The YOUNGEST MINDS : Parenting and Genetic Inheritance in the Development of Intellect and Emotion - Hardcover

Barnet, Ann B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684815370 ISBN 13: 9780684815374

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1998

Synopsis

Drawing on insights from recent advances in neuroscience and psychological research, The Youngest Minds offers a new look at how children learn language, establish emotional ties, gain control of their own emotions, and embrace moral values. The authors discuss recent research and theory about the effects of early experience on the physiology of the brain. They show how a child's genetic inheritance and experiences interact at many different levels. The capacities for language, emotional development, and moral understanding are inborn, but they are fine-tuned by human relationships that influence the landscape of the brain. The Youngest Minds explains how parents and other caregivers support the intertwined processes of language, intellectual, and emotional development with the experiences they provide for a baby. Through daily interactions, infants establish ways of responding that will influence them all their lives. The preschool years are critical in the lives of children because their brains are developing more rapidly than at any other time in life. In these years, children are especially dependent on parents and other primary caregivers to meet their needs for love, security, stimulation, and challenge. The Barnets describe how children learn to control their anger, consider the feelings of others, assimilate the standards of acceptable behavior in their family and culture, and develop moral sensibilities. Using studies that follow groups of children over many years, the authors explain how an accumulation of risks in early years can lead to serious trouble in adult life. But they also present research demonstrating that many children overcome great odds. The Youngest Minds outlines the essential characteristics of a good caregiving environment. Whether a child is cared for at home or at a day care center, certain conditions need to be met. Because of many changes in our society over the last few decades, families are finding it harder to provide the unstressful but challenging environment that much scientific evidence indicates babies need. The authors conclude with a look at who is taking care of America's young children and offer some ideas for improving the quality of their care.

About this title

About the Author

Ann B. Barnet, M.D. is Professor Emeritus of Neurology at George Washington University School of Medicine and a member of the Department of Neurology at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. The recipient of a Research Career Development Award and numerous other grants and awards, she founded the EEG Research and Evoked Response Laboratory at Children's Hospital. She is also the founder of the Family Place, a parenting support center for families in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

This husband-and-wife team, she a pediatric neurologist, he a veteran author (Global Reach, etc.), jumps into the debate over the relative importance of genetics vs. environment in shaping human personality. Explaining recent work in language acquisition and emotional development (including empathy and morality), they provide an accessible summary of our current state of knowledge of brain development and chemistry while placing significantly greater emphasis on the role played by environmental factors. The Barnets offer ample evidence suggesting that the quality and quantity of stimulation experienced by children, especially in the first three years of life, directly influences the structure of a child's brain, creating neural networks that would otherwise not be present. They also summarize a wealth of studies indicating that Head Start and other early-intervention programs have had a huge impact on the long-term well-being of children. Although the book is in part being marketed as a guide to parenting, beyond the seemingly obvious (talk and read to children, tell them you love them, provide lots of hugs), there is little that will be of use in assisting parents to shape a daily routine. Surprisingly, for instance, no mention is made of recent research demonstrating the importance of music in cognitive development. Nonetheless, the Barnets present a compelling overview of an expanding field.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An expert in early brain development offers a timely reminder of the importance of human relationships in shaping the minds of the very young. Ann Barnet, a Washington, D.C., pediatric neurologist and founder of the Family Place, a community center for disadvantaged families, is aided by her writer husband (author of Global Dreams, 1994, and other political and socioeconomic analyses) in this review of what research in neurobiology and psychology reveals about the influences of genetics and environment on the intellectual and emotional development of children. They start by looking at the rapidly developing brain itself and how language is acquired by the young. Even children in a barely adequate environment learn to talk, they report reassuringly, but acquiring language proficiency and the level of literacy required for a more than poverty-level job is quite another matter. Next they turn to children's emotional growth and how it depends on interaction between inborn tendencies and life experiences. They examine the research on how empathy develops, the role it plays in moral judgment, and the multiple causes of aggressive behavior. They conclude that if violent crime is to be reduced in this country, early intervention in the lives of at-risk children is essential, but must be accompanied by broad improvements in the social and economic fabricjobs, education, living conditions. Of special interest to working parents is the authors examination of the effects of outside child care on children's development. High-quality day care, they report, can enhance children's development, but unfortunately, many facilities in this country, especially those for the youngest children, are of outstandingly poor quality. Having established the importance of nurturing relationships in the cognitive and emotional development of children, they urge public subsidy of paid parental leave and high-quality out-of-home child care. A sobering look at the power of early influences to affect the development of a healthy mindand ultimately a healthy society. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684815370
• ISBN 13: 9780684815374
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352