Assessment of executive function using the Tinkertoy test

The Tinkertoy test (TTT) has often been used to assess executive function. Despite its clinical importance, there are few published normative data for it. Thus, the primary aim of this study was to fill this gap. Moreover, as there exists a sex difference in many cognitive abilities and neuropsychological tests, a secondary aim was to examine whether sex influences TTT performance. We administered the TTT to 25 healthy men and 25 healthy women whose average age was 28 years. Performances were scored based upon Lezak's (1982) original TTT criteria. On average, our participants used 43 pieces to complete their construction (SD = 8), with a range of 21-50, and their complexity scores ranged from 7 to 12, with a mean score of 9.68 (SD = 1.35). Overall performance did not differ based on sex; yet, when examining individual scoring criteria, we found that men scored significantly higher on the symmetry measure. Efforts towards the development of adequate normative data for the TTT and different tests of executive functioning are crucial to neuropsychologists' and other healthcare providers' ability to reliably diagnose and treat disorders of cognition that affect executive function. The present data go some way towards enhancing the utility of the TTT. Copyright (C) 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.