The Prolonged Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Intelligence

The Prolonged Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Intelligence

Abstract

A point of debate was to find out if the degree of socioeconomic status (SES) influences intelligence. Previous reports on the effects of SES measured intelligence by operationalizing intelligence as measures of IQ, attention, and learning and memory. One research examining this relationship used latent growth curve (LGC) models to assess associations between SES and individual differences in intelligence starting point and rate and direction of change in scores by operationalizing IQ score as the factor of intelligence. They found that SES was significantly associated with intelligence growth factors: higher SES related to both higher starting point and greater gains over time. Another research provides electrophysiological evidence indicating that prefrontal function is altered in low SES children. They found that prefrontal-dependent electrophysiological measures of attention were reduced in low SES compared to high SES. Another research hypothesized that SES will be associated with the hippocampus, a brain region involved in learning and memory. It was found that children from lower SES had lower hippocampal gray matter density. These three studies have similar findings; SES influences intelligence: higher SES is associated with higher intelligence. However, the three previous studies mentioned above focused on examining the relation between SES and intelligence of children under the age of 19. To address this issue, the current experiment is conducted using a cross sectional design, measuring intelligence of undergraduate students from different SES backgrounds by using the Stanford-Binet test. This study will contribute on furthering the understanding of the relationship between SES and intelligence by examining whether SES has a prolonged effect on people’s intelligence.

Keywords: Socioeconomic status, intelligence, Stanford-Binet test

Introduction

Due to the social emphasis on importance of intelligence, the influence of Socioeconomic Status (SES) on the development of intelligence has become an emerging topic of interest for developmental theorists. Previous researches have been done with various different approaches to find the effect of SES on intelligence using methods such as measuring IQ, brain structure, and brain density of a specific region. Numerous research show evidence that SES and intelligence is positively correlated. Although, previous studies adequately determines the difference in intelligence of children as an outcome from the difference in SES, not many researches have been conducted to find out whether the effect of SES is temporary and fades