Fourteen reports of difficulty, with both parts visible
The ADEXI overall raw sum adds all 14 numeric responses. Larger values reflect more reported difficulties across its working-memory and inhibition items. This is not a measure of intelligence, personal worth or a neurotype.
Add 14 values from 1 to 5: range 14–70. All 14 are needed, with no reversal, cutoff or percentage conversion.
What the total brings together
ADEXI is a self-report inventory about everyday difficulties. Nine items belong to working memory and five to inhibition in the official two-part key used here. Some questions concern following instructions, multistep activities or changing an approach; others concern acting before thinking or stopping an enjoyable activity. Your answers report how these statements describe you. They are not observed performance on a memory task, a scan of your brain or a full account of executive functioning. The two parts remain visible because a single total can hide very different response patterns.
The adopted total is a raw sum
The official colour-coded self-report form instructs users to calculate two part totals and the ADEXI total. Each numeric answer contributes its chosen value, with no reversals. Fourteen answers of 1 give 14; fourteen answers of 5 give 70. If all nine working-memory answers are 2 and all five inhibition answers are 4, the part sums are 18 and 20, and the overall is 38. A separate official key labels part means. We show those transparently as 18/9 = 2.00 and 20/5 = 4.00; averaging these two means does not produce the adopted raw total.
Put one answer back into its setting
Imagine receiving a long set of spoken instructions while several people are talking. You might relate to a statement about remembering instructions, yet manage the same task comfortably with a written list. A different person might remember the instructions but find it difficult to stop a preferred activity when it is time to leave. The total cannot tell these situations apart or explain why they occurred. Clear instructions, language familiarity, opportunities to practise and the setting are details worth noting, without assuming that any one detail caused your score.
Larger means more reported difficulty
A larger total reflects more endorsement of the adopted difficulty statements, not stronger executive ability. A smaller total does not certify strong skills or rule out a condition. This edition applies no population percentile, low-to-high band, clinical threshold or comparison with a research sample mean. It does not map a pattern onto ADHD, autism or another neurotype. Equal totals need not describe equal experiences, and a small change between attempts does not establish improvement or deterioration. There is no winning part or recommended occupation.
The total requires all fourteen numeric answers
A prefer-not-to-answer choice is unscored. It withholds its part's sum and mean and the overall total; a fully answered other part remains available. Missing is never zero, and answered items are not scaled up to replace missing ones. All fourteen choices can complete the questionnaire even when no sum can be calculated. This strict completeness policy is editorial, not a validated missing-data threshold. The nine- and five-item raw sums have different ranges, so their numerical sizes must not be used to select your stronger or weaker capacity.
An optional observation and the source version
You could choose one manageable task, try a written sequence or a planned stopping cue, and privately note what was easier, harder or unchanged. This is an optional task experiment, not a treatment or a promise that the score will fall. The English and Angela Siu simplified-Chinese self-report files are supplied by the authors' website; item wording and order are retained. Availability is not proof of cross-language equivalence or validation of this website. If difficulties persist and interfere with daily life, you can discuss concrete examples with an appropriately qualified professional rather than relying on a total.