The Hayling and Brixton tests^[1] are neuropsychological tests of executive function created by psychologists Paul W. Burgess and Tim Shallice. Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology and neurology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relate to specific psychological processes. ... The executive system is a theorised cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes. ... Tim Shallice is a professor of neuropsychology and director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, part of University College London. ...

It is composed of two tests, the Hayling Sentence Completion Test and the Brixton Spatial Awareness Test.

The Hayling Sentence Completion Test

The Hayling Sentence Completion test is a measure of response initiation and response suppression.It consists of two sets of 15 sentences each having the last word missing. In the first section the examiner reads each sentence aloud and the participant has to simply complete the sentences, yielding a simple measure of response initiation speed.

The second part of the Hayling requires subjects to complete a sentence with a nonsense ending word(and suppress a sensible one), giving measures of response suppression ability and thinking time.

This test is entirely spoken and is thus suitable for people with a wide range of problems such as those involving reading, visual perception or movement.

It takes approximately five minutes to administer yet yields three different measures of executive functioning which can be considered separately or combined into an overall score.

The Brixton Spatial Awareness Test

The Brixton test is a visuospatial sequencing task with rule changes. This test measures the ability to detect rules in sequences of stimuli. It usually takes between five and ten minutes to administer, and yields an easily understood scaled score of between 1 and 10.

The Brixton Test is perceptually simple and does not require a verbal response. It is thus appropriate for people who are suffering from a wide range of associated deficits such as those involving speech production or reading.

Clinical uses of the Hayling and Brixton tests

The tests are used by clinical neuropsychologists to assess executive functioning in people with neurological disorders such as tumors, strokes, acquired brain injury, dementia, Korsakoff's syndrome, encephalitis, and also psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Clinical neuropsychology is a subdiscipline of psychology that specialises in the clinical assessment and treatment of patients with brain injury or neurocognitive deficits. ... In neuropsychology and cognitive psychology, the mental capacity to control and planfully apply ones own mental skills. ... Neurology is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the central and peripheral nervous systems. ... Tumor (American English) or tumour (British English) originally means swelling, and is sometimes still used with that meaning. ... The Strokes are an American rock and roll band who formed in New York City and gained fame for their live shows. ... A neurological condition, Acquired Brain Injury (or simply ABI) is damage to the brain after birth. ... For other uses, see Dementia (disambiguation). ... Korsakoffs syndrome (Korsakoffs psychosis, amnesic-confabulatory syndrome), is a degenerative brain disorder caused by the lack of thiamine (vitamin B1) in the brain. ... Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain, commonly caused by a viral infection. ... The Scream, the famous painting commonly thought of as depicting the experience of mental illness. ...

See Also

• Clinical Neuropsychology
• Neuropsychological tests
• Clinical Psychology
• Executive function
• Psychological testing

Neuropsychological tests are specifically designed tasks used to measure a psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or pathway. ... The Greek letter Psi is often used as a symbol of psychology. ... The executive system is a theorised cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes. ... Psychological testing or psychological assessment is a field characterized by the use of samples of behavior in order to infer generalizations about a given individual. ...

Notes

1. ^ Burgess, P. & Shallice, T. (1997)The Hayling and Brixton Tests. Test manual.Bury St Edmunds, UK: Thames Valley Test Company.