ABSTRACT
Research on the nature of infant cognition and the existence of continuities in cognitive development has recently generated considerable interest and controversy. Until the past few years, the preponderance of evidence suggested that the relation between early infant competence and later cognitive performance was poor at best. In a review article, Kopp and McCall (1982) reported that the median correlation between developmental tests administered in the first 6 months of life and IQ scores at 2–4 years is only r =.21; the correlation drops to near zero when IQ scores at 5–7 years are the outcome variable. In unselected groups of normal infants, prediction improves beginning around 2 years, although it is still relatively poor; for example, the correlation between 2- and 5–year scores is only r =.32 (Honzik, Macfarlane, & Allen, 1948). By contrast, correlations obtained over a similar 3-year age span in later childhood are much higher (e.g., IQs assessed at 9 and 12 years correlate in the neighborhood of r =.85).
