This page provides a summary of child development research as it relates to Super Start. At the end of each paragraph is a link to the appropriate section of the more detailed research page or other references. Go there to read more.

We are born ready to learn with about 100 billion brain cells. Restak

Sound perception develops first and fastest. Infants can remember the sounds of words almost a year before realizing their meanings. Jusczyk, "Babies Don't Forget What They Hear" from Academic Press

The Late Dr. Peter Jusczyk With Friends
Busy Making Synaptic Connections

A baby's brain doubles in size in the first year due, in part, to the number of synaptic connections (see Structure of Chemical Synapses) made in response to environmental stimulation. Sharp

By the age of two, a child's brain contains twice as many synapses and consumes twice as much energy as the brain of a normal adult. There's no more brain matter -- just a lot more connections among cells. Problem is, there is nowhere near enough genetic code information to pre-wire all of the human brain's some 1,000 trillion "circuits." The only possible means of establishing that many connections is from response to outside stimulation. Sharp

The research suggests that babies have significant capabilities that enable them to learn. They are not born as blank slates as people used to think. Wynn.

More Synaptic Connections Being Made
In Dr. Wynn's Yale University Infant Cognition Laboratory

Even at 2 1/2 months, an infant's memory is very well developed, very specific and incredibly detailed as long as the baby is placed back into exactly the same circumstances. Keeping young infants in familiar surroundings enhances memory. Rovee-Collier

Researchers have found that language learning is incremental, with the first step simply recognizing sound patterns, and that infants first learn to distinguish sound patterns of their native languages. Babies learn sound patterns, such as words, to name objects they're interested in, but they are also capable of memorizing disconnected patterns and eventually attaching them to objects. Jusczyk

A child's brain is most receptive to acquiring sounds during the child's first few months of life, and language in the first few years of life. Kuhl

What wires a child's brain say neuroscientists--or rewires it after physical trauma--is repeated experience. Well-designed preschool programs can help many children overcome glaring deficits in their home environment. With appropriate therapy, even serious disorders like dyslexia may be treatable. But children reared in environments where stimulation is limited actually have fewer synapses.Chugani

Babies can foresee a four-step sequence with sufficient practice, and, up to two weeks later, most can still predict it. Haith

The underlying perceptual processing skills that are necessary for categorization activities demonstrated by older children and adults have their roots in early infancy. Siqueland

A 3 1/2 month-old can separate the voices of mother and father. Restak

4-month-old infants tend to watch a film appropriate to the sound track of the moment, showing an ability to detect sight/sound correlations. Restak

Infants' experience at 6 months can be remembered a full 2 years later as long as they are placed back in a similar environment, and a 6-month-old can remember a mobile 2 weeks after being exposed to it for only two 15-minute intervals. Clifton Also, from the LIFE Artical on Dr. Wynn's Work, "Six-month-olds can already discern the sounds they will later need for speech."

Reasoning skills are evident as early as 7 months. Woodward

Infants as young as 9 months use words to begin shaping their view of the world, arranging objects into mental categories, in a process previously associated with preschoolers. Balaban, Waxman

We can't always tell what a baby knows by superficial observation. Comprehension in 9-month-olds may exceed expression by a factor as high as one hundred to one. Thal.

9-month-olds will also imitate simple actions they have seen performed, such as folding a large hinge, one week later. Spence

One study shows that 13-month-olds can remember words at least 24 hours, and another one shows that by 13 months a baby can remember something that happened at least 8 months prior. Bauer

Children comprehend words equally well at 13 months, an age when they use just five to ten words, as at 18 months, when their vocabulary is about 100 words and the pace of word learning suddenly zooms upward. The researchers found little difference in rates of word learning and retention between 13- and 18-month-old infants. Woodward

12- to 17-month-old infants are able to match auditory with image stimulation and show learning after only twelve presentations of new words. Schafer and Plunkett