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Documentation · 1962

d2 Test of Attention: Selective/sustained attention

Highly standardized paper-and-pencil attention test. Subject scans 14 lines of randomly-placed "p" and "d" letters with surrounding tick marks, crossing out only the "d" letters with exactly 2 tick marks. 4 minutes 40 seconds total. Sensitive measure of selective and sustained attention. Widely used in occupational psychology, ADHD assessment, and neuropsychology.

Read About the Test

About the d2 Test of Attention

Rolf Brickenkamp at the University of Mannheim developed the d2 Test in 1962. It is a direct descendant of the Bourdon Cancellation Test (1895) but with rigorous standardization, age/gender norms, and time limits. Subject scans 14 lines of 47 characters each, crossing out target letters ("d" with exactly 2 tick marks above/below) while ignoring distractors ("d" with 1, 3, or 4 ticks, "p" with any ticks).

d2 yields 5 scores: TN (total items processed), E (errors of omission), E% (error percentage), CP (concentration performance = correct - commission errors), and FR (fluctuation rate). It has age norms 9-60 years and gender norms separately. Administration: 4 minutes 40 seconds (20 seconds per line, 14 lines).

d2 is one of the most-used attention tests in Europe and increasingly common in US clinical practice. It is sensitive to ADHD, traumatic brain injury, dementia, depression, and substance abuse effects. Often included in occupational selection batteries for jobs requiring sustained attention (drivers, air traffic controllers, military). d2-R (2010) and d2-C (computerized) are current editions.

Copyright note: d2 Test items and norms are copyrighted (Hogrefe). For public-domain attention tests see Bourdon Cancellation 1895 (the ancestor).

The subtest

#1
d2 Cancellation 14 lines × 47 characters. Cross out each "d" with exactly 2 ticks. 20 seconds per line. 4:40 total.
Copyrighted

What the test looks like

The d2 Test is a visual scanning task on a single sheet of paper. The sheet contains 14 rows of 47 characters each. Every character is either the letter "d" or the letter "p", and every character has between 1 and 4 small dashes ("ticks") arranged above and/or below it.

The target: any "d" with EXACTLY 2 ticks total - either two above, two below, or one above and one below.

The distractors: any "p" (regardless of ticks), and any "d" with 1, 3, or 4 ticks total.

The task: The test-taker scans line 1 from left to right, drawing a single slash through every target. After exactly 20 seconds, the examiner says "next line" and the test-taker moves to line 2. The process repeats for all 14 lines. Total test duration: 4 minutes 40 seconds.

Scoring: Each line is scored for (a) total characters processed (TN), (b) commission errors - non-targets that were marked, (c) omission errors - targets that were missed. Standardized scores: TN, E (total errors), E% (error rate), CP (Concentration Performance = correct targets - commission errors), and FR (fluctuation rate across lines).

The actual d2 test sheets are copyrighted (Hogrefe Publishing). Bourdon Cancellation (1895), the public-domain ancestor, uses the same basic format and is fully implementable.

Source

All test materials and historical content on this page are transcribed from:

Brickenkamp, R. (1962). Test d2 - Aufmerksamkeits-Belastungs-Test. Hogrefe.

The d2 Test is published by Hogrefe (Germany) and Hogrefe Inc (US). Current edition d2-R (Revision) 2010. All copyrighted.

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