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Frequently Asked Questions |
This is the website FAQ section – our FAQs are divided into a number of categories – click on one to open it up and see the FAQs within it.
If you can’t find the answer to your question, please use the site search box at the top of the page. Alternatively, please place a support request using this form . |
| Are there any comparative data available for performance on CANTAB tests in the normal population?
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| There is a well standardised and validated, normative database, with test data from over 2000 healthy individuals in thirteen age bands between 4 - 90 years of age, and four different estimated IQ bands. The results from these tests have been placed into a large database for use by the CANTABeclipse application to calculate standardised scores from subjects' raw test scores. |
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| Can CANTAB be used to test school age children?
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| Yes! CANTAB is an ideal tool for testing children, and has been used extensively in academic studies with children from age 4 upwards. The majority of CANTAB responses do not require any reading ability as there is no verbal component, therefore they are useful in a full range of age groups and cultural backgrounds. CANTAB's 'game-like' quality makes the tests motivating; they have proved to be very popular with children of all ages. There are CANTAB normative data for children from the age of 4 years, which can be used to make age-matched comparisons of performance. The tests are graded in difficulty so as to avoid 'floor' and 'ceiling' effects, that is, they have easier levels that can be attempted by younger children or those with lower IQs, through to higher levels which will challenge older children and relatively high-functioning children. |
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| Can CANTAB tests be used to reflect symptom severity realistically?
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| CANTAB tests have been shown to be sensitive to symptom severity in schizophrenia (e.g. Elliott et al (1995)), Parkinson’s disease (e.g. Lange et al (1992), Owen et al (1992)) and depression in elderly patients (Abas et al (1990)). In the latter case, testing with PAL revealed a significant difference in performance between when patients were currently depressed and when they had recovered from their depression. However the recovered elderly depressives still made more errors before reaching criterion than did non-depressive controls of the same age. |
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| Can I run tests without a touch-screen and/or press pad?
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| You must not administer touch-based tests to subjects without a touch-screen.
The RVP (Rapid Visual Information Processing), AGN (Affective Go/No-go), CRT (Choice Reaction Time) and SRT (Simple Reaction Time) tests are not touch-based, and only require the press pad. It is possible to try out tests without a press pad or touch-screen; use the F1 key on the keyboard to toggle a mouse cursor (crosshairs) on and off during the tests, then use the mouse to move this to a touch location and use the left mouse button to make a touch. Use the right mouse button to simulate the single button of the press pad. For the CRT test which uses two press pad buttons, the F7 and F8 keys on your computer keyboard can be used. |
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| Can the tests be used in a cross-cultural population?
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| The majority of the CANTAB tests are designed to be language independent, making them accessible to a diverse array of cultures. CANTAB is currently used in over 500 universities and institutions, in 50 countries, and is cited in more than 700 publications. |
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| Can you tell me more about the scientific development and validity of CANTAB?
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The CANTAB tests have been developed in three main ways: - The tests were developed from the best animal behaviour paradigms, and designed to facilitate cross-species studies of cognition: rather than developing human cognitive tests for use in pre-clinical work, established animal behaviour paradigms were developed for use in human cognitive research.
- A neural systems approach has been taken to the standardisation of the tests: thus the tests have been validated in patients with damage in specific areas of the brain including the frontal lobe (patients with frontal lobe excisions), the temporal lobe (e.g., patients with temporal lobe excisions or amygdalo-hippocampectomies) and basal ganglia regions (e.g., Parkinson's and Huntington's disease).
- Through the use of functional neuro-imaging which has extended our understanding of the neural substrates involved in completing many of the sub-tests (Spatial Span, Spatial Working Memory, Tower of London/Stockings of Cambridge, IED Attentional Set Shifting; Rapid Visual Information Processing; Paired Associative Learning) thus providing a useful confirmation of the neuro-anatomical basis of the tests.
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| Have the CANTAB tests been validated?
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| The CANTAB tests have been validated in behavioural and psychopharmacological studies with animals and healthy human volunteers, in neuroimaging studies with healthy volunteers and with a wide variety of patient groups. Please see our online bibliography, which allows you to search all published papers (that we know of) citing CANTAB. There are currently more than 700 papers in our bibliography |
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| How accurately are reaction times recorded?
