Who grows up faster boy girl. The development of girls, however, is different from that of boys. The wrong way - the usual harsh upbringing of boys "be a man"

Boys and girls are already born different, and every year these differences become more noticeable. But is it really that boys develop more slowly than their peers, or are they just different - with different interests, ways of thinking and abilities? Child psychologist will tell you how to raise sons and daughters, taking into account their gender characteristics.

We are so different

In an old anecdote, a three-year-old boy asks his parents to submit salt, and they exclaim in delight: “Sasha, you've finally started talking! For three years he was silent! " The young talent in response says: "And what to talk to you about?" Young boys and girls develop in approximately the same way in real life.

It is believed that young ladies start to speak earlier, and do it fluently, non-stop, sometimes - they immediately reproduce phrases and sentences. And this is indeed the case. But the point here is not in the backwardness of the stronger sex, but in the fact that the brains of women are sharpened for mastering social skills, communication, obtaining information, recognizing emotions.

From an evolutionary point of view, boys need such abilities to a much lesser extent. But the boy develops better physically and finds non-standard solutions to tasks. For the same reason, boys are less successful at school, among them C grade students are more common.

The education system is largely focused on the girly style of thinking - mastering the rules, acting according to a template, monotonous repetition of a task until you fully master the skill of solving it. But if gifted boys are lucky with teachers who can captivate them with extraordinary tasks for which you need to come up with an answer, then the learning process is no worse than for girls.

The biggest differences in maturation of children of different sexes are observed during adolescence. If earlier study and cognition were in the foreground, then at 9-12 years old there is a change in the leading type of activity - communication begins to dominate.

The transitional age is almost always a hormonal storm and a crisis in self-awareness and self-perception. But for boys, the difficult period can last from 12 to 18 years, and for girls - from 9-10 to 15-16 years.

In fact, a high school student is already a practically formed girl, while her classmate is almost a child.

Psychologists note that during this period, peers cease to be them psychologically. And when the boy's parents can still live as before, without changing anything in their behavior and strategies for communicating with their son, the girls' parents are already in a completely different life situation.

Both boys and girls in the period of growing up ask the question "Who am I?", Rebuild the system of relations. Therefore, it becomes extremely easy to lose the trust of a child, which was previously unconditional.

Previously, you could tell your son or daughter what to do, what to do, give an order or read a morality. Now any attempt by parents to act according to the old scenario, with moral teachings, orders and advice, is perceived by the child with hostility and only inflames the situation.

Even boys more prone to logical thinking, in adolescence, they stop listening to arguments, evidence, advice and suggestions of ready-made solutions. Building relationships with children during the transition from childhood to adolescence can be based on new forms of communication.

Demonstrating understanding, using “I-statements” (“I’m worried when I don’t know where you are,” “I’m scared,” “I’m tired,” “I’m at a loss") will help to get closer to the child and understand what he is feeling and about thinks. The phrases "I understand you", "you are angry", "you feel hurt", "you feel bad", "you are upset", "you do not want to do anything" will make it clear that mom and dad really strive to be near, to empathize, which means you can trust them, share experiences and listen to their opinions.

Girls during their formation pay special attention to their own appearance and attractiveness. For them, "I am beautiful" means "beautiful in general, as a person," that is, the outer shell becomes inseparable from the content - skills and abilities, talents and abilities. The same applies to a negative assessment, therefore psychologist Maria Lomakina advises parents to remember this feature: “It is important to refrain from criticizing your daughter's figure, clothing and attractiveness. To save a girl from rash acts, it is necessary to earn the trust of a teenager. If a young girl trusts her parents, she will tell about the things that excite her, make a decision, taking into account the information she received from her parents. "

The boy, unlike the girl, does not perceive himself only as an outer shell. It is important for him to be successful in various fields, to have useful skills and abilities. In turn, parents can help him develop responsibility and problem-solving skills, which will come in handy in the future.

