Development and psychometric properties of the brief test of attention

Abstract

The development and preliminary psychometric properties of a new instrument called the Brief Test of Attention (BTA) are described. In terms of the conceptual model proposed by Cooley and Morris (1990), the BTA is best described as a measure of auditory divided attention. The test consists of two parallel forms that require less than 5 minutes each to administer and score. The results of testing 926 patients and normal control subjects support the BTA's reliability, equivalence of forms, and construct validity. Coefficients alpha for the entire test range from .82 to .91, while between-form correlations range from .69 to .81. Neither practice nor interference effects were found to influence performance from the first to second form administered. Correlation and principal components analyses showed that the BTA correlates more strongly with widely accepted measures of attention than with other cognitive tasks, and more strongly with complex than simple attention tasks.