Maternal guidance clinics keep a close eye on the social, linguistic and observational skills of preschool children. The so-called Lene technique, developed in the late 1990s, is used in practically all of Finland's clinics.
The function of the test is to screen those children who are in need of special attention, and to give that attention to them.
One of the evaluation methods is to show the child a drawing of a farmyard where cows, pigs and chickens feature strongly. The children are then asked to describe what is happening in the image.
About a decade ago nurses started to notice a drop in the number of children who were able to identify the animals in the pictures.
"Some of the children found the pictures unfamiliar," neuropsychologist Riitta Valtonen says.
Cityscape instead
At the behest of nursing professionals another image was added alongside the rural scene. This new picture had an urban theme with children playing on a playground. There are more youngsters in this alternate image, as well as common city animals such as cats, dogs and owls.
"It made us wonder why these kids aren't able to identify some of these traditionally ubiquitous animals," Valtonen says. "Vast amount of children may not have seen farmyard animals before in their lives. But it may also be down to the parents being too busy to read through picture books and teach their offspring all the basic animals."
The same situation did not arise in the late 1990s when the imagery was being gathered, even though many of the test group children came from urban backgrounds.
Cell phones and tablets next?
Nowadays the tests are retaken every few years to keep them up to date. Future incarnations of the neurological test image may well incorporate the picture of a cellphone.
"If 1-year-olds are taught how to use tablets, it's no wonder that we have considered including different kinds of electronic devices in these test images. Children would be sure to identify those objects and be interested in pictures that featured them," Valtonen says.