The prediction, from infancy, of adult IQ and achievement

Young adults, originally tested as infants for their ability to process information as measured by selective attention to novelty (an operational definition of visual recognition memory), were revisited. A current estimate of IQ was obtained as well as a measure of academic achievement. Information processing ability at 6–12 months was predictive of adult IQ and of academic achievement with coefficients of .34 and .32, and coefficients corrected for unreliability of .59 and .53, respectively. The present results support and extend earlier studies indicating the continuity of intelligence from infancy to adolescence and illustrate the validity of early measures of recognition memory based on selective attention to novelty for the long‐term prediction of achievement.