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4 - Carolina Abecedarian Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Frances A. Campbell  and
Craig T. Ramey
Edited by
Arthur J. Reynolds ,
Arthur J. Rolnick ,
Michelle M. Englund  and
Judy A. Temple
Arthur J. Reynolds
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Arthur J. Rolnick
Affiliation:
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Michelle M. Englund
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Judy A. Temple
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
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Summary

HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM/POLICY

The Abecedarian study was designed to learn the extent to which an early childhood intervention program might prevent progressive developmental retardation among children born into poverty. Forty years ago, cross-sectional examinations of the cognitive development of children from poor families indicated that their cognitive test scores tended to be within the average range in infancy, but that disproportionate declines occurred after that period (Ramey, 1971). A particularly striking cross-sectional graph charted this kind of progressive decline in intellectual test performance among children born to mothers who themselves had low IQs (Heber, Dever, & Conry, 1968). Because at that time no biologically based etiology for most cases of mild retardation had been identified, many scientists believed that early “social deprivation or environmental deprivation” was implicated in the development of this condition. It followed that intervening to improve the intellectual stimulus value of the environment might prevent or ameliorate the disorder.

Largely based on animal research, evidence mounted that early experience supported development in ways that were critical for later functioning (e.g., Hunt, 1961). More to the point, this line of reasoning was supported by human-subject research conducted by Skeels and his colleagues (1938) in which one group of infants reared within institutions showed dramatic gains in developmental abilities when they were given the kinds of affectionate attention and handling not experienced by others from the same orphanage.

Type
Chapter
Information
Childhood Programs and Practices in the First Decade of Life
A Human Capital Integration
 , pp. 76 - 98
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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References

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