Abstract
Speed of sensory information processing has long been recognized as an important characteristic of global intelligence, though few studies have concurrently investigated the contribution of different types of information processing to nonverbal IQ in children, nor looked at whether chronological age vs. months of early schooling plays a larger role. Thus, this study investigated the speed of visual information processing in three tasks including a simple visual inspection time (IT) task, a visual-verbal processing task using Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) of objects as an accepted preschool predictor of reading, and a visuomotor processing task using a game-like iPad application, (the “SLURP” task) that requires writing like skills, in association with nonverbal IQ (Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices) in children (n = 100) aged 5–7 years old. Our results indicate that the rate and accuracy of information processing for all three tasks develop with age, but that only RAN and SLURP rates show significant improvement with years of schooling. RAN and SLURP also correlated significantly with nonverbal IQ scores, but not with IT. Regression analyses demonstrate that months of formal schooling provide additional contributions to the speed of dual-task visual-verbal (RAN) and visuomotor performance and Raven’s scores supporting the domain-specific hypothesis of processing speed development for specific skills as they contribute to global measures such as nonverbal IQ. Finally, RAN and SLURP are likely to be useful measures for the early identification of young children with lower intelligence and potentially poor reading.
Highlights
IntroductionSignificant correlations between measures of speed of information-processing (inspection time and reaction time tasks) and intelligence were first described in young adults more than 40 years ago by Vickers et al (1972) and others later on (Jensen and Munro, 1979; Vernon, 1983; Nettelbeck et al, 1986; Deary et al, 2001; Grudnik and Kranzler, 2001; Jensen, 2006, 2011; Sheppard and Vernon, 2008)
The relationships between nonverbal IQ raw scores and total time to complete the visual-verbal and visual-motor task were both moderate and negative as accurate performance became faster in both visually driven Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) for objects and SLURP activities with less time being required for completion especially in terms of months at school
Performance of the 7-year-old group showed a significant increase beyond that of the 5and 6-years groups on measures of visual-verbal information processing assessed by RAN task, visuomotor skills tested by SLURP and nonverbal IQ, but not on simple visual information processing (IT task), for which there was a decreasing nonsignificant trend in threshold exposure time needed for accurate object identification
Summary
Significant correlations between measures of speed of information-processing (inspection time and reaction time tasks) and intelligence were first described in young adults more than 40 years ago by Vickers et al (1972) and others later on (Jensen and Munro, 1979; Vernon, 1983; Nettelbeck et al, 1986; Deary et al, 2001; Grudnik and Kranzler, 2001; Jensen, 2006, 2011; Sheppard and Vernon, 2008). We expected that months of formal schooling would independently contribute to the development of the visual-verbal processing and visuomotor skills required for early school year foci of reading and writing (Burrage et al, 2008; Brod et al, 2017; Morrison et al, 2019), rather than simple visual perception, in line with the domain-specific knowledge hypothesis
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