Question

Describe the psychometric Approach to measure factors that make up intelligence in infants and toddlers. Include in your discussion several assessment tools such as IQ tests, Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) . What are some early interventions to help families meet young children's developmental needs (i.e., Project CARE and Abecedarian (ABC) Project).

Answer 1

Many researchers on Infant Intelligence have found that infant activity is predictive of later intellectual functioning. Psychologists use these psychometric tests also to detect any delay in milestones and to initiate appropriate interventions. The scales typically include gross and fine motor skills, language acquisition, cognitive skill and socio-emotional development. The results reflect any delays in development compared to the norm. Some of the tools that are in use currently include Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-III) (1–42 months), the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (1–68 months), the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence (FTII) (Birth–12 months), Griffith’s Mental Development Scales I (0–2 years)

The Bayley Scales – Bayley III

They are individually administered. The five domains included are - Cognitive, Language (Receptive & Expressive), Motor (Gross & Fine), Social-Emotional and Adaptive. Some are administered to the child and for others the primary caregivers responses to a questionnaire are recorded.The scale aims to detect developmental delays.

Some Infant IQ scales are listed below:

Gesell Developmental Schedules

The Gesell Developmental Schedule believes milestones (stages of development that follow a sequence over a given time period) are manifestations of development. Some of the milestones described include - the infant’s first roll from back to stomach unassisted, child’s first utterances and words, first steps and so on. Develpmental quotient or DQ is a concept parallel to mental age(of the adult).The test gives a DQ same as an adult test gives an IQ,

Mullen Scales of Early Learning MSEL

They assess cognitive and motor ability. They are used to find out children’s strengths and weaknesses. Helps find out the child’s readiness for school.

Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)

It is meant for children 0-3 and it is designed to measure the quality and quantity of stimulation and support available to a child in the home environment. It records the extent to which the parents are responsive, how well the child is accepted, what are the learning materials that the child has, how well organized is the environment and if the parents are involved actively in the development.

Abecedarian (ABC) Project)

This was conducted in North Carolina in 1972. It was an experiment to find out if early childhood education for disadvantaged children helped them become more school ready.Infants were chosen , some were given high quality intervention using games. There was a control group. The average starting age was 4.4 months. The participating children got childcare for 6-8 hours a day for five days a week. Their mothers were not too educated.

As it was a longitudinal study, the follow up studies have been going on.There were significant differences in reading , math , higher enrolment in school, lower teenage parents, higher engagement in skilled jobs and many more statistically significant achievements.