Shared cognitive processes underlying performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the Stroop Test in patients with schizophrenia: a measurement artifact?

Abstract

We explored the hypothesis that, while sensitive to different aspects of executive functioning in patients with schizophrenia, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Stroop Test also measure the same construct, namely, inhibitory control. Specifically, our goal was to confirm and extend previous findings [A. Rossi, E. Daneluzzo, P. Mattei, M. Bustini, M. Cassachia, P. Stratta, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Stroop performance in schizophrenia: a shared construct, Neurosci. Lett. 226 (1997) 87-90] by demonstrating the independence of this construct from other abilities necessary to successfully perform the tasks. More importantly, we sought to improve on this previous study by eliminating the influence of the variance of speed of responding. We examined 55 patients with schizophrenia and initially found that performance on the Stroop Color-Word condition could, indeed, be predicted only by the percentage of perseverative errors on the WCST, and not variables reflective of other cognitive skills, thus replicating and extending previous findings. Once we removed the influence of speed of responding from our measure, however, thus isolating the inhibitory process, this finding disappeared. Therefore, our findings highlight the importance of isolating the individual components of interest from complex measures before drawing conclusions regarding the cognitive processes underlying particular test performance.