Question

By what age does a child's performance on an intelligence test stabilize?

1) 2
2) 3
3) 6
4) 7

Answer 1

By the age of 7, a child's performance on an intelligence test tends to stabilize, corresponding with the significant cognitive developments that occur during middle childhood.

Step-by-step explanation:

A child's performance on an intelligence test begins to stabilize by the age of 7, which aligns with the completion of early childhood and the beginning of middle childhood. Intellectual milestones and cognitive skills continue to burgeon, and by the time children are in middle to late childhood (ages 6-11), they have developed more logical and organized thought processes, increased attention spans, and improved language skills. It is within this developmental timeframe that intelligence test scores start to show more consistency over time, as the cognitive abilities of children become more stable and predictive of future performance. Establishing a baseline is pivotal in research to track developmental progress and to identify any potential deviations from expected cognitive growth patterns, thereby informing interventions for children with developmental concerns, such as language problems.