Psychologist Maria Lomakina notes: “Communication with a father or another man becomes especially important during this period, by the example of which a teenager learns to behave. Trust and authority are important to him instead of the pressure and dictates of parents ".

It should also be remembered that boys cannot withstand emotional stress for a long time, so sometimes it happens that with a long showdown, they simply turn off the conversation, stop listening to the moralizing of their parents. It is better to talk with them briefly and thoroughly, so that the mind has time to grasp important information.

As for the reasons for the "inhibition" in the growing up of boys, there is an opinion that their childhood is delayed, because the historically active life of men was much longer than that of women.

The period of action, adult existence, the appearance of children in women took place from 17-18 to 35-36 years, and in men this process began a couple of years later, but ended well after forty.

Perhaps this is due to the fact that a young boy, who will have to protect his family and be responsible for the well-being of his loved ones, needs to gain experience, become responsible, independent and independent. In other words, to grow up. And this happens much later than at the age of 18. At the same time, it is important for a young woman to give birth to healthy children, and nature made sure that they appear as early as possible, while the body is young and full of strength.

Another theory was put forward by geneticists who argue that hormones that stimulate physical development in a boy's body fight against those that are responsible for growing up and puberty. And since the skill of getting food is more important for an ancient man, and for a modern man, the psychological development of boys is a little late and begins when the child is already physically prepared.

But in any case, despite gender differences, by the age of 20-23 both boys and girls turn into boys and girls. This process often does not need to be adjusted, but rather deserves the supervision and support that only loving and caring parents can give.

Girls are born more mature than boys and develop faster.

As it is known, in the co-relation of no-in-rog-den-s, both of them, the last one always li-di-ru-yut, and the individual feminine sex should be born more with a-more-able-bodied, so that you can live and not break the balance.

The difference in development between little-sha-mi usually consists of 3-4 no-de-li. Not-to-ry break-off so-keeps-nya-is-Xia and more: boy-chi-ki na-chi-na-yut walk for 2-3 months the same than girls; for 4-6 months later, start talking.

By the beginning school, these differences have been compiled for 1 year already, and by the time of maturity, bio-log-gi-ches -kiy age de-woo-shek ope-re-zha-e-ka-tel the young-necks for 2 years. Childhood of boys-chi-kov lasts longer. And girls-ki earlier na-chi-na-yut go-to-turn-to-turn to de-woo-shek, go-to-go to pro-long-same niyu ro-da.

Already from the first months after the birth of the work-bo-ta brain-ga with the boys and de-vo-check strongly raz-li-cha-et-Xia - this is seen both in the ve-de-nii, and in the games of the little ones.

Mas-sa brain they have the same not-odi-na-ko-va. In sum, these special-ben-nos-ti define-de-la-yut a different warehouse of psi-hee-ki. De-voch-ka, as we remember, from sa-mo-na-cha-la ori-en-ti-ro-va-na to you-zhi-wa-e-most, and the boy - on the farther neck there is co-superiority and pro-progress.

Mal-chi-kam, in contrast to de-v-check, for the full-but-valuable development of psi-hee-ki tre-bu-it-is more simple -trans-va. Moreover, they master it in all possible on-right-le-ni-yah: climb the stairs, drop it in the sub-va -ly, for-bi-ra-yut-Xia on the fence. De-voch-kam to-a-hundred-exactly-but-little-lazy-ko-ka-ka to place on it their "co-kro-vi-shcha": ko-kol, their clothes -do, su-doo.

Mal-chi-kam is not-about-go-dim pro-tor. They run after each other, sort-out-sy-wa-yut ig-rush-ki, throw something at the target, max-si-mal-but use-using all the territory provided by him.

The boy-chi-ki show their activity noisily and sharply, and the girls are quieter, but re-zul-ta-tiv-less. By a hundred-tis-ti-ke, in boys-chi-kov-to-school-nikov herbs-we-are-cha-are almost 2 times more often than at de-in -check.

