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Measurement of development of cognitive and attention functions in children using continuous performance test
Noriko Kanaka1, Tetsuya Matsuda, Yasushi Tomimoto
1Tamagawa University Brain Science Institute, Tokyo, and Department of Neuropsychiatry, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Insights
Childhood attention develops in stages, with inhibition and processing stability emerging first, followed by discrimination ability, and finally reduced processing time. Continuous Performance Tests (CPT) track these cognitive changes.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- The developmental trajectory of attention function in children remains incompletely understood.
- Objective assessment of attention is challenging, yet crucial for understanding cognitive development.
- Continuous Performance Tests (CPT) offer a method for objectively evaluating attention and cognitive functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the developmental patterns of cognitive and attention functions in children using a CPT.
- To identify age-related changes in various parameters of attention and cognitive processing.
- To elucidate the sequence of development for different components of attention.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 541 healthy girls aged 5-12 years underwent a CPT.
- Ten key parameters were calculated, including error rates (T-cancel, N-cancel, Omission, Commission), performance metrics (Hit, False), reaction time (RT), processing stability (CVRT), discrimination ability (d'), and response bias (lnbeta).
Main Results:
- Parameters related to response inhibition (T-cancel, False, Commission) and inattention (N-cancel, Hit, Omission) showed significant changes up to age 5-6 years.
- Discrimination ability (d') developed significantly until age 8 years, while processing time (RT) showed significant changes until age 11 years.
- Coefficient of variance for reaction time (CVRT), indicating processing stability, also changed significantly until age 5-6 years, whereas lnbeta did not show significant age-related differences.
Conclusions:
- Inhibitory control, attention to stimuli, and processing time stability are foundational developmental aspects of attention.
- These early developments support the subsequent emergence of enhanced discrimination ability.
- Processing speed matures last, indicating a sequential progression in the development of attention functions.
Aim:
The development of attention function in children is still not sufficiently clear. Although it is difficult to objectively assess attention function, continuous performance tests (CPT) can be used to objectively assess cognitive function along with attention. The development of cognitive and attention functions was examined in children using a CPT.
Methods:
A total of 541 healthy girls aged 5-12 years participated. Ten parameters were calculated: numbers of cancellations for either target stimuli (T-cancel) or non-target stimuli (N-cancel), numbers of omission errors (Omission) and commission errors (Commission), hit rate (Hit), false alarm rate (False), mean reaction time for correct response (RT), coefficient of variance for mean reaction time (CVRT), sensitivity index (d'), and lnbeta.
Results:
The parameters were divided into three types based on pattern of change. T-cancel, False, and Commission, which are related to inhibition of response, N-cancel, Hit, and Omission, which are related to inattention to stimuli, and CVRT, which is related to stability of processing time, exhibited significant change until 5 or 6 years of age. d', which is related to ability to discriminate between target or non-target, exhibited significant change until 8 years of age. RT, which is related to processing time, exhibited significant change until 11 years of age. lnbeta exhibited no significant differences among age groups.
Conclusions:
These findings indicate that inhibition function, inattention to stimuli, and stability of processing time develop first. Discrimination ability subsequently increases based on these developments, and finally processing time is reduced.
