The Importance of Conversation in Early Life

Doctors Betty Hart and Todd Risley at the University of Kansas conducted research on children's early lives. The researchers began by identifying 42 normal families representing three socioeconomic groups, welfare, working class, and professional. By the time the study group reached age 3, the professionals' children had 1,100 word vocabularies to the welfare children's 525. Brain differences have nothing to do with how much parents love their children.