Operant Test Battery Performance in Children: Correlation with IQ

doi:10.1016/S0892-0362(98)00045-2

Neurotoxicology and Teratology

Volume 21, Issue 3, May–June 1999, Pages 223-230

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0892-0362(98)00045-2 Get rights and content

Abstract

The relationship between intelligence and money-(nickel-)reinforced operant behaviors were compared in 115 six year old children. The Operant Test Battery (OTB) consists of tasks thought to engender responses dependent upon specific brain functions that include motivation, color and position discrimination, learning, short-term memory, and time estimation. OTB endpoints were compared with Full Scale, Verbal and Performance IQ scores. Highly significant correlations were noted between several OTB measures (e.g., color and position discrimination accuracy) and IQ scores, but not in others (e.g., motivation task response rate). The results demonstrate the relevance of these measures as metrics of important brain functions. Additionally, since laboratory animals can readily perform these same tasks, these kinds of behaviors in laboratory animals should be useful in studying the effects of neuroactive/neurotoxic compounds on aspects of cognitive function in animals and in predicting adverse effects of such agents on related brain functions in humans.

Section snippets

Subjects

One hundred and fifteen children (60 female, 55 male; 46 Caucasian, 67 African-American, 1 Hispanic, and 1 mixed race) participating in the IHDP study at Arkansas Children’s Hospital served as subjects. All were preterm (⩽37 weeks of gestation) and low birth weight (⩽2500 g) infants.

IQ Assessments

The Verbal, Full Scale, and Performance subscales of the Wechsler Preschool Primary Scale of Intelligence [WPSSI (63)] were used to obtain Verbal, Full Scale, and Performance IQ scores for all subjects at age 5.

Operant Behavioral Tasks

Results

Table 1 shows the means and standard deviations for the OTB variables for children over different Full Scale IQ ranges. For the motivation (PR) task, none of the endpoints changed as a function of Full Scale IQ (see also Fig. 1). It is clear from the data for all other tasks, however, that, as IQ increases, so does percent task completed and accuracy (see also Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5). Response rates for the conditioned position responding (CPR), delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) and

Discussion

Performance on many of the operant tasks that were used in this research was significantly correlated with IQ in children; thus, it would appear that many endpoints in these tasks are influenced to some degree by intelligence. It is interesting to note that those tasks whose performance correlated with intelligence were those thought to model short-term memory (delayed matching-to-sample), learning (incremental repeated acquisition), color and position discrimination (conditioned position

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Neurosciences Coordinating Committee and Department of Pediatrics, and The Division of Neurotoxicology at the National Center for Toxicological Research.

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ArticlesOperant Test Battery Performance in Children: Correlation with IQ

Abstract

Section snippets

Subjects

IQ Assessments

Operant Behavioral Tasks

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgements

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Articles
Operant Test Battery Performance in Children: Correlation with IQ