ERIC Number: ED032126
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1969-Mar
Pages: 11
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Environment Influences on the Development of Abilities.
Litman, Frances
Observational research was conducted in homes with a wide socioeconomic range to identify the major factors of experience that affect the development of a child's abilities. Thirty children, aged 12 to 36 months, were observed in three aspects of their environment: Human (family and peers), Static Physical (home and neighborhood), and Range of Experience (situations and activities in child's regular life pattern). On standardized scales or scales devised for this study, children were rated as very well developed or very poorly developed with respect to social and nonsocial competency. Rating scales which assessed patterns and effects of maternal behavior showed that well-developed children can come from crowded or spacious homes and that limited use of resources can be found in both lower class and middle class homes. The quality rather than quantity of mother-child interaction was significant. After rating mothers on interaction, motivational factors implicit in the mother's behavior, and material resources available to and used by the child, five patterns of maternal behavior were described. These five prototypes were (1) the competent mother, (2) the "almost" mother, (3) the mother who is overwhelmed by life's circumstances, (4) the rigid, controlling mother, and (5) the smothering mother. (DR)
Publication Type: N/A
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC. Bureau of Research.
Authoring Institution: Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA. Graduate School of Education.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A