Using a Complex Sensorimotor Reaction to Predict School Performance

With the beginning of school, students are subject to fairly stringent requirements that can be fulfilled if the child reaches a certain level of intellectual development, as well as the ability to flexibly organize their activities, which in modern scientific literature is called "executive function" - "executive functions" (hereinafter EF) ^[7].

Most researchers have identified 3 parameters included in EF: inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility ^[15,24].

The formed EF provide conditions for the student to work at the same pace with other students in the classroom, follow the rules, suppress impulsive reactions to distracting non-target stimuli, selectively and promptly responding to the target ^[22,23].

This allows you to quickly start learning activities, effectively organize it and successfully complete training tasks, which ensures success in learning activities.

In recent decades, the number of children who have learning difficulties already in primary school has increased significantly in all developed countries, and these are children with a fairly high level of intelligence development, as well as gifted children ^[3,9,12,13].

It can be assumed that some of these students are children with insufficiently formed EF.

Usually, the level of EF development is assessed using psychological tests, however, the literature shows that the results of software and hardware sensorimotor tests evaluating the time of motor response to sensory stimuli coincide with the results of classical tests for assessing EF.  

It is shown that the results of sensorimotor tests are stable and repeatable.  The Willoughby study with co-authors (2020) involved 282 primary school students. Reaction time and EF testing was carried out three times: in autumn, winter and spring - reaction time was always associated with the quality of EF, which was evaluated by standard methods ^[28].

The importance of an objective assessment of children's learning opportunities by standardized software and hardware methods is also important because the subjective assessment of the teacher does not always reflect the potential of the child and can sometimes cause a decrease in the pace of his learning ^[1,10].

In our study, an attempt was made to use software and hardware tests evaluating various complex sensorimotor reactions to predict the academic performance of schoolchildren.

Organization of research.The study involved students of grades 1-4 of St. Petersburg schools.

The choice of age is determined by the results of previously obtained data on the presence of a connection between marks and the results of objective psychological and psychophysiological tests only in elementary school ^[11].

First-graders and second-graders in the course of our study successfully coped with the tests, but since grades are not set in the first grade, the test results of 3rd and 4th grade students were selected for mathematical analysis, their annual marks for the previous year of study in all subjects were taken into account. The results of 108 children (63 boys, 45 girls) aged 9-11 years were analyzed. The parents signed an informed consent to participate in the study.

The study was conducted on a device for psychophysiological testing UPFT-1/30-"PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGIST" (scientific, production and design firm "Medikom", Russia) with a block of psychomotor tests. The diagnostic complex included 7 tests. Examination of 1 child took about 15 minutes.

1.                 Simple visual-motor reaction (PMR): the subject was asked to press the button as soon as possible when the green LED on the instrument panel lights up.

2.                 Simple auditory motor reaction (PSMR) - the subject was asked to press a button on the instrument panel as quickly as possible in response to a sound stimulus.

3. Complex visual-motor reaction (SPMR) – a two–color indicator was used as a stimulus - red or green. It was necessary to respond to one of the signals, ignoring the second.

4. Complex visual-motor reaction to a light combination (SPMR-SC) – the subject reacted by pressing buttons only to a certain light combination, ignoring other signals.

5. Reaction to a moving object (RDO). An arrow rotating in a circle acted as a moving object, 12 LEDs with an angular displacement of 30 degrees were located inside the circle; the LEDs lit up randomly one by one, the subject should stop the arrow by pressing the button as close as possible to the burning LED.

6. Dynamic sensorimotor test (DST) – depending on the number of correct reactions to light stimuli, the frequency of their presentation increased

7. Tapping test (TT) – dynamics of brush movements when tapping with a probe on the tapping pad. The test was performed separately for the right and left hands.

Indicators reflecting various aspects of the success of the tests were automatically saved in the instrument's file and then uploaded to the SPSS-21 table for subsequent mathematical analysis.

Results

First, a factor analysis was carried out for all children. It turned out that all the disciplines for which the marks were calculated are included in one factor, so only the total points for all disciplines for the second and third grades were selected for the final factor analysis. A 4-factor solution was obtained with a measure of the adequacy of the CMOS sample of 0.651, the percentage of the explained variance was 76.4% (Table 1).

According to Table 2, the first factor (24.9% of the explained variance) included the results of the tapping test with both the left and right hands. All the other parameters studied were included in the second factor (22.1% of the explained variance), that is, they all reflect to some extent the speed characteristics of the motor response to different stimuli. They are related only to gender - boys have better speed characteristics regardless of age. We removed the age in this case, since it was not included in any factor with other characteristics.

Grades in the main subjects in grades 3 and 2 were included in one factor (17.3% of the explained variance). Finally, the total score in a complex sensorimotor reaction was also included in a separate factor (12.1% of the explained variance).

Step-by-step linear regression analysis allowed us to obtain a model in which three indicators together can predict a high average score based on the results of training in the second grade. The value of the Durbin-Watson criterion of 1.954 indicates that the model meets the necessary requirements.

Table 3The influence of independent variables on the dependent "Average grade according to the results of study in the second grade"

According to Table 3, all ? coefficients are positive, which means that the higher the score for the parameter "dynamic sensorimotor test", the more normal reactions in reactions to a moving object, the number of correct reactions in a complex visual-motor reaction, the higher the average marks of students in the second grade.

Next, a step-by-step regression analysis was carried out in order to identify predictive parameters for determining the effectiveness of teaching in the third grade. (Table 4)

The resulting model included only one variable that predicted grades in Grade 3 with a probability of 0.004 – the number of normal reactions in the reaction test to a moving object.

