Infant Predictors of Preschool and Adult IQ A Study of Infant Twins and Their Parents

• Published in: Developmental psychology Vol. 26; no. 5; pp. 759 - 769
• Main Authors: DiLalla, Lisabeth F, Thompson, L. A, Plomin, Robert, Phillips, Kay, Fagan, Joseph F, Haith, Marshall M, Cyphers, Lisa H, Fulker, David W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01-09-1990
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Cognitive Development; Developmental psychology; Expectation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Handedness; Human; Infant Behavior; Infants; Intelligence Measures; Intelligence Quotient; Longitudinal Studies; Multiple Measures Approach; Parents; Prediction; Predictor Variables; Preschool Children; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Sample Size; Sex Differences; Twins; Vocalization; Human; Preschool age; Infant Development Scale Bayley; Sound production; Parent; Prediction; Infant; Psychometrics; Cognition; Test of Infant Intelligence Fagan; Stimulus anticipation; Handedness; Vision; Reaction time; Adult; Intellectual level; Intellectual ability; Intelligence Scale Stanford Binet; Expectation; Infant Behavior Record Bayley; Child; Intelligence quotient
• ISSN: 0012-1649; 1939-0599
• DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.26.5.759

Measures of infant cognitive development in 208 pairs of twins were evaluated at 7, 8, and 9 months of age. Measures included Fagan's Test of Infant Intelligence (FTII), visual expectation measures of reaction time and anticipation, selected items from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, variety of vocalizations, Bayley's Infant Behavior Record (IBR), and others. The midparent IQ scores were regressed on the infant measures to evaluate the likelihood of predicting later IQ. Significant predictors were the FTII, visual expectation, IBR, vocalizations, and a composite of selected Bayley items. These measures were also the best predictors of the infants' intelligence scores on the Bayley at 1and 2 years of age and on the Stanford-Binet at 3 years of age.