The development of children can depend on many factors, one of the important ones being socioeconomic status (SES). SES can be defined as a multidimensional construct, including measures of social factors such as power, prestige and hierarchical social status, and economic resources (Hackman and Farah, 2009). Child development can be studied from multiple dimensions such as physical, mental, social, and emotional development among others. For the purposes of this study, I will be focusing on how socioeconomic status affects child cognitive development.
Cognitive development is the development of memory, reasoning, problem-solving and thinking abilities in a child. A UK based study about Socioeconomic Status and Children’s Intelligence based on the environment was conducted. In previous studies, where they studies genes and intelligence, it was seen that the results varied from study to study. Some studies found that in low-SES families, genetic factors have less of the variance in intelligence; the reverse is found for high-SES families (Hanscombe, Trzaskowski, Haworth, Davis, Dale, and Plomin, 2012). Other studies have reported an effect in the opposite direction. Since the results on intelligence and genes were varied, the researchers looked into environmental factors that may affect the intelligence in children. In the research they used 8716 twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study, and replicated moderating effect of SES on children’s intelligence at ages 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12 and 14 to find lower heritability in lower-SES families. In the results they found a greater variance in intelligence in low-SES families, but minimal evidence of gene interaction across the all eight ages. It was found that there were no m...
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Hackmen, D., & Farah, M. Socioeconomic status and the developing brain. Trends in Cognitive science, 13, 65-73. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/science/article/pii/S1364661308002635
Hanscombe KB, Trzaskowski M, Haworth CMA, Davis OSP, Dale PS, et al. (2012) Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Children’s Intelligence (IQ): In a UK- Representative Sample SES Moderates the Environmental, Not Genetic, Effect on IQ. PLoS ONE 7(2): e30320. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030320
Osler, M., Avlund, K., & Mortensen3, E. L. Socio-economic position early in life, cognitive development and cognitive change from young adulthood to middle age. European Journal of Public Health, 23, 974-980. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.lib.uh.edu/science/article/pii/S1364661308002635
Shahab, Lion "Socioeconomic Status and Health." Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Credo Reference. Web. 8 May 2014.
Saunders suggests erroneously that it may not be the case that talents and abilities are equally distributed across the classes. Saunders claims that there are genetic differences in aptitude between social classes as measured by IQ tests. Saunders furthermore claims that it is normal to expect successful middle class parents to pass on genetic advantages to their offspring again agreeing with the environment factor of the nature nurture debate.
On Christmas Day in the year 2001, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. When I looked into the brand-new face of my son I saw a beautiful mystery. I wondered what kind of man my boy would grow to be and what his life would be like. There are those in the scientific community who would argue that my son's path was already determined at the moment of his birth, that his fate could be deciphered from his genetic make-up. As a nurturing mother I know better. At two years old my son has developed a more diverse vocabulary than many children twice or even three times his age. He recognizes many written words and reads them aloud. He is able to spell his name. He can distinguish a square from a rectangle and an octagon from a hexagon. Was he born with this knowledge? The answer is no. My son, as genetically gifted as he may be, could have been born into an environment in which his inborn potential was never developed. The knowledge he now possesses can be directly traced to the teaching environment in which he has grown. Human beings are a product of both their biology and their environment.
...ctors, not environment. Nomothetic approach suggests that this is because everyone is generally the same. Yet intelligence is poor when environment is poor - idiographic explain this as it stress social influence, but nomothetic would ignore this factor.
Sir Francis (Galton, 1869) believed intelligence was inherited, and saw conceptualised general mental ability as a largely inheritable trait, and very much like physical traits, having a normal distribution in the population. Biologically, siblings share genes, and evidence shows that (Schacter, Gilbert & Wegner, 2012) intelligence test scores of siblings to be much more similar than the intelligence scores of unrelated people. Identical twins(monozygotic) share 100% DNA and studies show
interpreted as being caused by genetic or environmental differences among groups? A strong promoter of the belief that there is undoubtedly a racial difference in intelligence is Phillippe Rushton. As a professor of psychology, he argues that there is irrefutable scientific evidence of difference...
