Table Of ContentEarly EXRerience
ana
Human De1 elopment
1
Early EXRerience
ana
Human Development
Theodore D. wachs and Gerald E. Gruen
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Plenum Press - New lvrk and London
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Wachs, Theodore D., 1941-
Early experience and human development.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Cognition. 2. Experience. 3. Developmental psychology. I. Gruen, Gerald E.,
1937- . II. Title.
BF713.W32 155.4'22 82-5273
ISBN-13: 978-1-4615-9217-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4615-9215-0
DOl: 10.1 007/978-1-4615-9215-0
©1982 Plenum Press, New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1982
A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation
233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
To our parents, who provided us with our unique
early experiences
Preface
Our goal in writing this book was to fill a perceived gap in the early experi
ence literature. Most existing volumes on early experience and development
can be dichotomized on a basic versus an applied dimension. Volumes falling
on the basic side are designed for researchers and theoreticians in the biomed
ical and behavioral sciences. Most existing basic volumes are either primarily
based on infrahuman data or are based on single major human studies. In
going over these volumes, we are not convinced of the generality of infrahu
man data to the human level; in addition, we were concerned about the
replicability of findings from single studies, however well designed these
studies were. As a result, the relevance of data from these volumes to applied
human problems is quite limited. In contrast, volumes falling on the applied
side are designed primarily for those involved in intervention work with
infants and young children. These applied books generally tend to be vague
and nonempirical compilations of the views of experts and the collective
"wisdom of the ages." Rarely in applied volumes do we find conclusions
based on solid, consistent, empirical findings. Nowhere could we find a
volume in which an attempt was made to summarize systematically all avail
able research on early experience as it relates to critical human developmental
parameters and to use these findings not only as a means of understanding the
nature of development and the nature of early environmental action, but also
as a means of transmitting empirically validated conclusions to those in
terested in the applied uses of early experience. Our goal became the produc
tion of a volume on early experience based on empirical studies but having
relevance for the practitioner as well as for the scientist. We envisioned a
volume which would be useful not only for the basic researcher interested in
the nature of early environmental action, but also for those workers in the
field who are doing intervention with high-risk or developmentally disabled
babies and who are constantly faced with the question, "What do I do next?"
Our interest in producing such a volume came from our own "early experi
ence," in that one of us (Wachs) was trained as a child clinical psychologist
Vll
V1l1 PREFACE
but with a strong background in developmental psychology while the other
(Gruen) was trained as a developmental psychologist but with postdoctoral
training in child clinical psychology. The fact that one of us (Wachs) was
interested primarily in cognitive-intellectual development while the other
(Gruen) was interested primal ·Iy in social development led to the major focus
of the book on these two specific developmental parameters.
In reading this book, the reader may become aware of differences not
only in style but in orientation. This results from the fact that each of us took
primary responsibility for certain sections of the book (with the exception of
Chapter 10). Specifically, Wachs was primarily responsible for Chapters 1
through 5 and Chapter 9 and Gruen was responsible for Chapters 6 through
8. Chapter 10 was jointly written. However, each of us went over the other's
chaprers and made suggestions both in orientation and content. Thus, at least
to that extent, all chapters are a joint product. Chapter divisions were not
arbitrary, but rather reflected our differing interests. Despite our monitoring
of each other's chapters, the reader may be aware of major differences in
orientation. This is a function not only of individual differences in style but
also of the nature of the field. The fact that one of us (Wachs) is by nature (or
nurture) basically empirical and atheoretical while the other (Gruen) is basi
cally theoretical in orientation obviously meant that we would approach our
respective chapters in different ways. These initial differences were rein
forced (or reinstated) by the fact that there is simply much more available
evidence on the relationship of early experience to cognitive development,
and therefore these chapters tend to be empirically oriented. In contrast, the
social area, while rich in theory, has comparatively less data. Chapter 8
represents Gruen's current interests while Chapter 9 was a painful exercise
for Wachs in terms of attempting to develop some kind of theoretical model
from empirical data. Overall, for those individuals interested in scientific
aspects of early experience Chapters 2 through 9 will be most relevant; for
those interested in applied aspects Chapter 10 will obviously be most rele
vant, but we hope that the applied reader will also look at Chapters 3 through
7 to get an idea of how the conclusions developed in Chapter 10 have arisen.
In the writing of this book we would like to acknowledge the help of
Professor Alan Clarke (University of Hull) for his exchange of letters on the
topic of early versus later experience. Neither one of us convinced the other,
but it was a highly stimulating interchange. We are also grateful for the
comments of Professor Pat Gallagher in the Department of Special Education
at Purdue University for his reading and comments on our applications
chapter. The comments of Professor Robert Bradley (University of Arkansas
at Little Rock) were of great help in terms of scope, organization, and the
translation of empirical data into intervention applications. Our secretary,
Debbie Sweeney, not only typed flawlessly and corrected our grammar but
most importantly, cheerfully put up with cut-and-paste rewrites and badly
PREFACE ix
garbled inserts; for this, special thanks. Finally, we would like to acknowl
edge the pervasive influence of our intellectual father (in the case of Gruen)
J.
and intellectual grandfather (in the case of Wachs), Professor McV. Hunt,
whose theorizing and research in the area of early experience not only helped
usher in the modern age of nrly experience research but has also been an
inspiration to those of us who continue to be interested in the topic.
