Date of Award

Summer 8-1-2006

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Liz O'Laughlin

Second Advisor

Michael J. Murphy

Third Advisor

Virgil Sheets

Abstract

Computerized testing has emerged as an important assessment tool for clinicians. In particular, continuous performance tests (CPTs) have become popular measures to assess sustained attention; yet research regarding the clinical usefulness of CPTs appears mixed. This paper will review research literature on CPTs published in peer-reviewed journals/periodicals between 1980 and 2004. A range of descriptive data will be gathered and summarized from the articles including history and present uses of CPTs and psychometric information on various versions of commercially available CPTs. This information will be used to present a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of CPTs as well as an overview of the clinical usefulness of CPTs (i.e., sensitivity, specificity), as indicated by the current body of literature.

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