title: Executive function on the Psychology Experiment Building Language tests.
abstract: The measurement of executive function has a long history in clinical and experimental neuropsychology. The goal of the present report was to determine the profile of behavior across the lifespan on four computerized measures of executive function contained in the recently developed Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL) test battery                             http://pebl.sourceforge.net/                                                      and evaluate whether this pattern is comparable to data previously obtained with the non-PEBL versions of these tests. Participants (N = 1,223; ages, 5-89 years) completed the PEBL Trail Making Test (pTMT), the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (pWCST; Berg, Journal of General Psychology, 39, 15-22, 1948; Grant & Berg, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38, 404-411, 1948), the Tower of London (pToL), or a time estimation task (Time-Wall). Age-related effects were found over all four tests, especially as age increased from young childhood through adulthood. For several tests and measures (including pToL and pTMT), age-related slowing was found as age increased in adulthood. Together, these findings indicate that the PEBL tests provide valid and versatile new research tools for measuring executive functions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA. piperb@ohsu.edu
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Piper
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Massarra A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Eiwaz
authors.forename: Yuliyana V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Kobel
authors.forename: Ted S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Benice
authors.forename: Alex M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Reid H J
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Olsen
authors.forename: Douglas Z
authors.initials: DZ
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: Hilary M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Shane T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raber
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time