Evaluation of an Executive Functioning Test Battery in Two Versions with Material Close to Daily Life

Abstract. The assessment of executive functions (EF) often yields conflicting results between standardized tests and self-ratings (e. g., in depression or adult ADHD). For the present investigation, standardized EF-tasks were enriched in order to better represent executive demands of daily life. In the future this may improve the assessment and prediction of reported performance deficits in daily life. An EF-test battery was designed with material close to daily life; tasks were matched to basic executive functions. Healthy students took part in two preliminary studies to evaluate the reliability, validity, and comparability of five tasks. In the end, four tasks seem suitable, whereas one task underlies several limitations. The tasks can reliably be used and should be re-evaluated in further studies with adult ADHD participants and healthy controls.