title: Latent structure of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: a confirmatory factor analytic study.
abstract: The present study represents the first large scale confirmatory factor analysis of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The results generally support the three factor solutions reported in the exploratory factor analysis literature. However, only the first factor, which reflects general executive functioning, is statistically sound. The secondary factors, while likely reflecting meaningful cognitive abilities, are less stable except when all subjects complete all 128 cards. It is likely that having two discontinuation rules for the WCST has contributed to the varied factor analytic solutions reported in the literature and early discontinuation may result in some loss of useful information. Continued multivariate research will be necessary to better clarify the processes underlying WCST performance and their relationships to one another.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA. kwgps@uno.edu
authors.forename: Kevin W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Greve
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Stickle
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Love
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Bianchini
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Stanford
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004522:Educational Status; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies