Disorganisation of behavior in a multiple subgoals scheduling task following traumatic brain injury

Inability to do more than one thing simultaneously is a typical sequel of traumatic brain injury. Seven TBI adults were compared to normal controls when performing a multiple subgoals task within a time limit. The experimental task was a revised version of the Six Element Task (Shallice & Burgess, 1991, Brain, 114, 727-741). In this task, participants have to achieve six subgoals concurrently within a 15-min time limit. Results show that TBI individuals are not strategic in their allocation of time. They invest in a smaller number of subtasks, shift less between subtasks and do not respect time limits. The four TBI participants who performed the worst on the task had neurological and neuropsychological indications of frontal lobe damage.