Children’s Brain Function Affected by Poverty

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Can this be reversed?
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Children from low class environments characterized by poverty respond relatively slower to unexpected stimuli compared to those from the upper class. This is according to research conducted by an A.B.C. researcher Tom Boyce at the University of California, Berkeley. The study shows a difference in the brain function of kids from high income background compared to those from low income environments. (CBC) This therefore means that social and economic backgrounds have a direct impact on developmental psychology and in particular social psychology. Gradual accumulation of knowledge in terms of mental structure is therefore affected by the environment and in this case social and economic background.

For instance, Tom Boyce does indicate that children from low income status hear a whooping thirty million fewer words compared to their upper income counterparts in the first three years of their life. This study is an added approval that indeed the social context does have a major impact on social psychology.

Social psychology examines how feelings, behavior, thoughts and are influenced by immediate social situations. The Boyce study found that the prefrontal cortex has certain deficits in its functions in children from low income backgrounds. This region is critical for creativity and problem solving. This finding therefore suggests that children from low income environments have a relatively lower ability in problem solving and their creative potential is reduced. The researcher cites that poor backgrounds fundamentally affect the development of the prefrontal cortex region. The research was conducted using twenty six children aged nine and ten.

Half of the kids came from upper income environments and the other half from lower income backgrounds. An electroencephalograph was used to measure the brain activity of each child while they watched triangles on a screen. The children were supposed to click a button of the relevant triangle as it appeared on the screen. Children from low income environments were found to have slower response to these unexpected stimuli. The researchers therefore came to a generalized conclusion that children from lower income become backgrounds have a relatively slower response to all unexpected stimuli. This has negative implications in relation to problem solving and creative ability. (CBC)

Can this be reversed?

The slower response was compared to stroke patients whose portion of the frontal lobe is destroyed. The children though did not have any of their neural damaged. They also had no neurological damage or prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs. This however does not prevent their prefrontal cortex from performing effectively. Researchers therefore concluded that social and economic situations are responsible for this deficit in functioning.

They noted that parents or families from high income environments communicate more to their toddlers compared to those from lower income families. As indicated earlier, thirty million fewer words are communicated to children from lower income settings compared to those from high income families in the first three years. (CBC) This in relation to social and developmental psychology demonstrates that the social context has an impact on mental growth and development.

Lower interaction from the parents and individuals around the child in low income environment inhibits the growth and development of the prefrontal cortex region and consequently the ability problem solving and being creative. The study therefore suggests that the amount of communication is directly proportion to the social and economic situation of an individual or individuals. This implies that the lower the social and economic status the lower the lower the degree of communication.

Conclusion

The study does however suggest that the situation is not hopeless but reversible. Boyce offers communication as the simple solution to these functional deficits. Parents and those around developing children from low income environments should communicate more. (CBC)

References

Research suggests children’s brain function affected by poverty. Web.

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Children’s Brain Function Affected by Poverty

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