Delayed Response Performance at Three Years of Age Among Children With Anoxic and Non-Anoxic Experiences at Birth.

The present study was designed to compare performance at three years of age of children who had delayed respi­ ration and possible anoxic experiences at birth with that of children whose birth histories were ostensibly normal. Success on the delayed response and I.Q. (Stanford-Binet, Form L) were the criterion measures. The delayed response apparatus employed was a five choice-cup, partitioned, portable box. Candy could be placed in a randomly assign­ ed cup, then all cups and the box covered during the delay interval. On the basis of a pilot study, 1*, 2', 3f, 4*f 5' and 10' intervals were used, each presented to each subject in random order, with Stanford-Binet items as the interpolated activity. In all, nineteen three year olds with histories of artificially induced breathing and, in some cases, cyanosis, completed the experimental procedure. Twenty controls were obtained whose birth records showed normal breathing and reported them to be in "good condition." Chi-square comparisons were made among the several experimental variables. vi Results: 1. The two groups differed with respect to success­ ful performance at the longest (10 minute) delay interval (p = .05), the controls being superior to the anoxics. 2. For the anoxemia youngsters, length of delay re­ lated significantly with successful performance (10* performance inferior to 1', 2*, and 3*, 5* and 4' performance each inferior to 1 *, all at .01). Among the control group, frequency of success did not differ from interval to interval. 3. Position of the correct choice cup did not relate to success of performance in either group. 4. Trial sequence did not relate to performance in the anoxic group, but related significantly for the controls, the latter showing a decrease in the number of successes during their last three, as opposed to their first three, trials (p * .01). 5. The two groups differed significantly with re­ spect to mean l.Q. (t sig. at .01). In the anoxic group, l.Q. values related significantly with per­ formance at the three longer delay intervals (.01) and showed a significant correlation with the number of successful intervals (rho * .69). No l.Q. performance relationships were demonstrated among the controls.

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