Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T18:28:18.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The random number generation task: Psychometric properties and normative data of an executive function task in a mixed sample

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2007

MAARTEN PETERS ,
TIMO GIESBRECHT ,
MARKO JELICIC  and
HARALD MERCKELBACH
MAARTEN PETERS
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
TIMO GIESBRECHT
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
MARKO JELICIC
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
HARALD MERCKELBACH
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We investigated the psychometric properties of the random number generation (RNG) task in four studies using a mixed sample of young adults (n = 306), middle-aged adults (n = 40), and patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (n = 26). Data in study 1 were best accounted for by a three-factor solution representing inhibition of stereotypical schemas (seriation), output inhibition (repetition), and monitoring of previous output (cycling). Modest test-retest correlations were found, with the seriation factor showing acceptable stability across time (study 2). In study 3, RNG task performance was related to scores on concurrent neurocognitive tasks to establish construct validity. RNG scores correlated with healthy controls' performance on the Stroop color-word test and patients diagnosed with schizophrenia with executive dysfunctions. Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia performed poorer on the seriation factor of the RNG than healthy control participants (study 4). Our results indicate that the RNG task has modest to acceptable psychometric properties. It primarily taps executive subfunctions (i.e., inhibition, updating, and monitoring), which are affected by psychopathological or neurological deficits. (JINS, 2007, 13, 626–634.)

