Cognitive Stimulation as a Mechanism Linking Socioeconomic Status With Executive Function: A Longitudinal Investigation
2019/10/08 by Maya L. Rosen, Maya L Rosen, McKenzie P Hagen +11 · 222 citations
Medicine · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Cognition #Cognitive Abilities and Testing #Cognitive development #Cognitive flexibility #Developmental psychology #Disadvantaged #Early Childhood Education and Development #Educational and Psychological Assessments #Effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance #Executive functions #Flexibility (engineering) #Mechanism (biology) #Medicine #Neuroscience #Population #Psychiatry #Psychological intervention #Psychology #Socioeconomic status #Working memory
paper · open access · doi:10.1111/cdev.13315
published in Child Development 91(4), e762-e779 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2019/10/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Abstract
Executive functions (EF), including working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, vary as a function of socioeconomic status (SES), with children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds having poorer performance than their higher SES peers. Using observational methods, we investigated cognitive stimulation in the home as a mechanism linking SES with EF. In a sample of 101 children aged 60-75 months, cognitive stimulation fully mediated SES-related differences in EF. Critically, cognitive stimulation was positively associated with the development of inhibition and cognitive flexibility across an 18-month follow-up period. Furthermore, EF at T1 explained SES-related differences in academic achievement at T2. Early cognitive stimulation-a modifiable factor-may be a desirable target for interventions designed to ameliorate SES-related differences in cognitive development and academic achievement.
Citations
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