Influence of individual and socio-environmental factors in a task with positive emotional valence and de-mand for inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility

RAMÍREZ, VERÓNICA ADRIANA; RUETTI, ELIANA

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Congreso; XXXVI Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2021

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

There is a large literature on the interdependence of cognitive and emotional processes, and their modulation through individual and socio-environmental factors. Preferential processing of emotional stimuli over neutral ones has been evidenced, which has been widely studied in inhibitory control paradigms, such as the Stroop task, due to its simplicity and ease of incorporating emotional valence. Unfavorable early experiences are associated with low levels of performance in tasks with demands for inhibitory control. The present research analyzes the role of socio-environmental factors in emotional processing, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility in childrenbetween 4 and 8 years old. A Stroop-type task with positive emotional valence was administered and its association with socio-environmental variables was studied, such as the level of stimulation at home and the type of work and schooling of mothers/fathers. An environment with greater stimulation positively influences task performance but without affecting reaction time. Furthermore, this relationship varies depending on the gender and age of the participants. These findings indicate that individual and contextual variables are closely associated with performance in a task of inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility and that they need to be analyzed together to provide a better understanding of their influences throughout child development.