RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TEST IN STUDIES OF AUTISM

Three studies were conducted with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) with autistic individuals. In Study 1, it was found that the traditional WCST is a highly reliable test for use with both autistic children and children with learning disabilities over time. In Study 2, the equivalence of the standard and computerized versions of the WCST was examined. Low-to-moderate alternate format reliability for both autistic and nonautistic samples was revealed. Study 3 dealt with group differences in performance as a function of WCST format. Although autistic children were significantly impaired relative to controls on the standard WCST, group differences on the computerized version of the test were attenuated. Autistic children tended to perform better on the computer than with the traditional format, suggesting that alternative forms of the test are not equivalent for this group. The potential contribution of social-motivational factors to this finding is discussed.