Cognitive aspects at 7 months could predict ability at age 30, says study

Cognitive aspects at age seven months — such as being able to stay on task or if an infant prefers new toys — could predict cognitive ability at age 30, a new study has found.

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General cognitive ability, known widely as 'intelligence' or 'IQ', is a composite score that measures one's capacity to learn, reason, understand and solve problems. IQ is considered to remain constant between ages 11 and 90. Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder in the US, however, said that little is known about the stability of intelligence under age three and how it is related to cognitive ability as an adult.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), looked at over 1,000 twins, measuring general cognitive ability at ages under two, three, seven, 16 and 29.