Already from 2.5 years old, the boy-chi-ki become-but-vyat-Xia more-more-than-stitch-ny, sometimes ag-res-siv-ny-mi, and external hostility-deb- ness feel-woo-yut better-she-de-check.

Oso-ben-nos-ti vos-pri-ya-tiya and re-action on loading

Oso-ben-nos-ty ra-bo-you brain-ga de-vo-check and the boys determine-de-la-yut also a different-ni-tsu vo-pri-i-tiya. The first are more sensitive to sounds, noise, they have a higher skin sensitivity, their more time-consuming -forest dis-com-fort, and they are more from-call-chi-you to priso-no-ve-nie. The boys' games more often rely on the distant vision, and at the same time they maximally use everything to provide lent space to them.

Boys are more vulnerable to neuropsychiatric disorders that manifest at an early age

The wrong way - the usual harsh upbringing of boys "be a man"

We often hear that boys must be brought up harshly so that they do not become sissies. Parental rigidity is presented as "the desire not to spoil the child." But this is a serious mistake! Such ideas are based on ignorance of how and through what children develop. To grow and develop well, a child needs a sensitive adult caring for him - then, having matured, he will have self-control, social skills and will be able to take care of other people himself.

Recently, clinical psychologist and neuropsychoanalyst Alan Shor, whose theory is based on the connection between neuroscience data and attachment theory, released a review of an empirical study called "Our sons: Neurobiology and neuroendocrinology of developmental boys at risk", in which all the arguments for a more considerate attitude towards boys are presented in detail.

Why does early childhood experience affect the development of boys significantly more than the development of girls?

• Boys mature more slowly physically, socially and linguistically.
• Formation of neural connections that regulate brain activity during stress, in boys it occurs more slowly in both the prenatal and perinatal and postnatal periods.
• The negative effects of the environment (intrauterine and extrauterine) are more difficult for boys than girls. Girls have more innate mechanisms to help them respond flexibly to stress.

Why is it harder for boys?

• Boys feel more stressed and depressed from their mothers even before birth, and experience trauma (separation from the mother) and indifference (care in which they do not receive an emotional response). The result is attachment trauma that affects the development of the right brain hemisphere. Note that the right hemisphere in the first years of life develops faster than the left. It is in the right hemisphere that neural connections are created that are responsible for self-regulation: self-control and the possibilities of socialization.
• Newborn boys react differently than girls to the neonatologist's examination immediately after birth: the level of cortisol (a mobilizing hormone involved in the development of stress reactions) rises more strongly.
• At six months, boys have higher levels of frustration than girls, and at 12 months, boys respond more strongly to negative stimuli.
• Shore cites a study by Edward Tronic and Jeffrey Cohen as saying: “Boys need to be invested more, they find it harder to regulate their affective states, and therefore male toddlers may need more maternal support to learn to control their emotions ... This growing demand will impose additional obligations on the person caring for the little boy. "

What does this data say?

Boys are more vulnerable to neuropsychiatric disorders that appear at an early age (girls are more susceptible to disorders that appear later). Such disorders include autism, early onset schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorders. These trends have been increasing in recent decades ( it is interesting to note that it was during these years that more children began to be sent to daytime preschool institutions, many of which do not provide care appropriate to the needs of children(National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, Early Childhood Care Research Community, 2003).

According to Shor, "given the slower development of the brain in male infants, for their optimal socio-emotional development in the first year of life, they need a reliable connection with their mothers, which acts as a natural regulator of development."

“The previous pages of this work reveal the idea that the differences between the sexes in the patterns of brain activity, which then affect emotional life and social behavior, are formed at the very beginning of life, and this progressive development is set not only genetically, but also socially, under the influence of physical environment and social environment at an early age. The brains of an adult man and an adult woman are optimally complementary, allowing people to interact in the best way. "

What does improper care of a child look like in the first years of his life?

