NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Your toddler's constant questions may at turns delight, annoy, stump or embarrass you, but according to a recent study, curiosity may be a sign of superior intelligence.

The report found that curious 3-year old children, dubbed "high stimulation seekers," scored 12 points higher on IQ tests and had better reading skills by age 11 regardless of the parents' occupation and education.

And while extreme stimulation seeking has been associated with drug and alcohol abuse, antisocial behavior and lower intelligence, even the most curious and outgoing children scored higher on intelligence tests later on, researchers report in a recent issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

"Promoting appropriate stimulation-seeking in children could result in greater cognitive ability," Adrian Raine, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.

He suggests that parents serve as role models for their children by exploring their own environment. Parents might also engage their child in conversation and try to foster an atmosphere in which intellectual curiosity is valued, Raine said.

At this point, however, it not clear why curious and active children would develop superior scholastic ability during their school years. The researchers suggest that these children may crave an enriched environment that somehow stimulates cognitive development.

"Findings of this study suggest that stimulation-seeking children may provide for themselves a more potent and continuous environmental enrichment than traditional educational enrichment can provide, and in contrast to such enrichment programs, can produce long-term IQ changes that last throughout childhood," according to Raine, from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and colleagues.

In an interview, Raine said that enrichment programs such as Head Start for children aged 3 to 5 years results in higher IQ scores by age 6, but these gains usually disappear by the age of 11.

"In contrast, the stimulation-seeker carries around with them their own 'head-start enrichment' and that may explain its long-lasting effectiveness," he said.

Alternatively, the physical activity that mark sensation-seeking children may result in higher intelligence by stimulating the growth of nerves in the brain, or the tendency to explore may reflect an underlying curiosity that motivates learning, the authors suggest.

The study included nearly 1,800 children who underwent a battery of intelligence tests measuring verbal and spacial abilities at the age of 3. Children were asked to assemble blocks in a particular way, copy shapes, identify body parts and classify different objects, among other tasks.

The researchers also assessed the children's level of curiosity and sociability by determining to what extent they explored the room of new toys on their own, how well they conversed, how friendly they were, and how well they played with other children.

They note that more research is needed to determine whether stimulation actually causes higher intelligence or is simply a byproduct of intelligence.

SOURCE: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2002;82:663-674.

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