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a major topic of interest within the study of language development in children. It has been indicated as one of the most widely studied constructs in the social sciences (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002). Even with the wide variety of studies involving SES, there has never been a complete consensus on what SES actually represents. Beyond the development of language, SES also affects the overall development of a child. These developmental differences then further lead to differences in language acquisition. When looking at SES, there are many factors to consider. The concept of capital seems to best embody the current meaning psychologists hold of SES, according to Bradley and Corwyn (2002). Capital is favored because of its inclusion of access to financial (material resources), human (nonmaterial resources such as education) and social capital (social connections). The current working definition of SES involves family income, education level, and occupations, which influence the theories and characteristics that children develop (Hill, 2006). The effects of socioeconomic status on children are shown through many factors that affect language development through the child’s overall growth, their cognitive development, as well as their stress management and the parenting styles that they are exposed to.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee. (2001). What causes birth order-intelligence patterns? The admixture hypothesis revived. American Psychologist, 56(6-7), 505-510. doi: 1O.1O37//O0O3-O66X.56.6-7.5O5
One of the strengths of this perspective is that it recognizes the relationship between cognitive development and the social, cultural, and historical context that an individual is a part of (Sigelman, 2009). This explains the differences between cultures throughout history. This is an important concept because we all notice the differences between each person’s ways of thinking. Although we can attribute this to other factors, we can recognize more similarities in people of similar social and cultural backgrounds and more differences in those with drastically different backgrounds. Vygotsky points out that one of the...
The social and cultural environment is seen as a pivotal influence on cognitive development because all social interactions are based on the prevailing culture. As the child interacts with its social and cultural environment, carers are subconsciously transmitting the prevalent culture It is up to adults to “socialise” the children into the appropriate skills so they can function appropriately.
On the ‘nature’ side of the debate is the psychometric approach, considered to be the most dominant in the study of intelligence, which “inspired the most research and attracted the most attention” (Neisser et al. 1996, p. 77). It argues that there is one general (‘g’) factor which accounts for intelligence. In the 1880s, Francis Galton conducted many tests (measuring reaction times to cognitive tasks), (Boundless 2013), in order to scientifically measure intelligence. These tests were linked to the eugenic breeding programme, which aimed to eliminate biologically inferior people from society. Galton believed that as intelligence was inherited, social class or position were significant indicators of intelligence. If an individual was of high social standing, they would be more intelligent than those of a lower position. However he failed to show any consistency across the tests for this hypothesis, weakening his theory that social class correlated with intelligence. Nevertheless, his creation of the intelligence test led many to continue to develop...
The demographic used for the study is described as “highly advantaged children (middle-class whites with IQs of at least 135)…” (Gallagher). An IQ of 135 or higher is a very selective group and less than 1% of the entire world fits that criteria (“What Goes Into the Making of a Genius?”). With an IQ at or over 135, these children are more susceptible to anxiety, stress, and relationship issues among peers (“Social and Emotional Issues”). These troubles could directly impact their happiness and have a large effect on their lives if the issues persist. The results are even more limiting when the other factors such as race and financial background are taken into account. The lives led by these children are by no means typical and having access to certain advantages and a greater susceptibility to certain conditions can have an impact on the results. When 99% of the world is exempt from this study and the results are being applied to such a broad spectrum, it is not an acceptable application of the provided
Craig, G. J., & Dunn, W. L. (Ex.: 2010). Understanding human development (2nd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Social cognition is very important to young child’s development. A child’s key development takes place during the first five years of a child’s life. (Child Encyclopedia) A child’s environmental factors play a huge role in their mental development. Social cognition has produced a knowledge that psychologists now have a better understanding about
Child growth and development is a process that consists of some building blocks, which are components that combine in an infinite number of ways (Cherry, n.d.). As a result of the variations of building blocks in a child’s development, educators, psychologists, and philosophers have been constantly engaged in the debate of nature versus nurture debate. Many researchers agree that child development is a complex interaction between his/her genetic background (nature) and his/her environment (nurture). In essence, some developmental aspects are strongly affected by biology whereas other aspects are influenced by environmental factors. From the onset of an individu...