A simple test involving a raisin has shown that children who are born prematurely tend to have lower attention spans.
Researchers, working with a group of 558 20-month-olds, placed the raisin underneath a cup and instructed the children not to eat it. Children who were able to stop themselves from eating the raisin were found to be more intelligent later in life.
According to study author Professor Dieter Wolke: ‘The raisin game is an easy and effective tool that is good at assessing inhibitory control in young children and can be used in clinical practice to identify children at risk of attention and learning problems.
‘Better inhibitory control at age 20 months predicted better attention regulation and academic achievement at age eight. The results also point to potential innovative avenues to early intervention after pre-term birth.’
Parents can try the test at home, but Professor Wolke warns that your findings shouldn’t be take too seriously: ‘Results may be different if a parent or an independent tester does it.’ he added.
