KEY INFORMATION
Author/s: Ian H. Robertson, PhD, Tony Ward, PhD, Valerie Ridgeway, PhD, Ian Nimmo-Smith, PhD
Publication year: 1994
Age Range: Adults, 18 to 80 years
Administration: 45 to 60 minutes
Scores/ Interpretation: Manual Scoring
Description:
Measure selective attention, sustained attention and attentional switching.
Product Description
The TEA has three parallel versions, is ecologically plausible and acceptable to patients. It is sensitive enough also to show normal age effects in the normal population.
The test gives a broad-based measure of the most important clinical and theoretical aspects of attention: no other test of attention exists which does this.
It can be used analytically to identify different patterns of attentional breakdown.
The TEA has a wide range of applications, from patients with Alzheimer’s disease to young normal subjects.
It is the only test of attention based largely on everyday materials: the real-life scenario means that patients enjoy the test and find it relevant to the problems faced in life.
There are eight subtests of the TEA:
Map search – Subjects have to search for symbols on a coloured map. The score is the number out of 80 found in 2 minutes. This subtest is age-sensitive and usable with almost all brain-damaged patients, including those with Alzheimer’s disease. It measures selective attention and loads on the same factor as the Stroop Test and the d2 cancellation test.
Elevator counting – Subjects are asked to pretend they are in an elevator whose door-indicator is not functioning. They therefore have to establish which ‘door’ they have arrived at by counting a series of tape-presented tones. This is an established measure of sustained attention sensitive to right frontal lesions.
Elevator counting with distraction – Subjects have to count the low tones in the pretend elevator while ignoring the high tones. This was designed as a subtest of auditory selective attention.
Visual elevator – Here, subjects have to count up and down as they follow a series of visually presented ‘doors’ in the elevator. This reversal task is a measure of attentional switching, and hence of cognitive flexibility. It is self-paced and loads on the same factor as the number of categories on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.
Auditory elevator with reversal – The same as the visual elevator subtest except that it is presented at fixed speed on tape.
Telephone search – Subjects must look for key symbols while searching entries in a simulated classified telephone directory.
Telephone search dual task – Subject must again search in the directory while simultaneously counting strings of tones presented by a tape recorder. The combined performance on sub-tests 6 and 7 gives a measure of divided attention – a ‘dual task decrement’.
New materials – As we constantly aim to improve our materials, the audio cassettes originally included in this test have now been changed to CDs.
* This test is available to professionals other than Psychologists, however further training will be required. For details of training, please see Cognitive Assessment Training – Online.
Could you please tell me more about how I can use the different versions of the TEA for retesting?
In the standardisation study 154 subjects were given Version A of the test, while a subset of 118 of these subjects were given Version B one week later. A further, smaller subset of the original sample (n=39) was administered Version C on a third occasion.
Because improvements with practice are seen in some subtests, repeated use of the TEA should follow the A, B, C order. Therefore, you can use the test for re-testing in the order described above. It is important to be aware that some tests show stronger practice effects (e.g. dual-task decrement) and should then be interpreted with care.
Chan, R. C. K., Lai, M. K., & Robertson, I. H. (2006). Latent structure of the Test of Everyday Attention in a non-clinical Chinese sample. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, Volume 21, Issue 5, Pages 477-485
Forgeau, M., Allain, P., Le Guiet, J. L., Emile, J., & Le Gall, D. (1997). Le test of everyday attention: résultats préliminaires d’une version française soumise à une population de traumatisés crâniens graves. Annales de Réadaptation et de Médecine Physique, Volume 40, Issue 6, Page 347
Mazer, B. L., Sofer, S., Korner-Bitensky, N., Gelinas, I., Hanley, J., & Wood-Dauphinee, S. (2003). Effectiveness of a visual attention retraining program on the driving performance of clients with stroke. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Volume 84, Issue 4, Pages 541-550
Sterr, A. M. (2004). Attention performance in young adults with learning disabilities. Learning and Individual Differences, Volume 14, Issue 2, Pages 125-133
Ziino, C., & Ponsford, J. (2006). Selective Attention Deficits and Subjective Fatigue Following Traumatic Brain Injury. Neuropsychology, Volume 20, Issue 3, Pages 383-390
Listed are a sample of references that cite TEA. Pearson Assessment has listed these papers for your information. We take no responsibility for the content therein.
Complete Kit:
Includes manual, pack of 25 scoring sheets, cue book, stimulus cards and maps, 3 CDs and 1 DVD in a bag
ISBN: 9780749133658
