Research area: Clinical Sciences > Neurodisability and Rehabilitation

Overview

We are inviting you and your child to take part in the COGNITION Study.

‘Cognition’ and ‘cognitive development’ are terms that we use to explain how someone thinks and figures things out. This can include tasks such as learning, memory and attention.

We will be using a cognitive assessment called the CANTAB (Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery) to collect information about children’s cognition. CANTAB is owned by Cambridge Cognition.

Learn more about this project:

Purpose

We aim to have 1,300 school-aged children, between the ages of five and 18, complete the CANTAB in various Victorian schools. This will form what we call a ‘normative data set’ and will allow us to compare the cognitive performance of children and adolescents.

Information for participants

What will this involve?

Children and adolescents are invited to participate in assessments on two occasions, which are nine to 12 months apart. These will include cognition, problem solving, and academic achievement assessments. We are also interested in collecting information on children and adolescents’ quality of life, plus behavioural and emotional symptoms from both students and parents.

The assessments will be administered by researchers at your child’s school during two school periods. Alternatively, the assessments may occur at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute inside The Royal Children’s Hospital or another public location close to your local area. These assessments will be done on iPads provided by the research team.

What happens next?

If you and your child are interested, we will ask you to complete the permission to contact form.

Once you’ve completed the form:

1. A team member will be in contact with you by phone to talk about the project.
2. We’ll discuss whether the research study is suitable for you and your child.
3. We’ll provide further detailed information about the research study for you to read via email.
4. You will have the opportunity to ask any questions.
5. We will ask you to formally provide consent to participate in the study.

After you provide consent, we will organise a time for your child to have their first assessment.

What are the benefits?

We will provide you with an assessment feedback letter which includes a summary of your child’s performance on problem-solving and academic achievement tasks.

This will provide you with an indication of how well your child is performing in comparison to other children and adolescents from the same year level.

Questions?

Please email us at show email address with any of your questions. A member of our research team will get back to you.

You can also call the study coordinator Yasemin Mehmed on show phone number.