The influences of social class and sex on sustained attention (vigilance) and motor inhibition in children

A sample of 220 normal pre-school and primary school children was tested by the Continuous Peformance Test (CPT), a test of sustained attention (vigilance), the Draw-a-Line Slowly test (DALS), a test of motor inhibition and two sub-tests of the latter test. Significant social class associations were found for the CPT and DALS tests, but were not present for DALO and DALF (measures of speed in drawing a line). Sex differences were not found for the CPT test or for DALS, but the boys completed the DALO and DALF-tests faster than the girls suggesting superior motor activity and co-ordination.