E. Stamina test

A. Analytical Abilities

1. Mental ability tests with wooden blocks:

The child is given wooden blocks of different sizes and shapes. S/he was asked to look at a printed picture and recreate the shape in the picture using the blocks. Four such tests are given to the younger group and five tests to the 9-13 year old children. Tests become progressively complex. Wherever a child could not repeatedly perform for two tests, further tests in the series were not taken up with the particular child to prevent anxiety and frustration. Results are presented in terms of percentage number of children who could do the test successfully. The statistical significance was determined through chi-square tests.

2. Jigsaw puzzles:

Children were given small jigsaw puzzles (with a maximum of five pieces) of simple images like birds/animals, flowers and fruits. Since jigsaw puzzles are not necessarily a familiar toy, they were given demonstrations. Children who performed a puzzle successfully are encouraged to take on the next one and so on. Once again, the results have been analysed in terms of percentage number of children who could do the test successfully and statistical significance was determined through chi-square tests.

3. Tactile Perception tests, with wooden blocks:

Two games were played to assess the abilities of tactile perception, with the use of wooden blocks.

Test 1: The child is asked to close his/her eyes. A wooden block of a particular shape and size is placed in one of its hands. Many wooden blocks of different sizes and shapes are placed behind a small screen. The child is asked to pick the block that is identical to the one in his/her hand.

Test 2: The child is asked to close his/her eyes. Many blocks of different sizes and shapes are placed behind a small screen. The child is asked to use both hands to search behind the screen and pick up two identical blocks.

Non-verbal cognitive abilities

A test that was administered on 4-5 year old children to assess non-verbal cognitive abilities was one in which the child was asked to draw a human figure, and to identify the various parts drawn. This was then scored against 5 points, with one point each assigned for a head drawn, facial features drawn, a trunk drawn, two hands drawn and two legs drawn.

B. Abilities for Concentration and Memory

Test 1: An instant recall test (with six objects shown to 4-5 year old children and eight objects shown to 9-13 year old children) – after the child identifies the objects, the objects are quickly hidden behind the researcher in a pouch, and the child is asked to recall the objects seen. The number of objects recalled is recorded for each child, and the group average then calculated. Statistical significance was calculated by t-tests.

Test 2: The second test was to get a child to recall a coloured object promised to it, half an hour after the promise is made. The recording is done as percentage number of children who are able to recollect both the colour and the object after half an hour. Chi-square test was administered to the data to understand the statistical significance of the results.


C. Motor skills

Pesticides are chemicals that are potentially neuro-toxic and hence, disrupt motor functions of the nervous system. Tests of motor skills were therefore very important.

Ball-catching:
In the case of 4-5 year old children, gross motor abilities were tested through a ball-catching exercise involving first a large ball, and then a tennis ball. The child was asked to try and catch a ball five times each at distances varying distances. The same process was repeated for the smaller ball.

For the 9-13 year old children, only the smaller ball, the tennis ball was used, at distances of 2 metres, 3 metres and 4 metres. Once again, the number of times that the ball was caught out of five throws was recorded for each distance, and the group average rate of catching calculated.

Fine motor skills:

Dropping Raisins

In addition to gross motor skills, another test, of dropping raisins with one’s fingers from a specified height into a bottle lid placed on the floor, was used to assess Fine Motor Abilities. Here, a younger child got to do the test with the hand/wrist placed on a one-foot stool, while the height of the stool for the older children was one and a half feet. A child was given te n raisins/peas to drop into the lid, and the score noted as per the number of raisins/peas successfully dropped into the lid out of ten attempts.

Nose-tapping

Children in the older age group were asked to touch the tip of the middle finger to the tip of the nose, with eyes closed 25 times. They were asked to bring outstretched arms alternately to the nose.

Sense of Balance tests:

4-5 years

Children were asked
a. to stand on one foot with eyes open,
b. to stand on one foot with eyes closed, and
c. to walk on a thin plank, toe-to-heel and walk back without putting a foot down.

Stamina test

Stamina test was administered through a game of “Jumping Jacks”. The child is encouraged to push itself until it is breathless or exhausted. The child is asked to stop whenever it feels breathless and tired. In the case of the younger group of children, it was found that coordination between hands and legs were more often than not missing. However, the child was encouraged to continue the exercise until it was ready to give up. The number of seconds that the child could continue doing the jumping jacks was recorded for each child and then group average calculated.