Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2026

The Use of Trace Eyeblink Classical Conditioning to Assess Hippocampal Dysfunction in a Rat Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Published on: August 5, 2017
Executive functioning in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: profiles and age-related differences
Carmen Rasmussen1, Jeffrey Bisanz
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada. carmen@ualberta.ca
Abstract:
The goal of this project was to examine the profile of executive function (EF) deficits and age-related differences among children with FASD. Twenty-nine children with FASD (8 to 16 years of age) completed 8 tests from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS). They had difficulty on many components of EF including cognitive flexibility, inhibition, some measures of verbal fluency, abstract thinking, deductive reasoning, hypothesis testing, problem solving, and concept formation. A distinctive profile emerged with performance being poorest on the card sorting test and relatively high on category fluency, design fluency, and the tower test, indicating relative strengths on some visual-spatial EF tasks. Older children with FASD showed more difficulty (relative to the norm) on some verbal tests of EF than younger children with FASD, suggesting that difficulty on some verbal EF tasks appears to become more pronounced with increasing age.
Related Concept Videos
Information Processing Approach
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings.
Intellectual Disability
Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory

