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THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUSTAINED ATTENTION (VIGILANCE) AND INHIBITION IN CHILDREN: SOME NORMATIVE DATA
Author(s) -
Levy Florence
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1980.tb00018.x
Subject(s) - vigilance (psychology) , psychology , normative , developmental psychology , motor skill , multivariate analysis , motor activity , multivariate statistics , clinical psychology , audiology , cognitive psychology , medicine , statistics , philosophy , epistemology , mathematics
SUMMARY A normative study of 230 children from Sydney pre‐schools and primary schools (aged 3–7 years) was carried out using a Continuous Performance Test of Vigilance (CPT), the Draw‐a‐Line Slowly test (DALS) for motor inhibition, and the Sprague Ballistographic Chair for motility. The study demonstrated a clear age development in capacity for sustained attention (vigilance) and in motor inhibition between 4 and 6 years of age, in normal children. Correlations between components of the CPT, Mean Reaction Time (MRT), and the DALS test were shown suggesting a need for further multivariate studies. Sex differences were not found for the CPT, or DALS tests, but were shown for Chair Score and for motor components of the DALS test (DALO and DALF), for which boys scored higher motility scores and faster DALO and DALF scores.