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Biomedical subjects

J F Fagan

Publications and source records attributed to J F Fagan.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Longitudinal prediction of specific cognitive abilities from infant novelty preference.

A test of visual novelty preference, the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence, was administered to a group of 113 full-term infants from the Colorado Adoption Project at 5 and 7 months of age. The infants were followed longitudinally and the Bayley scales were administered at 12 and 24 months, the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development at 24 and 36 months, and the Stanford-Binet and the Colorado Specific Cognitive Abilities Test at 36 months. 1 novelty preference score was obtained for each infant by averaging across the 2 test ages. Novelty preference correlated significantly with 36-month Binet IQ, the first unrotated principle component from the cognitive battery, and the 24-month Bayley MDI score. Novelty preference was also compared to specific abilities at all 3 follow-up ages; all of the specific abilities were significantly related to novelty preference, with the exceptions of 12- and 24-month Imitation and 36-month Perceptual Speed. Partial correlations suggest that novelty preference predicts language and memory independent of IQ. Overall, the results indicate that novelty preference during the first year of life not only predicts later IQ but may also reflect specific cognitive processes.

Attention↗
PubMed1989

Recognition memory as a method of assessing intelligence of an infant with quadriplegia.

The authors demonstrate a test of visual cognitive abilities (Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence) in the assessment and management of a ventilator-dependent infant with quadriplegia. Assessment of visual recognition memory indicated that the infant's cognitive development progressed normally, despite severe physical limitations and a prolonged stay in hospital. The results suggested that the infant would benefit from age-appropriate auditory, visual and social stimulation and a specialized program of rehabilitation. The test may be particularly useful in assessing the intellectual abilities of infants whose motor dysfunction precludes effective response to traditional tests of sensorimotor intelligence.

Aging↗
PubMed1986

Selective screening device for the early detection of normal or delayed cognitive development in infants at risk for later mental retardation.

The present study tested the predictive validity at 3 years of age of a screening device for the early identification of later cognitive delay. The screening device, administered between 3 and 7 months of age, is based on the infant's differential fixation "to novel" over previously shown pictures. The sample was composed of 62 infants suspected to be at risk for later mental retardation. The prevalence of delayed cognitive development (IQ less than or equal to 70) at 3 years of age was 13%. Novelty preference scores correctly identified six of eight (75%) of the delayed children. The test identified 49 of 54 (91%) of the normal children. Validity for predicting cognitive delay was 55%. Validity for the prediction of normality was 96%. The screening device proved to be equally sensitive, specific, and valid when the sample was divided into infants born at term or born preterm. The results of the present study and of a previous study indicate that detection of cognitive delay based on early novelty preferences is as easily accomplished for infants who will later be mildly delayed (IQ scores 60 to 70) as it is for those who will later be severely delayed (IQ scores less than or equal to 50). Moreover, such results are in contrast to those obtained with conventional tests tapping sensorimotor development.

Child Development↗
PubMed1986

The effect of low-level prenatal methylmercury exposure on visual recognition memory in infant crab-eating macaques.

Infant crab-eating macaques exposed in utero to maternal subclinical levels of methylmercury (MeHg) and their nonexposed controls were administered an adaptation of a standardized test of visual recognition memory. Exposed animals showed recognition deficits in that they directed significantly less visual attention to novel stimuli than did controls. These results parallel those obtained by other investigators with high-risk and teratogen-exposed human infants.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Facilitation of infants' recognition memory.

Infant's recognition memory, defined by novelty preferences, was found to be improved by providing 5--7-month-old infants with discriminable but related targets during the familiarization period. Facilitation of recognition was found for both photos of faces and for abstract patterns. It was necessary to present only 1 associated stimulus along with the to-be-remembered target in order to aid recognition. Such facilitation was dependent upon the kind of related target shown for study and was more likely to be demonstrated when simultaneous rather than successive exposure to related instances was allowed.

Child Development↗
PubMed1977

Infant recognition memory: studies in forgetting.

In a series of studies on delayed recognition and forgetting, the failure of 22-week-old infants to recognize which of 2 face photos (e.g., man or woman) had been previously exposed was shown to be influenced by what the infant saw during a retention interval. Highly similar intervening targets (other face photos) consistently produced failure of recognition. Targets intermediate in similarity (rotated photos) or of low similarity (line drawings) had little effect. Forgetting due to interference with high-similarity targets was shown to be temporary in nature, however, with recovery of recognition occurring after longer retention intervals and forgetting easily offset by further, brief exposure to the familiar stimulus.

Amnesia↗
PubMed1975

Visual attention to size and number of pattern details by term and preterm infants during the first six months.

2 dimensions inversely varied in previous complexity studies using checker-boards were varied independently. Patterns with more elements, angles, and information as well as patterns with larger elements received longer fixation at all ages, but initially prepotent size preferences decreased with age while number preferences became stronger. Further analysis showed the inadequency of contour length as the stimulus determinant for, or of increasing "optimal complexity" with age as the interpretation of, these previous findings. Term-preterm comparisons at 5-week intervals proved changes were a function of prenatal plus postnatal development rather than age from birth alone.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1974

Infant color perception.

Human infants 4 to 6 months of age devoted more visual fixation to checkerboards composed of two Munsell hues equated for brightness and saturation than to unpatterned targets of either hue. Strength of pattern preference was positively related to degree of hue difference in the checkerboards.

Age Factors↗