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CANTABeclipse has been designed to enable a high consistency of reaction time measurement to be achieved. Because of differences in hardware design and software interaction, without empirical testing on your specific hardware and OS platform we cannot state precisely what performance you will achieve.
Each individual time measured by the system will have a random error (such that even successive samples of identical response latencies will randomly differ) and a systematic error (such that the measured latency will consistently differ from the real latency over the space of a few samples). The magnitude of both of these errors will vary from one hardware system to another. If you are taking the mean of a large number of samples then the random error, if modest, may be unimportant. If you are looking at the millisecond difference in reaction times between two groups, tested under the same conditions, then the systematic error may be unimportant to you.
However, testing conditions may not be identical. For example, there is a particular, well-documented problem with LCD screens that the time for pixels to illuminate varies with temperature. Although CANTABeclipse uses DirectX to accurately monitor the video card raster display time, it is of course unable to detect how long it takes from the PC’s graphics card updating the video data to the physical LCD pixels becoming fully illuminated. If highly accurate reaction time measurement is crucial, the best approach to mitigate against this problem with a tablet PC is to ensure that it is fully ‘warmed up’ – i.e. has been powered and active for an hour – before use.
In empirical tests on a Paceblade Slimbook 110P, we found that after the system had fully warmed up, the overestimate in reaction latency measurement was 11ms ±1ms. However, when the system was deliberately made extremely cold (by refrigeration) a maximum overestimate of 20ms was measured. This testing was undertaken with a standard CANTABeclipse installation running the SRT test, with the Cambridge Cognition 2-button serial press pad connected via a USB adapter.
N.B. These results only apply to durations elapsed between the display of a stimulus and a press-pad response being recorded. Touch-screen response timings will be less accurate, and will vary depending on the touch-screen and driver you are using.
As with previous versions of CANTAB, caution should be exercised when interpreting normative data comparisons on reaction time measures with low variance (i.e. very short durations). Historically normative data have been collected on a wide variety of platforms, some DOS- and some Windows-based, and as such are subject to platform specific timing variations.
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| How does an individual's performance on the different CANTAB tests relate to functioning of the different areas of their brain?
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| Each CANTAB test targets certain cognitive functions. However while each cognitive function involves some brain areas more than others, a single cognitive function cannot be simply identified with a single brain area. This is because information flows through the brain in a complex series of networks, which often travel through several anatomical regions. Therefore asking which brain region performs a particular task is a bit like asking 'Is the Mississippi river in Arkansas?' Of course the Mississippi is partly in Arkansas, but only flows through it to many other places, and there are also other rivers that pass through Arkansas, so a simple 'Yes' answer, while true in a sense, could also be misleading. |
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| How long does each test take to administer?
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| The time taken to complete a test will vary according to each test as well as to subject responses. However, for healthy adults, tests typically take less than 15 minutes. For more information on the CANTAB tests, including approximate test administration times, click here. |
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| How many of the CANTAB tests should I use, and how do I select the right ones for use in my study?
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| The number of tests you use will depend on what kind of trial you are running, which aspects of neuropsychological function you want to test, and what other measures you are taking. However we do not advise you to run all the tests within the CANTAB test battery. It takes approximately three hours to run all the tests consecutively, so patient fatigue effects would occur, and for most trials a testing session this long would not be practical. For expert advice on which tests would be most appropriate for your trial, please contact one of our psychologists at info@camcog.com |
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| I am running a trial with elderly subjects, some of them suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or early to moderate Alzheimer's Disease. Will they be able to cope with a computerised test battery?
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| The fact that responses on CANTAB tests are made via a touch screen means that no familiarity with keyboards, joysticks, mouses or other computer devices is required for subjects to make a meaningful response. Responses are largely language-free, so any difficulties patients may be having with language production do not affect their task performance. CANTAB tests have been used extensively with mild/moderate AD patients and other elderly subject groups as well as with young children, and no subject difficulties with understanding how to respond or with interacting with the touchscreen have been reported. It is also important to note that the CANTAB tests are graded in difficulty, such that patients with cognitive impairment should be able to attempt the less complex stages of many of the tasks. |
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| I have a technical question not covered below; what should I do?
