向前一步:第189期 全能女人是个神话(22)

 They tracked more than one thousand children over the course of fifteen years, 之后对1 000多名儿童进行了为期15年的跟踪研究，

repeatedly assessing the children's cognitive¹ skills, language abilities, and social behaviors. 反复地评估这些儿童的认知水平、语言能力和社交行为。

Dozens of papers have been published about what they found. 其结果已经发表为若干篇论文。

In 2006, the researchers released a report summarizing their findings, which concluded that 2006年发表的一篇成果汇总报告说：

"children who were cared for exclusively by their mothers did not develop differently than those who were also cared for by others." “由母亲专职照料的孩子和那些由母亲和其他人同时照料的孩子在个体发展上并无不同”。

They found no gap in cognitive skills, language competence², social competence, ability to build and maintain relationships, or in the quality of the mother-child bond. 他们在认知水平、语言表达、社交能力、建立和维护人际关系以及母子感情方面都没有什么差距。

Parental³ behavioral factors — including fathers who are responsive and positive, mothers who favor "self-directed child behavior," 父母的行为因素，包括责任心强、积极乐观的父亲，主张“孩子自主行动”的母亲，

and parents with emotional intimacy⁴ in their marriages — influence a child's development two to three times more than any form of child care. 以及较高的父母婚姻感情亲密度，这些因素对孩子的影响比任何形式的看护照料要多出2~3倍。

One of the findings is worth reading slowly, maybe even twice: 其中一项发现更值得细究：

"Exclusive maternal⁵ care was not related to better or worse outcomes for children. “母亲的照料与孩子的发展并无关联，

There is, thus, no reason for mothers to feel as though they are harming their children if they decide to work." 因此，母亲们没有理由认为自己选择工作就会对孩子不利”。

 

1 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

2 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

3 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

4 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

5 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。