Correlations between sociability and motor performance scores in 8-month-olds

Abstract

Correlations between measures of social responsiveness (to examiner and to mother), social intensity, social class, and motor development were computed using data from the eight-month assessments of 33,688 participants in the National Collaborative Perinatal Project. A composite measure of sociability correlated 18 with motor performance scores. Of the component scales, social responsiveness to the examiner was the best correlate (r = .19), followed by social intensity (r = .09). There were no effects attributable to either sex or race. Social class was correlated with motor performance scores (r = .07) but not with the sociability scales. Since sociability predicts motor test performance almost as well as it predicts mental development scores, it appears that a performance artifact does not account for these correlations. Direct relationships among sociability, cognitive, and motor development appear to be involved.