Continuity in Mental Development from Infancy

Abstract

In this essay we document moderate continuity in mental development beginning in infancy and extending into childhood. Psychological opinion in the past has tended to favor discontinuity theories of cognitive development from infancy. In recent years, however, the foundations on which discontinuity positions were originally established have themselves come under question and new findings grounded in new assessment procedures have appeared, necessitating revision of opinion on this significant psychological and developmental issue. Our essay has several aims. We first review briefly the bases for contemporary discontinuity theories of mental development. Second, we present current findings that support the alternative proposition of continuity: Recent research demonstrates that infants who more efficiently encode visual stimuli or more efficiently recollect visual or auditory stimuli tend to perform more proficiently on traditional psychometric assessments of intelligence and language during childhood. Third, we scrutinize the assessment methods from which these continuity results derive. Fourth, we offer several models that help to explain the continuity findings. Fifth, we discuss critically the origins and the maintenance of continuity in mental development as it is coming to be conceptualized currently. Finally, we reflect on implications of continuity for the future of infant assessments specifically and for theories of early mental development generally.

Assessing Reliability, Heritability and General Cognitive Ability in a Battery of Cognitive Tasks for Laboratory Mice

“…rats (Anderson, 1993) and human infants (Bornstein and Sigman, 1986). This was corroborated in the present study, but of course raises the awkward question of whether it is the exploratory curiosity predominantly driving good task performance, or whether superior cognitive functioning manifests itself partly in greater inquisitiveness.…”

Influence of long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids on infant cognitive function

“…Infant habituation, which is described as the decrease in attention to a stimulus over repeated presentations, is now one of the basic tools for studying memory and cognition in infancy (24,25). Studies showed a significant negative relation ship between infant habituation scores and childhood IQ, with infants who habituated with shorter "looking times" achieving higher IQ scores (21,25,26). Although the reported correlations are generally modest and some studies failed to demonstrate a significant relationship between habituation scores and IQ scores (27), measures of infant habituation reflect individual differences in cognitive function that demonstrate some stability throughout childhood (22,25,26,28,29).…”

12 From birth to early child care

“…As shown in several reviews and meta-analyses, these abilities are closely tied to the results of intelligence tests later in childhood (Bornstein and Sigman 1986;Kavšek 2004). Bornstein and Sigman (1986) found correlations of up to r = 0.47 between habituation measures in the first 7 months of life and children's intelligence from 2 to 8 years. Fagan et al (2007) showed that infants' habituation correlates up to r = 0.34 with measurements of intelligence at 21 years and up to r = 0.32 with the achieved academic degree.…”

“…These mental functions are interpreted as forms of information processing, that is, the speed, exactness, and completeness of the encoding along with the memorization, recognition, and comparison to a new and different stimulus (Bornstein and Sigman 1986;Fagan et al 2007;Fagan and McGrath 1981;Kavšek 2004;McCall and Carriger 1993). As shown in several reviews and meta-analyses, these abilities are closely tied to the results of intelligence tests later in childhood (Bornstein and Sigman 1986;Kavšek 2004). Bornstein and Sigman (1986) found correlations of up to r = 0.47 between habituation measures in the first 7 months of life and children's intelligence from 2 to 8 years.…”