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| If you are already using CANTABelect, please contact your project manager at Cambridge Cognition with any questions.
If you are interested in using CANTABelect, please email info@camcog.com for more information, or click here and complete the online form.
If you are using CANTABeclipse, or interested in using CANTABeclipse, please click here and complete the online form. |
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| I need a test that is sufficiently sensitive to detect modest changes related to treatment over a relatively long time period. Can CANTAB tests do this?
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| CANTAB tests have been shown to be sensitive to a variety of drug effects both in patient populations and healthy volunteers and are widely regarded as very suitable for monitoring subtle cognitive change. For example the CANTAB PAL test has been found to be ideal for monitoring longitudinal change in probable Alzheimer's Disease (pDAT) patients. The PAL test has been shown to be 100% sensitive to AD (Fowler et al, 2002 and 98% specific (Swainson et al, 2001). Fowler et al (1997, 2002) demonstrate that PAL can detect modest changes before a patient fulfils the NINCDS-ARCDA criteria for pDAT, and that it tracks steady decline in patients who later do reach criteria for pDAT. |
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| My press pad is not working. What should I do?
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| Firstly, make sure that the serial cable is tightly screwed in to the connectors at both ends of the cable. A flat-bladed screwdriver or small coin may be used to tighten the screws. Then run RVP in clinical mode, and check that a message appears on the screen whenever you press the button during the training phase (be sure to use the button farthest from the serial connector).
If this does not solve the problem, re-start the computer and try again. You should also try connecting the press pad to all serial ports that are available on your PC. Ensure that you have no other software running that uses the serial ports (re-starting your computer to re-try after making any changes)
If this still does not solve the problem the please contact our support team for advice. |
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| What is the difference between CANTABeclipse and CANTABelect?
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| CANTABeclipse is a general purpose product aimed at the academic research market, which allows the end-user full control over test administration, and includes results processing functionality.
CANTABelect is a bespoke service whereby CCL handles software customisation for data collection, site staff training, results processing (including output to bespoke data formats) and results analysis.
Both products are both based on the same underlying Java software to execute the cognitive tests themselves; only the task administrator's user interface differs, and of course CANTABelect includes no Results Manager component. |
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| What is the test-retest reliability of the CANTAB battery?
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| All CANTAB tests have satisfactory levels of test-retest reliability, with some outcome measures reaching correlations of better than 0.9. |
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| What is touch-screen calibration?
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| Touch-screen calibration ensures that screen image positions and physical touch locations are precisely aligned. |
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| Which cognitive domains are assessed by CANTAB?
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| Cognitive domains assessed include memory, attention, processing speed, visuospatial function and executive function. Cambridge Cognition has also developed tests of immediate and delayed verbal recall and recognition memory, and emotional decision making tests to assess information processing, impulse control and risk-taking. |
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| Why is PAL not yet the 'gold standard' test for Alzheimer's Disease trials?
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| The reasons why PAL is not yet a 'gold standard' for clinical trials are historical. The primary measure of cognitive function used in the clinical trials for Tacrine, the first anti-AD drug on the market, was the ADAS-cog. (Research on Tacrine using CANTAB was carried out in academic departments later on and subsequently published, but CANTAB tests were not used in the clinical trials themselves.) The useage of ADAS-cog in the Tacrine trials has set a precedent, since it is now established that the FDA will accept ADAS-cog. CANTAB tests have been used in a number of clinical trials, but none of the compounds tested so far have reached the stage of being submitted for FDA approval. We expect that CANTAB will come before the FDA in due course |
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| Can I use a laptop or notebook PC?
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| The software should run on any laptop or notebook that meets or exceeds our hardware specification for the product. However, there are some issues that you should be aware of:
Most laptops do not have touch-screens built in. We can supply clip-on touch-screens for most laptops and notebooks. However, these are less convenient than an integrated screen.
The screen must still be set up at the correct distance from the subject, and must not fall back as the subject presses it. Thus, a wall or other support must be present behind the screen and at the correct distance from the front of the table.
