Normative Data for the Tower of London Performance in Australian Midlife Women

Abstract

The Tower of London (TOL) task is a well‐known neuropsychological measure of planning ability that is widely used in clinical and research contexts. Despite its popularity and recognised validity, clinical use of the TOL task has been limited in the adult population due to lack of comprehensive normative data. As a result, this measure has principally been employed in the clinical setting as a qualitative measure of planning skills. In this study, the TOL task was administered as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to 243 healthy, Australian women (M age = 60 years, range = 56–67 years) who have been participating in the Women's Healthy Ageing Project. Results showed significant correlations between age and the total TOL score but not other outcome measures; level of education and mood were unrelated to performance on the TOL. Further analyses showed significant correlations between the TOL outcome measures and other recognised measures of executive function and working memory. The current study presents previously unavailable normative data for different aspects of the TOL performance in Australian midlife women, which may serve as a reference for more accurate clinical interpretation of the TOL in the Australian context and improve its clinical utility in the adult population.

Key words:

• executive function
• midlife
• neuropsychology
• normative data
• planning
• Tower of London

Acknowledgements

Funding for WHAP is provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The authors would like to thank Stephen C. Bowden, Drs. Margaret S. Clark and Janet R. Guthrie, Shaymaa Elkadi, and Gael Trytell for their contributions to this study. Funding for original data collection was provided in part by Alzheimer's Association grant IIRG‐01–2684.