Recently, a two-year project funded by the AARP Foundation celebrated its successful completion and initiated plans for a national rollout. Over the past two years, the Prepare to Care Project, Cooperative Extension Services worked in partnership with state and local AARP offices in New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin to identify the most effective outreach strategies for working with small business employers and distribute family caregiving information and educational programming. The project was known as the Prepare to Care--I'm Ready Are You?
The main effort of the project was to develop a toolkit for educators and caregiver professionals to assist them in understanding the programming options and supportive materials for implementing the Prepare to Care program in their community. The content of the Prepare to Care Workplace Toolkit provides background information on working with employers, different strategies to use when reaching employers, and how to support employees. The tools and templates provided in the Prepare to Care Workplace Toolkit are based on the lessons learned during the pilot implementation in the four states.
In New York, the project was headed by Denyse Variano, Senior Extension Resource Educator, Cornell Cooperative Extension - Orange County and June P. Mead, Senior Extension Associate, Dept. of Human Development.
National distribution of Prepare to Care materials includes:

26,660	Prepare to Care workbooks distributed
1,597	Prepare to Care checklists distributed
650	Prepare to Care bookmarks/paycheck insert distributed
10,316	Caring for Those You Care About tip sheets distributed
6,724	Prepare to Care Benefits Check-up fact sheet distribute
2,949	Prepare to Care: The Business Case for Employers distributed

Further Information

For information about the "Prepare to Care" Toolkit and ordering information, visit the eXtension website for the Family Caregiving Community of Practice
To be notified when the Toolkit is available, send name, organization, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address to: Benefitsoutreach@aarp.org

Prepare to Care Brochure

Human Development Today e-News

Human Development Outreach & Extension

See the World Through My Eyes – Understanding the Child’s Journey of Development

ktb1@cornell.edu • February 17, 2009

Webinar: Wednesday, March 4, 1:30-3 p.m. EST

On March 4th, the Children, Youth and Families Education and Research Network (CYFERnet) and the CYFERnet Parent/Family Editorial Board, June P. Mead, Editor, will present a webinar, See the World Through My Eyes. This is a new "ages-and-stages" program developed by the family life team at the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension. The program is aimed at improving parent-child relationships. See the World Through My Eyes invites parents of preschool children to see and understand their children's normal developmental challenges from the children's point of view.
The training focuses on the importance of improving parent-child relationships and content of this new child development and family strengthening program, See the World Through My Eyes. The training, aimed at parent educators, demonstrates how to apply 21 different lessons in parent education classes.
Presenters

Wally Goddard, Ph.D., is a professor of family life with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service and also a member of the CYFERnet Parent/Family Editorial Board. He is well-known for his creative programs, successful books, and public television series.

James Marshall, Ph.D., is a professor of family life with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist and clinical member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.
To Register or View the Archived Webinar

Visit the CYFERnet Online Training website

Human Development Today e-News

Human Development Outreach & Extension

HD Extension Program on Retiree Environmental Volunteerism and Civic Engagement Moving Ahead

ktb1@cornell.edu • February 12, 2009

Karl Pillemer

Linda Wagenet

Updated 2/10/09

Karl Pillemer and Linda P. Wagenet are leading a program to better understand and support engagement of older persons in issues of environmental sustainability and conservation. The Cornell Program on Aging and the Environment (CPAE) is based on the idea that the older population can constitute a special resource for environmental action in the form of volunteerism and civic engagement.

Unique opportunities are provided by the intersection of three major social trends: the enormous growth in the older population; the need for opportunities for meaningful involvement on the part of older people (including the Baby Boom generation now reaching retirement); and the critical need for volunteers to play a role in remedying pressing environmental problems.

Pillemer and Wagenet have written a review and “call to action” on this topic, published in the Public Policy and Aging Report. They note that awareness has increased about the rapidly growing older population, which is expected to double worldwide between 2000 and 2025. Environmental organizations, however, have not shown significant interest in maximizing the involvement of older adults, nor have many aging-related associations been involved in promoting environmental volunteerism. Pillemer and Wagenet argue in their article that environmental volunteering may have particular value for older persons beyond the types of volunteer activity more conventionally performed in later life. They conclude that research, practice, and policy should work in concert to facilitate volunteering and civic engagement in environmental issues in the second half of life.

