Society & Culture - Posted by Tim Green-U. Texas on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 11:24 - 2 Comments 
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(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5) Loading ...Being poor stunts cognitive growth
A study of 750 sets of twins does not suggest that children from wealthier families are genetically superior or smarter. They simply have more opportunities to reach their potential than children from families with limited resources. (Credit: iStockphoto)
U.TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — Growing up poor can suppress a child’s genetic potential to excel cognitively even before the age of 2.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
Half of the gains that wealthier children show on tests of mental ability between 10 months and 2 years of age can be attributed to their genes, a new study finds. But children from poorer families, who already lag behind their peers by that age, show almost no improvements that are driven by their genetic makeup.
The study of 750 sets of twins does not suggest that children from wealthier families are genetically superior or smarter. They simply have more opportunities to reach their potential.
These findings, published in the journal Psychological Science, go to the heart of the age-old debate about whether “nature” or “nurture” is more important to a child’s development. They suggest the two work together and that the right environment can help children begin to reach their genetic potentials at a much earlier age than previously thought.
“You can’t have environmental contributions to a child’s development without genetics. And you can’t have genetic contributions without environment,” says Elliot Tucker-Drob, an assistant psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “Socioeconomic disadvantages suppress children’s genetic potentials.”
The researchers looked at test results from twins who had taken a version of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at about 10 months and again at about 2 years of age. The test, which is widely used to measure early cognitive ability, asks children to perform such tasks as pulling a string to ring a bell, putting three cubes in a cup, and matching pictures.
At 10 months, there was no difference in how the children from different socioeconomic backgrounds performed. By 2 years, children from high socioeconomic background scored significantly higher than those from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
In general, the 2-year-olds from families with limited resources performed very similarly to one another. That was true among both fraternal and identical twins, suggesting that genetic similarity was unrelated to similarities in cognitive ability. Instead, their environments determine their cognitive success.
Among 2-year-olds from wealthier families, identical twins (who share identical genetic makeups) performed very similarly to one another. But fraternal twins were not as similar — suggesting their different genetic makeups and potentials were already driving their cognitive abilities.
“Our findings suggest that socioeconomic disparities in cognitive development start early,” Tucker-Drob says. “For children from poorer homes, genetic influences on changes in cognitive ability were close to zero. For children from wealthier homes, genes accounted for about half of the variation in cognitive changes.”
The study suggests that wealthier parents are often able to provide better educational resources and spend more time with their children but does not examine what factors, in particular, help their children reach their genetic potentials. Tucker-Drob is planning follow-up studies to examine that question.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia and University of Virginia collaborated on the work.
More news from the University of Texas: www.utexas.edu/news/
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2 Comments
Mark
Sakeenah
Agreed Mark
This is a completely absurd and irresponsible headline that misrepresents the completely mundane and expected research results contained within for the purposes of greater click-through.
On behalf of all of the formerly poor kids that somehow overcame our “stunted” cognitive growth to become well-educated, upper 5% affluent adults, I assure you that the amount of money your parents make has nothing to do with how your cognitive abilities develop. None of US need research to tell us that it was our parents’ love and attention, the availability of high quality public education, and proper healthcare and nutrition that helped us grow into the people we are today.
But, thanks for allowing so many people to read the headline and go about their day thinking that there’s a mental deficiency with the poor. That’ll help.