Test for Information Processing Skills
What It Measures
The TIPS looks at how a person takes in information, holds onto it, and gets it back out — and does so separately for what is seen and what is heard.
Strings of two to nine non-rhyming letters are presented, visually in one set of subtests and spoken aloud in the other. Each string is recalled three times: immediately, then after counting aloud, then after repeating a sentence. Two things fall out of that. Whether a person recalls letters in the order given or scrambled, which distinguishes sequencing problems from memory problems. And how much interference costs them. Two further subtests cover delayed recall and word fluency.
Further Reading
Additional Notes
Licensing Notes: Published by WPS requiring qualification level B. The kit includes the manual, stimulus card booklet, and protocols; protocols are consumables. Reproduction requires publisher permission.
Learn More: The error analyses are what distinguish the TIPS from a straightforward memory test. Acoustic Intrusionmeasures how much acoustically similar information interferes with recall; Proactive Interference measures how much previously learned information blocks new learning. Together they explain why recall is failing rather than only that it is. Note the ordered-versus-unordered recall distinction is described by the publisher as a hallmark of learning difficulties.