Genes often are touted as the biggest contributors to childen's intelligence and overall personality. However, the brain builds neural connections based on experiences, and children raised in enriched environments score better on later IQ tests. Neurologist and author Lise Eliot points out that, while genes lay the initial framework for the brain, experiences determine the strength of neural connections, which strongly affects intelligence. Consequently, the effects of environment and experience truly cannot be overestimated, and numerous developments in early life can affect a child's intelligence.
Language
Babies are born with substantially more neurons and neural connections than they will have as adults, according to developmental psychologist Robin Harwood. Between the ages of 2 and 5, the brain begins to prune connections that aren't used. This actually is a positive development because it allows frequently used neural connections to become more complex. It does, however, affect language development. Children who are spoken to frequently develop stronger language skills, and children exposed to a second language in the first years of life are more likely to become multilingual.
Breastfeeding
Most people are aware of the health and nutritional benefits of breastfeeding. Children who are breastfed as infants have higher IQs and receive better grades than children who are not, even controlling for maternal educational levels. The face-to-face interaction involved in breastfeeding is stimulating to the brain, and the nutrients contained in breast milk encourage healthy brain development. Children who are breastfed for extended periods of time receive the most benefits. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding at least until the age of 1 and for as long as is desirable to mother and baby after that.
Stress and Anxiety
Babies are affected by their parents' stress and anxiety long before they can understand language. Babies exposed to frequent arguments and other stressful environments have heightened levels of cortisol. Their brain development can be slowed or altered by anxiety.
Sensory Input
Under normal developmental circumstances, children's eyes, ears and noses are exposed to a variety of stimuli. Children who are raised in isolation or in dark and quiet rooms, however, do not develop normally. If a child's eyes are covered in the first several months of life, she'll never be able to see. While only children living in extremely abusive environments receive such severe sensory deprivation, children in normal homes benefit from receiving lots of sensory input. Expose your child to a variety of sights, sounds and smells in the early months of her life. Doing so may help these senses be more sensitive in her adult years.
Television
Developmentally speaking, television is one of the worst stimuli to which parents can expose their children. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children view no television before the age of 2. Television stunts curiosity and takes children away from more fulfilling social and intellectual activities. Even educational television is harmful because it normally takes children much longer to learn something from television than they could learn it on their own. Kids who watched excessive television as infants and toddlers have more difficulty with reading, attention and social interactions.
References
- "The Portable Pediatrician"; William Sears, et al.; 2011
- "What's Going on In There?" Lise Eliot; 2000
- "Child Psychology: Development in a Changing Society"; Robin Harwood, et al.; 2008
