The purpose of this experiment was to contrast three groups of prematu
re infants on 4- and 8-month cognitive and motor development, Prematur
e infants diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD; n = 21) and
respiratory distress syndrome (RDS; n = 17) were recruited from a regi
onal medical center along with a group of healthy prematures (well; n
= 10). Well infants outperformed RDS infants, who, in turn, outperform
ed BPD infants on cognitive assessments at 4 and 8 months. Both well a
nd RDS infants scored higher than BPD infants on motor development at
4 and 8 months. Suggestions for future research efforts are offered.