Parents' SES vs. parental educational behavior and children's development: A reanalysis of the Hart and Risley study Heiner Rindermann ⁎, Antonia E.E. Baumeister Department of Psychology, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany abstract article info Article history: Received 16 January 2014 Received in revised form 29 November 2014 Accepted 9 December 2014 Available online xxxx Keywords: Parental educational behavior SES Cognitive development Verbal development In their seminal study “Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children”, Hart and Risley (1995) showed a close relationship between differences in family environment and children's develop- ment. The conventional conclusion was that children's cognitive development (measured by psychometric intel- ligence and verbal ability tests) depends on parental socioeconomic status (SES), especially on wealth. We reanalyzed their data and show that the quality of education given by parents is crucial (β PEB = .58) and not the diffuse aggregate measure of SES (β SES = .11). Additionally, we compare their sample with a similar but larg- er sample (Hoff, 2003) showing the same pattern of results. Possible causal factors (associated environmental and genetic factors) are discussed. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. For almost one century, research has been carried out on the rela- tionship between parents' socioeconomic status (SES) and cognitive abilities of their children. 1 The first survey showing quantitative SES- related differences in a representative and large sample was the British study by Duff and Thomson (1923/24): The intelligence of 11 to 13 year old children with academic fathers was 112 IQ, with fathers doing “brain-work” 107 IQ, and with fathers doing “hand-work” 99 IQ points. Meta-analyses by White (1982), Sirin (2005) or Sackett, Kuncel, Arneson, Cooper, and Waters (2009, pp. 6–7) showed correlations with general SES from r = .22 (uncorrected with Scholastic Assessment Test SAT; Sackett et al., 2009) to r = .32 (uncorrected with academic achievement; Sirin, 2005) or r = .33 (with intelligence test results; White, 1982), and r = .42 (SAT-corrected; Sackett et al., 2009). Even for children at the age of 22 months, developmental indices are positive- ly correlated with parental SES (Feinstein, 2003). The topic has received further public and scientific interest through the publication of the re- sults of the international student assessment studies (e.g., Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA). These studies demonstrat- ed positive correlations between parental SES and students' compe- tence in all countries. 2. A widespread interpretation: family wealth as determinant of children's cognitive development In the media but also in science, the popular interpretation of the ro- bust SES-ability relationships is that they are caused by differences in the wealth of parents. 2 The rich are privileged and can support their chil- dren by using expensive means like better housing, private schools, bet- ter toys and entrance to museums, resulting in higher cognitive ability. By the same token, the economically and socially disadvantaged poor cannot offer their children these economically determined kinds of Learning and Individual Differences 37 (2015) 133–138 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Chemnitz University of Technology, Department of Psychology, Wilhelm-Raabe-Str. 43, D-09107 Chemnitz, Germany. Tel.: +49 371 531 387 15; fax: + 49 371 531 838 715. E-mail addresses: heiner.rindermann@psychologie.tu-chemnitz.de (H. Rindermann), antonia.baumeister@psychologie.tu-chemnitz.de (A.E.E. Baumeister). 1 We use the terms cognitive ability and cognitive competence interchangeably. Cognitive ability comprises low and high complex cognitive abilities (e.g. mental speed vs. problem solving), working memory and memory, intelligence, knowledge and cognitive school achievement (Carroll, 1993). Different domains such as verbal, mathematics and science are included. Intelligence is the ability to think, comprising inductive and deductive reason- ing, comprehension, and the formation of abstract concepts. Psychometric IQ tests (tests la- beled as “intelligence tests”) as well as verbal ability tests (if they do not measure knowledge only) and student achievement tests (tests labeled as “student assessment” or “literacy” or “student competence” tests) measure intelligence and knowledge in some- what varying degrees, but usually, they are not categorically distinct. Empirically, the re- sults are highly correlated. 2 By wealth, we understand the affluence of a family (income, property, residence). In- come is the best indicator of wealth. Income itself is not theoretically relevant, only its ef- fect on family wealth. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2014.12.005 1041-6080/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Learning and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/lindif