Battery guide
Older Adult Executive Speed Battery guide
Working memory, processing speed and set shifting for remote cohorts aged 50 and over, with larger text on the participant pages.
- Guide version
- 1.0.0
- Battery version
- 1.0.0
What it measures
Who it is for: Remote cohorts age 50+ and longitudinal cognitive change studies.
It measures Verbal working memory span, Visual scanning and sequencing speed, Set shifting and Processing speed.
Working memory: Holding and updating information for a few seconds.
Processing speed: How quickly people take in information and respond.
Executive function: Planning, switching rules, handling conflict and making decisions.
Scores describe how a person performs on these tasks. Research use only.
Tests in order
The tests run in this order. A study started from the battery keeps the order and the settings.
1. Digit Span Test. Measures verbal working memory capacity by asking participants to recall sequences of digits in forward and backward order.
2. Trail Making Test A. Measures processing speed and visual scanning by asking participants to connect numbered circles in ascending order as quickly as possible.
3. Trail Making Test B. Measures executive function and cognitive flexibility by asking participants to alternate between numbers and letters (1-A-2-B-3-C...).
4. Symbol Coding. Measures processing speed and visual-motor mapping by requiring rapid symbol-to-key matching under time pressure.
| Order | Test | Domain | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Digit Span Test | Working memory | 5 to 7 minutes |
| 2 | Trail Making Test A | Processing speed | 2 to 3 minutes |
| 3 | Trail Making Test B | Executive function | 3 to 5 minutes |
| 4 | Symbol Coding | Processing speed | 4 to 5 minutes |
Time and devices
Allow about 20 minutes for the whole battery. The table gives each test's time.
The battery has timed tests. Participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad, and the timed tests run in full screen. Tablets and phones cannot run it.
On a desktop or laptop the screen must be at least 1024 by 700 pixels.
Participants need Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
| Test | Timing | Devices |
|---|---|---|
| Digit Span Test | Untimed | Desktop or laptop, tablet or phone |
| Trail Making Test A | Timed | Desktop or laptop |
| Trail Making Test B | Timed | Desktop or laptop |
| Symbol Coding | Timed | Desktop or laptop |
How to give it
Start a study from the battery in the app. The tests, their order and their settings are already set and stay fixed. If you change, reorder or customize a test, the study becomes a custom study and no longer carries the battery.
This battery starts a study in older adult mode, with larger text on the consent, question, start and finish pages.
Each test opens with its instructions. Participants see these:
Digit Span Test: You will see a sequence of digits shown one at a time. After the sequence, type the digits in the order you saw them (forward) or in reverse order (backward).
Trail Making Test A: Connect the circles in numerical order (1-2-3-4...) as quickly as you can. Click or tap each circle in order.
Trail Making Test B: Connect the circles alternating between numbers and letters (1-A-2-B-3-C...) as quickly as you can.
Symbol Coding: Use keys 1-4 to match each target symbol to the legend as quickly and accurately as possible.
| Step | Before you invite participants |
|---|---|
| 1 | Use a desktop or laptop with a stable internet connection. |
| 2 | Ask participants to complete the battery in one quiet sitting. |
| 3 | Pilot with a small roster before sending all study links. |
| 4 | Review quality flags before interpreting score changes. |
How each test is scored
The server scores each test when the participant finishes it. The primary score is the one the app compares with a norm. The other scores are reported with it.
Every result records its scoring version. For this battery they are Digit Span Test 1.0.0, Trail Making Test A 1.0.0, Trail Making Test B 1.0.0 and Symbol Coding 2.0.0.
| Test | Score | What it is | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digit Span Test | Forward Span (primary) | Longest digit sequence correctly recalled in forward order. Primary capacity measure. | Higher is better |
| Digit Span Test | Backward Span | Longest digit sequence correctly recalled in reverse order. Null if backward phase not included. | Higher is better |
| Digit Span Test | Total Score | Forward span + backward span. Composite working memory measure. | Higher is better |
| Digit Span Test | Longest Forward | Same as forward span. Maximum sequence length achieved. | Higher is better |
| Digit Span Test | Longest Backward | Same as backward span. Maximum reverse sequence length achieved. | Higher is better |
| Trail Making Test A | Completion Time (ms, primary) | Total time from first click to connecting the final circle. Primary speed measure. | Lower is better |
| Trail Making Test A | Completion Time (sec) | Same as completion time, converted to seconds with one decimal place. | Lower is better |
| Trail Making Test A | Errors | Number of incorrect clicks (wrong circle selected). | Lower is better |
| Trail Making Test A | Total Circles | Number of circles in the trail (25 for TMT-A). | Informational |
| Trail Making Test B | Completion Time (ms, primary) | Total time from first click to connecting the final circle. Primary measure of executive-mediated processing speed. | Lower is better |
| Trail Making Test B | Completion Time (sec) | Same as completion time, converted to seconds. | Lower is better |
| Trail Making Test B | Errors | Incorrect clicks (wrong circle). In TMT-B, errors often reflect sequencing or set-switching failures. | Lower is better |
| Trail Making Test B | Total Circles | Number of circles in the trail (16 for TMT-B: 8 numbers + 8 letters). | Informational |
| Symbol Coding | Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion of symbol trials answered correctly. | Higher is better |
| Symbol Coding | Mean Correct RT (ms) | Average response latency on correct trials. | Lower is better |
| Symbol Coding | Median Correct RT (ms) | Median response latency on correct trials. | Lower is better |
| Symbol Coding | Throughput (correct/min, primary) | Correct responses per minute of test time, from the first test item to the last. Instructions and practice are not counted. | Higher is better |
| Symbol Coding | Total Correct | Count of correctly matched symbols. | Higher is better |
| Symbol Coding | Total Errors | Incorrect or missed symbol responses. | Lower is better |
Session quality rules
The app checks every session when it scores it and records one of four states.
An Invalid session stays in the study's results, labelled with its reason, and does not count toward norms.
A session can carry warnings and still be valid. The results list the warnings next to the scores.
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Norm-ready | The session passed every check and a norm exists for it, so the app can show a percentile. |
| Raw-only | The scores are usable, but the app shows no percentile. Typical reasons are no norm for the test, changed settings, or a warning that makes a comparison unfair, such as a restart or a screen too short for the display. |
| Invalid technical | The setup broke the timing or the task. Examples are leaving full screen, a browser tab that lost focus during a timed test, and long pauses. |
| Invalid behavioral | The responses suggest the task was not done as asked. Examples are a failed attention check, repeated switching away from the task, and accuracy at or below chance on a choice task. |
Published norms used
No published norm is used for any test in this battery.
ConductCognition also builds norms from its own participants. An age band of a test uses them once it holds at least 50 valid sessions on the same device and input type, run with standard settings and scored with the current scoring version. Sessions from paying customers' studies and from clinical or patient samples do not count.
A report shows a percentile only when the app has stored one for that session. Otherwise it shows the raw scores.
How to cite
ConductScience, Inc. Older Adult Executive Speed Battery guide, version 1.0.0. ConductCognition. https://conductcognition.com/batteries/older-adult-executive-speed/guide
Cite the guide version you used. Name the battery version (1.0.0) and the scoring versions listed in this guide.