Which measure is used to assess sustained attention and working memory?

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Sustained attention and working memory are probed when a task requires you to vigilantly monitor for targets over a long period while keeping the response rule in mind. The Continuous Performance Test fits this best because it presents a continuous stream of stimuli and asks you to respond to rare targets while withholding responses to non-targets. To perform well, you must stay focused over time and remember the target rule across many trials, which engages both sustained attention and a working-memory component.

Digit span forward mainly measures the capacity to hold a short sequence in immediate memory and attend to it briefly; it does not require maintaining attention over an extended period or actively manipulating information. Coding, symbol search, and cancellation tasks assess processing speed, visual scanning, and basic attention, but they do not strongly require maintaining task rules in working memory across a lengthy sequence. A simple attention measure is too nonspecific to capture the sustained attention and working-memory demands described.