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Children's%20Paced%20Auditory%20Serial%20Addition%20Task%20(ChiPASAT)
Availability
Please visit this website for more information about the instrument: Children's Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task
Classification
Supplemental Highly-Recommended: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) for pediatric functional neuroimaging studies or pediatric studies of attention.
Short Description of Instrument
The Children's Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (ChiPASAT) is a serial-addition task used to assess rate of information processing, sustained attention, and working memory. It was developed as a downward extension of the adult version (the PASAT), which was developed in New Zealand in the 1970s by Dorothy Gronwall and colleagues (Gronwall & Sampson, 1974; Gronwall & Wrightson, 1974; Gronwall, 1977).
This measure is validated in subjects ages 8-15.
This task takes about 15 minutes to complete.
Comments
As cognitive deficits in children and adolescents with ME/CFS strongly mirror those found in adults with ME/CFS, this task is highly recommended to be included in any neuropsychological assessment. The ChiPASAT identifies attention, information processing, and working memory problems that are the hallmark of this disorder in adults and children. This task is suitable to be used in functional neuroimaging studies.
Scoring
Like the original audio cassette version of the ChiPASAT, this computerized adaptation delivers a pseudorandom series of 61 numbers from 1 to 5. The child is instructed to add the numbers in pairs, such that each number is added to the one before it. In other words, the second number is added to the first, the third to the second, the fourth to the third, and so on.
Rationale/Justification
ME/CFS Specific: This measure is very sensitive to deficits in sustained attention, working memory and information processing.
References
Dyche GM & Johnson DA. Information-Processing Rates Derived from Chipasat. Percept Mot Skills. 1991;73(3):720-722.
 
Gronwall D. Sampson H. The psychological effects of concussion. Auckland University Press, Auckland, New Zealand, 1974.
 
Gronwall D, Wrightson P. Delayed recovery of intellectual function after minor head injury. Lancet. 1974;2(7881):605-609.
 
Gronwall D.  Paced Auditory Serial-Addition Task: A measure of recovery from concussion. Percept Mot Skills. 1977;44:367-373.
 
Johnson DA, Roethig-Johnston K, Middleton J. Development and evaluation of an attentional test for head injured children--1. Information processing capacity in a normal sample. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1988;29(2):199-208.

 

Document last updated July 2019
Recommended Instrument for
ME/CFS