When it comes to determining the later intelligence of a child, it may be worth looking at their doodles, if new research published in Psychological Science is anything to go by.

The study from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London suggests that how a child draws at the age of four may suggest how smart they will be when they hit their teens.

Examining 7,752 pairs of identical and non-identical twins – a total of 15,504 youngsters – the team discovered that, via the influence of genes, there is a link between early drawing competencies and intelligence in later life.

The participants, at the age of four, were asked by their parents to draw an image of a child. The images were scored between 0-12, depending on the “presence and correct quantity of features”, the university outlined.

As a gauge of the weighting of the points, a picture of a child that featured two legs, two arms, a body and head, but without facial features, would be rated four on the system.

In general, it was observed that children who achieved a higher score – i.e. the more detailed and expressive a drawing they produced – were more likely to have a higher level of intelligence at 14.

Dr Rosalind Arden, from the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London and lead author of the paper, said that her team was surprised that the test correlated with intelligence ten years after it was conducted on youngsters.

“The correlation is moderate, so our findings are interesting, but it does not mean that parents should worry if their child draws badly,” she went on to say.

“Drawing ability does not determine intelligence, there are countless factors, both genetic and environmental, which affect intelligence in later life.”

The expert said that drawing is a uniquely human ability, and a clear indicator of cognitive ability, one that sets the species apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.