- Home
- Assessment Areas
- Academic Skills and Attention
- Sustained Attention and Problem Solving (KTS)
Sustained Attention and Problem Solving (KTS)
Attention and problem solving
Sustained Attention and Problem Solving (KTS) assesses attention and problem solving. The student works through a series of problems that each require attention to be held while a solution is constructed. The instrument looks at how attention and reasoning interact rather than at either alone.
What it makes visible
- Distinguishes a reasoning difficulty from an attention difficulty that looks like one.
- Read alongside the Selective and Sustained Attention Test, it shows whether errors cluster where the load is highest.
- Useful when a student can solve a problem given time but fails under ordinary classroom pace.
Scope and limits
This is a screening and assessment instrument; it does not make a clinical diagnosis. The exact scope of use must be verified against the relevant instrument form, its norm group and the conditions of administration.
KTS at a glance
| Assessment area | ASA — Academic Skills and Attention |
|---|---|
| Measures | Attention and problem solving |
| Duration | 15–20 min |
| Level | Primary, Lower secondary, Upper secondary |
| Administered by | School counsellor |
| Format | Individual / group / digital |
| Follow-up | Re-assessment after 3–6 months where appropriate |
Focus of the area
Assessing, in a structured way, how a student sustains attention, processes visual information, builds patterns and solves problems.
Scenarios that include this instrument
Frequently asked questions
The attention test isolates attention with a low reasoning load. This instrument deliberately combines the two, so the comparison between them is where the information lies.
Yes, and it is usually most useful that way, because the distribution across a class shows more than any single score.
Scope note
This structure is designed to support assessment, screening and guidance processes — not to make a clinical diagnosis. The aim is not to diagnose but to know the student more accurately, follow their development and identify the support they need in time.