Child poverty under the lens of Cognitive Neuroscience

LIPINA, SEBASTIAN JAVIER; FARAH, MARTHA T.

CROP Poverty Brief

CROP

Lugar: Bergen; Año: 2011

1205-2655

Child development is a complex process, driven by the interaction of genes and environment. The crucial role of the environment in directing physical, emotional and cognitive development has been demonstrated by behavioral genetics research in humans as well as with experimental animal studies. Outside of the world of research, one can see clear evidence of the powerful influence of the environment on child development in the life trajectories of poor children. Compared with their nonpoor counterparts, children who grow up in poverty develop to achieve less of their innate potential. Across different countries, in the developed and developing world, there are steep gradients of cognitive ability and socioemotional adjustment relating lower childhood socioeconomic status to lower developmental outcomes, and these gradients are at least in part environmentally caused. In this article we present a new approach to understanding the effects of childhood poverty on development and relate it to traditional approaches, on the one hand, and to new possibilities for addressing the problems of childhood poverty, on the other.