Discussion of the resultsIn most of the works devoted to the assessment of reaction time in sensorimotor tests, simple auditory-motor and visual-motor reactions are described ^[4].

For example, in the work of Epstein and co-authors, the time of a simple sensorimotor reaction was studied in 8916 children aged 9-10 years. It is shown that the reactions of boys are faster and more stable than those of girls, which coincides with the data we obtained - in boys, all speed characteristics when performing sensorimotor tests were higher than in girls and did not depend on age ^[21].

Our study showed that the results of simple sensorimotor tests are not related to academic performance. Statistically significant links were found between academic performance and more complex tests, which included all three elements of EF: inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility. In the tests "complex visual-motor reaction", "complex visual-motor reaction to a light combination", "dynamic sensorimotor test" and "reaction to a moving object", the subjects had to memorize certain rules, suppress reactions to non-target stimuli and respond only to target ones. Moreover, during the transition from one task to another, the instructions changed, which required high cognitive flexibility from children. Moreover, it turned out that the predictive value is not the reaction time to stimuli, but indicators reflecting the ratio of reaction time to the accuracy of the task.

It should be noted that the "dynamic sensorimotor test" had an unusual component – the rate of presentation of stimuli varied depending on the success of the task. This test most accurately simulates the learning process in a rapidly changing environment. In real life, students need to react quickly to changing conditions, showing cognitive flexibility.

The literature shows that when studying cognitive flexibility in preschool children, the accuracy of the task is more often taken into account. In studies of schoolchildren, the combination of accuracy and reaction speed in sensorimotor tests is statistically associated with high academic performance. The longitudinal study by Dumont and co-authors involved 425 children who were examined at the ages of 5, 6 and 7 years. Accuracy increased between 5 and 6 years, and reaction time decreased between 6 and 7 years. In addition, a higher accuracy of the test at 5 years predicted a shorter reaction time at 7 years. The results confirm the hypothesis that accuracy and reaction time become more effective with age, providing cognitive flexibility ^[20].

         Thus, it can be assumed that it is cognitive flexibility that ensures the success of the child in learning in the lower grades.

The features of the relationship of variables in grades 2 and 3 turned out to be significant. For Class 3, the only significant result is the reaction to a moving object. For the second grade, more tests were found to predict the learning outcome at the end of the year.

Here it is worth discussing the difference between the skill requirements of students in the first two grades and at the end of elementary school.

Learning in the second grade is largely related to the features of the unique combinations of cognitive characteristics of the child, based on the features of maturation of his brain. That is why so many psychophysiological variables affect the learning outcome. It is usually by the third grade that students with learning difficulties are identified. Most often, these are children who failed to learn to read and write fluently ^[6].

One of the theories explaining the occurrence of difficulties with reading and writing is the theory of magnocellular deficiency ^[14,19,27]. 

The visual system begins with a pathway from the retina to the thalamus, then the impulse is directed to the visual zones of a higher level in the cortex. This pathway consists of two anatomically separate parts throughout, which simultaneously carry out various types of visual information. Already at the level of the retina, two types of ganglion cells are distinguished, which send signals to different layers of the thalamus – large and small cells. The more ancient system of large cells in evolutionary terms is called magnocellular, it is responsible for the perception of moving objects, space, position and depth, the separation of the figure from the background; small cells exist only in primates and are responsible for recognizing objects, taking into account color and details – the parvocellular system. It is known that the speed characteristics of the magnocellular system are important for mastering reading and writing ^[17].

A more modern view of this theory takes into account the effectiveness of the interaction between the parvacellular and magnocellular systems. Violation of this interaction can lead to a decrease in the stability of visual perception during reading, complicating this process and leading to excessive energy expenditure ^[5,18].

         Sensorimotor tests, including reactions to combinations of LEDs of different colors, make it possible to draw conclusions about the quality of functioning of the parvocellular system.

Thus, the complex sensorimotor tests we use make it possible to predict academic performance in elementary school, as they reflect the level of development of cognitive flexibility and the quality of interaction between the magnocellular and parvocellular systems.

It can be assumed that it will be more difficult to identify these connections in older children. We found that all grades in the main subjects for the second and third grade were included in one factor. Previously, this phenomenon was described by the example of the 4th grade: all the marks given by one teacher turned out to be in one factor, which reflects the halo effect: a teacher in elementary school gives grades to a child, not based on a specific answer of the child on a particular day, but on the overall impression of the child. The second factor in that study included marks made by teachers of technology and drawing. These are transient teachers who just put marks for the specific work done today by the child. These estimates correlated with the results of the evaluation of their executive functions. The third factor included marks made by the music teacher, who was only required that the children in this lesson did not interfere with other children in other classes ^[8].

Consequently, the older the child is, the more the result in the form of teacher marks will depend not only on the psychological and psychophysiological characteristics of the child.

However, in primary school, the psychophysiological examination of children has an important prognostic value. Perhaps the results of the tests we have proposed can be improved through trainings that include physical exercises and outdoor games.  There is evidence that the results of simple sensorimotor tests in children are associated with the level of daily physical activity ^[25].

         This relationship has not yet been identified for complex sensorimotor reactions, but perhaps, taking into account the data we have received, trainings should include physical activity that will involve tracking moving objects, for example, exercises and ball games ^[2,16,26].

The use of the sensorimotor tests proposed by us for senior preschoolers and first grade students will allow identifying children at risk of learning difficulties before these difficulties arise and have a negative impact on the development of the child's personality. The use of software and hardware complexes for conducting sensorimotor tests makes it possible to examine large groups of children in a short time, which is convenient in educational institutions. The test results of students in grades 2-4 will help to develop an optimal educational route for each child, taking into account the peculiarities of the functioning of the nervous system.