Individual Differences in Infancy and Later IQ

In recent years it has been demonstrated that cognitive development from infancy to later childhood displays some degree of (correlational) continuity. Studies that have demonstrated this continuity are reviewed, focusing on measures of visual information processing, means-ends problem-solving and other cognitive indices of infant performance. Models of continuity are described and evaluated, and the relevance of the findings and models to the Nature-Nurture issue are considered, with particular attention to the related issues of the role of experience in early life, and the extent to which infant development is canalized. Theoretical and practical applications of the research are discussed.