PhD, Gary G. Kay, PhD, and Glenn Curtiss, PhD

Purpose:
Assesses perseveration and abstract reasoning
Format:
Paper and pencil
Age range:
6 years, 5 months to 89 years
Time:
20-30 minutes
Qualification level:
C
C
All qualifications for Level B plus an advanced professional degree that provides appropriate training in the administration and interpretation of psychological tests, or license or certification from an agency that requires appropriate training and experience in the ethical and competent use of psychological tests. Close

Assess Perseveration and Abstract Thinking

 

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.
  • Administration and scoring for the WCST and WCST-64 are available on PARiConnect. Choose the 64- or 128-card version, or decide after administration!
  • Learn how to administer the WCST remotely in our white paper. Click the Resources tab above or here

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 is 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.