Measurement of Cognition for the National Children's Study

Philip David Zelazo; Stella F Lourenco; Michael C Frank; Jed T Elison; Robert K Heaton; Henry M Wellman; Jerry Slotkin; Maria Kharitonova; J Steven Reznick

doi:10.3389/fped.2021.603126

Measurement of Cognition for the National Children's Study

Front Pediatr. 2021 May 31:9:603126. doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.603126. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Philip David Zelazo¹, Stella F Lourenco², Michael C Frank³, Jed T Elison¹, Robert K Heaton⁴, Henry M Wellman⁵, Jerry Slotkin⁶, Maria Kharitonova⁷, J Steven Reznick⁸

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
² Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States.
³ Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States.
⁴ Department Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
⁶ Center for Health Research and Translation, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States.
⁷ xSEL Labs, Evanston, IL, United States.
⁸ Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.

Abstract

The National Children's Study Cognitive Health Domain Team developed detailed plans for assessing cognition longitudinally from infancy to early adulthood. These plans identify high-priority aspects of cognition that can be measured efficiently and effectively, and we believe they can serve as a model for future large-scale longitudinal research. For infancy and toddlerhood, we proposed several paradigms that collectively allowed us to assess six broad cognitive constructs: (1) executive function skills, (2) episodic memory, (3) language, (4) processing speed, (5) spatial and numerical processing, and (6) social cognition. In some cases, different trial sequences within a paradigm allow for the simultaneous assessment of multiple cognitive skills (e.g., executive function skills and processing speed). We define each construct, summarize its significance for understanding developmental outcomes, discuss the feasibility of its assessment throughout development, and present our plan for measuring specific skills at different ages. Given the need for well-validated, direct behavioral measures of cognition that can be used in large-scale longitudinal studies, especially from birth to age 3 years, we also initiated three projects focused on the development of new measures.

Keywords: cognition; environment; longitudinal; measurement; tablet-based.