Abstract

The Color Trails Test (“CTT”) is among the most popular neuropsychological assessment tests of executive function, targeting sustained visual attention (Trails A), and divided attention (Trails B). During the pen-and-paper (P&P) test, the participant traces 25 consecutive numbered targets marked on a page, and the completion time is recorded. In many cases, multiple assessments are performed on the same individual, either under varying experimental conditions or at several timepoints. However, repeated testing often results in learning and fatigue effects, which confound test outcomes. To mitigate these effects, we set the grounds for developing shorter versions of the CTT (<25 targets), using virtual reality (VR) based CTT (VR-CTT). Our aim was to discover the minimal set of targets that is sufficient for maintaining concurrent validity with the CTT including differentiation between age groups, and the difference between Trails A and B. To this aim, healthy participants in three age groups (total N = 165; young, middle-aged, or older adults) performed both the P&P CTT, and one type of VR-CTT (immersive head-mounted-device VR, large-scale 3D VR, or tablet). A subset of 13 targets was highly correlated with overall task completion times in all age groups and platforms (r > 0.8). We tested construct validity and found that the shortened-CTT preserved differences between Trails A and B (p < 0.001), showed concurrent validity relative to the P&P scores (r > 0.5; p < 0.05), and differentiated between age groups (p < 0.05). These findings open the possibility for shortened “CTT-versions”, to be used in repeated-measures experiments or longitudinal studies, with potential implications for shortening neurocognitive assessment protocols.

摘要

颜色轨迹测试（“CTT”）是最流行的执行功能神经心理学评估测试之一，针对持续的视觉注意力（轨迹 A）和分散注意力（轨迹 B）。在笔和纸 (P&P) 测试期间，参与者追踪标记在页面上的 25 个连续编号的目标，并记录完成时间。在许多情况下，在不同的实验条件下或在几个时间点对同一个人进行多次评估。然而，重复测试通常会导致学习和疲劳效应，从而混淆测试结果。为了减轻这些影响，我们使用基于虚拟现实 (VR) 的 CTT (VR-CTT) 为开发较短版本的 CTT（<25 个目标）奠定了基础。N  = 165; 年轻人、中年人或老年人）同时执行 P&P CTT 和一种 VR-CTT（沉浸式头戴式设备 VR、大型 3D VR 或平板电脑）。13 个目标的一个子集与所有年龄组和平台的总体任务完成时间高度相关 ( r  > 0.8)。我们测试了结构效度，发现缩短的 CTT 保留了路径 A 和 B 之间的差异（p  < 0.001），显示相对于 P&P 分数的同时效度（r  > 0.5；p  < 0.05），并且在年龄组之间存在差异（p < 0.05)。这些发现为缩短“CTT 版本”提供了可能性，可用于重复测量实验或纵向研究，对缩短神经认知评估方案具有潜在意义。