Skip to content
Closer - The home of longitudinal research

Cognitive abilities measured in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

xplore what cognitive ability domains were measured in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort by age and test used.

For background guidance on the table below, see the main harmonisation feasibility page in this guide.

Test 7.5 yrs 8.5 yrs 9 yrs 10 yrs 11.5 yrs 12.5 yrs 13 yrs 15.5 yrs 17.5 yrs 24 yrs
Basic Reading Gc/ Grw
Phoneme Deletion Task Gc/ Grw
Spelling Task Grw Grw
Letter Decision Task Gs/ Gv
Motor Ability Task Gp
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) G
Object Assembly (WISC-III) Gf/ Gs
Digit Symbol Coding (WISC-III) Gv/ Gs Gv/Gs
Block Design (WISC-III) Gs/ Gv
Picture Arrangement (WISC-III) Gc/ Gf/ Gv
Picture Completion (WISC-III) Gv/ Gc
Information (WISC-III) Gc
Comprehension (WISC-III) Gc
Arithmetic (WISC-III) Gq
Vocabulary (WISC-III) Gc Gc
Similarities (WISC-III) Gc
DANVA: Faces Subtest Gkn
TEACh: Selective Attention and Motor Control: Sky Search Gs/ Gps/ Gv/ Gsm Gs/ Gps/ Gv/ Gsm
TEACh: Dividing Attention (Dual Task) Gsm/ Gs/ Gps/ Gv/ Ga Gs/ Gps/ Gv/ Gsm/ Ga
TEACh: Attentional control (Opposite Worlds) Gs/ Gsm Gs/ Gsm
Listening Comprehension Gc/ Glr
Oral Expression Gc
Short-term Memory (Nonword Repetition) Gsm
Articulatory Skills Ga
Word and Nonword Reading Test Gc/ Grw
Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (NARA II) Gc/ Grw
Sentence Decision Task Gc/ Grw
Working Memory (Counting Span Task) Gsm/ Gv
Inhibition (Stop-Signal) Task Gt Gt Gt
Higher Conceptual Reasoning (Bike Drawing) G
Phonological Awareness (Spoonerisms) NA
Tests of Word Reading Fluency (TOWRE) Gc/ Grw Gc/ Grw
Motor Skill and Movement Test Gps
Reaction Time Gt
Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) G
Vocabulary (WASI) Gc
Matrix Reasoning (WASI) Gf/ Gv
N-Back Task (Working Memory) Gsm Gsm
Go No Go (Affective Go/No-Go Task) NA
Probability Learning and Reversal Task Gsm
Emotion Recognition Task Gkn
Source Monitoring Task Glr
Jumping to Conclusions (Beads Task) N/A
Predictive Processing Task N/A

Notes.

Gf=Fluid reasoning/fluid intelligence; Gsm=Short-term memory; Glr=Long-term storage & retrieval; Gs=Processing speed; Gt=Reaction time; Gps=Psychomotor speed; Gc=Acquired knowledge/crystallised intelligence; Gkn=Domain-specific knowledge; Grw=Reading and writing; Gq=Quantitative knowledge; Gv=Visual processing; Ga=Auditory processing; Gp=Psychomotor ability; G=General/multi-domain cognitive ability factor; NA=Not applicable (no Cattell-Horn-Carroll ability type measured).

Explanations of the individual ability domains are provided in the introductory section of this guide.

Find out more about each of the cognitive tests administered to the ALSPAC cohort in our searchable overview of measures.

In this section

Cognitive abilities measured in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children