Multiple Errands Test
What It Measures
The Multiple Errands Test looks for the executive problems that only appear when a person is left to organize themselves. Someone can pass every tabletop cognition test and still fall apart in a shopping centre — the tabletop test tells them what to do next, and real life does not.
The person is given a list of errands and a set of rules, then sent to complete them unaided. Buy specific items, find out particular pieces of information, meet the assessor at an agreed time and place, and say when everything is done. Rules constrain how: stay within a spending limit, do not enter the same shop twice, do not talk to the assessor. Observers follow at a distance and record what happens.
Further Reading
Additional Notes
Licensing Notes: Different versions carry their own arrangements — the MET-Home forms are posted at met-home.com. Confirm terms for whichever version you use.
Learn More: Scoring counts four kinds of error rather than tasks completed: inefficiencies (a better strategy was available), rule breaks, interpretation failures (the task was misunderstood), and task failures (a task was not completed). Some versions add asking for help as a fifth.
