Meaningful Differences

Publisher Description

Talk, read, and interact with children in their early years, and they will have an intellectual advantage as they grow up. That's what Hart and Risley prove in their narrative voyage into the homes of 1- and 2-year-old children. Armed with meticulously recorded data, the authors reveal the staggering disparities in daily parent-child interactions among families from varied socioeconomic backgrounds. These disparities translate into an alarming gap in children's vocabulary and later intellectual performance. As its many endorsers attest, this book is an absolute requisite for professionals in psychology, child development, speech and language, education, and early intervention as a means to understanding the scientific link between a child's family environment and intellectual growth.