To put some of these ideas into practice, a pilot project was launched in September, 2008 called the Retiree Environmental Stewards Project (RESP). The RESP provided an opportunity for older adults to learn about environmental issues, develop leadership characteristics, participate in a class project and give back to the community. An evaluation research component accompanied the training, which was open to anyone age 60 and above. The Fall 2008 RESP cohort had seventeen participants, and the class has chosen to develop an educational campaign about the proper disposal of unused medications.

Topics addressed in the fall workshops included: human behavior and environment; air pollution and climate change; water and watersheds; conflict and communication; waste and recycling; local environmental policy; storm water management; energy/transportation/alternative energy strategies; land use/agriculture/planning. There was a mix of classroom lectures and field trips. For each session, Dr. Rhoda Meador, Assistant Director of the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center at Cornell, presented activities to increase the leadership skills of the participants. The RESP will be implemented in the Southern Tier and Capital regions this spring.

On February 3, 2009, CPAE sponsored a day-long symposium on aging and the environment. Featured speakers included Ms Kathy Sykes, the Director of the Aging Initiative for the US Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Lenard Kaye from the University of Maine, and Dr. Nancy Wells from the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell.

For Further Information

Contact Linda P. Wagenet, 254-7460, lpw2@cornell.edu.

Pillemer, K. & Wagenet, L.P. (2008). Taking Action: Environmental Volunteerism and Civic Engagement by Older People. Public Policy & Aging Report, 18(2)1, 23-27.

Human Development Today e-News

Human Development Outreach & Extension

Discovering Child Language and Cognitive Growth

ktb1@cornell.edu • February 12, 2009

Sujin Yang and Barbara Lust

Insights for parents, teachers, educators, and policy makers from research by Dr. Barbara Lust, Professor in the Department of Human Development and Director of the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab and by Dr. Sujin Yang, former Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab One of the greatest feats of human development is the acquisition of language. Research at Cornell’s Language Acquisition Lab (CLAL), under the direction of Professor Barbara Lust and her students, addresses many aspects of how children acquire language. The research program explores fundamental questions such as which aspects of language acquisition are biologically endowed and which are learned, when and how language acquisition begins, and how multiple language acquisition affects cognitive development in children. Results from this research demonstrate how well equipped children are, beginning at birth, to accomplish the complex task of learning language.
The Cornell Language Acquisition Lab has long been a center of vigorous research which tries to unlock the mystery of how the child succeeds at this daunting task. At CLAL, language acquisition has been studied in young children across more than 20 different languages and cultures, by teams of graduate and undergraduate students working with collaborators across the world. Now, research within the CLAL is being merged with research being conducted in many other labs in institutions across the country and the world through a new Virtual Center for the study of Language Acquisition. The newly formed center aims to foster interdisciplinary research including diverse fields such as linguistics, developmental and experimental psychology, and neuroscience.

Current Research

Research results from labs across the world shed light on how the child accomplishes the immense task of language acquisition. They leave us in awe of the intellectual accomplishment of each and every child. In her book, Child Language: Acquisition and Growth, published in 2006, Dr. Lust summarizes many of these results. A few of the major discoveries are highlighted below.

Already at birth, even before they speak or understand language, infants begin processing the speech stream around them in order to determine the sounds of the language (phonology), and the form of the phrases and sentences of the language (syntax). By the time they are 12 months of age, they will have ‘cracked the code’ for many of these properties as they get ready to launch into their first produced words. Here they will show they are mapping what they know about the form of language to what language means (semantics). Over the first 12 months, the infant is conducting many different analyses of the speech stream, working on all the dimensions of language at once (phonology, syntax, semantics.)
Once children begin producing their first words and then combining them into sentences, they will show a complex and abstract ability to map between the sounds of language and its meaning. For example, experimental research has shown that children understand ambiguity in language (multiple possible meanings) and that they are constrained against making random ‘mistakes’ with language. When the English experiment shown in the sidebar was replicated with Chinese children in Taiwan, the results were similar, suggesting biological foundations for this knowledge. (Foley et al., 2003; Guo et al., 1996)
By the time the child is about 3 years old, she or he will have mastered much of the basic system of the language around them.
Children are creative with language. They may make certain ‘errors’ compared to adult language, e.g., the child who calls fruits and vegetables all ‘apples’, but these ‘errors’ are common among normally developing children. In fact, they show the child being abstract, categorical and creative with the language they are working on around them (Golinkoff, & Hirsh-Pasek, 1999).