“In striking contrast to the parenting approach in the mainstream of attachment theory is another scenario in which in the relationship between an adult and an infant less sensitivity, emotional response, and rules than required. This is how insecure attachment is formed. In the worst case, child-neglect and attachment trauma (with mistreatment and / or neglect) appear in the adult-child relationship, in which the adult provokes traumatic conditions in a disoriented, unsupported infant that have a long-term negative impact on the child.

As a result of a disturbance in allosteric regulation (response to excessive stress), an excessive load on the growing might arises, neurons responsible for stress resistance die, and long-term destructive consequences for the child's health appear (McEwen & Gianaros, 2011).

Relationship trauma at the early stages, which are critical for the formation of the brain, thus, is reflected in the constant physiological reactivity of the right hemisphere, makes the child vulnerable to disorders that arise at a later age, and affects the regulatory capabilities, which later manifests itself in the inability to cope with socio-emotional stress factors. ... Earlier, I said that due to the slow development of the brain in men, it is especially vulnerable in situations of unstable attachment, and this leads to serious problems in the social and emotional spheres. "

How does taking good care of a child affect their brain development?

“In the ideal scenario of development, the evolutionary mechanisms of attachment and growing up during the growth of the right hemisphere allow epigenetic factors of the social environment to have a beneficial effect on genomic and hormonal mechanisms at the cortical and subcortical levels of the brain.

By the end of the first year of life and at the beginning of the second, the centers of the right orbital-frontal and ventromedial regions of the cerebral cortex begin to actively create synaptic connections with the lower subcortical centers, including activating systems of the central brain and brainstem, as well as the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian complex. Thus, the ability to comprehensively regulate affective states is formed, especially in a situation of stressful interpersonal communication.

Back in 1994, I noted that the right part of the orbital-frontal cortex of the brain, attachment control systems, functionally develop according to different "schedules" in men and women (A.N. Schore, 1994). In any case, the optimal attachment scenario allows you to develop the legal hemisphere system, effectively activate it and receive the necessary response from the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian complex and autonomous activating components for optimal living skills and ability to cope with stress.

1. It should be understood that boys need care not less, but more than girls.

2. The practice of childbirth in maternity hospitals should be reviewed. Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative - a good start, but this is not enough. According to recent research, there are a number of epigenetic and other factors that have long-term consequences already at the time of delivery.

Separation of mother and child at birth is stressful for all children, but Shore emphasizes that it is more dangerous for boys: "Separating a newborn boy from his mother leads to a spike in cortisol in the body and therefore is a serious stress." Repeated separation of the child and the mother leads to hyperactive behavior and “changes ... the prefrontal-limbic pathways, ie. the same areas that are responsible for a number of mental disorders. "

3. The child needs responsible care. Mothers, fathers and caregivers should protect children from any severe stress by tolerating the manifestation of negative emotions. The wrong way is the usual harsh upbringing of boys ("be a man"), the prohibition on showing tenderness in order to "temper character", when we leave them crying when they are very young, and demand from them not to cry when they grow up. Young boys need to be treated in the exact opposite way: with tenderness and respect for their needs for hugs, warmth and kindness.

Note that preterm boys are less likely to interact spontaneously with close adults, so they should be treated with special care to get their neurobiological processes back to normal.

4. It is necessary to provide parents with paid leave. Parents need time, strength and energy to take care of their children. This means that it is necessary to provide paid leave for mothers and fathers for at least a year, when the child most needs parents and care. In Sweden, the state policy is different and allows parents to take care of their children more and more responsibly.

5. Another aspect that Alan Shor draws attention to is the impact of unfavorable environmental conditions. Little boys are very susceptible to toxins that disrupt the development of the right hemisphere (this is plastic such as BPA, BPA, biphenol-A). Shore supports Lamfia's hypothesis that "the constant increase in developmental disabilities in children is associated with the effects of toxins on the developing brain." We must pay attention to the problems of air, soil and water pollution. However, this is a topic for another article.

Conclusion

Of course, we need to take care not only of boys - all children need it. For the normal development of any child, a cozy nest is necessary, where the child feels safe, where he is provided with nutrition, warmth and attention, which reduces stress and allows the brain to develop safely. My laboratory is studying the "cozy nest effect" and notes the undeniable connection between a favorable home environment and positive results in the development and education of the child. published

Many parents pay attention to the fact that their girls develop faster than boys of the same age. Some parents are alarmed, but this is normal until a certain point. Let's see why this is happening?

Girls 'brains mature faster than boys' brains, say Newcastle University in the UK. According to The Daily Mail, experts associate this fact with the difference in the development of boys and girls in adolescence. The study, which was conducted by the university, involved 121 people aged 4 to 40 years. In the course of it, a large number of clear images of the brain were obtained.

As it turned out, some parts of the human brain shrank as they got older, and unnecessary connections between cells were removed. This is a reflection of how the learning process proceeds normally, experts say. This "cleansing" in girls begins at about the age of 10. At the same time, these processes in boys do not begin until they reach the age of 20.

In addition, the results of the study showed that critically important, long ligaments between areas of the brain were still preserved. But clearing other connections made it possible to obtain a more efficient system. After this cleansing, the network is reorganized more efficiently, and it becomes easier for the brain to focus on the really important information.

When differences arise

Girls and boys are different from birth and develop differently too. When boys are born, they are larger than girls, they have more head and more weight. Of course, there are individual differences, but we will talk about the average data. Boys begin to walk a little later, about 2-3 months, and start talking 4-6 months later.

Neuropsychologists in the maternity hospital, recording the biocurrents of the brain of newborn children, revealed that the brains of boys and girls work in different ways from the very beginning.

Up to about 8 years old, boys' hearing acuity is on average higher than that of girls, but girls are more sensitive to noise, they get tired of it faster. Girls have much higher tactile sensitivity, they are more sensitive to bodily discomfort, and at the same time, girls are more susceptible to touching and stroking.

When playing, girls often rely on near vision: girls play with dolls, buttons in a limited space, rags, beads, they always have enough of a small corner. Fry, on the other hand, use distant vision: their games are mainly based on the coverage of a large space, they throw objects into the distance, using all the space around them. Boys need more space than girls to get full mental development. If the horizontal plane is not enough for them, then they master the vertical one: they run on the backs of sofas, they begin to climb on the cupboards, hang on the door frames ... The mastered space of each child is reflected in the drawings in different ways. Boys, reproducing the neighborhoods of their site in drawings, show more houses, yards, squares, streets than girls. Girls 'albums are filled with princesses and self-portraits, while boys' albums are filled with cars and military battles.

Nature's design?

How is it that the development of girls and boys is different? Scientists believe that this is the "ingenuity" of nature. In evolution, two opposite tendencies are always fighting: first: nature needs to preserve what has already been created, to fix in the species those characteristics that it needs, to inherit them, and, that is, to make the descendants as similar as possible to their parents. Second: progress presupposes a variety of offspring, among which there will be one that will enable the species to adapt to changed conditions, expand the habitat. These two tendencies reunite masculine and feminine principles. The female sex retains in the genetic memory all the most valuable acquisitions of evolution, and the male sex easily loses old skills and acquires new ones - some of these acquisitions will certainly come in handy in the future when extreme conditions arise.

To continue the look, a large number of females are needed. Nature protects the female half of humanity, and the male sex will take care of itself. On representatives of the male sex, all the innovations of evolution are being worked out. That is why men have a number of beneficial mutations almost equal to harmful genetic mutations. For example, slightly more deaf boys are born than girls with the same defect. Color blindness is also more common in males. Among children with dyslexia, squint, stuttering, delay mental development several times more boys.

The male brain is larger, more advanced in development, but less reliable and more vulnerable. Men are more responsive to any changes, both natural and social. But nature has rewarded them with searching behavior: so that they can survive by finding another habitat where it is warmer and where food can be found. That is why men, including boys, have a tendency to explore undeveloped spaces, various risky actions, they quickly think in difficult situations and know how to make non-standard decisions.

