The Waterloo Foundation has given us funding to set up the Neurodevelopment Assessment Unit as a demonstration project that illustrates a way forward to address the needs of children who show emotional, cognitive or behavioural difficulties and problems.

We are conducting a three-year study of the feasibility of working in partnership with families and schools to provide evidence-based assessments of children who may have developmental problems. We intend to help families and those who work with the children at school by providing them with detailed information about the strengths and weaknesses of the child. This report can also inform any later referrals to educational or clinical services.

Specifically, children aged 4 to 7 years are assessed for a few hours in our Neurodevelopment Assessment Unit (NDAU). We i) assess general scholastic abilities such as verbal/nonverbal ability; ii) administer cognitive tests of attention, inhibition and working memory; iii) provide research-based socio-emotional tests of emotion recognition, empathy, affect processing, and theory of mind, and iv) ask the accompanying parent/guardian to complete a clinical interview to identify the main challenges for the child (i.e., the Development and Well Being Assessment; DAWBA), and questionnaires regarding the children’s strengths and difficulties, behaviour, and their development and health.

The outcomes of this detailed assessment will help those who work with these children at school or home select appropriate educational provision and prioritize interventions and inform any later referrals to educational or clinical services.

Lead researcher

Academic staff

Assessments

We undertake a wide range of assessments at the NDAU. These enable us to understand the individual cognitive and socio-emotional profile of every child that visits the NDAU. Each assessment captures a psychological construct that is derived from the RDoC Framework and is believed to be important for a child’s learning and development.

Facial Emotion Recognition

Emotions are associated with specific emotional expressions. Facial emotion recognition refers to the ability to accurately identify these facial expressions, which develops and improves throughout childhood.

View the Facial Emotional Recognition Information Sheet

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-verbal reasoning involves the ability to understand and analyse visual information and solve problems using visual skills.

View the Non-Verbal Reasoning Information Sheet

Theory of Mind

Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and to others. This function enables an individual to understand or predict other people’s behaviour in social situations.

View the Facial Theory of Mind Information Sheet

Verbal Working Memory

Verbal working memory refers to the capacity to store and manipulate verbal information for brief periods of time.

View the Facial Verbal Working Memory Information Sheet

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal reasoning involves the ability to understand and reason using words.

View the Verbal Reasoning Information Sheet

Visuospatial Working Memory

Visuospatial working memory refers to the capacity to store and manipulate images and information about locations for brief periods of time.

View the Visuospatial Working Memory Information Sheet

Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive flexibility is the ability to think flexibly and to transition from thinking about once concept to another.

View the Cognitive Flexibility Information Sheet

Cognitive Inhibition

Cognitive inhibition is one of the core cognitive skills that we use to control our thinking and behaviour. It is the ability to inhibit and control our cognitive responses by tuning out information that is irrelevant to the current task.

View the Cognitive Inhibition Information Sheet

Sustained Attention

Sustained attention is the ability to focus on an activity or task over a longer period of time.

View the Sustained Attention Information Sheet