4 ms·

I'd like to see your data on this and whether the studies they did corrected for genetics. A lot of these studies like where parents talked to their kids more a

I'd like to see your data on this and whether the studies they did corrected for genetics. A lot of these studies like where parents talked to their kids more and the kids ended up being smarter ended up being proven false because there was no 'control' in these groups, children who were adopted, etc. Check out Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate. This talk sums it up pretty well: http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_chalks_it_up_to_the_blank_slate.html http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_chalks_it_up_to_the_b...

Amadou 13y ago
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/the-power-of-talking-to-your-baby/ http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/the-power-of... Sorry, I don't have time to watch an entire video. Is there a transcript?
MarkMc 13y ago
I just watched the TED talk you linked to. Professor Pinker seems to completely dismiss the idea that parenting has a significant effect on the child. I wonder whether this study with rats has changed his mind - here's the relevant quote: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5722596 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5722596
btilly 13y ago
Overly enriched environments might or might not matter. But deprived environments in early childhood demonstrably hurts. A lot. The cause is that in the first few years of life we lose unused connections between neurons. If a child does not have a primary care giver, then a lot of the connections lost are necessary for proper social and cognitive development, and the child is impaired for life in ways which are clear in the physical structure of the brain. This has been known for decades, yet still periodically someone somewhere that still has orphanages rediscovers this basic fact. (The most recent example that I heard about involved children in Romania.)

4 ms·

I'd like to see your data on this and whether the studies they did corrected for genetics. A lot of these studies like where parents talked to their kids more a

by insickness 13y ago

Amadou 13y ago
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/the-power-of-talking-to-your-baby/ http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/the-power-of... Sorry, I don't have time to watch an entire video. Is there a transcript?
MarkMc 13y ago
I just watched the TED talk you linked to. Professor Pinker seems to completely dismiss the idea that parenting has a significant effect on the child. I wonder whether this study with rats has changed his mind - here's the relevant quote: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5722596 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5722596
btilly 13y ago
Overly enriched environments might or might not matter. But deprived environments in early childhood demonstrably hurts. A lot. The cause is that in the first few years of life we lose unused connections between neurons. If a child does not have a primary care giver, then a lot of the connections lost are necessary for proper social and cognitive development, and the child is impaired for life in ways which are clear in the physical structure of the brain. This has been known for decades, yet still periodically someone somewhere that still has orphanages rediscovers this basic fact. (The most recent example that I heard about involved children in Romania.)