The original CANTAB administration instructions call for the keyboard to be situated to the side of the computer, in front of the test administrator, and that for the tests requiring a press pad, this should be moved to the front of the screen, 15 cm away from it. This is difficult to adhere to strictly with a laptop, unless an external keyboard is purchased, and the original keyboard covered - for instance, with a board supported either side of it - for the press pad. Whether such strict adherence to traditional CANTAB administration methods is necessary depends on the experimenter's requirements, and is therefore left to his or her discretion. |
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| Can I save data for import into a statistical package?
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| The summary datasheet is designed to be easy to import into typical statistical packages.
The first row of the file contains column headings, which default to full measure names, including spaces - e.g. SOC Mean subsequent thinking time (5 moves), VRM Recognition - total false positives [clinical-delayed]. However, these may be mapped onto shorter variable names of the user's choice. CANTABeclipse will store these mappings for re-use during future datasheet generation.
The remaining rows of the file contain the administration data and scores for individuals chosen by the user, in the order in which the user chose to sort them. The user has full control over what columns are included, and their ordering. |
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| Can results data created with one CANTAB product be processed with another?
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| No. The way in which results data is stored differs for CANTABeclipse, CANTABexpedio and CANTAB for Windows. However, there is compatibility in the way in which results data may be output. CANTABeclipse can output summary datasheets in an equivalent format, and with exactly the same measures, as these other products. These datasheets can then easily be combined using a spreadsheet package such as Microsoft Excel |
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| How do I interpret the CANTAB results from my trial?
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| Cambridge Cognition offers the following services to aid you in the interpretation of your CANTAB results:
Data Management
Results Analysis
Expert Data Interpretation
To find out more, please see our CANTABelect clinical trials services page, or contact one of our psychologists at support@cantab.com who will be happy to discuss this with you. |
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| How is the software licensed?
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| Testing is enabled by the use of our USB plug-in software key. A software key is provided with each licence making testing possible at only one computer at any one time. A multiple site licence can be purchased. |
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| The system requirements mention 'DirectX'. What is this? Could DirectX problems prevent tests from running?
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| DirectX is a Windows technology provided by Microsoft (see Microsoft's DirectX website). CANTABeclipse uses DirectX to display visual stimuli, play sounds, and check exactly when stimuli appear, by monitoring screen refresh times.
When you install CANTABeclipse from the CANTABeclipse installation CD, DirectX 9's installer is automatically opened for you if needed. However, it is essential that your sound and display adapters, and their drivers, are capable of supporting DirectX 9. If not, this will prevent you from running tests successfully.
If you encounter problems, visit your adapter manufacturer's website and download the latest version of their hardware drivers. Alternatively, contact your hardware supplier for more information.
N.B. If you encounter problems running tests on an Advantech PPC-123T with an S3 display adapter, navigate to the \DRIVERS\ADVANTECH\PPC123_S3VIDEO subfolder on your CANTABeclipse installation CD and follow the instructions in 'install.txt' to update your driver.
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| What are the hardware and operating system requirements for running the software?
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CANTABeclipse has been designed to enable a high consistency of reaction time measurement to be achieved. Because of differences in hardware design and software interaction, without empirical testing on your specific hardware and OS platform we cannot state precisely what performance you will achieve.
Each individual time measured by the system will have a random error (such that even successive samples of identical response latencies will randomly differ) and a systematic error (such that the measured latency will consistently differ from the real latency over the space of a few samples). The magnitude of both of these errors will vary from one hardware system to another. If you are taking the mean of a large number of samples then the random error, if modest, may be unimportant. If you are looking at the millisecond difference in reaction times between two groups, tested under the same conditions, then the systematic error may be unimportant to you.
However, testing conditions may not be identical. For example, there is a particular, well-documented problem with LCD screens that the time for pixels to illuminate varies with temperature. Although CANTABeclipse uses DirectX to accurately monitor the video card raster display time, it is of course unable to detect how long it takes from the PC's graphics card updating the video data to the physical LCD pixels becoming fully illuminated. If highly accurate reaction time measurement is crucial, the best approach to mitigate against this problem with a tablet PC is to ensure that it is fully 'warmed up', i.e., has been powered and active for an hour before use.
