Attention and Vigilance in Children with Down Syndrome

Abstract

Background Down syndrome (DS) has been the focus of much cognitive and developmental research; however, there is a gap in knowledge regarding sustained attention, particularly across different sensory domains. This research examined the hypothesis that children with DS would demonstrate superior visual rather than auditory performance on a sustained attention task and that this modality difference would not be seen in children with non-specific intellectual disability (NSID). Materials and Methods Eleven children with DS and 16 children with NSID were compared on two versions of the sustained attention to response test (SART), varying only in presentation modality (visual or auditory).

Auditory and visual sustained attention in Down syndrome

“…Specifically, commission errors measure lapses in controlled processing that lead to automatic responding and consequently diminished sustained attention (Robertson et al, 1997), while omission errors measure distractions from task participation and thus lapses in sustained attention (Johnson et al, 2007). Trezise et al (2008) found that youth with DS experienced fewer commission errors than youth with NSID on the visual SART, but omission errors occurred at similar rates. Results indicated that the group with DS was better able to resist pressing the star when infrequently presented with a target and ultimately better able to maintain visual attention than the group with NSID.…”

“…Auditory and visual versions of the SART used in this study were originally created by Trezise et al (2008) and were successfully administered to youth with DS in their study investigating sustained attention. Both versions implemented in this study were recreated using Superlab 4.5 computer software.…”

“…One study compared sustained attention between youth with DS and youth with NSID matched for chronological and mental age in order to prevent results from being confounded by specific etiologies of other intellectual disabilities. Trezise, Gray, and Sheppard (2008) investigated both visual and auditory sustained attention by applying the sustained attention to response test (SART) paradigm to both modalities. Robertson, Manly, Andrade, Baddeley, and Yiend (1997) originally proposed this paradigm for the visual modality.…”

“…Animal names were also presented pseudo-randomly and in Visual SART. Trezise et al (2008) originally created the visual SART that was recreated using Superlab 4.5 computer software in this study. Line drawings of nine common animals were presented to participants on an 11" Apple MacBook Air laptop computer screen.…”

“…Auditory SART. Trezise et al (2008) originally created the auditory SART that was recreated using Superlab 4.5 computer software in this study. Audio recordings of nine common animal names were presented to participants via Insignia speakers attached to a laptop.…”