Intellectual engagement (IE) refers to enjoyment of intellectual activities and is proposed as causal for knowledge acquisition. The role of IE for cognitive development was examined utilizing 2-year longitudinal data from 112 ninth graders (average baseline age: 14.7 years). Higher baseline IE predicted higher baseline crystallized ability but…

Evidence from twin studies points to substantial environmental influences on intelligence, but the specifics of this influence are unclear. This study examined one developmental process that potentially causes intelligence differences: learning to read. In 1,890 twin pairs tested at 7, 9, 10, 12, and 16 years, a cross-lagged…

Ordinality of three subtests of a sensory-motor series was evaluated in a longitudinal study of infants. Results indicated that scalability can be affected by the responses of infants at different developmental ages. (ST)

A retrospective check of 100, white 4-year-olds (with IQ's of 140 or more) showed no precocity at age 8 months, as measured by the Bayley Scales of Mental and Motor Development. (ST)

A multivariate modification of the cross-lagged panel correlation paradigm was applied to data from 4 subgroups of students tested and retested in fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh grades on 16 essentially identical cognitive measures. Results suggested that the test of aural comprehension was tapping the causal factors involved in intellectual…

Explains that from a prediction standpoint the confluence model is not very efficient. Very modest increments in accuracy are associated with family configuration variables once chronological age is covaried. Suggests that the major postulates of the theory be tested directly, within individuals and with longitudinal data. (Author/AS)

Examined the origins of high general cognitive ability (g) in twins who were participating in the MacArthur Longitudinal Twin Study. Formed high g groups from the 19th percentile and above at each age. Results suggested increasing genetic influence and increasing genetic stability from 14 to 36 months and substantial genetic influences with…

Investigates levels and patterns of intellectual development of 131 socioeconomically disadvantaged children in university-based intervention group day care or community day care, or with little or no day care. Results suggest that high quality day care may positively change the intellectual development of socioeconomically disadvantaged children.…

Assessed the effects of preschool education on achievement in primary school for 88 impoverished African American children and their families. Found that the positive effects of a preschool intervention program on intellectual development and academic achievement were maintained through age 12 and that school-age intervention alone was less…

Presents longitudinal data regarding detrimental effects through 36 months of age on intellectual, behavioral, and social-interactional development in a nonsupportive caregiving environment, and the continuing amelioration of those effects in a supportive caregiving environment. Suggests that mothers of fetally malnourished infants may have had…

Examined influences on African-American children's cognitive development between 6 months and 8 years. Found that more optimal patterns of development were associated with intensive early educational child care, responsive home stimulation, and higher maternal IQ. Child care experiences were related to cognitive performance through enhancing…

A four-and-a-half-year longitudinal experiment reconsidered the contribution of organic impairment to the genesis of mild mental retardation among disadvantaged children. It was hypothesized that nonoptimal perinatal conditions might result in deficits that increase a child's vulnerability to environmental risk factors. Study results supported the…

Infants' visual recognition memory (VRM) at seven months was associated with their general intelligence, language proficiency, reading and quantitative skills, and perceptual organization at six years. Infants' VRM, object permanence, and cross-modal transfer of perceptions at one year were related to their IQ and several outcomes at six years.…