Planning or Something Else? Examining Neuropsychological Predictors of Zoo Map Performance

Abstract

The Zoo Map Test of the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome battery is often applied to measure planning ability as part of executive function. Successful performance on this test is, however, dependent on various cognitive functions, and deficient Zoo Map performance does therefore not necessarily imply selectively disrupted planning abilities. To address this important issue, we examined whether planning is still the most important predictor of Zoo Map performance in a heterogeneous sample of neurologic and psychiatric outpatients (N = 71). In addition to the Zoo Map Test, the patients completed other neuropsychological tests of planning, inhibition, processing speed, and episodic memory. Planning was the strongest predictor of the total raw score and inappropriate places visited, and no additional contribution of other cognitive scores was found. One exception to this was the total time, which was associated with processing speed. Overall, our findings indicate that the Zoo Map Test is a valid indicator of planning ability in a heterogeneous patient sample.

Acute personalized habitual caffeine doses improve attention and have selective effects when considering the fractionation of executive functions

“…These abilities include at least six correlated but clearly separable executive domains (see Miyake et al, 2000;Friedman and Miyake, 2004;Miyake and Friedman, 2012): updating-the addition or deletion of contents within one's working memory; shifting or switching-the ability to alternate between two different task sets; and inhibition-the ability to override prepotent/dominant responses. Dual-task performance-the ability to perform simultaneously two tasks that load on different storage domains-also constitutes a separable type of executive function (see Logie et al, 2004), as does planning, or the ability to organize behavior toward a specific goal that must be achieved through intermediate stages (Jurado and Rosselli, 2007;Oosterman et al, 2013), and the efficiency of access to long-term memory (see Fisk and Sharp, 2004). Updating, shifting and inhibiting are correlated but distinguishable abilities (see Miyake et al, 2000;Friedman and Miyake, 2004;Miyake and Friedman, 2012), and all six types of executive functions can be assessed separately in the same experimental setting (e.g., see Vaz et al, 2011;Ginani et al, 2011;Borges et al, 2013).…”

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“…Therefore, in contrast to the first part, the second part consists of a highly structured setting that strongly reduces the involvement of planning abilities. The BADS-Zoo map subtest has been proven to be a valid indicator of planning ability in a heterogeneous patient sample [116]. …”

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“…A total score ranging from 0 to 4 is derived, with higher scores denoting higher levels of executive functioning. The Behavioural Assessment of Executive Functioning has shown adequate validity in heterogeneous patient samples as evidenced by associations with other neuropsychological tests that assess planning functions (Jelicic, Henquest, Derix, & Jolles, 2001;Oosterman, Wijers, & Kessels, 2013;Wilson et al, 1998).…”