Adaptation of the Walking Corsi Test (WalCT) for 2- and 3-year-old preterm and term-born toddlers. Poster

Introduction: To determine whether adapted versions of the Walking Corsi Test (WalCT) to measure topographical memory can be used in 2- and 3-years old toddlers born at term (T) and preterm (PT). Patients and Methods: The original WalCT was adapted to 20 T and 13 PT toddlers (27.74 months: SD = 5.13 months). Two versions were designed to simplify instructions and increase motivation: Adapted (AWalCT) and Treasure WalCT (TWalCT). During these tests, we mainly measured if toddlers could start the task (S) and the maximum sequence span they obtained (SS). Attention was evaluated by using the Teddy Bear Cancellation Test (TBCT). Results: Binomial tests showed that not all toddlers could initiate AWalCT. While 2-year-old TD toddlers tried to perform the task in the 83% of the time (p=0.039 in the Binomial Test, Bayes Factor BF = 3.8), only 22% 2-year-old PT did it (p=0.006, BF = 15.05). PT showed less attentional level than their peers demonstrating an inverse moderate to strong correlation with the starting of the task at AWalCT (–0.714). On the other hand, both groups could start TWalCT but there were still significant differences in topographical memory variables (p=0.014, BF = 4.76). 3- years-old TD group achieved a greater SS than the younger group (1.08 to 2.00; p = 0.001, BF > 100). Conclusion: The ability to start AWalCT is related to the level of attention in 2-and 3-year-old toddlers, not been useful to study topographical memory in PT with lower attention. TWalCT, by increasing motivation, can be used to study topographical memory and detect differences between groups.