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…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that examined 216 comparably aged children and adolescents (ages 2-18) with fragile X or autism to determine whether longitudinal change in cognitive ability and adaptive behavior was similar in the two groups. Results found decreases in Intelligence Quotient scores in young children with fragile X as…

This study attempted to determine whether attendance at a traditional preschool resulted in significant cognitive gains for young children over a 3-year period. The experimental group consisted of 59 children at four preschools. Each was matched with a nonattender on such variables as age, sex, intelligence, and family characteristics. The mean…

Examined major discriminating factors for cognitive development in high-IQ and low-IQ children in child care who had been adopted after age four. Found that birth rank, maternal mental retardation, pregnancy/delivery complications, severe prematurity or low birthweight, and number of hospitalizations differentiated the two groups. Over time, IQs…

Results indicate that within the limitations of this study there is evidence that children with superior" intelligence showed more mature response patterns on Piaget-type tasks than children of the same age with average" intelligence test scores. (Author)

Army alpha longitudinal data on the same 96 males tested in 1919, 1950, and 1960 were analyzed in addition to data on 123 undergraduates tested in 1972-4. Young adults in 1919 and 1970 were similar. Results suggest that traditional factor analysis taxonomies for young adults misrepresent elderly persons. (Author/CP)

Reports on the findings of a comparative study of mental abilities of Mexican and American children. Discusses age, sex, social class, and urban-rural differences, as well as cultural differences. (SS)

Cognitive, academic, and behavioral characteristics of 42 children with learning disabilities were assessed from identification at age 6-7 to the age of 11.5. At endpoint, resource students showed a drop in verbal intelligence quotient and lower achievement compared to mainstreamed students, though there were no differences at the time of…

In an effort to isolate the emergence and causes of social class differences in intellectual performance, this longitudinal study was undertaken as a follow-up on a cross-sectional study that yielded no social class differences on the Cattell Infant Intelligence Scale for 12-, 18-, and 24-month-old black children. In the present study, 89 children…

This longitudinal study attempted to assess how environmental factors affect the development of competence, as defined by White, by delineating in detail the everyday environmental transactions of a group of children from age 1 to 3. The key questions of this research were: (1) Are certain experiences encountered by the young child in his everyday…

Are children intellectually impaired as a result of low birth weight and does relative impairment change as children grow older? Premature infants from a range of socioeconomic groups were studied in five rounds over 13 years to provide neurological, psychological, achievement, and sociological data on 582 children in three birth weight groups. A…

This final report reviews the second phase of a life-span study of boys with fragile X syndrome (FSX), the most common known inherited cause of mental retardation. Males with the syndrome are more severely affected than females and in males, delays are usually evident in all the developmental domains, although cognitive and communication skills…

Sixty-two socioculturally homogeneous, low-income black mother/child pairs were tested and observed when the infants were 2, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months of age to determine the relationship between variability in parenting attitudes, skills, and behaviors and consequent variability in children's intellectual development. As expected, the…