Table 1.
Descriptive statistics and correlations with infant age by country for reading, telling stories, and naming, counting, and drawing
| Reading Books | Telling Stories | Naming, Counting, Drawing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||||||
| Country | n | M | SD | rpb | M | SD | rpb | M | SD | rpb |
| High HDI | 3,698 | .24 | .43 | .21*** | .38 | .49 | .21*** | .47 | .50 | .15*** |
| Albania | 177 | .19 | .40 | .08 | .19 | .39 | .07 | .14 | .35 | .08 |
| Belarus | 506 | .37 | .48 | .43*** | .34 | .47 | .26*** | .24 | .43 | .30*** |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 513 | .18 | .38 | .19*** | .38 | .49 | .23*** | .72 | .45 | .14*** |
| Kazakhstan | 892 | .14 | .34 | .19*** | .22 | .41 | .24*** | .46 | .50 | .10** |
| Macedonia | 528 | .30 | .46 | .10* | .48 | .50 | .15*** | .86 | .35 | .03 |
| Montenegro | 170 | .23 | .42 | .18* | .60 | .49 | .30*** | .26 | .44 | .27*** |
| Serbia | 697 | .19 | .39 | .24*** | .50 | .50 | .25*** | .20 | .40 | .24*** |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 215 | .54 | .50 | .27*** | .61 | .49 | .22*** | .74 | .44 | .18** |
| Medium HDI | 21,508 | .09 | .29 | .11*** | .19 | .39 | .17*** | .28 | .45 | .11*** |
| Bangladesh | 5,832 | .04 | .19 | .13*** | .27 | .44 | .18*** | .13 | .33 | .12*** |
| Belize | 159 | .45 | .50 | .18* | .44 | .50 | .15 | .62 | .49 | .16* |
| Cameroon | 1,394 | .01 | .08 | .05 | .08 | .26 | .12*** | .26 | .44 | .02 |
| Djibouti | 385 | .06 | .25 | .06 | .08 | .28 | .05 | .09 | .28 | .03 |
| Georgia | 400 | .29 | .45 | .21*** | .40 | .49 | .26*** | .64 | .48 | .22*** |
| Ghana | 698 | .02 | .15 | .06 | .06 | .23 | .05 | .19 | .40 | .02 |
| Guyana | 474 | .32 | .47 | .19*** | .40 | .49 | .22*** | .51 | .50 | .17*** |
| Jamaica | 268 | .34 | .48 | .25*** | .31 | .46 | .29*** | .55 | .50 | .24*** |
| Kyrgyzstan | 588 | .10 | .30 | .19*** | .16 | .36 | .25*** | .51 | .50 | .18*** |
| Laos | 840 | .03 | .16 | .11** | .03 | .17 | .11*** | .49 | .50 | .09** |
| Mauritania | 1,844 | .03 | .17 | .02 | .09 | .28 | .11*** | .32 | .47 | .09*** |
| Mongolia | 774 | .07 | .25 | .24*** | .03 | .17 | .13*** | .07 | .26 | .19*** |
| Suriname | 419 | .20 | .40 | .03 | .31 | .46 | .09 | .48 | .50 | .12* |
| Syria | 2,015 | .12 | .32 | .10*** | .16 | .37 | .18*** | .15 | .36 | .09*** |
| Tajikistan | 840 | .05 | .21 | .05 | .17 | .37 | .12*** | .46 | .50 | .04 |
| Thailand | 1,842 | .30 | .46 | .23*** | .31 | .46 | .22*** | .44 | .50 | .25*** |
| Uzbekistan | 1,034 | .08 | .27 | .15*** | .14 | .35 | .18*** | .37 | .48 | .07* |
| Vanuatu | 348 | .40 | .49 | .12* | .54 | .50 | .11* | .80 | .40 | .12* |
| Vietnam | 503 | .04 | .19 | .14** | .11 | .31 | .16*** | .27 | .44 | .39*** |
| Yemen | 851 | .02 | .13 | −.02 | .05 | .21 | .06 | .10 | .30 | .23*** |
| Low HDI | 12,646 | .04 | .20 | .06*** | .14 | .35 | .09*** | .40 | .50 | .05*** |
| Burkina Faso | 1,162 | .00 | .06 | .03 | .02 | .14 | −.02 | .15 | .35 | .01 |
| Central African Republic | 2,074 | .04 | .20 | .06** | .10 | .30 | .09*** | .53 | .50 | .08*** |
| Côte d’Ivoire | 1,918 | .01 | .11 | .03 | .06 | .23 | .13*** | .38 | .48 | .07*** |
| Gambia | 1,561 | .03 | .16 | .10*** | .05 | .22 | .14*** | .28 | .45 | .09*** |
| Guinea-Bissau | 1,186 | .03 | .17 | .03 | .53 | .50 | .11*** | .27 | .44 | .04 |
| Nigeria | 2,920 | .10 | .30 | .08*** | .20 | .40 | .14*** | .54 | .50 | .05** |
| Sierra Leone | 968 | .04 | .19 | .12*** | .08 | .28 | .13*** | .53 | .50 | .03 |
| Togo | 857 | .01 | .10 | .05 | .07 | .25 | .09** | .24 | .42 | .09* |
| HDI N/A | 4,687 | .04 | .20 | .07*** | .13 | .33 | .13*** | .63 | .48 | .11*** |
| Iraq | 3,374 | .04 | .21 | .08*** | .09 | .28 | .15*** | .52 | .50 | .15*** |
| Somalia | 1,313 | .03 | .16 | .02 | .24 | .43 | .14*** | .91 | .28 | .09** |
|
| ||||||||||
| TOTAL | 42,539 | .09 | .28 | .12*** | .19 | .39 | .15*** | .37 | .48 | .09*** |
Note. HDI = Human Development Index. For all behaviors, the correlation with infant age was strongest for the High HDI group followed by the Medium HDI group, and finally the Low HDI group (we did not compare relations for the HDI N/A group).
*
p ≤ .05.
**
p ≤ .01.
***
p ≤ .001.