The CTMT is a standardized set of five visual search and sequencing tasks. Attention, concentration, resistance to distraction, and cognitive flexibility (or set-shifting) heavily influence performance on these tasks.

Sensitive to many neuropsychological deficits

• The CTMT can be used to detect frontal lobe deficits; problems with psychomotor speed, visual search and sequencing, and attention; and impairments in set-shifting.
• The respondent connects a series of stimuli in a specified order as quickly as possible. The score is the number of seconds used to complete each trail; a composite score is obtained by pooling the T scores from the individual trails.
• Relative to traditional trail-making tasks, the CTMT emphasizes the frontal lobe components of the task by introducing inhibition on several trails and adding a new set-shifting task.

Appropriate for younger respondents and highly reliable

• The CTMT was standardized on a nationwide sample of 1,664 persons whose demographic characteristics matched 2000 U.S. Census data. Norms were extended downward to age 8 years.
• Reliability of scores for each individual trail is high, and the composite score has a reliability coefficient of .90 or higher at all ages.
• The manual includes a description of administration and scoring procedures, a discussion of the test’s theoretical and research-based foundation, and extensive reliability and validity data.