In empirical tests on a Paceblade Slimbook 110P, we found that after the system had fully warmed up, the overestimate in reaction latency measurement was 11ms ±1ms. However, when the system was deliberately made extremely cold (by refrigeration) a maximum overestimate of 20ms was measured. This testing was undertaken with a standard CANTABeclipse installation running the SRT test, with the Cambridge Cognition 2-button serial press pad connected via a USB adapter.
N.B. These results only apply to durations elapsed between the display of a stimulus and a press-pad response being recorded. Touch-screen response timings will be less accurate, and will vary depending on the touch-screen and driver you are using.
As with previous versions of CANTAB, caution should be exercised when interpreting normative data comparisons on reaction time measures with low variance (i.e., very short durations). Historically, normative data have been collected on a wide variety of platforms, some DOS- and some Windows-based, and as such are subject to platform specific timing variations. |
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| What data output formats are supported by CANTABeclipse?
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| Please contact us for a more detailed description of the output formats provided, but in brief, they are:
Summary report : A clear, easy-to-read report giving summary scores data for subjects. It may include multiple subjects and tests. Its format is highly configurable, but might typically consist of a page for each subject, starting with administration data (subject ID, testing date etc.), and giving scores and normative data comparison charts for various summary measures. Summary measures each take on a single score value for a single run of a test - for example, Mean latency over all correct responses, Percent of short-delay trials that were correct, etc. This can be viewed and printed as an HTML document in your favourite web browser.
Summary datasheet : This can contain the same data as a summary report, but formatted in a grid-like, spreadsheet fashion. Its format is highly configurable, but might typically consist of a row for each subject, with columns containing administration data, and scores and/or normative data comparisons for various summary measures. This can be saved as a CSV (comma separated variables) file for instant viewing in a spreadsheet package or for import into a statistical package.
Detailed datasheet : This contains detailed, response-by-response data for a single test undertaken by a single subject. It is formatted in a grid-like, spreadsheet fashion, with rows representing the problems, trials and responses that make up the test. The columns that are present vary from one test to another, but examples might be trial number, box touched, touch latency etc. This can be saved as a CSV (comma separated variables) file for instant viewing and processing in a spreadsheet package. |
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| Where are results data stored?
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| Subject information and results data are stored both in multiple ordinary disk files and in a database (which is itself a single disk file). These files are not encrypted or tamper-proof. If you wish to move or erase all stored instances of some data you have collected - perhaps because it contains personally identifying information - then please contact our support team for advice. |
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| Why does the licence text appear more than once?
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| The licence text must be agreed to when installing the product. It must also be agreed to by each Windows user, the first time they use the software. This is particularly important because we often ship CANTABeclipse pre-installed onto computers |
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| Why doesn't the population diagram appear in my summary reports?
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| Currently the population diagram is only supported in Microsoft Internet Explorer. If you are using Mozilla FireFox or any other web browser as your default browser, you must manually load your reports in Internet Explorer in order to see the population diagram |
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| Do the tests need to be administered by a trained psychologist?
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| No, CANTAB tests used in clinical trials are suitable for administration by CRO personnel, such as nurses. No background in psychology is required. All administrators will attend a certificated training course run by personnel from Cambridge Cognition |
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| How do I choose which measures to extract from the tests?
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| All outcome measures are automatically recorded for each test administered. However it is rarely necessary to extract all possible outcome measures. Those measures you do wish to collect will be discussed with your project manager before the trial begins. Again this depends upon your objectives for the trial you are conducting. For further advice please contact one of our psychologists at support@cantab.com. |
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| How does CANTABelect differ technically from other CANTAB products?
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| CANTABelect is a bespoke CANTAB test administration system for clinical trial applications. Both the testing schedule and the start-to-finish user interface are custom designed on a per-client basis to meet their needs in a particular study. A data processing service is provided by Cambridge Cognition for CANTABelect clients, which works in conjunction with public-private key cryptography to ensure data security. |
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| What hardware does CANTABelect run on?
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| CANTABelect software is supplied pre-installed and validated on tablet PCs by Cambridge Cognition. All hardware required for your trial's cognitive testing needs (including press pads, USB 2.0 memory sticks and peripherals) is supplied as part of the overall CANTABelect service. |
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| Who supplies the CANTABelect equipment?
