Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008;36(4):367-378.
doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2007.07.003.

A Cognitive Cascade in Infancy: Pathways from Prematurity to Later Mental Development

Susan A Rose  1 , Judith F Feldman, Jeffery J Jankowski, Ronan Van Rossem
Affiliations

A Cognitive Cascade in Infancy: Pathways from Prematurity to Later Mental Development

Susan A Rose et al. Intelligence. 2008.

Abstract

Using data from a longitudinal study of preterms and full-terms, the present study examined the structure of infant cognition at 12 months, the extent to which five 12-month abilities (attention, speed, recognition, recall, and representational competence) mediated the relation from prematurity to mental development at 2 - 3 years, and how continuity and change in infant information processing from 7 to 12 months affected later outcome. The results indicated that 12-month measures of infant information processing completely mediated the effect of prematurity on outcome and the infant measures form a 'cognitive cascade,' similar to that seen at 7 months, in which the two more elementary abilities (attention and speed) influenced the more complex ones, which in turn influenced later cognition. Additionally, despite cross-age stability, 7- month assessments contribute to outcome independently of their 12-month counterparts, suggesting that infant abilities undergo important developmental transformations in the second half of the first year of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The pathways from prematurity and infant information processing at 12 months to MDI at 2- and/or 3-years. Standardized coefficients for all paths are shown. * p < .05, **p < .01.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The pathways from prematurity and infant information processing at 7 and 12 months to MDI at 2- and/or 3-years. Standardized coefficients for all paths are shown. † p < .10, * p < .05, **p < .01.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Allen MC. Overview: Prematurity. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews. 2002;8:213–214. - PubMed
    1. Aylward GP. Cognitive and neuropsychological outcomes: More than IQ scores. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews. 2002;8:234–240. - PubMed
    1. Bauer PJ. Long-term recall memory: Behavioral and neuro-developmental changes in the first 2 years of life. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2002;11(4):137–141.
    1. Bauer PJ, Van Abbema DL, de Haan M. In for the short haul: Immediate and short-term remembering and forgetting by 20-month-old children. Infant Behavior and Development. 1999;22:321–343.
    1. Bauer PJ, Wenner JA, Dropik PL, Wewerka SS. Parameters of remembering and forgetting in the transition from infancy to early childhood. Monographs for the Society for Research in Child Development, 65 (4, Serial No. 263) 2000 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources