Members in the Media
From: Pacific Standard

Thirty Million Words Aren’t Enough

Pacific Standard:

Thirty million words. That’s the gap between what kids from high- and low-income families hear by the time they’re three, and it’s widely thought to explain socioeconomic disparities in language skills and, later on, academic success. But a recent study puts an age-old twist on that: Quality may matter more than quantity.

“Yet the quantity of language input is insufficient to account for variations in language development,” argues a team of psychologists led by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek. Both quantity and quality affect kids’ language skills, the team writes in Psychological Science, and “[b]etween the two, quality, measured in part as diversity and complexity of words and grammar, might be the more potent predictor.”

Read the whole story: Pacific Standard

More of our Members in the Media >


APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.

Please login with your APS account to comment.