Children understand many meanings of a sentence. For example, given a sentence like “Oscar (O) bites his banana and Bert (B) does too,” four possible interpretations are possible; (1) O bites O’s banana and B bites B’s banana, (2) O bites O’s banana and B bites O’s banana, (3) O bites B’s banana and B bites B’s banana, and (4) O bites Ernie’s (a 3rd persons) and B bites Ernie’s banana. However, there are six impossible interpretations as well such as “O bites B’s banana and B bites O’s banana.” Experiments show that children understand the multiple meanings of such sentences, but do not form the incorrect meanings. (Foley, et al., 2003, Guo et al., 1996).

Research on Multilingualism in Children

In the CLAL, in conjunction with the VCLA, several research projects are underway which study various aspects of the development of bilingualism/ multilingualism in the young child. One set of studies involves longitudinal case studies of several young children acquiring English for the first time at 3 years of age through immersion in local nursery schools, such as the Cornell Early Childhood Center at Cornell as well as others. Results show that children learning a second language in an immersion setting show an overall success rate of grammatical knowledge similar to English monolinguals. Initial deficit in vocabulary (word learning) was followed by a fast pace of development, ultimately reaching the monolingual mean. Children’s pragmatic competence (e.g., the ability to initiate or join a conversation with peers) progressed slowly during early exposure (e.g., 8th month) but at the later point (e.g., 18th month) considerable improvement over time and many similarities with English monolinguals were displayed.
Another path of research studies children who are developing bilingually and assesses the cognitive effects of bilingualism as compared to monolingualism. This research touches on the ongoing debate as to whether positive or negative cognitive consequences follow from dual or multiple language acquisition during early childhood. A series of research investigations led by Dr. Sujin Yang with children of 4 to 6 years of age and comparison adult groups have been conducted to learn whether learning two languages leads to beneficial outcomes in what is called, “executive function.” These cognitive features in children are of particular interest since they are responsible for selective and conscious cognitive processes to achieve goals in the face of distraction and play a key role in academic readiness and success in school settings (Blair & Razza, 2007, Diamond et al., 2007). Using a neuropsychological and behavioral measure with Korean-English bilinguals, results have already revealed that bilingualism enhances the development of executive attention and facilitates superior performance in bilinguals as compared to monolingual counterparts on executive attention test. (Yang and Lust 2005, 2007; Yang, 2007).
This collection of multilingualism projects, along with many research results from other labs across the world, affirms that children can learn more than one language and they will even do so naturally if surrounded by the languages (Espinosa, 2008; see Flynn, 2003 for third language acquisition). Although some parents and educators may have concerns about the potential for confusion, bilingual children do not suffer language confusion, language delay, or cognitive deficit (Werker, & Byes-Heinlein, 2008; Petitto & Holowka, 2002; Yang & Lust, 2005; Yang, 2007). The mystery of first language acquisition is intensified when we realize that a child can and does naturally acquire more than one language at once.
Tips for parents

♦ Surround the child with as much rich language and language exchange as possible, beginning from birth.

♦ Children learn not only from language you address to them, but from language they overhear around them (Au, Knightly, Jun, & Oh, 2002). Linguistic interaction, can add positive effects on linguistic development.

♦ Although exposure to language is essential, explicit “drilling” is not needed for the normally developing child; parents will not be ‘teaching’ the child so much as the child will discover language; they are as one scholar put it “spontaneous apprentices” (Miller, 1976).

♦ Read to children, encourage them to talk about what is read, and surround them with language through literacy.

♦ Share with your child the joy of words and language.
Raising a Bilingual Child

♦ Cognitive advantages follow from becoming bilingual. These cognitive advantages can contribute to your child’s future academic success.

♦ Social advantages follow from becoming bilingual. By fostering bilingualism (or multilingualism) in your child you make it possible for them to access other cultures and other worlds in ways monolinguals cannot.

♦ Learning and exposure to another language at an early age may produce the best outcomes in attaining native-like language proficiency

♦ Developing bilingualism (or multilingualism) does not impede language acquisition in any language.

♦ Conscious planning and effort may be needed in order to provide the child with an environment that will support more than one language.

