Poster #4 - Child Language Experience as a Mediator Between Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Executive Function

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Attention, Learning, Memory

Integrative Statement

Executive functions (EF) are a critical set of cognitive processes including working memory (the ability to remember and manipulate information), inhibitory control (the control of one’s thoughts and actions), and cognitive flexibility (the ability to switch perspectives and viewpoints) which are strongly related to academic achievement (Blair & Diamond, 2008). Importantly, previous research has shown that EF abilities vary by socioeconomic status (SES), such that children from more economically disadvantaged households tend to score lower on EF tasks (Lawson, Hook, & Farah, 2017; Noble, Norman & Farah, 2005). Additionally, both language input in the household and children’s language abilities have been shown to vary by SES, with higher SES children tending to receive both higher quality and quantity of linguistic input and having more developed language skills (Hart & Risley, 1995; Fernald, Marchman, & Weisleder, 2014). Language ability is positively associated with EF; children who have higher language ability also have better EF (Botting et al., 2016). While all of these of these relations have been extensively documented, few studies have explored the possibility that language input or language ability is a mechanism that explains the association between SES and EF. We hypothesized that language exposure and experience would explain SES-related differences in EF ability. Participants were 100 English-speaking children, 60-75 months-old and their parents. We assessed SES using two measures: income-to-needs ratio (range: 0.08-10.4) and maximum parental education (range: high school diploma to graduate degree). EF was measured using the Backward Digit Span task (working memory), Simon Says (inhibition), and the Dimensional Card Sorting task (cognitive flexibility). During a transcribed ten-minute snack-time conversation, language use (total number of words, number of different words, and average number of words per turn) was measured for both parent and child during a transcribed ten-minute snack-time conversation. Supporting previous research, we found significant associations between SES and EF (ß: 018-0.33, p: 0.007-0.04) and between SES and children’s language (ß: 0.17-0.26, p: 0.01-0.45). In addition, we found that children’s conversational experiences and EF (ß: 0.25-0.35, p: 0.0001-0.01). Furthermore, we found that there were significant indirect effects of SES on working memory and switching, but not inhibition, through children’s conversational experience. These findings build on recent research that demonstrates that the number of conversation turns taken by a child in a day mediates the relation between SES and language ability (Romeo et al., 2018). Our findings expand on the importance of language experience for language development and show that child language experience is also imperative for higher order cognitive function. We are currently conducting a follow-up study that will allow us to investigate the association between language experience on development of EF over time and data from the follow up will also be presented. Findings of the present study suggest that language-targeted interventions have the potential to positively improve children’s EF. Moreover, because EF is associated with academic achievement and school-readiness, understanding the mechanisms that underlie SES-related differences in EF will potentially inform effective interventions to close the income-achievement gap.

Authors

• McKenzie Hagen, University of Washington
  Presenting Author

• Maya Rosen, University of Washington
  Non-Presenting Author

• Andrew Meltzoff, University of Washington
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katie McLaughlin, Harvard University
  Non-Presenting Author