Who is stronger in what

How do these features of the male brain affect the learning of boys? In preschool and junior school age, girls think much faster than boys. The girls' vocal apparatus is better developed, but their thinking is more similar. Boys are clones to think outside the box and with interest, but because they are silent, we cannot see their inner world.

Of course, this does not mean that not a single girl will develop a new idea, but nevertheless, representatives of the strong half of humanity solve the main new problems much better. And the girls pay more attention to the thoroughness of the solution and the accuracy of the design. The boy is more often found non-standard solution mathematical problem, but often make errors in calculations, which leads to poor results. Girls are more inclined to do similar or patterned tasks, but they work out the details very carefully.

The girls' speech is more fluent, they read faster and their handwriting is more beautiful, but the side of speech that is connected with the search (solving crosswords, choosing associations) is better given to boys. Boys have a more developed spatial awareness, because the performance of spatial-visual tasks requires searching. Related to this is that boys are much better girls solve geometric problems: they can mentally rotate figures and superimpose them one on top of another. And the representatives of the female half designate the corners and sides with letters, and then operate with letter symbols and patterns-theorems.

Memo to parents

If you notice that your son is much slower to master his studies than he was able to older sister, retells poorly and writes inaccurately in writing, do not panic, this is a feature of the male mind. It is important to note that boys' childhood lasts a little longer. Doctors say that by the age of 7, boys are a year younger than girls of the same age in terms of their biological age.

Boys have their own way of growing up, but since they are more focused on the assimilation of information than their peers, there is no need to worry about their intellectual development.

When teaching her son, a mother should not compare him with herself in childhood, due to such age differences. If you scold the boy, then state your wishes briefly and concisely. This is necessary in order not to overload the boy emotionally, because boys are very difficult to endure emotional stress. If you scold him for a long time and tediously, then his brain turns off the auditory canal, as a result of which the child stops absorbing what you want to convey to him.
Interesting

As practice shows, boys, even very tiny ones, are less likely to be picked up and scolded by their parents than their girls of the same age. In relation to them, the speech of adults contains mainly direct instructions: "Move away, give, bring, do, stop ...". And with girls, even very young, parents talk about sensory states: “Who is this sad? I like ... Do you love? ... "

There is an opinion that the typical behavior of boys and girls is laid in childhood by parents who give their children toys that are characteristic of each gender: cars and toy soldiers for boys, dolls for girls, stuffed Toys and toy dishes. However, a new study from the UK casts doubt on this theory. It turned out that babies themselves, without the advice of adults, choose toys that are typical for their gender.

About harm early development children, all these endless circles on modeling, increasing intelligence and mastering languages \u200b\u200bfrom six months finally began to speak loudly. However, more often than not, experts conduct a conversation in soft tones: the child will not finish playing with his parents and will lose touch with them, he will get tired, lose motivation and skills of independence. Meanwhile, the problem of over-employment of children with various courses is much more serious. And excessive enthusiasm for them can be not only harmful, but also dangerous. Do you feel the difference? Eating pastries at night is harmful, but eating unfamiliar mushrooms is dangerous. So it is with early development.

Quite a lot is mentioned about the role of the mother in the child's life, and to some extent this topic is cross-cutting for psychology, however, for harmonious development personality is very important and the role of the father. With some simplification, we can say that the father has two main tasks in relation to the child - to provide protection and to broadcast recognition.

Parents often ask this question during consultations with a pediatric neurologist. Most often this happens in cases where the child - a boy - does not speak at the time allotted to him, at the age of about 2 years.

In my "detective investigation" I did not touch on the questions physical development children, but tried to understand the gender (sex) characteristics of psycho speech development in practically healthy children.

At the international conference on autism, which was held in November 2013 in Bishkek, William Edwards, Head of the Applied Behavioral Analysis Program at Clemson University, USA, focused on the issues of gender differences in speech development in the context of the development of children with autism: “Several years ago there was a study in the United States ... and they found out that a normally developing girl speaks about three thousand words a day, whereas an autistic child speaks one word a day ... Girls develop faster than boys. "

I found it inconclusive to compare the vocabulary of a normally developing girl and a boy with autism. After Mr. Edwards' presentation, I asked him about the source of this information and also asked if it was a myth that "boys develop later than girls." In response, Mr. Edwards said, “Almost all of the child development literature shows that in general, boys develop slightly more slowly than girls up to 11-12 years of age. There are about two to three thousand sources on differential development on the Internet. "

A few weeks before this conference, the VI International Congress “Man and Medicine. Kazakhstan". One of the speakers was Pavel Andreevich Vorobyov, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Hematology and Geriatrics, Head of the Department of Standardization in Healthcare of P.M. I.M.Sechenova (Moscow, Russia). The topic of his report: "Modern approaches to the assessment of medical technologies." Mr. Vorobyov gave the definition of medical technologies: "Medical technologies are everything that concerns human health - diagnostics, treatment, medicinal and non-medicinal, prevention, rehabilitation ... And all this must be evaluated before being introduced into the healthcare system."

As a neurologist specializing in the field of a- and rehabilitation, I consider the issue of gender differences in speech and cognitive (cognitive) development of children to be very important, since the prevailing opinion in society that "boys develop more slowly than girls" is the reason for the late appeal to specialists (psychologists, defectologists -logopedists, psychiatrists,) children with pathological conditions, and, as a result, insufficient effectiveness of therapeutic measures.

Thus, the proposition "boys develop later than girls" is directly related to health issues and should be supported by studies that are consistent with the principles of evidence-based medicine.

I began my search for evidence with basic pediatrics and pediatric neurology textbooks for medical students.

In the textbook of IM Vorontsov and AV Mazurin "Propedeutics of childhood diseases", written with the participation of A.M. Korovin, the main stages of the neuropsychic development of children under 3 years of age are given. There is no gender adjustment in them, despite the fact that in one of the paragraphs of this chapter was written literally the following: "The development of motor speech varies greatly in terms of timing, which does not reflect the characteristics of children's intelligence, girls usually master motor speech earlier than boys." ...

In the book of a remarkable person, professor of the Department of Pediatrics with courses of perinatology and endocrinology of the St. Petersburg State Medical Pediatric Academy Aleksandr Beinusovich Palchik, "Evolutionary Neurology" provides an overview of the scales for assessing the psychomotor development of a child: L.T. Zhurba and E.A. Mastyukova, Motor and Evolutionary Coefficients, Denver Neurodevelopmental Screening Test (pp. 216-231). In the scales given by Aleksandr Beinusovich Palchik with reference to sources, there are also no corrections for gender characteristics.

The Bailey scale (Bayle Infant Development Scale) is also widely adopted in the United States.

Cedit: The Bailey test is the result of over 45 years of research on child development, is highly valid and can be considered one of the best for early childhood childhood... Testing is carried out at the age of 1 to 42 months.

The test consists of 3 scales:

• scale of mental development (mental scale): evaluates sensation, perception, memory, pre-speech and speech abilities, prerequisites for abstract thinking;
• scale of motor development: evaluates simple and complex movements, gross and fine motor skills;
• scale ("protocol") of behavior: objectifies social interactions, interests, emotions, temperament.

Each item on the test is scored as “completed” or “not completed”. Testing time for children under 15 months - 25-35 minutes, over 15 months - up to 60 minutes.

Test result is the calculation of the index of mental development (MDI) and the index of psychomotor development (PDI). The scales of mental and motor development contain 274 points, the protocol of the child's behavior - 30. The test was recognized as highly valid and standardized. Initially, the scales were standardized on 1262 children, and the behavioral protocol - on 791 children. In the 90s, the test was re-standardized.

The Bailey Infant Development Scales have a correction for prematurity, but no correction for gender.

If we return to Professor P.A.Vorobyov, then in his report he paid great attention to the method of searching for relevant information (i.e., information related to the issue under discussion). And in the first place on his slide is: "Internet search".