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| Cambridge Cognition supplies all hardware and software required, including touch screen tablet PCs, press pads, USB hubs and memory sticks, as part of our comprehensive clinical trials service. We also train your staff to use CANTABelect, supply customised manuals for administering the software for your trial, and provide a 24/7 CANTABelect support service. |
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| Why does Cambridge Cognition provide pre-installed software ?
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| The hardware on which the Cambridge Cognition software is supplied has undergone thorough testing to ensure consistent accuracy across all testing sessions. The press pad has been specially designed to give highly accurate and consistent reaction time measurement.
Software validation is performed using the same hardware that will be provided to all sites throughout the trial. In addition, thorough deployment testing is performed on each hardware system that is shipped. |
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| Why is Cambridge Cognition so keen on training?
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| Training on the correct way to use CANTABelect is important to ensure consistent test administration for your trial, which in turn reduces error variance and preserves data integrity. Training covers the complete use of the software, from entering subject details, through to administering the tests to subjects and backing up data.
Cambridge Cognition can provide on-site training for test administrators and all who will be involved in the use of the software. We can also provide one-on-one online training programs for new raters entering the trial, and a variety of training materials including instructional DVDs. |
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| Can I use a tablet PC?
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| In principle, yes, but please see the bullet points in the previous answer about laptop or notebook PCs. However, please be aware that most tablet PC screens only work if an appropriate stylus is used to touch them, rather than the subject's fingertip. Requiring subjects to use a stylus would be a very significant change from traditional CANTAB test administration methods |
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| What if I do not have a serial (COM) port?
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| USB-to-serial adapter cables are available, please contact our Sales Team for more information. We have undertaken testing of timing accuracy with such cables on a number of platforms, both with and without serial ports, and their use has not caused any problems. On those platforms with both interface methods, timings between the serial and USB connection methods have been similar.
Because of the limited nature of this testing, we cannot guarantee that the USB-to-serial adapter cable will provide satisfactory performance on all platforms. Irrespective of interface method, the only straightforward way to be sure of the accuracy you will achieve is to purchase a system that has been empirically tested by us. |
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| What is the press pad and how do I connect it?
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| The press pad is a device used by some tests to accurately record subject response times. It differs from the press pads used by previous versions of CANTAB. It was specially designed for CANTABeclipse with both ergonomics and accuracy in mind. It may be connected to any serial (COM) port, and will be automatically detected by our software with no need to install drivers. The documentation supplied with the press pad gives more information about its connection and use |
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| What is the software key and how do I connect it?
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| The software key is a small physical device that you may attach to any USB port on your computer, to let CANTABeclipse know that you are an authorised user of the system. Each licence grants you the right to use the software on a single computer at a given time, and therefore only a single software key can be provided for each licence.
The software key must be attached to the USB port before starting the software. If it is not present, the software will only operate in evaluation mode, and may not be used for testing subjects. Never disconnect or connect the key while CANTABeclipse is open, and if you encounter any problems, always try exiting from CANTABeclipse, [re]connecting the software key, and then running CANTABeclipse again. If this does not resolve the problem, please contact our support team for advice |
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| Which touch-screens can I use?
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| Almost any. As long as it can be set up to move the Windows mouse pointer, it is likely to be suitable. Our hardware specification gives details on the behaviour that your touch-screen driver must support. Touch-screen calibration is performed using your touch-screen driver, rather than our software. |
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| Why does the press pad have two buttons?
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| The second button is used in various CANTAB tests, including the Stop Signal Task (SST), the Attention Switching Task (AST) and the Choice Reaction Time (CRT) test.
For tests requiring one press pad button, such as Reaction Time (RTI) and Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVP), the button farthest from the serial port connector should face the subject. |
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| My touch-screen seems not to work properly during the tests. What should I do?
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| Firstly, exit from CANTAB and tap the touch-screen at various points. Check that the mouse pointer moves to exactly the point you touch. Check this for all areas of the screen. Check - for instance by touching a desktop icon - that a mouse 'click' occurs at the instant your finger makes contact. (In the case of an icon, it will immediately become selected, prior to your removing your finger).
If this does not work, your touch-screen is either incorrectly set up or faulty. Try following your manufacturer's instructions to calibrate the screen, and any trouble-shooting advice they offer; failing this, contact your supplier.
