What cognitive abilities are involved in trail-making performance?

The cognitive abilities involved in the Connections (Salthouse, et al., 2000) version of the trail making test were investigated by administering the test, along with a battery of cognitive tests and tests of complex span and updating conceptualizations of working memory, to a sample of over 3600 adults. The results indicate that this variant of the trail making test largely reflects individual differences in speed and fluid cognitive abilities, with the relative contributions of the two abilities varying according to particular measure of performance considered (e.g., difference, ratio, or residual). Relations of age on trail making performance were also examined. Although strong age differences were evident in the Connections and working memory measures, with both sets of variables there was nearly complete overlap of the age differences with individual differences in speed and fluid cognitive abilities.

Research highlights► A reference battery of cognitive tests was administered to a relatively large sample of adults in addition to a version of the trail making test. ► Most of the individual differences in trail making performance were associated with individual differences in perceptual speed and fluid cognitive ability. ► No unique contributions of measures of working memory were found when controlling for influences of fluid cognitive ability.