The goal of this study was to identify the onset and magnitude of prediction of early cognition to adult socioeconomic outcomes. Specifically, we were interested in examining which cognitive skills measured at 15, 24, 36, and 54 months predict educational attainment and salary at age 26. Data (N = 1364, 52% male) included a diverse sample (76%…

Based on investment theories and guided by Mussel's (2013) intellect model, the present study investigated reciprocal relations over 1 year (2021-2022) between investment traits (need for cognition, achievement motives, epistemic curiosity) and fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities in 565 German elementary school children (298 girls;…

This study examined gene-environment correlation (rGE) in intellectual and academic development in 561 U.S.-based adoptees (57% male; 56% non-Latinx White, 19% multiracial, 13% Black or African American, 11% Latinx) and their birth and adoptive parents between 2003 and 2017. Birth mother intellectual and academic performance predicted adoptive…

Little research has considered whether prenatal experience contributes to executive function (EF) development above and beyond postnatal experience. This study tests direct, mediated, and moderated associations between prenatal risk factors and preschool EF and IQ in a longitudinal sample of 1,292 children from the Family Life Project. A composite…

Cognitive impairment is common among children born very preterm (VPT), yet little is known about how this risk changes over time. To examine this issue, a regional cohort of 110 VPT (= 32 weeks gestation) and 113 full-term (FT) born children was prospectively assessed at ages 4, 6, 9, and 12 years using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of…

Children adopted from institutions have been studied as models of the impact of stimulus deprivation on cognitive development (Nelson, Bos, Gunnar, & Sonuga-Barke, 2011), but these children may also suffer from micronutrient deficiencies (Fuglestad et al., 2008). The contributions of iron deficiency (ID) and duration of deprivation on…

Using data from children in South Korea (N = 145, M[subscript age] = 6.08), it was determined how low-level language and cognitive skills (vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and working memory) and high-level cognitive skills (comprehension monitoring and theory of mind [ToM]) are related to listening comprehension and whether listening…

Guided by family risk and allostasis theoretical frameworks, the present study utilized a prospective longitudinal design to examine associations among family risk experiences, basal cortisol patterns, and cognitive functioning in children. The sample included 201 low-income children living within a midsize city in the Northeastern United States.…

Academic achievement and cognitive ability have been shown to predict later age at first sexual intercourse. Using a sample of 536 same-sex twin pairs who were followed longitudinally from adolescence to early adulthood, this study tested whether relations between intelligence, academic achievement, and age at first sex were due to unmeasured…

In keeping with proposals emphasizing the role of early experience in infant brain development, this study investigated the prospective links between quality of parent-infant interactions and subsequent child executive functioning (EF), including working memory, impulse control, and set shifting. Maternal sensitivity, mind-mindedness and autonomy…

In order to test later cognitive status from infant behavioral performance, 76 preterm infants were assessed with respect to differences in sustained attention when they were eight months old. The measure of sustained attention proved to contribute significantly to the prediction of later status on the Bayley Mental Scale and on the Gessell…

Explores whether transactional/interactional, environmental, or developmental status models best represent growth from infancy to early childhood. Attempts to identify features of the social environment important for specific developmental outcomes. Observations of interactions between 40 mothers and their three-month-old infants were used to…

Purpose of this study was to examine the nature of correlations among tasks purporting to measure communicative, cognitive, role-taking, and spatial egocentrism in childhood. (Author/CB)

Used longitudinal data from a sample of African-American children of teenaged mothers in the Baltimore, Maryland, area to examine determinants of functional literacy in adulthood. Found that preschool cognitive and behavioral functioning predicted literacy in young adulthood. Family environmental factors that predicted literacy in young adulthood…