Whitman College, USA.
Infant Behav Dev. 2012 Feb;35(1):29-35. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2011.09.007. Epub 2011 Oct 21.
Cognitive flexibility requires processing multiple sources of information and flexible adaptation of behavioral responses. Poverty negatively impacts cognitive control in young children, but its effects on infants are not well-understood. This study investigated longitudinally the development of cognitive flexibility in low-income infants. Thirty-two infants (15 low-SES, 17 high-SES) were tested at 6, 9, and 12 months of age. Cognitive flexibility was measured with a perseverative reaching task, where infants were taught to reach to one location and then asked to switch to a second location. High-SES infants replicated the typical developmental trajectory, reaching randomly at 6 months, perseverating at 9 months, and reaching correctly at 12 months. In contrast, the low-SES infants showed a delayed pattern, reaching correctly at 6 months, randomly at 9 months, and perseverating at 12 months. Links between cognitive flexibility and frontal cortex development are explored as a potential mechanism.
认知灵活性需要处理多种信息源，并灵活适应行为反应。贫困对幼儿的认知控制有负面影响，但它对婴儿的影响还不是很清楚。本研究纵向调查了低收入婴儿认知灵活性的发展。32 名婴儿（15 名低社会经济地位，17 名高社会经济地位）分别在 6、9 和 12 个月大时接受了测试。认知灵活性通过坚持伸手任务来衡量，在这个任务中，婴儿被教导伸手去一个位置，然后要求他们换到第二个位置。高社会经济地位的婴儿复制了典型的发展轨迹，6 个月时随机伸手，9 个月时坚持伸手，12 个月时正确伸手。相比之下，低社会经济地位的婴儿则表现出延迟的模式，6 个月时正确伸手，9 个月时随机伸手，12 个月时坚持伸手。探讨了认知灵活性与额叶皮层发展之间的联系，作为一种潜在的机制。
