"Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children"

Betty M. Hart and Todd R. Risly. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1995.
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Summary:

Meaningful Differences substantiates through scientific research the link between children's early family experience and their later intellectual growt - a link that exists regardless of race. In their search for the roots of intellectual disparity, Hart and Risley examined over a period of years the daily lives of 1- and 2-year-old children in 42 American families. Among the findings are staggering contrasts in the amount and frequency of interaction between parents and children, not only at the extremes of advantage, but also within the middle class. These differences in the quantity of early family experience translate into striking disparities in the children's later vocabulary growth rate, vocabulary use, and IQ test scores -- critical measures of an individual's ability to succeed at school and in the workplace. The book reveals profound effects of environment on development.