In interactions with toddlers, American mothers use number terms twice as often when they speak to boys as when they speak to girls, according to a team led by Alicia Chang of the University of Delaware. The study of 32 two-year-olds also found that moms use explicit quantifications (for example, "four crayons") 2.7 times more frequently when speaking to boys than to girls. Although gender-stereotypical use of language may be inadvertent, past research shows it can affect children's interests and their perceptions of their own numerical competence, the researchers say.
Read more in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology.
Read more in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology.
