Gender-related differences in the prediction of five year-olds' cognitive a
bilities from measures of distal environment, proximal environment and infa
nt test scores were examined in a random sample of 93 boys and 90 girls. Di
stal environmental data included maternal IQ, maternal and paternal educati
on. Proximal environmental data included two variables derived from the Hom
e Screening Questionnaire: the Home Questions and the Toy Checklist. The Ba
yley MDI was administered at age 13 months, whereas WPPSI-R was used as cog
nitive outcome measure at age 5 years. The relationship between paternal ed
ucation and child IQ, and between proximal environmental variables and chil
d IQ was significantly stronger for boys than for girls. The associations b
etween proximal environment and IQ in boys, were accounted for by the dista
l environmental variables. Bayley MDI correlated significantly higher with
girls' IQ compared to boys' IQ. Findings are discussed in terms of parental
gender-differentiated socialization processes.