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Cognitive Stimulation as a Mechanism Linking Socioeconomic Status With Executive Function: A Longitudinal Investigation
Author(s) -
Rosen Maya L.,
Hagen McKenzie P.,
Lurie Lucy A.,
Miles Zoe E.,
Sheridan Margaret A.,
Meltzoff Andrew N.,
McLaughlin Katie A.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13315
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , psychology , cognition , cognitive flexibility , executive functions , developmental psychology , disadvantaged , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , cognitive development , mechanism (biology) , psychological intervention , working memory , flexibility (engineering) , medicine , neuroscience , psychiatry , population , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , environmental health , epistemology , political science , law
Executive functions (EF), including working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, vary as a function of socioeconomic status (SES), with children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds having poorer performance than their higher SES peers. Using observational methods, we investigated cognitive stimulation in the home as a mechanism linking SES with EF. In a sample of 101 children aged 60–75 months, cognitive stimulation fully mediated SES‐related differences in EF. Critically, cognitive stimulation was positively associated with the development of inhibition and cognitive flexibility across an 18‐month follow‐up period. Furthermore, EF at T1 explained SES‐related differences in academic achievement at T2. Early cognitive stimulation—a modifiable factor—may be a desirable target for interventions designed to ameliorate SES‐related differences in cognitive development and academic achievement.