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Toulouse and Piéron Cancelation Test

Original version

Toulouse, E. & Piéron, H. (1904). Technique de Psychologie Experimentale: Examen des Sujets. Paris Octave Doin, Editeur.

Portuguese version

do Amaral, J. R. (1967). O teste de barragem de Tolouse e Piéron (na medição e diagnóstico da atenção): Elementos de aferição para a população portuguesa [The Tolouse and Piéron cancellation test (in measuring and diagnosing attention): Measurement elements for the Portuguese population]. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.

Theoretical background

The Toulouse and Piéron Cancellation Test (Toulouse & Piéron, 1904) allows the assessment of selective and sustained attention, as well as processing speed, fatigue resistance and visual-perceptive ability. Considering the normative data available for the Portuguese population, this test can be administered to children and adolescents aged between 10 and 15 years in the context of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery of Coimbra (BANC; Simões et al., 2016a, 2016b), children and adolescents aged between 10 and 17 years, adults between 18 and 50 years (men) and 18-40 years (women) (Amaral, 1967), adults and elderly in the community, aged between 45 and 85 years old (Lima et al., 2020), as well as patients with neurological pathology, namely, Mild Cognitive Deficit and Alzheimer's Disease (Lima et al., 2019) and also Epilepsy (18-45 years old) (Baeta, 2002; Lima and collaborators, 2018).

The subject must identify the three target squares in a blank sheet of paper with twenty-five lines and forty squares per line.

Description

Assessment Domain: Selective and sustained attention, processing speed, fatigue resistance, visual-perceptive ability.

Type of Instrument: Performance task.

Population: ≥ 10 years old (children, adolescents; see BANC, Simões et al., 2016a), adults, and elderly.

Dimensions

The TP presents three main outcomes:

  1. The Work Efficiency (WE) is determined by a mathematical formula that includes the total number of hits (items correctly selected, each 1 point), the total number of errors (items wrongly selected – false positives) and the total number of omissions (not selecting the target symbol – false negatives), and it’s calculated by: WE = H - (E+O). It is a measure of the subject’s work quality;

  2. The Dispersion Index (DI), corresponding to the percentage of mistakes committed during the test, allows to understand if the results obtained on the WE were influenced by a response pattern of impulsivity (errors) or inattention (omissions). This index is calculated by: DI =

  3. The total score (maximum 37.5 points) is calculated by: The higher the total scores, the better the subjects’ performance.

References

  1. Baeta, E. (2002). Bateria para avaliação neuropsicológica de adultos com epilepsia [Battery for neuropsychological assessment of adults with epilepsy]. Psicologia, 16(1), 79–96. https://doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v16i1.470
  2. do Amaral, J. R. (1967). O teste de barragem de Tolouse e Piéron (na medição e diagnóstico da atenção): Elementos de aferição para a população portuguesa [The Tolouse and Piéron cancellation test (in measuring and diagnosing attention): Measurement elements for the Portuguese population]. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
  3. Lima, M. (2018). Toulouse-Piéron Cancellation Test: Validation and normalization studies in cognitive decline. Master Dissertation in Psychology, specialization area in Clinical and Health Psychology/Clinical Psychogerontology. Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação, Universidade de Coimbra.
  4. Lima, M., Baeta, E., Duro, D., Tábuas-Pereira, M., Valério, D., Freitas, S., Simões, M. R., & Santana, I. (2021). Toulouse-Piéron Cancellation Test: Normative scores for the Portuguese population. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult. https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2021.1918694
  5. Lima, M., Baeta, É., Lemos, R., Duro, D., Simões, M. R., & Santana, I. (2018) Toulouse-Piéron as a measure of attention in Epilepsy. Poster presented at the 10th congress: AIDAP/AIDEP: Diagnóstico e Avaliação Psicológica, Coimbra, Portugal.
  6. Lima, M., Duro, D., Freitas, S., Simões, M. R., & Santana, I. (2019). Validation study of the Toulouse-Piéron Cancellation Test for Portuguese patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Sinapse, 19(1-2), 26-35.
  7. Simões, M. R., Albuquerque, C. P., Pinho, M. S., Vilar, M., Pereira, M., Lopes, A. F., Seabra-Santos, M. J., Alberto, I., Lopes, C., Martins, C., & Moura, O. (2016a). Bateria de Avaliação Neuropsicológica de Coimbra (BANC): Manual de administração e cotação [Coimbra Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (BANC): Administration and scoring manual]. Cegoc. (see Cancellation Test, 3 signals, children and adolescents: 10-15 years).
  8. Simões, M. R., Albuquerque, C. P., Pinho, M. S., Vilar, M., Pereira, M., Lopes, A. F., Seabra-Santos, M. J., Alberto, I., Lopes, C., Martins, C., & Moura, O. (2016b). Bateria de Avaliação Neuropsicológica de Coimbra (BANC): Manual Técnico [Coimbra Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (BANC): Technical manual]. Cegoc. (see Cancellation Test, 3 signals, children and adolescents: 10-15 years).
  9. Toulouse, E. & Piéron, H. (1904). Technique de Psychologie Experimentale: Examen des Sujets. Paris Octave Doin, Editeur.