Children's Continuous Performance Task (C-CPT)
Background
The Continuous Performance Test (CPT) is a classic neuropsychological assessment of sustained attention created in 1956 by Haldor Rosvold and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a differential diagnostic for brain damage. The Children's CPT (C-CPT) was introduced by K.A. Kerns and L.A. Rondeau in 1998 as a CPT task specifically for preschool children ages 3 to 6. The task uses both visual and auditory stimuli and is set up as a game to 'find the sheep'. The C-CPT can be viewed as a subtype of the "X" variant of CPT tasks with infrequent targets that a require a response and frequent distractor stimuli that require response suppression. The original Kerns & Rondeau implementation of the C-CPT was played with mouse button input; the Inquisit implementation uses a response button on the screen and is best played on touchscreens.
Task Procedure
Three different variants of the game can be played that increase in difficulty. In each game a random sequence of ten animal stimuli are played to the participant. The goal is always to find the 'sheep' and press a response button as fast as possible if the sheep is found but refrain from responding for any other animal stimulus. Each game takes about 5 minutes and presents 6 distractors to every sheep target. Each game is preceded by a short practice session that can be repeated if performance is too low. Before the CPT games are played, participants work through two familiarization blocks to learn about the images and soundfiles used.
- Game1 The first game presents a sequence of random animal images paired with congruent animal sounds. For example, the participant sees a cat that 'meows'. Anytime the sheep appears and bleats, the participant needs to press the response button.
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- Game2 The second game also asks participants to find the sheep but 'hides' the animals behind a curtain (no visual input). The goal of this game is to 'find the sheep' based on sound input only and press the response button as soon as the participant hears the sheep bleat. As before, the response button should not be pressed for any other animal sound.
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- Game3 The third game presents the animals visually just like during game1 but this time the animals 'try to trick' the participants by 'pretending to be different animals'. Thus, in game3 the animal images are paired with random animal sounds. A cat image for example might roar like a tiger or bleat like a sheep. The goal is to press the response button anytime the participant SEES the sheep regardless of sound but refrain from respondingto any other animal image even if it's paired with the sheep sound.
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What it Measures
The CPT is a measure of sustained attention.
Psychological Domains
- Sustained Attention: Ability to maintain focus on a continuous repetitive task over a long time.
- Inhibitory Control: Ability to withold a response to non-target stimuli
Main Performance Metrics
- Omission Errors: Rate of missed targets (inattention)
- Comission Errors: Rate of false alarms, or responses to non-targets (response inhibition)
- Reaction Time: Speed of responses (processing speed, alertness)
Psychiatric Conditions
Performance on the CPT tends to be impaired in patients with the following psychiatric conditions:
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
The Children's Continuous Performance Task (C-CPT) by Kerns & Rondeau (1998) is a type of X-CPT with infrequent targets and frequent distractors for preschool children ages 3-6. The C-CPT uses animal pictures and animal sounds and is divided into three games that get progressively more difficult. The implemented procedure is best played on touchscreens.
References
Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Children's Continuous Performance Task (C-CPT).
Kerns, K. A., & Rondeau, L. A. (1998). Development of a continuous performance test for preschool children. Journal of Attention Disorders, 2(4), 229–238. https://doi.org/10.1177/108705479800200403
Espy, K. A., Sheffield, T. D., Wiebe, S. A., Clark, C. A. C., & Moehr, M. J. (2011). Executive control and dimensions of problem behaviors in preschool children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(1), 33–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02265.x
Merkt, J., Siniatchkin, M., & Petermann, F. (2020). Neuropsychological Measures in the Diagnosis of ADHD in Preschool: Can Developmental Research Inform Diagnostic Practice? Journal of Attention Disorders, 24(11), 1588–1604. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054716629741