Original Research

Standardising the single and double letter cancellation test for South African military personnel

Chevon P. Haarhoff, Christi Gadd, Boshadi Semenya, René van Eeden
African Journal of Psychological Assessment | Vol 2 | a19 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ajopa.v2i0.19 | © 2020 Chevon P. Haarhoff, Christi Gadd, Boshadi Semenya, René van Eeden | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 18 October 2019 | Published: 08 June 2020

About the author(s)

Chevon P. Haarhoff, Department of Psychology, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
Christi Gadd, Private, Pretoria, South Africa
Boshadi Semenya, Department of Psychology, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
René van Eeden, Department of Psychology, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

Neuropsychological testing is widely used for specialised placements within the military. Within the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), there is concern about the representation of the normative information currently available for these tests. The letter cancellation test, a paper-and-pencil-based test used as a quick measure of attention, is subject to unstandardised administration and scoring procedures as well as broad cut-off scores. The aim of this study was to develop detailed administration and scoring procedures for the single and double letter cancellation test and to provide preliminary normative data on these versions of the test in the SANDF. A non-probability sampling strategy resulted in a sample of 292 participants. Normative data are provided for the total sample and classified into three performance categories: omissions, errors and time. Between-group comparisons indicated gender and age-related differences (but no differences for rank) in terms of time, and normative data are therefore also provided for related subgroups.

Keywords

attention; concentration; distractor stimuli; target stimuli; military; letter cancellation test

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