Piaget's “A-Not-B Task” in Infants At High and Low Risk for ASD

Background: The A-not-B task is one of the classic tests of human cognitive development in the first year of life. This task, developed by Piaget, is based on the theory of object permanence and requires an infant to find a hidden toy in one of two possible locations.  The toy is initially hidden at Location A while the infant is watching.  After the infant has successfully found the hidden toy on two consecutive trials, the side of hiding is reversed to Location B. The A-not-B error occurs when, after a reversal, the infant reaches for the hidden toy at the previous location. Performance is known to improve with age. By 12 months of age infants can find the hidden toy correctly even after reversals with up to 10 second delays between hiding and searching. This task requires working memory, response inhibition, and goal-directed behavior.

Objectives: To assess whether performance on the A-not-B task at 12 months is associated with 1) overall developmental level, 2) temperament, and 3) autism risk signs.

Methods: Participants are part of a larger, multi-site, longitudinal study of behavior and brain development in infants at high and low risk for ASD (ACE Infant Brain Imaging Network). Data from infants at 12 months will be reported and data collection is on-going. In the A-not-B task, a total of 24 5s and 12s delay trials will be used. 12s delay trials are administered only if the toy is successfully retrieved on two consecutive trials at the 5s delay and two reversals are completed. Two scores will be investigated; overall proportion of correct reaches at 5s and 12s, and proportion of correct reaches on reversal trials. Developmental level will be assessed with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Temperament will be assessed with the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised. Autism-specific risk signs will be assessed using the Autism Observation Scale for Infants.  

Results: Descriptive data on the A-not-B task will be presented (e.g., number of children who successfully pass the 5 s delay and the 12 s delay at 12 months).   We hypothesize that at 12 months of age: 1) higher developmental level  will be associated with better performance on the A-not-B, 2) temperament measures will be associated with performance on the A-not-B, and 3) increased autism risk signs will be related to poorer performance on the A-not-B.

Conclusions: The current investigation will provide evidence regarding whether difficulties on the A-not-B task, tapping the domains of working memory, response inhibition, and goal-directed behavior, are associated with cognitive development, temperament, and autism risk signs at 12 months of age.  Future studies are needed to investigate whether difficulties on the A-not-B may be related to early risk for the later emergence of ASD symptoms in high-risk infants.