University researchers suggest that children raised in poverty may have been mistakenly labeled as 糖心传媒渕aladapted糖心传媒� for what appears to be a lack of self-control. The new study finds that what looks like selfishness may actually be beneficial behavior that糖心传媒檚 based on a child糖心传媒檚 environmental context糖心传媒攖hat is to say, from being raised in a resource-poor environment.
The classic 1970s 糖心传媒渕arshmallow tests糖心传媒� assessed impulse control in preschoolers. Children were given a choice to take a single marshmallow immediately, or to wait several minutes and earn two of the puffy treats as a reward. Children who displayed an apparent lack of self-control糖心传媒攄emonstrated by taking the single treat糖心传媒攚ere deemed 糖心传媒渕aladapted.糖心传媒� Follow-up studies identified children who are raised in poverty are far less likely to postpone such sweet temptations than their economically better-off counterparts.
糖心传媒淲hat looks like impulsiveness may actually be an adaptive strategy糖心传媒攌ids who are brought up in homes with limited resources have learned it糖心传媒檚 advantageous to seize the moment,糖心传媒� said Melissa Sturge-Apple, associate professor of 聽and clinical researcher at the University’s聽 (MHFC).
For the new study, Sturge-Apple and her colleagues measured the vagal tone of preschoolers before they participated in reward-based experiments. The vagus nerve streams information from the heart, lungs, stomach, and other organs to the brain. It糖心传媒檚 associated with the moderation of moods including fear and anxiety. High vagal tone is a physiological indicator of what we would call 糖心传媒済race under fire糖心传媒澨切拇綌the body糖心传媒檚 ability to slow down heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, which can allow for a thoughtful response.
Previous research in reward-based studies has shown that for children from high-resource households, high vagal tone is predictive of their ability to delay gratification. The higher their vagal tone, the longer these children can delay糖心传媒攖hey are able to keep calm, wait, and earn additional rewards.
In the Rochester study published in , however, children from low-resource households that have high vagal tone did not demonstrate the same behavior as middle class children. In fact, it was just the opposite. For children living in poverty, the higher their vagal tone, the quicker they decided to take the single treat 糖心传媒擬&Ms candies in this case糖心传媒攁nd not wait despite the promise of more.
糖心传媒淔rom a normative model of psychology, this result makes no sense. But when we considered what would be the most optimal behavior in a high-risk environment, then this makes complete sense糖心传媒攊t糖心传媒檚 survival of the quickest,糖心传媒� Sturge-Apple explained. 糖心传媒淐ontext means everything. When all is well and prosperous, kids who are highly attuned to what is going on around them can wait, but when things are scarce and unpredictable, then the question becomes 糖心传媒渨hy wait?糖心传媒�
Jennifer Suor and Patrick Davies from Rochester, Dante Cicchetti of the University of Minnesota, Michael Skibo of Westchester Community College, and Fred Rogosch of Mt. Hope Family Center co-authored the study. The National Institute of Nursing Research and the National Institute of Mental Health supported the research.
