Early Experience And Its Determination In Infant Future Intellectual Ability (Essay Sample)

Early Experience and Childhood
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Subject: Human Cognitive Development
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Level: MASTERS
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Early experience and its determination in infant future intellectual ability
Childhood is a period of great plasticity and fast learning. Building better brain for children before age of two will mould their life because intelligence will dramatically increase. Parents are urged to give more focus on their children before age of two or three. Therefore, strengths and nature of parents on children influence in early years after birth should be given more concern. This essay aims at discussing an extent in which early experiences in development of children before age of two determines their intellectual skills later in life.
Research that link child and brain development and education confirm that early experiences in children determine how their brains are wired. Moreover, the critical two or three years are important as these experiences evaluates whether they will grow up as violent or peaceful individuals, undisciplined or focused workers, detached or attentive future parents (Clinton, 1996).
Caregivers or parents do more than bathing, comforting and feeding in taking care of children. They help children’s brain develop by teaching them about the world and shaping temperament. It is argued that these experiences on children are enduring because a pattern for entire future development is laid. If they encounter stressing parents with emotions, their intellectual potential will be limited in the future as it will be hard to change the patterns later.
Brain science research on children development found out that they have an ability of discriminating sounds in all human beings languages. In addition, an infant at six months of age has already started focusing on specific sounds of language around them by simply listening to speech adults hence altering their perceptual systems. Therefore, parents should emphasize in knowing whether their infants can see, hear, and feel stimuli in the environment. These early experiences in children regarding language will later determine their intellectual ability.
Language trajectories between children who come from less successful homes and high-class ones are different. Their language skills when reaching schools is also different as those who have experience due to a lower socioeconomic status underperform compared to monolingual English speaking children. This is because there is a deficiency in language skills among less successful causing a mismatch with that the school needs. It is therefore clear that their intellectual ability has been determined by the early experience they had as they were developing before two or three years.
Early experiences of children from low socioeconomic homes rise from low income and education among their parents or guardians. Low education among parents negatively affects language development of children. Their vocabulary and grammar in speech becomes most sensitive as the gap between their language skills and of those who come from more advantaged homes constantly increase as they develop. In return, their language skills affect their intellectual achievement throughout in life.
Among the factors that affect development of children is parenting. Treatment of parents influences different temperaments in their children that determine their intellectual capacity in the future. Genetics is not a factor in early experience of children before two or three years because it does not correlate between actions of children and those of parents. However, if a parent who gave birth to an infant is emotionally overactive, actions can be taken and a calm parent can foster caring of the child. Environments that are emotionally stressful are associated with poor intellectual development causing risks such as low self-esteem and behavior problems.
Clarke & Clarke 1992, 1998) evaluated evidences for early experiences and effects on child development and how they will later influence them. It is argued that children given secure attachments when young perform well in school, as they will have social intelligence making them have good relationships with teachers and their peers. Those children who have suffered poor early hardships cannot fully overcome a poor start. According to Clarke, early experience therefore is important in making children be professional intellectuals.
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