POVERTY How poverty can markedly affect the development of the brain. Describe and evaluate evidence methods used to overcome these adverse effects. Flashcards
There is substantial evidence indicating that poverty and adversity can markedly affect the development of the brain; however,…
research on how such experiences induce these changes is less developed.
Essay structure for
Discuss how poverty and adversity can markedly affect the development of the brain. Describe and evaluate evidence based methods used to overcome these adverse effects.
- Structure
- Poverty effects
- Poverty interventions
- Adversity effects
- Adversity interventions
- Conclusions
What is the structure for the section on the effects of poverty on the brain?
- Intro on the effects of poverty on the development of the brain
- Language
- Executive Function
- Emotion
What is the structure for the section on the evidence based methods for overcoming the effects of poverty on the brain?
- Intro
- Parent training
- Classroom-based interventions
Childhood poverty affects some neuro-cognitive systems more than others. There is evidence of robust SES differences in [blank] and [blank], as well as emerging evidence for differences in [blank]
language
executive function
affective processes
There is an effect of SES on X, Y and Z
- vocabulary
- phonological
- awareness
syntax
What is phonological awareness?
the ability to reflect on the sound and structure of language; an important ability for learning to read
There is an effect of SES on vocabulary, phonological awareness (the ability to reflect on the sound and structure of language; an important ability for learning to read) and syntax. For example, an early, influential study estimated what? who conducted the study?
that the vocabulary of American 3-year-olds from professional families is twice as large as that of children in families on welfare (Hart & Risley, 1995).
Structural differences in temporal and parietal brain areas that are involved in language have …
not been found across SES levels in children (Eckert et al 2001)
Structural differences in temporal and parietal brain areas that are involved in language have not been found across SES levels in children (Eckert, Lambardino & Leonard, 2001). However, …
SES was positively correlated with the degree to which the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area) is activated during a language task in young children
(Raizada et al., 2008).
SES was positively correlated with the degree to which the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area) is activated during a language task in young children, indicative of what?
Says who?
decreased specialization of language function in the left hemisphere in children with low SES (Raizada et al., 2008).
Who found that SES was positively correlated with the degree to which the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area) is activated during a language task in young children?
Raizada et al 2008
In relation to executive function and working memory - SES-related differences in the executive functions of working memory and inhibitory control have been noted in …
children as young as 6-14 months of age (Lipina et al 2005)
Who found that SES-related differences in the executive functions of working memory and inhibitory control have been noted in children as young as 6-14 months of age?
Lipina et al 2005
There are also SES-related differences in the degree to which … even when task performance does not differ between SES groups
specific neural systems are recruited during executive function tasks
There are also SES-related differences in the degree to which specific neural systems are recruited during executive function tasks, even when task performance does not differ between SES groups. For example? Who found this?
ERPs reveal that low-SES children exhibit larger responses to unattended stimuli which is indicative of difficulty in suppressing distraction early in the processing stream and thus, of reduced selective attention (D’Anguilli et al 2008)
ERPs reveal that low-SES children exhibit larger responses to unattended stimuli which is indicative of what?
difficulty in suppressing distraction early in the processing stream and thus, of reduced selective attention (D’Anguilli et al 2008)
Who conducted the research with EEG where ERPs reveal that low-SES children exhibit larger responses to unattended stimuli which is indicative of difficulty in suppressing distraction early in the processing stream and thus, of reduced selective attention ?
D’Anguilli et al 2008
In addition, as measured with ERPs, low-SES children do not recruit prefrontal attention circuits in response to what?
novel distractor stimuli to the same degree as higher-SES children
Who found that low-SES children do not recruit prefrontal attention circuits in response to novel distractor stimuli to the same degree as higher SES children? What did they use to measure activity?
ERPs
Kishiyama et al 2009
There is also evidence of SES-related differences in the [blank] of emotion
neural processing
Lower-SES adolescents exhibit … as measured by… a pattern that is typically seen in patients with depression.
lower left-sided brain activity at rest
by resting alpha-asymmetry at frontal sites
Who found that lower-SES adolescents exhibit lower left-sided brain activity at rest as measured by resting alpha-asymmetry at frontal sites, a pattern that is typically seen in patients with depression?
Tomarken et al 2004
What did Tomarken et al find?
That lower-SES adolescents exhibit lower left-sided brain activity at rest as measured by resting alpha-asymmetry at frontal sites, a pattern that is typically seen in patients with depression
While among college students, lower subjective social status is associated with what? Says who?
an increased amygdala response to angry faces (Gianaros et al., 2008).
What did Gianaros et al 2008 find?
among college students, lower subjective social status is associated with an increased amygdala response to angry faces
interventions used to overcome the adverse effects of poverty largely fall into two main groups:
parent training and classroom-based interventions
interventions used to overcome the adverse effects of poverty largely fall into two main groups: parent training and classroom-based interventions. In addition to these two methods, …. also hold considerable potential for the prevention of poverty effects
poverty reduction policies and programmes (such as the US based Earned Income Tax Credit studied by Dahl and Lochner [2008]
poverty reduction policies and programmes (such as the US based Earned Income Tax Credit studied by Dahl and Lochner [2008]) also hold considerable potential for the prevention of poverty effects; however …
due to time constraints, and the fact that the literature is only in its infancy, these will not be reviewed here.
A considerable body of research in prevention science demonstrates that parenting interventions can be successful in …
altering the quality of caregiving that adults provide to young children while those same adults navigate a large number of stressful poverty-related hazards.
Recent parent training programs have shown significant success in helping adults to acquire new [blank] and [blank], [blank], and engage in more sensitive and responsive and less coercive and inept forms of parenting; leading to…
caregiving goals
schema
alter their use of negative forms of discipline
reductions in young children’s behavioural dysregulation
Recent parent training programs have shown significant success in helping adults to acquire new caregiving goals and schema, alter their use of negative forms of discipline, and engage in more sensitive and responsive and less coercisve and inept forms of caregiving, with reductions in young children’s behavioural dysregulation. For example?
implementation of multiple years of the SAFEChildren intervention supporting parenting practices among low income families facing high levels of violence led to significant increases in parents’ use of more stable and consistent forms of caregiving and limit setting, with concomitant improvements in children’s regulation, attention, impulsivity, and behaviour (Tolan et al, 2009)
implementation of multiple years of the SAFEChildren intervention supporting parenting practices among low income families facing high levels of violence led to what?
significant increases in parents’ use of more stable and consistent forms of caregiving and limit setting, with concomitant improvements in children’s regulation, attention, impulsivity, and behaviour
(Tolan et al 2009)
Who found that implementation of multiple years of the SAFEChildren intervention supporting parenting practices among low income families facing high levels of violence led to significant increases in parents’ use of more stable and consistent forms of caregiving and limit setting, with concomitant improvements in children’s regulation, attention, impulsivity, and behaviour ?
Tolan et al 2009
Research by Dozier et al (2007) found that children of foster care parents receiving training in emotionally supportive and contingent behaviour demonstrated what?
a more typical pattern of diurnal cortisol change (higher morning levels and a consistent decline through the day) as well as lower overall cortisol levels
What did Dozier et al 2008 find?
Children of foster care parents receiving training in emotionally supportive and contingent behaviour demonstrated a more typical pattern of diurnal cortisol change (higher morning levels and a consistent decline through the day) as well as lower overall cortisol levels
Effect sizes of these interventions range from small impacts with … to larger effect sizes for…
‘dilute’ forms of intervention
more intensive intervention efforts
Notably, these models of parent skills training often engage parents through what?
attention to parents own regulatory profiles of affect, behaviour, and cognition in conditions of high environmental stress.
Although findings emerging from the recent parenting interventions just explored are promising, it is important to note …
that behavioural change may be easier to engineer among some parents than among others (e.g., among full-time working parents who are not able to attend extensive trainings and workshops).
Further, as mentioned briefly, the size of the effect or impact of those interventions on child outcomes is generally small and may not be sustrained unless …
the ‘dose’ of intervention is high and continues across several developmental periods
urther, as mentioned briefly, the size of the effect or impact of those interventions on child outcomes is generally small and may not be sustrained unless the ‘dose’ of intervention is high and continues across several developmental periods (see Landry et al., 2008). A clear implication of this is that for many children, interventions targeting the quality of caregiving represents …
only partial rather than full solutions to improving outcomes for children affected by poverty.
At the institutional level, recent meta-analysis of school-based interventions clearly document their positive impact across a range of outcomes; for example
results from preschool intervention trials suggest that exposure to cognitively stimulating and behaviorally well-managed classrooms benefits low-income children’s executive functioning
Raver et al 2011
Further, long-term follow-up observations of the effects of early intervention, including randomized controlled trials, come from programmes such as the [blank], the [blank], and the [blank].
the Perry Prescool Programme (Michigan USA)
Abecedarian Project (North Carolina, USA)
Chicago Child-Parent Centers, USA
Further, long-term follow-up observations of the effects of early intervention, including randomized controlled trials, come from programmes such as the Perry Prescool Programme (Michigan USA), the Abecedarian Project (North Carolina, USA), and the Chicago Child-Parent Centers, USA. These include …
include increased cognitive stimulation as part of more comprehensive intervention programmes
Such intervention programmes were associated with wht?
higher scores on achievement tests, higher levels of education and income, and lower rates of incarceration decades after the completion of the programmes, despite the fact that in some studies initial gains in IQ disappeared
Such intervention programmes were associated with higher scores on achievement tests, higher levels of education and income, and lower rates of incarceration decades after the completion of the programmes, despite the fact that in some studies initial gains in IQ disappeared. Such effects suggest what?
although experience at any age affects later outcomes, early cognitive stimulation is a particularly important determinant of later psychological functioning.