I started searching the Internet with Russian-language sources. Introduced the key words: "Gender differences in speech and cognitive development of children." After analyzing several sites that open in an Internet search engine, I found that research in this area was carried out mainly by psychologists and educators.

The first to open is the essay by S.E. Sokolova "Gender approach in the development of boys and girls", which provides the normative indicators of the speech development of children in the first years of life, and at the same time notes: "It should be emphasized once again that there are no fundamental differences between boys and girls in the pace of mastering phrasal speech. The insignificant time shift in favor of girls does not exceed 2-3 months. Therefore, you should not passively wait for your baby to speak by himself, and reassure yourself and other relatives with phrases like "All boys start talking after 3 years."

And then there are links to studies, which are then repeated from article to article on many sites: “E. Maccoby and K. Jacklin (EE Maccoby, C.N. Jacklin, 1974) showed that girls have better developed verbal intelligence than boys. And boys have better visual, spatial and mathematical abilities than girls. The superiority of women in the development of speech functions begins in childhood. At 18 months, girls know about 50 words, and boys master this number of words by 22 months. "

After starting to search for the source, which is indicated in the abstract, I came to the Wikipedia article "Gender and Intelligence", which describes the history of the issue of gender differences: “In some studies, men show a higher IQ (see Lynn, and also Stumpf & Jackson , 1994). A secondary analysis of the results of six large-scale tests conducted in the United States from 1960 to 1992 showed that, on average, all tests were better for men. The tests included tests of various abilities, in particular, reading ability, vocabulary, mathematics, spatial orientation, associative thinking, memory, etc. Women scored higher on tests for reading, comprehension and associative thinking, and men on tests for spatial orientation and math ability. Overall, the average difference between men and women was small. In conclusion, the authors emphasize that the analysis data do not allow judging the reasons for the existing differences between test results in men and women.

In other studies, the difference between the IQs in girls (100.64) and boys (100.48) was statistically insignificant. Only the standard deviation was significant (14.1 for girls and 14.9 for boys). Girls were 2% higher in the 90-115 IQ test points range, while boys were higher in the 50-60 and 130-140 points ranges. After reviewing more than 2,000 articles and books published since 1966, the authors of The Psychology of Sex Difference (Maccoby and Jacklin, 1974) have concluded that most claims of gender differences are unfounded.

The attentive reader must have noticed that two articles, citing the same study, provide completely contradictory conclusions:

• “E. Maccoby and K. Jacklin (EE Maccoby, C.N. Jacklin, 1974) showed that girls have better developed verbal intelligence than boys ”- http://15-ozr.edusite.ru
• "Having studied more than 2000 articles and books published since 1966, the authors of the book" The Psychology of Sex Differences "(Maccoby and Jacklin, 1974) concluded that most claims about differences between the sexes are unfounded" - http://ru.wikipedia.org

List of sources:

1. Vorontsov I.M., Propedeutics of childhood diseases / I.M. Vorontsov, A.V. Mazurin. - 3rd ed., Add. and revised - SPb: OOO "Foliant Publishing House", 2009. - 1008 p .; silt
2. Palchik A.B., Evolutionary neurology / A.B. Palchik. - SPb: Peter, 2002 .-- 384 p.
3. "Experimental psychological examination of young children", B.E. Mikirtumov, A.G. Koschavtsev, S.V. Grechany. Clinical psychiatry of early childhood. - SPb: Peter, 2001.256 p. - ("Quick Guide"): [Electronic resource], http://psylist.net (Date of access: 01/08/2014)
4. Sokolova S.E., speech therapist, "Gender approach in the development of speech in boys and girls", (published in the journal " Preschool pedagogy"No. 2 2013.): [Electronic resource]. 2013. URL: http://15-ozr.edusite.ru (Date of access: 08.01.2014)
5. “Gender and Intellect” [Electronic resource]. 2013. URL: http://ru.wikipedia.org (Date of access: 08.01.2014)