Visual-Perceptual Exploration and Accident Liability in Children

Abstract

Specific characteristics of children's affective behaviors have been linked with systematic variations in accident liability, but associations between children's specific cognitive behaviors and accidents have received less attention. In the present study, one cognitive measure, Elkind's visual-perceptual exploration test, was given to 160 twin children at 6 years and related to levels of accidents recorded between 6 and 9 years of age. The children were categorized into high-, intermediate-, and low-accident groups, and error scores from the test were found to be directly related to level of accident liability. This finding was especially highlighted when the data from the twin children were examined for twin pairs according to the co-twin method. Because some accident-liable children seem to have an accident style consisting of a constellation of behaviors that includes cognitive aspects, it is suggested that psychologists in pediatric settings can help to detect and assess accident liabilities in children.