Beyond the Bayley: Neurocognitive Assessments of Development During Infancy and Toddlerhood

ABSTRACT

The use of global, standardized instruments is conventional among clinicians and researchers interested in assessing neurocognitive development. Exclusively relying on these tests for evaluating effects may underestimate or miss specific effects on early cognition. The goal of this review is to identify alternative measures for possible inclusion in future clinical trials and interventions evaluating early neurocognitive development. The domains included for consideration are attention, memory, executive function, language, and socioemotional development. Although domain-based tests are limited, as psychometric properties have not yet been well-established, this review includes tasks and paradigms that have been reliably used across various developmental psychology laboratories.

Acknowledgments

This paper was the result of a two-day workshop organized and sponsored by Mead Johnson Nutrition on the state of the art in assessment of neurodevelopment in infants and toddlers. The contents and its organization are solely the work of the authors and do not reflect any direct input from the sponsor.