Keywords

Factor analysisPsychometricsInhibitionSchizophreniaReliabilityValidity
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , July 2007 , pp. 626 - 634
Copyright
© 2007 The International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Press.
Anastasi, A. & Urbina, S. (1997). Psychological testing (7th ed). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Artiges, E., Salamé, P., Recasens, Ch., Poline, J.B., Attar-Levy, D., De la Raillère, A., Paillère-Martinot, M.L., Danion, J.M., & Martinot, J.L. (2000). Working memory control in patients with schizophrenia: A PET study during a random number generation task. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1517–1519.Google Scholar
Axmacher, I., Bente, D., & Ferner, U. (1970). Informationsstatistische Untersuchungen zur Struktur einfacher Handlungsfolgen bei endogenen Psychosen (Statistical examination of the structure of simple action sequences in endogene psychosis). Arzneimittel-Forschung (Drugs Treatment Research), 20, 919–921.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A.D. (1966). The capacity for generating information by randomization. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 119–129.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A.D. (1986). Working memory. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Baddeley, A.D. (1998). The central executive: A concept and some misconceptions. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 4, 523–526.Google Scholar
Baddeley, A.D., Emslie, H., Kolodny, J., & Duncan, J. (1998). Random generation and executive control of working memory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 51A, 819–852.Google Scholar
Bradshaw, J.L. & Mattingley, J.B. (1995). Clinical Neuropsychology: Behavioral and brain science. San Diego: Academic Press.
Brown, R.G., Soliveri, P., & Jahanshahi, M. (1998). Executive processes in Parkinson's disease: Random number generation and response suppression. Neuropsychologia, 36, 1355–1362.Google Scholar
Brugger, P. (1997). Variables that influence the generation of random sequences: An update. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 84, 627–661.Google Scholar
Brugger, P., Monsch, A.U., Salmon, D.P., & Butters, N. (1996). Random number generation in dementia of the Alzheimer type: A test of frontal executive functions. Neuropsychologia, 34, 97–103.Google Scholar
Brugger, P., Pietzsch, S., Weidmann, G., Biro, P., & Alon, E. (1995). Stroop-type interference in random number generation. Psychological Reports, 77, 387–390.Google Scholar
Daniels, C., Witt, K., Wolff, S., Jansen, O., & Deuschl, G. (2003). Rate dependency of the human cortical network subserving executive functions during generation of random number series: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuroscience Letters, 345, 25–28.Google Scholar
De Zubicaray, G.I., Smith, G.A., Chalk, J.B., & Semple, J. (1998). The modified card sorting test: Test-retest stability and relationships with demographic variables in a healthy older adult sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 37, 457–466.Google Scholar
Field, A. (2005). Discovering statistics using SPSS (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications.
Friedman, N.P. & Miyake, A. (2004). The relations among inhibition and interference control functions: A latent–variable analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 101–135.Google Scholar
Gerton, B.K., Brown, T.T., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Kohn, P., Holt, J.L., Olsen, R.K., & Berman, K.F. (2004). Shared and distinct neurophysiological components of the digits forward and backward tasks as revealed by functional neuroimaging. Neuropsychologia, 42, 1781–1787.Google Scholar
Giesbrecht, T., Merckelbach, H., Geraerts, E., & Smeets, E. (2004). Disruptions in executive functioning and dissociation in undergraduate students. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 192, 567–569.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, N. & Karpiuk, P. (1994). Random number generation: Analysis of responses. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 79, 1059–1067.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, N. & Karpiuk, P. (1995). Simulation of human performance on a random generation task. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 81, 1183–1186.Google Scholar
Heaton, R.K., Chelune, G.J., Talley, J.L., Kay, G.G., & Curtiss, G. (1993). Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Manual: Revised. Odessa, Florida: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Horne, R.L., Evans, F.J., & Orne, M.T. (1982). Random number generation, psychopathology and therapeutic change. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 680–683.Google Scholar
Jahanshahi, M., Profice, P., Brown, R.G., Ridding, M.C., Dirnberger, G., & Rothwell, J.C. (1998). The effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on suppression of habitual counting during random number generation. Brain, 121, 1533–1544.Google Scholar
Jahanshahi, M., Saleem, T., Ho, A.K., Dirnberger, G., & Fuller, R. (2006). Random number generation as an index of controlled processing. Neuropsychology, 20, 391–399.Google Scholar
Jelicic, M., Henquet, C.E.C., Derix, M.M.A., & Jolles, J. (2001). Test-retest stability of the behavioural assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome in a sample of psychiatric patients. International Journal of Neuroscience, 110, 73–78.Google Scholar
Joppich, G., Däuper, J., Dengler, R., Johannes, S., Rodriguez-Fornells, A., & Münte, T.F. (2004). Brain potentials index executive functions during random number generation. Neuroscience Research, 49, 157–164.Google Scholar
Kaiser, H.F. (1960). The application of electronic computers to factor analysis. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 141–151.Google Scholar
Krabbendam, L. & Kalff, A.C. (1998). The behavioural assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome–Dutch version. Lisse, The Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Miyake, A., Friedman, N.P., Emerson, M.J., Witzki, A.H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T.D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49–100.Google Scholar
Peters, M.J.V., Jelicic, M., Haas, N., & Merckelbach, H. (2006). Mild executive dysfunctions in undergraduates are related to recollecting words never presented. International Journal of Neuroscience, 116, 1065–1077.Google Scholar
Rabinowitz, F.M. (1970). Characteristic sequential dependencies in multiple-choice situations. Psychological Bulletin, 74, 141–148.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, S., Weber, N., Crocq, M.A., Duval, F., & Macher, J.P. (1990). Random number generation by normal, alcoholic and schizophrenic subjects. Psychological Medicine, 20, 953–960.Google Scholar
Salamé, P., Danion, J.M., Peretti, S., & Cuervo, C. (1998). The state of functioning of working memory in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 30, 11–29.Google Scholar
Schneider, S., Joppich, G., van der Lugt, A., Däuper, J., & Münte, T.F. (2004). Brain potentials and self-paced random number generation in humans. Neuroscience Letters, 367, 51–55.Google Scholar
Shinba, T., Shinozaki, T., Kariya, N., & Ebata, K. (2000). Random number generation deficit in schizophrenia characterized by oral vs. written response modes. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 91, 1091–1105.Google Scholar
Stevens, J.P. (1992). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Stinissen, J., Willems, P., Coetsier, P., & Hulsman, W. (1970). Handleiding bij de Nederlandstalige bewerking van de Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). [Manual to the Dutch version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)]. Lisse, The Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Stroop, J. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643–662.Google Scholar
Towse, J.N. (1998). On random generation and the central executive of working memory. British Journal of Psychology, 89, 77–101.Google Scholar
Towse, J.N. & Neil, D. (1998). Analyzing human random generation behaviour: A critical review of methods used and a computer program for describing performance. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments & Computers, 30, 583–591.Google Scholar
Treisman, M. & Faulkner, A. (1987). Generation of random sequences by human subjects: Cognitive operations or psychophysical process? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 116, 337–355.Google Scholar
Van der Linden, M., Beerten, A., & Pesenti, M. (1998). Age-related differences in random number generation. Brain and Cognition, 38, 1–16.Google Scholar
Verhage, F. (1964). Intelligentie en leeftijd (Intelligence and age). Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum.
Wagenaar, W.A. (1970). Subjective randomness and the capacity to generate information. Acta Psychologica, 33, 233–242.Google Scholar
Wagenaar, W.A. (1972). Generation of random sequences by human subjects: A critical survey of literature. Psychological Bulletin, 77, 65–72.Google Scholar
Williams, M.A., Moss, S.A., Bradshaw, J.L., & Rinehart, N.J. (2002). Random number generation in Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 32, 43–47.Google Scholar
Wilson, B.A., Evans, J.J., Emslie, H., Alderman, N., & Burgess, P. (1998). The development of an ecologically valid test for assessing patients with a dysexecutive syndrome. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 8, 213–228.Google Scholar