The current article studies the differences in cognitive development between Mapuche preschoolers and non-Indigenous preschoolers in Chile. The Mapuches comprise the main Indigenous group in Chile and a socioeconomically vulnerable group. We studied the differences in cognitive development between these two groups, focusing on the role of the families’ socioeconomic resources and the parental behaviors. We use data from the 2012 Encuesta Longitudinal de Primera Infancia, a nationally representative survey of early childhood (0–6 years old) in Chile, which includes a test of cognitive development validated for Mapuche preschoolers. Our results indicate that the cognitive gap between Mapuche children and non-Indigenous children in Chile starts before they enter primary school (SD = 0.2, p < 0.001), which coincides with the lower limit of the gap found in previous studies during school years. In linear models of cognitive development, socioeconomic resources, and parental behaviors account for part of the gap between Mapuche children and non-Indigenous children, but not for all of it. We also find a positive interaction between a Mapuche origin and home learning materials, which indicates that Mapuche children benefit from a rich learning environment at home more intensively than do non-Indigenous Chilean children.

当前的文章研究了智利马普切幼儿和非土著幼儿之间认知发展的差异。马普切人包括智利的主要土著群体和社会经济脆弱群体。我们研究了这两组人在认知发展上的差异，重点是家庭的社会经济资源和父母行为的作用。我们使用的是2012年智利国家级Encuesta Longitudinal de Primera Infancia的数据，该数据是智利全国幼儿（0-6岁）的一项代表性调查，其中包括一项针对马普切学龄前儿童验证的认知发展测验。我们的结果表明，智利的马普切儿童与非土著儿童之间的认知鸿沟始于他们进入小学之前（SD= 0.2，p <0.001），与在学年以前的研究中发现的差距的下限一致。在认知发展的线性模型中，社会经济资源和父母行为是造成马普切儿童与非土著儿童之间差距的部分原因，但并不是所有原因。我们还发现，马普切人的起源与家庭学习材料之间存在积极的互动关系，这表明，马普切人的孩子比非土著智利儿童更密集地受益于在家中丰富的学习环境。