If this does work then run a test that has exhibited problems, then press the F1 key on the keyboard, to cause crosshairs to become visible. Execute the test, attempting to replicate the problem. If the crosshairs do not move to the corresponding point as you touch the screen then the cause of the problem should become clear. Contact our support team for advice as necessary. |
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| Sound is not output properly during the tests. What should I do?
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| All sound is output via your ordinary Windows sound device. Check that this is set up correctly using the Windows Control Panel, or by following the troubleshooter in Windows help, accessible from the Start menu. Check in particular that the Windows volume is not muted, and that ordinary sounds made by Windows (such as when you change the volume level from the Control Panel or Taskbar) are audible and correctly reproduced. Then run MOT and check that sound is present at an appropriate volume. If you can hear sound from Windows but not from MOT then contact our support team for advice. |
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| The tests are freezing randomly, but pressing any key seems to get them going again. What should I do?
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| If you have a mobile multi-core CPU in your computer, such as an Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Turion X2, and you are using Windows XP SP2, then your system may be suffering from a timing synchronisation problem between the cores. Please try the resolution detailed here: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=896256. |
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| Can I re-use the same test with the same subject on a number of occasions? What if the test administrator changes - will this affect my results?
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| Inter-rater reliability is not a significant issue for CANTAB tests, as the administration of the tests is standardised and the scoring is automatic.
Whether or not CANTAB tests are suitable for repeated testing can depend on the particulars of the study design. For example, like many tests of executive function, practice effects can lead to a strategy being acquired in the Intra-Dimensional Extra-Dimensional Shift (IED) task.
Many tests have parallel versions to facilitate repeated testing, and many tests in the battery tap non-strategic cognitive functions, and thus are not subject to significant practice effects.
Please contact our psychologists for further advice at support@cantab.com. |
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| Can I use CANTAB with people with limited cognitive functioning?
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This depends on the level of impairment. One major advantage of CANTAB is that the majority of the tasks are language and culture independent, and the tasks have an intuitive game-like quality ideal for testing in populations with limited mental capabilities. The CANTAB tasks have been used in individuals from specific disease populations that are characterised by very limited cognitive functioning; for example, Alzheimer’s disease. The normative database includes children as young as four and adults over the age of 90.
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| Do I need the sound turned on?
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We would recommend
that sound is on, as the system provides important audio feedback during some of
the CANTAB tasks. Removing this audio
feedback may cause the subject to perform differently to those who have heard
the sound prompts.
Headphones for the
subject may be used if noise is a problem. |
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| Do we need to train the subjects prior to baseline assessment?
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In ideal testing circumstances we would always recommend an initial screening (pre-baseline) visit with each subject, during which a full run through of the test battery is conducted. This will stabilise the variability in an individuals’ response to the tests. However, in some circumstances this may not be practical and a pre-baseline assessment is not essential. CANTAB tasks generally start off simply with a built-in practice phase which gradually increases in difficulty. This enables the subject to familiarise themselves with the system and the task instructions before the assessed phase begins. In addition, we do have a Motor Control Task (MOT), which can be used as an induction task to ensure the subject is able to follow instructions and interact with the touch screen.
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| Does it matter if the test subject is colour blind?
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Most of the tests can be administered if the subject is colour blind. For example, the Paired Associates Learning (PAL) and Pattern Recognition Memory (PRM) tests have unique patterns that are independent of colour, therefore scores on these tasks should not be affected. A small selection of the CANTAB tests would need subjects to be able to differentiate colours. These are listed below: - Stockings of Cambridge (SOC)
- One-touch Stockings of Cambridge (OTS)
- Delayed Matching to Sample (DMS)
- Matching to Sample Visual Search (MTS)
- Information Sampling Task (IST)
- Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT)
However, in most of the tests listed above, results would only be affected in severe cases of colour blindness, which is quite rare. We would suggest doing a quick screen for colour blindness with a subject on the first testing session using the Ishihara Color Test. Alternatively, the practice stages on each task can be used to ensure the subjects can differentiate the colours used.
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| How easy is it to administer the tests?
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| Any member of your team can administer the CANTAB tests. Test administration is simplified by our scripted test administration manuals, which help to ensure standardised test administration across all test sites |
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In this Section 
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