Material Hardship Study
It has recently been found that material hardship impacts the development of a child. Specifically, authors Huang and Sherraden (2016) found that material hardship has a negative association with the social-emotional development of young children. Although it is generally known that different aspects impact the physical and emotional development of children, it is unclear as to which have a direct effect on a child’s brain development. To be successful in life, the development of all areas in the child’s brain are important, however the maturation of the hippocampal region is key in a child’s early life of learning. This area is known for it’s functions of learning and storing information. The current study will investigate the hippocampal
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Authors Huang and Sherraden (2016) wrote that material hardship is common in USA households and that even middle-income households experience this. The difference from material hardship and social economic status (SES) is that families of all statuses can say that they have material hardship, even if their income is in the category of being financially stable. A good example of this would be a single mother with three children who is considered by the government to have an income that can provide enough for the household, however the family may still feel they have material hardship because not all their needs are being met. This is looking at perceived material hardship in the households could be related to the underdevelopment of brain areas associated with …show more content…
Elementary children are usually between the ages of 7 and 9, thus their brains are still developing. Furthermore, a longitudinal study will be used to collect data over 5 years to better the study’s validity and show a stronger correlated relationship. Noble, Norman & Farah (2015) wrote that the ability to form new memories is essential to success in school for learning, thus the full development of the hippocampal region is crucial. I plan to investigate the variation of size and activity of the hippocampus area, by using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI will be used to show the size of the hippocampal region. I propose that the material hardship of a family will negatively affect the development of the child’s hippocampal
Authors Huang and Sherraden (2016) wrote that material hardship is common in USA households and that even middle-income households experience this. The difference from material hardship and social economic status (SES) is that families of all statuses can say that they have material hardship, even if their income is in the category of being financially stable. A good example of this would be a single mother with three children who is considered by the government to have an income that can provide enough for the household, however the family may still feel they have material hardship because not all their needs are being met. This is looking at perceived material hardship in the households could be related to the underdevelopment of brain areas associated with …show more content…
Elementary children are usually between the ages of 7 and 9, thus their brains are still developing. Furthermore, a longitudinal study will be used to collect data over 5 years to better the study’s validity and show a stronger correlated relationship. Noble, Norman & Farah (2015) wrote that the ability to form new memories is essential to success in school for learning, thus the full development of the hippocampal region is crucial. I plan to investigate the variation of size and activity of the hippocampus area, by using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI will be used to show the size of the hippocampal region. I propose that the material hardship of a family will negatively affect the development of the child’s hippocampal