♦ Surround the child with more than one language through conversations and social groups using different languages; the earlier the better.

♦ Maintain home (heritage) language when a 2nd language is being learned outside the home.

♦ Expose children to live multilingual settings, often with peers (e.g., play groups).

♦ Provide fun and interactive language learning environments in both languages, often with peers (e.g., music, dance, and film).

♦ Promote reading and story-telling in multiple languages.

♦ Maintain a positive attitude toward languages/cultures children learn.

♦ You do not need to maintain a one person-one language situation; your child will sort out the languages by themselves.

Worried About Delays or Dysfunctions?

♦ Be certain that your child’s hearing has been tested

♦ Be aware that there are large differences in the rate at which children reach their first words or first sentences. These developmental differences are generally perfectly normal.

♦ During the first few years of life, it takes time and a lot of cognitive work on the part of your child to acquire languages. This is essentially challenging since your child is acquiring everything else about the world at the same time.

♦Consult a professional if you are in doubt or concerned.
Further Resources

Cornell Language Acquisition Laboratory

Virtual Center for Language Acquisition

Multilingualism Matters

Bilingual Families Web Site
References

Au, T. K., Knightly, L. M., Jun, S.-A., & Oh, J. S. (2002). Overhearing a language during childhood. Psychological Science, 13, 238-243.

Blair, C. & Razza, R. P. (2007). Relating effortful control, executive function, and false belief understanding to emerging math and literacy ability in kindergarten, Child Development, 78, 647-663.

Diamond, A., Barnett, W.S., Thomas, J., & Munro, S. (2007). Preschool program improves cognitive control, Science, 318, 1387-1388.

Espinosa, L. (2008). Challenging Common Myths about Young English Language Learners. (FDC Policy Brief, Advancing PI-3, No. 8). New York: Foundation for Child Development.

Flynn, S. (2003). Simultaneous vs Sequential Third Language Acquisition Among Children. In Cohen, J., McAlister, K., Rolstad, K., & MacSwan, J. (eds). Selected Papers from the 4th International Symposium on Bilignualism (pp. 768-774). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.

Foley, C., Nunez del Prado, Q., Barbier, I & Lust, B. (2003). Knowledge of Variable Binding in VP Ellipsis: Language Acquisition Research and Theory Converge. Syntax, 6(1), 52-83.

Golinkoff, R.M. & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (1999). How Babies Talk. New York: Penguin Books.

Guo, F., Foley, C., Chien, Y-C, Lust, B. & Chiang, C-P. (1996). Operator Variable Binding in the Initial State. A Cross linguistic study of VP ellipsis structures in Chinese and English. In
Lucus, A. & Paul, W. (eds). Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale 25(1), 3-34.

Lust, B. (2006). Child Language: Acquisition and Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Miller, G. A. (1976). Spontaneous apprentices: Children and language. New York: Seabury Press.

Petitto, L. A., & Holowka, S. (2002). Evaluating attributions of delay and confusion in young bilinguals: Special insights from infants acquiring a signed and spoken language. Sign Language Studies, 3, 4-33.

Werker, J. & Byes-Heinlein, K. (2008). Bilingualism in Infancy: First Steps in Perception and Comprehension. Trends in Cognitive Science, 12(4), 144-151.

Yang, S. & Lust, B. (2004). Testing effects of bilingualism on executive attention: comparison of cognitive performance on two non-verbal tests. Poster session presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development 29, Boston, MA. Retrieved from http://128.197.86.186/posters/29/YangBUCLD2004.pdf

Yang, S. & Lust, B. (2007). Cross-linguistic differences in cognitive effects due to bilingualism: Experimental study of lexicon and executive attention in two typologically distinct language groups. Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD) 31. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.

Yang, S. (2007). Impacts of Early Childhood Bilingualism on the Development of Executive Attention: Evidence from the Attention Network Test (ANT). Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University.

Yip, V. & Matthews, S. (2007). The Bilingual Child: Early Development and Language Contact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dr. Gary Wells to lecture on Mistaken Eyewitness Identification

ktb1@cornell.edu • February 11, 2009

"Mistaken Eyewitness Identification and False Confidence: The Creation of Distorted Retrospective Judgments"

Dr. Wells' work has focused mainly on the reliability of eyewitness identification. His studies demonstrate that rates of mistaken eyewitness identification can be exacerbated by the methods that crime investigators use in conducting lineups and photo spreads. His research-based proposals on lineup procedures, such as the use of double-blind techniques, are being increasingly accepted in law enforcement practices across the United States

A Life Worth Living – The Science of Human Flourishing

ktb1@cornell.edu • February 5, 2009

Anthony Ong

Print version

The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile (Kennedy, 1968)

What do we know about human well-being? The answer is surprising little, compared with what is known about human illness, dysfunction, and disease. Scientific progress on the positive side of human functioning—understanding what constitutes human flourishing and how it comes about—lags woefully behind strides on the negative side of health assessment, treatment, and research. But as Cornell developmental psychologist, Anthony Ong affirms, “The keys to the kingdom are changing hands.” Ong’s developmental research has documented the remarkable capacity of some individuals, from early life through old age, to thrive in the face of life’s challenges and setbacks.

Positive Emotions as a Basic Building Block of Flourishing in the Face of Adversity: Four Intersecting Pathways

In an effort to delineate the key features of human flourishing and resilience, Ong has conducted naturalistic studies and laboratory experiments that examine the enduring balm that positive emotions can provide for the stresses of life, even the stress of interpersonal loss. “When we first started to study the challenges associated with bereavement, the prevailing scientific view in the literature was that efforts to understand positive emotions should take a back seat while psychologists learn more about how to effectively treat the suffering generated by negative emotions, such as anxiety and depression. But then we began to ask the question, What if positive emotions could help to explain some of the problems that negative emotions produced?” Ong argues that positive emotions can have a wide range of effects on individual health and well-being. “When we look at the question in a multivariate way, we do not find a single, simple answer to the question of how positive emotions influence health. Instead, the most accurate assessment is to say that it is lifelong process that proceeds along at least four intersecting pathways.”

Positive emotions undo negative emotion arousal. Converging empirical work on positive emotions in Ong’s lab and others have raised the possibility that positive emotions are important facilitators of adaptive recovery, quieting or undoing the autonomic arousal generated by negative emotions. In laboratory studies in which positive and negative emotions are experimentally induced, Ong finds that positive emotions are linked to faster cardiovascular recovery from negative emotional arousal. Other investigations have confirmed the importance of positive emotions in fostering recovery from stressful major life events such as conjugal loss.

Positive emotions broaden attention and thinking. Ong is quick to point out that scientific evidence for the proposition that positive emotions broaden peoples’ modes of attention and thinking comes from two decades of pioneering experiments conducted by Cornell psychologist Alice Isen. “Professor Isen and her colleagues were the first to document that people experiencing positive affect show patterns of thought that are notably flexible, integrative, and efficient.” Ong is currently collaborating with Isen on a study funded by the National Institute of Aging (NIA) that explores the ways in which positive emotions may widen the array of thoughts and actions that come to mind when individuals are under stress.

Positive emotions fuel psychological resilience. What psychological traits are implicated in the generation and maintenance of positive emotions in the face of stress? An emerging adult literature suggests that individual differences in psychological resilience may account for the adaptive ways in which life stressors are encountered, managed, and transformed. Ong suggests that traits with functional properties associated with positive emotions (e.g., psychological resilience) may serve to strengthen resistance to stress by affording greater access to positive emotional resources, which, in turn, may help to provide a momentary respite from ongoing stressful experiences. In a series of coordinated experimental and individual difference studies published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Ong and his colleagues have found that high-resilient individuals exhibit faster physiological and emotional recovery from stress. In one study, higher trait resilience was linked to quicker cardiovascular recovery following a laboratory stressor. In another study, higher trait resilience was associated with lower subsequent depressive symptoms. Most notably, the effect of trait resilience on duration of cardiovascular reactivity and depressive symptoms was mediated by subjective reports of positive emotion. Although far from definitive, Ong notes that the available empirical evidence suggests that psychological resilience is associated with resistance to and recovery from stressful life events, and positive emotions may be the underlying mechanism by which high-resilient individuals achieve their adaptive outcomes.

Positive emotions trigger emotional and physical well-being. By undoing lingering negative emotions, broadening peoples’ mindsets, and fueling psychological resilience, Ong maintains that over time positive emotions should also enhance peoples’ emotional and physical well-being. The results of a longitudinal study of bereaved widows Ong recently conducted suggest that psychological resilience enhances the mood-boosting effects of positive emotion, triggering an upward spiral of prolonged positive emotionality. However, Ong adds that “the capacity for positive emotional engagement in the context of stress has consequences that are not just emotional but physiological.” Ong suggests that deficits in positive emotions create a subtle but persistent difference in cardiovascular function that sets the stage for trouble in later life. In a study published in the journal of Psychology and Aging, Ong notes that “Although greater cardiovascular reactivity is generally interpreted as a marker for risk, increases in blood pressure are not inherently pathogenic. It may be slow or prolonged recovery from stress responses that portends risk to older adults. By accelerating cardiovascular recovery from daily negative emotions, positive emotions may function in the service of health by averting delays in adaptation to subsequent stressors. These effects, moreover, may be more evident in older adults due to the stability and centrality of quality social ties in late life.”

Based on his research findings, Ong concludes that the notion that positive emotions have adaptive value is no longer contestable, but what precisely this means for individual lives and societies has not been fully appreciated. Ong adds though that one thing is for sure: “When our positive emotions are in short supply—when we feel hemmed in by negative emotions such as fear and sadness—we become stuck in a rut and painfully predictable. But when our positive emotions are in ample supply—when we feel lifted by the centripetal force of our closest relationships—we take off and become generative, resilient versions of ourselves.”

Tips for Promoting Positive Emotions
1) Find meaning in everyday life through (a) reframing adverse events in a positive light; (b) infusing ordinary events with positive value; and (c) pursing and attaining realistic goals.

2) Explore relaxation techniques (e.g., imagery, muscle, and meditation exercises) that create conditions conducive to experiencing contentment and inner calmness.

3) Make connections by reaching out to others.

4) Engage in activities that you enjoy and find intrinsically motivating.

5)Take care of yourself by eating right, getting enough sleep, and engaging in regular physical activity.

Further Resources
American Psychological Association (APA) Resilience Guide for Parents and Teachers

American Psychological Association (APA) Resilience Guide for Teens

American Psychological Association (APA) Stress Tip Sheet

References

Ong, A. D., & Allaire, J. (2005). Cardiovascular intraindividual variability in later life: The influence of social connectedness and positive emotions. Psychology and Aging, 20, 476-485.

Ong, A. D., & Bergeman, C. S. (2004a). The complexity of emotions in later life. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 59B, P55-60.

Ong, A. D., & Bergeman, C. S. (2004b). Resilience and adaptation to stress in later life: Empirical perspectives and conceptual implications. Ageing International, 29, 219-246.

Ong, A. D., Bergeman, C. S., & Bisconti, T. L. (2004). The role of daily positive emotions during conjugal bereavement. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 59B, P158-167.

Ong, A. D., Bergeman, C. S., Bisconti, T. L., & Wallace, K. A. (2006). Psychological resilience, positive emotions, and successful adaptation to stress in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 730-749.

Human Development Today e-News

Human Development Outreach & Extension

Hearts, Minds, and Choices – Helping Improve Decision making Across the Life Span

ktb1@cornell.edu • February 4, 2009

Andrew Reed

Print version

Consider the following scenario: The government offers you the opportunity to enroll in a heavily subsidized prescription drug coverage plan, through which you can purchase a wide range of medications at drastically reduced prices, all from the comfort of your home computer. But there’s a catch: there are over 50 plans to choose from, each of which can be assessed along a dozen attributes, from monthly premiums and deductibles to customer service ratings and pharmacy coverage. And, as if this decision weren’t daunting enough, now imagine that you are a senior citizen with little to no computer experience.

If this scenario seems troubling to you, you are not alone. In fact, over 40 million Americans aged 65 and older are offered this very decision on a yearly basis, and, of those, several million (over 4 million in 2008) fail to make any choice whatsoever (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2008). Research evidence suggests that older adults, who are the fastest growing cohort in the US, may differ substantially from younger adults in how they make decisions. For example, although older adults may experience declines in basic-level cognitive abilities, which is why research is so essential, older adults’ decision making may be best conceptualized as a combination of particular vulnerabilities and, in some cases, particular strengths (see below and Strough, Mehta, McFall, & Schuller, 2008). Despite these research findings, seniors are being offered increasingly more decisions and choices. What can be done to help older adults make these complex decisions? Interdisciplinary research conducted by psychologist Dr. Joseph Mikels, in collaboration with economist Dr. Kosali Simon, offers several prescriptions for improving older adults’ decision-making.

