Executive dysfunction in depression: the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.

This study compared dysphoric undergraduates with controls on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The task is to match a series of cards to key cards varying in colour, shape and number, according to correct/wrong feedback. The groups differed in the efficiency with which they were able to use feedback to match cards appropriately, and shift between the different sorting categories. The dysphoric subjects were poorer in the matching task, and also showed slight impairment in describing the sorting categories accurately in a post-task interview. The implications of the findings for our understanding of depression are discussed.