One Touch Stockings of Cambridge (OTS)

The OTS task is a CANTAB test of executive function, spatial planning, and working memory, based on the Tower of Hanoi paradigm.

Task

The participant is shown two displays of coloured balls held in stockings suspended from a beam. A row of numbered boxes appears along the bottom of the screen. The participant works out how many moves are needed to match the bottom arrangement to the top arrangement, then touches the box indicating the number of moves.

Depression Relevance

Patients with mood disorders often experience difficulties in executive functions such as planning. OTS provides a sensitive measure of these planning deficits (Rock et al., 2013).

This test complements other executive function measures like the intradimensional-extradimensional-shift task by targeting spatial planning rather than rule-switching.

Related Pages

cantab | nonverbal-cognitive-tasks | preclinical-drug-screening