ABSTRACT
Since the mid-1970s, numerous studies have attempted to predict the performance of infants, preschoolers, and primary grade children on cognitive, language, and intelligence tests using measures obtained in the neonatal, infancy, and early childhood periods. The focus of this chapter is a review of the electrophysiological precursors of cognitive and language development, and a review of the adaptation of these techniques for the study and evaluation of intervention effectiveness. Studies reviewed include normal children as well as children born “at risk" but without extreme biomedical risks. Because normal children and children with less extreme risks are frequently also characterized by various biomedical, social, and environmental risks that influence performance on tests, and because these children represent the majority of births, studies focusing on these children are directed toward a broad population. This chapter is divided into four parts: (a) the use of event related potentials (ERP) to study the development of phonological discrimination, (b) the use of these measures to predict later language outcomes, (c) a discussion of the possible auditory mechanisms present at birth that influence later language development, and (d) a review of ERP techniques that, when used in tandem with the predictive procedures, could allow us to intervene during infancy to remediate children who would later develop poor reading and spelling skills.
