Early conversation with toddlers is linked to better language skills and higher IQ scores later in life, according to a new study. In 2008, LENA researchers began by studying how much conversation children between the ages of 0-3 experienced. Researchers then brought children back for language and cognitive testing when they were nine to 14-years-old. The children who had taken more “turns” speaking when talking back and forth with adults had an average of 14 to 27 percent higher performance on IQ tests, verbal comprehension, and receptive and expressive vocabulary scores, according to the study, which controlled for socioeconomic factors.