title: Infant recall memory and communication predicts later cognitive development.
abstract: This longitudinal study investigates the relation between recall memory and communication in infancy and later cognitive development. Twenty-six typically developing Swedish children were tested during infancy for deferred imitation (memory), joint attention (JA), and requesting (nonverbal communication); they also were tested during childhood for language and cognitive competence. Results showed that infants with low performance on both deferred imitation at 9 months and joint attention at 14 months obtained a significantly lower score on a test of cognitive abilities at 4 years of age. This long-term prediction from preverbal infancy to childhood cognition is of interest both to developmental theory and to practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Box 500, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. Karin.Strid@psy.gu.se <Karin.Strid@psy.gu.se>
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Strid
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tjus
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Andrew N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Meltzoff
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heimann
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests