Predictors of communication encoding: Age, socioeconomic status, and cognitive ability.

Assessed 144 7-, 8-, and 9-yr-olds in lower, middle, and upper socioeconomic status (SES) groups on 4 cognitive variables—classification, class inclusion, conservation of number, and conservation of substance—and on communication encoding effectiveness. It is shown that in addition to age and SES, general cognitive ability accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in communication encoding. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)