Adults' cognitive demands at home and at nursery school

A study was made of the "cognitive demands" made of children during spontaneous conversations with their teachers at nursery school and their mothers at home. Social class differences were small compared with home/school differences. Teachers' talk contained a higher proportion of cognitive demands and "testing" demands than did mothers' talk; however, the hourly rate of these demands was higher in the mothers' talk. Teachers used more demands for attributes, simple descriptions and interpretations, whilst mothers used more demands for recall and explanation of motives and purposes. More demands were left unanswered at school than at home. The implications for nursery education are discussed.