Measurement of attention in severely motor impaired infants: a clinical evaluation of a new approach.
Current procedures for cognitive assessment of severely motor impaired infants are of limited value because of their reliance on motor responsivity. Methodologies which make use of infant attentional responsiveness offer the possibility of assessing cognitive function relatively independently of motor ability. We report the results of a study in 15 motor impaired infants of attentional changes to visual and auditory stimuli using heart rate change and observed behaviour as indices. Using these methods it was possible to show differences in infant cognitive functioning in otherwise 'hard to test' infants.
D001288:Attention; D001519:Behavior; D003071:Cognition; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D011581:Psychological Tests