“An easy, five-minute raisin game task represents a promising new tool for follow-up assessments to predict attention regulation and learning in preterm and term born children”, Wolke, a professor of Psychology at Warwick Medical School, said in a news release.
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During the study, 558 children were assessed for self-control once they were 20 months old.
The premature children – and others with low inhibitory control – scored lower on academic tests aged eight, the scientists said.
Researchers at the University of Warwick in England found toddlers born prematurely were least likely to exhibit patience, and regularly took the raisin before the allotted time was up.
Researchers concluded, “The lower a child’s gestational age, the lower the inhibitory control and the more likely that the child had poor attention regulation and low academic achievement”.
A study carried out by the University of Warwick – where 20-month-old toddlers were asked to hold off eating a raisin placed under a plastic cup until they were told they could eat it – has shown that those little ones who waited to eat the snack had an IQ of 7 points higher than those who weren’t able to wait when they got to 8 years old.
They were all enrolled in the Bavarian Longitudinal Study, which is still underway after beginning in Germany in 1985.
The results of those born prematurely, at 25-38 weeks were compared to those born a healthy full term between 39-41 weeks.
Scientists found that placing the dried fruit under a cup and telling a toddler not to eat it could predict how intelligent they will be in later years.
Around age eight, the same children were evaluated by a team of psychologists and pediatricians using three different behavior ratings of attention from mothers, psychologists and the whole research team.
Academic achievement – including mathematics, reading and spelling plus writing – was assessed through standard school tests.
“This new finding is a key piece in the puzzle of long-term underachievement after preterm birth”, Wolke added he and his team believe this could help identify cognitive problems earlier, which could result in developing a special, tailored approach to education to prevent children from underachieving into adulthood.
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This means that a cheap and simple test may help guide parents into taking extra early measures to help their children.
