The Extended Complex Figure Test (ECFT) retains the strengths and overcomes the limitations of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (CFT), a standard measure of perceptual organization and visual memory in brain-injured individuals.
Like the CFT, the ECFT asks the patient to copy a complex geometric figure. It then assesses the patient’s immediate and delayed recall of the figure. Unlike the CFT, however, the ECFT adds Recognition and Matching trials to the design-copying task. This allows you to distinguish perceptual abilities from constructional skills and to determine the relative contributions of encoding and retrieval processes. In addition, a Short Form ensures that the test can be used with people who have limited use of their preferred hand. These enhancements give the test greater diagnostic sensitivity.
The ECFT is useful not only in evaluating the effects of head injury, stroke, seizure, various medical conditions, and exposure to neurotoxins, but also in differentiating depression from dementia; distinguishing dementia-related memory deficits from normal, age-related memory lapses; and identifying aspects of memory functioning relevant to rehabilitation.
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