Babies may be more capable than many thought, as researchers found infants may be able to quantify non-cohesive substances, such as sand and water, according to ScienceDaily.
At the University of Missouri, researchers reported that as early as 10 months infants could determine big difference in quantity among non-cohesive substances, according to “How Infants Compare Quantities.”
"Several studies throughout the last 15 years have shown that infants are very good at telling how many objects they see; however, infants didn't seem to count things like water or sand," (University of Missouri researcher Kristy) vanMarle said. "What we're saying is that they can quantify substances; it's just much harder. The infants can see how much food goes into each cup and compare that in their memories. They decide which amount is larger, and they almost always select the larger one."
This information further refutes the long-held idea that babies are "blank slates that know nothing of the world," vanMarle said. – ScienceDaily, 12/5/10.
Read the entire article for details.
A Call for Fiscal Responsibility: Over at the National Institute for Early Education there is a thoughtful argument against a single-minded focus on budget cuts in efforts to restore financial responsibility to federal budgeting in “At a Critical Crossroads: Why Austerity Now is a False Cure.”
“This is an ominous sign for those of us whose responsibility it is to look at public investments through the prism of the returns they provide the nation in the form of future human capital formation (better-educated workforce) and our global competitiveness,” NIEER co-director Steven Barnett writes in his essay published Friday. “It, (the report Investing in America’s Economy: A Budget Blueprint for Economic Recovery and Fiscal Responsibility) too, points out the necessity of “front-loading” investments in early care and education because it is vital to economic growth and future competitiveness,” he writes later.
The story has links to other thoughtful reports and highlights one of the better terms of 2010 economics: deficit-attention disorder, from a recent story in The American Prospect.
Check it out.