What process mediates predictions of childhood IQ from infant habituation and recognition memory? Speculations on the roles of inhibition and rate of information processing

Abstract

This editorial proposes that the dependent variables that predict childhood IQ from habituation and recognition memory assessments made during infancy may or may not primarily reflect individual differences in the rate of information processing as widely suggested. For example, although information must be processed, the speed of such processing, nevertheless, may not be responsible for the prediction. Instead, individual differences in the ability of infants to inhibit attention to, or disengage from, less salient stimuli, including the familiar stimulus, may be crucial to the prediction of later IQ. The case is made for inhibition as a potentially stable thread in the fabric of mental development, which is then discussed in relation to other theoretical viewpoints focusing on inhibition in infant and mature mental behavior. It is possible that both inhibition and rate of information processing are involved.