According to the conclusion of a new study led by researchers from the UK's University of Warwick, with just a simple test that involves a raisin and a plastic cup, a toddler's future, in terms of his academic performance, can now be predicted.
At the age of 8 years, the said experiment was found to accurately predict a toddler's attention and learning capabilities as it tries to measure how long a 20-month-old child can refrain from picking up a raisin that is placed under an opaque cup in front of them.
As participants of the ongoing Bavarian Longitudinal Study, which originated in Germany in 1985, the researches came to reach their findings by analyzing the data of 558 children who were part of the said study.
During the test, each toddler had a raisin placed in front of them which was covered by an opaque plastic cup. The toddlers were then asked to refrain from touching and eating the raisin for 60 seconds.
Preterm children have poorer self-control, academic achievement
According to the researchers, as compared to those born full-term, at 39-41 weeks' gestation, it was found that children who were born preterm which has been defined in the study as between 25-38 weeks' old were more likely to touch the raisin before 60 the second limit. The experts also have noted that the earlier a child was born, the lower their self-control is.
As per Medical News Today, previous research has proven that children who were born on a preterm are more likely to have difficulties when it comes to attention and learning abilities and on their latest findings, the team claims that such an effect may actually be mediated by early inhibitory control abilities.
Furthermore, in order to determine which children may be at risk for attention and learning concerns later on, the researchers suggests that the raisin game could be a useful tool as their findings have indicated.
And although preterm infants pose a great risk for a number of developmental and health problems, earlier this year, a study that was published in JAMA has found that outcomes for preterm babies may have improved over the past 20 years.
