Trail Making

About the Trail Making exercise

Finding the next number on a form, reading a bus timetable, or working through a numbered list of steps all ask the eyes to hunt across a page in order while holding the sequence in mind. After a stroke or a brain injury, or when attention is easily pulled away, that hunt can take longer, and switching between two sequences at once takes more effort still.

Trail Making puts that hunt on screen, in the format of the Trail Making Test A and B. Numbered circles are scattered across a board and the person taps them in order, 1, 2, 3 and on. Mode B alternates numbers and letters, 1, A, 2, B. The timer starts on the first tap, every wrong circle is counted, and the round ends at the last circle with a time and an error count.

Trail Making Test A and B

The Trail Making Test has two parts. Trails A is a single sequence: numbered circles connected in order, 1 to 2 to 3 and on. Trails B alternates two sequences, numbers and letters in turn, 1 to A to 2 to B, so the person has to switch back and forth while keeping their place in both.

This tool offers both formats as mode A and mode B, with a fresh random layout every round. Part B usually takes longer than part A at the same number of circles, because of the switching. That difference is worth watching from one session to the next, but the times here are practice results only and cannot be compared with the published test.

What Trail Making practices

Visual scanning

Each next number has to be found somewhere on a board of look-alike circles with no pattern to the layout. Every round is a fresh random spread, so there is nothing to memorize.

Sustained attention

Holding the sequence from 1 up to as many as 25 circles without losing the place takes steady attention for the whole round, with the running timer as a gentle pressure.

Set shifting

Mode B asks for two sequences at once: after each number comes a letter, then back to numbers. Tapping 3 straight after 2 instead of B is the classic slip the error count records.

Working memory

Between taps the person keeps the last item in mind, 4 or 5, C or D, and works out what comes next, all while the eyes are busy searching the board.

How the tool works and what it records

Mode A is numbers only; mode B alternates numbers and letters, 1, A, 2, B. Three presets are free: mode A with 8 or 12 circles, and mode B from 1 and A to 5 and E. The settings dials are part of Pro: 5 to 25 circles in mode A, 3 to 12 pairs in mode B, circle size, and minimum spacing between circles. Large-print mode is free and enlarges the circles and their labels.

Each round gets a fresh random layout and the timer starts on the first tap. A wrong circle flashes red and adds one to the error count; re-tapping a circle already connected is ignored. The round ends at the last circle, and the results panel shows the time and the errors. Signed-in accounts get 5 free rounds per tool per day; Pro removes the cap and adds PDF export, and accounts with the session log feature have each round saved to it.

Screen or paper?

The screen suits a quick, timed round with no printing: the layout is fresh every time, the clock runs itself, and errors are counted as they happen. Paper suits practice where drawing the line is part of the point, where a pen is easier to control than a fingertip, where there is no wifi, or where a finished sheet needs to go in a folder.

The printable version is the Trail Making worksheet set on rehabworksheets.com, and there is a free trail making worksheet to try first, with no email required.

Using it well

• Start with mode A and 8 circles. The first preset is the place to begin. Watch the error count rather than the time on early rounds; a slower, error-free round is the better sign that the search is systematic.
• Move to mode B before adding circles. Once 12 circles in mode A go smoothly, mode B from 1 to 5 is a different kind of step up: fewer taps than A with 12, but the switch between sequences is the work. Add pairs only when that feels settled.
• Use large print and wider spacing when taps land wrong. Large-print mode is free and enlarges every circle. If a red flash is a slipped finger rather than a wrong choice, raise the minimum spacing dial so neighboring circles sit further apart, or turn the circle size up.
• Say the sequence out loud, or have a partner say it. Speaking each item as it is tapped, 1, A, 2, B, helps hold the place in mode B. If speech is difficult, a partner can say the next item while the person finds and taps it; the round scores exactly as before.

Common questions