Abstract:
Recent research on the sources of cognitive competence in infancy and
early childhood has highlighted the role of social and emotional factors (for
example, Lewis, 1993b). Exploring the roots of competence requires a
longitudinal and multivariate approach. To deal with the resulting
complexity, potentially integrative theoretical constructs are required. One
logical candidate is self-regulation. Three key developmental questions were
the focus of this investigation. 1) Does infant self-regulation (attentional,
emotional, and social) predict preschool cognitive competence? 2) Does
infant self-regulation predict preschool self-regulation? 3) Does preschool
self-regulation predict concurrent preschool cognitive competence? One
hundred preschoolers (46 females, 54 males; mean age = 5 years, 11 months)
who had participated at 9- and/ or 12-months of age in an object permanence
task were recruited to participate in this longitudinal investigation. Each
subject completed four scales of the WPPSI-R and two social cognitive tasks.
Parents completed questionnaires about their preschoolers' regulatory
behaviours (Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist [1991] and selected items
from Eisenberg et ale [1993] and Derryberry & Rothbart [1988]). Separate
behavioural coding systems were developed to capture regulatory capabilities
in infancy (from the object permanence task) and preschool (from the WPPSIR
Block Design). Overall, correlational and multiple regression results
offered strong affirmative answers to the three key questions (R's = .30 to .38),
using the behavioural observations of self-regulation. Behavioural
regulation at preschool substantially predicted parental reports of regulation,
but the latter variables did not predict preschool competence. Infant selfregulation
and preschool regulation made statistically independent
contributions to competence, even though regulation at Time 1 and Time 2
ii
were substantially related. The results are interpreted as supporting a
developmental pathway in which well-regulated infants more readily acquire
both expertise and more sophisticated regulatory skills. Future research
should address the origins of these skills earlier in infancy, and the social
contexts that generate them and support them during the intervening years.