T. D. WACHS
E.
G. GRUEN
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Study of Early Experience 17
Chapter 3 The Physical Environment and Its Relationship to
Cognitive-Intellectual Development 41
Chapter 4 The Social Environment and Its Relationship to
Cognitive-Intellectual Development 67
Chapter 5 Early Experience and Cognitive-Intellectual Development:
The Emotional-Attitudinal Environment 103
Chapter 6 The Earliest Social Experiences and Their Effect on Social
Development 121
Chapter 7 The Socialization of Young Children 145
Chapter 8 The Relationship between Social and Cognitive
Development 167
Chapter 9 The Nature of Early Environmental Action 185
Chapter 10 Early Experience and Development: Implications and
Applications 209
References 251
Author Index 285
Subject Index 293
xi
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
The potential influence of the early years upon later behavior has always
fascinated observers of human development.
And the fIrst step, as you know, is always what matters most, particularly when
we are dealing with those who are young and tender. That is the time when they
are taking shape and when any impression we choose to make leaves a permanent
mark. (Plato, The Republic)
While there have been continual references to the role of early experience in
development at least from the time of the Greek philosophers, as Hunt (1979)
has pointed out, these scattered references never became "socially or politi
cally dominant" until after 1945. A number of factors appeared to coalesce at
that time to form a zeitgeist centering around the importance of early experi
ence for later behavior. Thompson and Grusec (1970) suggest that three
influences were of particular importance in this process. First was the influ
ence of psychoanalytic theory with its emphasis on the primacy of the first
six years of life for later personality development. From Freudian theory
came infra human research on the effects of infantile stress on physiological
and emotional development and human research on the effects of maternal
deprivation in orphanage and crisis situations. A second influence came from
the field of neuropsychology. Sparked by Hebb's classic work Organization of
Behavior (1949), a large number of studies were developed relating the early
experience of the organism to both morphological and biochemical central
nervous system development. A third influence was the ethological tradition
which became quite prominent after 1945. The idea that a relatively brief
early exposure could insure lifelong bonding had a major influence on so
cialization studies at both the human and infrahuman level.
Beyond these three factors, we should also point to a fourth influence,
namely the educational tradition. Starting with Rousseau and carrying on
through Itard, Seguin, and Montessori, there has been a long tradition of
intervention with the young child for the purpose of promoting cognitive
gains. This tradition was tied to the area of early experience, at least in part,
2 CHAPTER I
by publication of Hunt's seminal volume Intelligence and Experience (1961). In
this volume Hunt brought together current infrahuman and human research
on early experience effects and related this research to the theorizing of both
Hebb and Piaget; as a result of this integration, the idea of early intervention
as a means of promoting cogn ·:ive growth was firmly established. Also influ
ential was the volume Stability and Change in Human Characteristics by Bloom
(1964). Hypothesizing that environmental variation was most salient for a
trait during the trait's most rapid growth period, Bloom presented a good
deal of evidence which suggested that both intelligence and personality had
their most rapid growth periods during the early years of life. The obvious
conclusion was that environmental influences should be directed at develop
ment primarily during this age period. As a corollary to Bloom, Ausubel
(1964) suggested that once development is channeled into a specific area early
in life the individual becomes less responsive to stimulation later in life.
As a result of these disparate influences, there was a tremendous up
surge of research on early experience during the 1950s and thereafter. Hunt
(1979) has reported that from 1954 to the present the number of reported
studies on early experience went from fewer than 300 to over 1,500. Reviews
of this research on both the infrahuman (Ambrose, 1969; Hunt, 1979; Rei
sen, 1975; Scott, 1968) and human (Freeberg & Payne, 1967; Haywood &
Tapp, 1966; Hunt, 1979; Streisguth & Bee, 1972) levels clearly showed the
relevance of early experience to a variety of physiological, cognitive, social,
and motivational parameters. Much of this research was translated directly
into practice, as witnessed by the tremendous proliferation of infant and
preschool intervention programs.
THE COUNTERREVOLUTION: EARLY VERSUS LATER EXPERIENCE
As is well known, when a pendulum swings, at some point it reaches its
apex and thereafter starts to return to a middle point. The same phenomenon
appears to hold as well for ideas as for clocks. Following the almost unbridled
enthusiasm for early experience during the 1960s, doubts began to set in
during the 1970s as to how relevant early experience actually was. This was
in part the expected reaction following the reported failure of intervention
projects such as Head Start. However, part of the chorus of doubt was
founded on basic scientific and methodological grounds.
The increasingly powerful body of evidence running counter to the
predictions of Freudian analytic theory attacked one of the foundation stones
of the early experience movement. Methodological articles (King, 1958)
pointed out that many of the infrahuman studies supporting the importance
of early experience used enrichment or deprivation experiences only during
early life periods; few systematic comparisons are available on the magnitude
or duration of effects occurring when early and later experiences are com-
