LANGUAGE - A PARTIAL LINK BETWEEN INFANT ATTENTION AND LATER INTELLIGENCE

The extent to which the relation between infant visual recognition memory (indexed by novelty scores) and later IQ was accounted for by a common association with language was examined. In a longitudinal study, problems of visual recognition memory were administered at 7 months, scales of language development at 2.5, 3, and 4 years, and intelligence tests at 3, 4, and 5 years. A greater preference for novelty in infancy was associated with later comprehension and expressive language at all ages as well as with higher IQ scores. Although the novelty-IQ relations were considerably reduced when language was controlled, they remained significant and moderate in magnitude, pr = .20 to .51. In other words, a substantial relation exists between novelty and IQ, which is independent of language. Although novelty has a direct impact on 3-year IQ, further developmental effects linking novelty to later IQ (at 4 and 5 years) were indirect; the indirect path through language went by way of comprehension, not expression.