Visual‐motor and executive functions in children born preterm: The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test revisited

Böhm, B., Lundequist, A. & Smedler, A.‐C. (2010). Visual‐motor and executive functions in children born preterm: The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test revisited. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 376–384. Visual‐motor development and executive functions were investigated with the Bender Test at age 5½ years in 175 children born preterm and 125 full‐term controls, within the longitudinal Stockholm Neonatal Project. Assessment also included WPPSI‐R and NEPSY neuropsychological battery for ages 4–7 ( Korkman, 1990 ). Bender protocols were scored according to Brannigan & Decker (2003) , Koppitz (1963) and a complementary neuropsychological scoring system (ABC), aimed at executive functions and developed for this study. Bender results by all three scoring systems were strongly related to overall cognitive level (Performance IQ), in both groups. The preterm group displayed inferior visual‐motor skills compared to controls also when controlling for IQ. The largest group differences were found on the ABC scoring, which shared unique variance with NEPSY tests of executive function. Multiple regression analyses showed that hyperactive behavior and inattention increased the risk for visual‐motor deficits in children born preterm, whereas no added risk was seen among hyperactive term children. Gender differences favoring girls were strongest within the preterm group, presumably reflecting the specific vulnerability of preterm boys. The results indicate that preterm children develop a different neurobehavioral organization from children born at term, and that the Bender test with a neuropsychological scoring is a useful tool in developmental screening around school start.     

Fixation point offsets facilitate endogenous saccades

Subjects produced saccades to continuously visible targets that were signaled by the pitch, not the location, of an auditory signal. Such endogenous saccades were initiated more quickly when the visual fixation point disappeared 200 msec before the signal (thus producing a “gap”), even though the alerting benefits of such a warning were eliminated by an earlier warning tone. The presence of the gap effect under these circumstances shows that the effect is more general than was previously believed: Visual fixation point offsets facilitate saccades by affecting oculomotor processes related to both visually elicited (exogenous) and centrally produced (endogenous) saccades. In addition, the magnitude of the gap effect for endogenous saccades was significantly smaller than that for exogenous saccades, suggesting that at least some of the effect arises in relatively early processes, such as those involved in the processing of sensory signals, and not exclusively in later processes, such as those involved in the preparation and production of saccades.     

The effects of eye and limb movements on working memory

Three experiments examined the role of eye and limb movements in the maintenance of information in spatial working memory. In Experiment 1, reflexive saccades interfered with memory span for spatial locations but did not interfere with memory span for letters. In Experiment 2, three different types of eye movements (reflexive saccades, pro-saccades, and anti-saccades) interfered with working memory to the same extent. In all three cases, spatial working memory was much more affected than verbal working memory. The results of these two experiments suggest that eye movements interfere with spatial working memory primarily by disrupting processes localised in the visuospatial sketchpad. In Experiment 3, limb movements performed while maintaining fixation produced as much interference with spatial working memory as reflexive saccades. These results suggest that the interference produced by eye movements is not the result of their visual consequences. Rather, all spatially directed movements appear to have similar effects on visuospatial working memory.     

New perceptual objects that capture attention produce inhibition of return

New perceptual objects are known to capture attention. We show that such attentional capture is similar to that produced by peripheral luminance changes, as opposed to symbolic central cues, in that it produces inhibition of return. Two experiments employed equiluminant texture changes that attracted attention, producing an initial attentional benefit (in detection and discrimination) followed by inhibition of return. However, when the display was altered so that the texture change did not define a new object, no facilitation or inhibition was observed. The results bolster recent claims of the importance of new perceptual objects and extend our understanding of the effect of such objects on attention.