DOES DAYCARE AFFECT COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT??

What’s daycare??  TEMPORARY  NOT WITH A FAMILY MEMBER  OUTSIDE THE HOME

And what do you mean by COGNITIVE? COGNITIVE SKILLS MENTAL STRUCTURES PROCESSESABILITIES = How knowledge is organised = What the individual can do = How they do it THINKING SKILLS

Who’s going to criticise daycare? BOWLBY He claimed that permanent use of daycare would lead to – ‘permanent damage to the emotional health of a future generation’ (WHO, 1951)

So what?? In December 2004 – Chancellor Gordon Brown announced the Government’s plan to extend paid parental leave from 6 to 9 months.

There were also commitments to make available part-time places in nurseries for every 3yr old and to put a children’s centre in every community to provide care services.

What does research say? ANDERSSON (1992) AIM- To investigate the effects of day care on cognitive development PROCEDURE- Andersson (1992) conducted a longitudinal study in Sweden. Over 100 children (from both lower, middle class families and one parent families) were assessed at age 8 and 13. Cognitive and socio-emotional competence was rated by their classroom teachers and IQ test data were collected. Andersson (1992) conducted a longitudinal study in Sweden. Over 100 children (from both lower, middle class families and one parent families) were assessed at age 8 and 13. Cognitive and socio-emotional competence was rated by their classroom teachers and IQ test data were collected.

FINDINGS – Andersson found that school performance was rated highest in those children who entered day care before the age of 1. School performance was lowest in those who didn’t have any day care. The best performance also came from the children with the highest socio-economic status. CONCLUSIONS – This suggests that day care is not harmful in terms of development and may even be beneficial.

Is it that simple?? Can we generalise the findings from this study to the wider population??  NO! – In Texas the same study found that teachers and parents rated children’s emotional health as much poorer that those who did not have extensive childcare experiences. (Vandell and Corasaniti, 1990)  Sweden spends lots of money on its daycare

Quality matters -  Low staff/child ratio  Carers have high quality training  One to one verbal interaction

Is there any more research?? YES! Have a look at the cards – sort them into piles of: 1.Research that shows a negative effect on cognitive development 2.Research that shows no effect 3.Research that shows a positive effect on cognitive development

Is it all good? NO ……. think about:  SAMPLE SIZE  RESEARCH METHOD  YEAR OF STUDY  MEASUREMENT OF COGNITIVE ABILITY  INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES  CULTURE  CAUSE AND EFFECT  QUANTITATIVE or QUALITATIVE DATA  DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS