Poster #44 - Environmental and familiar factors as predictors of performance in occluder task: Data from Bhutan

• In Event: Poster Session 06

Abstract

Studies have suggested that culturally-moderated factors such as family, socioeconomic status, and enrichment may impact the development of infant cognition, particularly when maternal mental health is poor. However, there is a stark lack of research that has investigated child development in the context of cultural and societal factors in non-WEIRD societies, including familial and economic challenges and their impact on child development. Based on prior research from ISAS (Institute of South Asian Studies), in the country of Bhutan there is significant socioeconomic challenges for the Bhutanese related to key variables: income, education, occupation, and mental health. We therefore examined families of 9-month-old infants in Bhutan (N = 108) and measured family income, mother/father education level, mother/father occupation status, and a composite score of negative mental health scores (Edinburgh and PANAS) as distal factors, and the amount of weekly story book reading as a proximal factor (a factor suggested to be related to socioeconomic status). In addition, we used eye-tracking to measure infants’ ability to track and predict an object as it moves behind a barrier (the occluder task), a common task used to measure infants’ cognitive development. Outcome variables for this task included the number of predictions after first fixation, the latency to predict after first fixation, and the number of missed trials (trials with no looks at any AOIs; i.e., attention toward task). Results revealed that family income and education status independently predicted performance on the occlude task, with higher income related to ability to predict, p=.007, and the education level of the father (p = .002) and mother (p = .001) also related to the ability to predict. This seems to be related to proximal effects of environment, in this case book reading. The mental health of the mother also seems to be important. Story reading also was related to the infants’ ability to predict (p = .049), with more instances of reading meaning higher prediction. Finally, scores on negative mental health composite score negatively related to the ability to predict (p = .005).
Together, these results support the importance of factors identified by previous research (income, education, and mental health) for Bhutan society. We extend previous work and suggest that these factors have important implications not only for society, but also for infant cognitive development. Specifically when relating to infants’ ability to predict an occluded object, these findings may suggest different developmental trajectories for when this ability becomes prominent that are influenced by such environmental factors. This supports the theory that socioeconomic status and mental health in Bhutan may provide environmental (both proximal and distal) influences on cognitive development. This study presents the first findings using the occluder task in a non-WEIRD society in which familial and economic factors are accounted for. This study further highlights the need for more research in non-WEIRD societies to properly understand the scope of child development.

Authors

• Joshua Juvrud, Uppsala universitet
  Presenting Author

• Marcus Lindskog

• Kim Astor, Uppsala universitet

• Sangay C Namgyel

• Tshering Wangmo

• Kinzang P Tshering

• Gustaf Gredebäck, Uppsala universitet