Early childhood education for psychosocially disadvantaged children: effects on psychological processes

The effects of early educational treatment upon the components of psychological development of children at high risk for sociocultural retardation were examined in 50 children. Twenty-six children attended, from infancy, a day-care center where educational treatment in the form of systematic curriculum was provided; 24 control children were educationally untreated. The McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities were administered to both groups at 42 months of age. The educationally treated group's scores were superior to the educationally untreated group on the Verbal, Perceptual-Performance, Quantitative, and Memory Scales but not on the Motor scale. Early education appeared to improve the children's ability to attend to, comprehend, and carry out abstract and complex tasks.