Developmental science has increasingly scrutinized how environmental hazards influence child outcomes, but few studies examine how contaminants affect disparities in early skill formation. Linking research on environmental inequality and early childhood development, this study assessed whether differences in exposure to neurotoxic lead explain…

This study examines the socioeconomic status gradients in children's well-being at school using data on the total population of Danish public school children age 6-11 (N = 147,994). Children completed the national well-being at school survey, an environment-specific self-report of satisfaction with school, social well-being at school, and…

Classifying people into categories not only helps humans simplify a complex social world but also contributes to stereotyping and discrimination. This research examines how social categorization develops by testing how language imbues with meaning otherwise arbitrary differences between people. Experimental studies (N = 129) with 2-year-olds…

Extensive research has explored the ability of young children to learn about the causal structure of the world from patterns of evidence. These studies, however, have been conducted with middle-class samples from North America and Europe. In the present study, low-income Peruvian 4- and 5-year-olds and adults, low-income U.S. 4- and 5-year-olds in…

This study examined young children's contact with individuals of high-wealth and low-wealth backgrounds and their behavior toward peers of these backgrounds in a resource distribution task. The sample included 72 ethnically diverse higher income children (M[subscript age] = 6.68 years, SD = 0.98 years). Contact with individuals of low-wealth…

This research examines the complex patterns by which distinct dimensions of critical consciousness may lead marginalized adolescents toward distinct forms of political action. Structural equation modeling was applied to nationally representative data from the Civic Education Study (2,811 ninth graders; M[subscript age] = 14.6), first establishing…

Poverty-related developmental-risk theories dominate accounts of uneven levels of household functioning and effects on children. But immigrant parents may sustain norms and practices--stemming from heritage culture, selective migration, and social support--that buffer economic exigencies. "Comparable" levels of social-emotional functioning in…

The social interactions of 60 mother-infant pairs were observed for 25 minutes in a seminaturalistic setting when the infants were 6 months old and again at 20 months. Forty-six of the infants were termed at high risk for later school failure due to the socioeconomic situations of their families. (Author)

Sixty middle-class and 60 lower-class children between the ages of three and five were asked to respond to six types of "wh-questions." Social class significantly affected the overall frequency of correct responses within each age group of children tested. (Author/DB)

Children and adolescents from four social classes were asked to describe rich and poor people and to indicate how the rich and the poor are different from and similar to each other. Responses were classified into three categories of person description: peripheral (possessions, appearances, and behavior), central (traits and thoughts), and…

A picture inventory symbolically portraying two alternative value systems in a preschool setting was administered to 172 mothers and 66 female teachers of preschool children. Differences were found between the behavioral expectations of teachers and mothers who were either non-Anglo, working class, or both, but not between teachers and Anglo…

High and low SES mothers of one- and three-year-old children (N=104) were interviewed. Results showed that low SES mothers believed that infants acquire basic cognitive skills later and that the introduction of cognitively stimulating activities should occur later than did high SES mothers. (JMB)

Two studies examined middle- and lower-class Brazilian children's concepts of personal choice and social regulation. Found that subjects maintained a heterogeneous orientation to rules and authority which includes personal choice. Class differences indicated that hierarchical social structures affect children's sense of autonomy. However,…

Examined factors that influence children's competence in mathematics when they begin first grade. Results indicated that parent education, family economic resources, and parent expectations influenced children's competence. Race and family structure, when considered apart from other variables, were not significant influences. (PCB)