This study examined the relation of 3-year core information-processing abilities to lexical growth and development. The core abilities covered four domains--memory, representational competence (cross-modal transfer), processing speed, and attention. Lexical proficiency was assessed at 3 and 13 years with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT)…

A controversial issue in the field of language development is whether language emergence and growth is dependent solely on processes specifically tied to language or could also depend on basic cognitive processes that affect all aspects of cognitive competence (domain-general processes). The present article examines this issue using a large…

The present report assesses information processing in the toddler years (24 and 36 months), using a cohort of preterms (less than 1750 g) and full-terms initially seen in infancy. The children received a battery of tasks tapping 11 specific abilities from four domains--memory, processing speed, attention, and representational competence. The same…

Using data from a longitudinal study of preterms and full-terms, the present study examined the structure of infant cognition at 12 months, the extent to which five 12-month abilities (attention, processing speed, recognition, recall, and representational competence) mediated the relation from prematurity to mental development at 2-3 years, and…

Studied in three experiments the distribution and malleability of visual attention in 5-month-olds while they inspected large geometric designs. Established that infants who were short-lookers had novelty scores above chance, whereas long-lookers demonstrated chance responding. Illuminating different parts of visual display induced long-lookers to…

Infants were familiarized with geometric forms and were then tested with a novel form paired with the familiar one. Compared to infants who had longer looks at the display, those who had shorter looks demonstrated more broadly distributed looks, showed more looks and shifts, and inspected more stimulus areas; and their shifts included more…

Examined developmental change and stability of visual expectation and reaction times among 5-, 7-, and 12-month-old term and preterm infants. Found that reaction times declined with age while anticipations increased. Infants with faster reaction times were more likely to anticipate upcoming events; this effect disappeared when time between stimuli…

This study assessed cognitive processing speed among full-term and preterm infants when they reached 5, 7, and 12 months of age. Findings indicated that at all ages, preterms required about 20 percent more trials and 30 percent more time than full-terms to reach criterion on a novelty preference task. Among preterms, slower processing was…

Examined visual attention and implications for recognition memory in a longitudinal sample of full-term and preterm infants at 5, 7, and 12 months. Found differences between full-terms and preterms in several aspects of visual attention. Infants showed consistent attentional styles over various conditions. Shorter looks and higher shift rates…

Examined contributions of cognitive processing speed, short-term memory capacity, and attention to infant visual recognition memory. Found that infants who showed better attention and faster processing had better recognition memory. Contributions of attention and processing speed were independent of one another and similar at all ages studied--5,…

Visual recognition memory is a robust form of memory that is evident from early infancy, shows pronounced developmental change, and is influenced by many of the same factors that affect adult memory; it is surprisingly resistant to decay and interference. Infant visual recognition memory shows (a) modest reliability, (b) good discriminant…