Aging of the Mind and Heart

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about older adults? If you answered something along the lines of “cognitive decline,” you may not be too far from the truth. There is extensive research evidence of age-related deficits in a variety of mental processes, from working memory and information processing to reasoning and numerical abilities—all of which have been implicated as crucial to effective decision making (for a review, see Peters et al., 2007). Based on such findings, one would expect older adults to be inferior to their younger counterparts in decision making skills, and there is some evidence to support this notion.

However, in contrast to the bleak portrait of cognitive decline, most research depicts age-related changes in emotion in a more positive light. Older adults, relative to younger adults, demonstrate preserved, if not improved emotional functioning and regulation, and also report more frequent positive emotions and fewer negative emotions (for a review see Carstensen, Mikels, & Mather, 2006). In addition, while younger adults tend to focus more on negative information in the environment, older adults are more likely to focus on, and remember, positive information (Carstensen & Mikels, 2005). As such, while older adults’ cognitive abilities appear to deteriorate over time, their emotional skills are largely spared from age-related declines (e.g. Mikels et al., 2005).

Going with Your Gut

Do the best decisions come from the mind, or from the gut? It has been assumed by many western philosophers that the surest path to a sound decision is to gather and evaluate all available information about one’s options through careful, rational thinking. But recently, psychologists have suggested that conscious thinking about options may actually impair accuracy and satisfaction for certain decisions relative to “snap judgments” or decisions based on “unconscious” deliberation (Dijksterhuis et al., 2006). In addition, other “decision scientists” have called attention to the utility of emotion in the decision-making process (e.g. Slovic et al., 2002).

Research by Dr. Mikels addressed the age old debate between the supremacy of “rational” deliberation versus emotional intuitions from a life-span perspective. In light of the aforementioned diverging trajectories in the aging mind and heart, Dr. Mikels questioned whether older adults’ decision making might benefit from a reliance on the skills which are spared from age-related declines—namely emotional processing. In a series of laboratory-based studies, Dr. Mikels’ research team presented hypothetical healthcare-related decisions (choosing a physician, for example) to older and younger adults in which one of the alternatives was objectively superior to the others. When older adults used memory-based, detail-focused strategies to decide, their accuracy was, as expected, worse than that of younger adults. However, when older adults eschewed this “rational” approach to choosing in favor of one based on emotional reactions to the information, they were just as accurate as younger adults.

Thus, by focusing older adults’ attention to their “gut feelings,” Dr. Mikels was able to significantly enhance the quality of their decisions. In a separate study, older adults reported that their capacity to engage in effortful deliberation when making decisions, and their interest in doing so, were reduced relative to younger adults. The combined results of these studies suggest that older adults may not only prefer to “go with their gut,” but that their decisions may benefit immensely from doing so.

Follow-up studies of younger adults demonstrated that they may also benefit from relying on intuitive, emotion-based decision strategies for complex decisions. In particular, college students were more likely to choose the “best” option for complex decisions among vacations or apartments when focusing on their feelings, relative to students who relied on their memory for details about the alternatives. However, emotion-based decision strategies were no more accurate for domains in which students are relatively inexperienced, such as selecting hospitals or doctors. Thus, the benefits of emotion-based decisions may extend to adults of all ages, depending on the choice domain.

How Much Choice is Enough?

When it comes to choice in decision making, the contemporary mentality seems typified by a more-is-better mantra. But is this the case for all individuals? Research by Dr. Mikels and Dr. Simon suggests that while such a mentality may be part of the exuberance of youth, older adults neither desire, nor value, choice to the same extent that younger adults do (Reed, Mikels, & Simon, 2008). In a series of large-scale surveys conducted in Ithaca and New York City, hundreds of older adults (over 65) and undergraduate students reported how many options they wished to choose from in a variety of domains, from prescription drug plans to ice cream flavors. As expected, older adults desired on average less than half as many options as younger adults did, and this preference for choice continued to decline even among the oldest participants. That is, not only did the average 70 year old desire fewer options than a 20-year old, but 80-year olds desired even fewer options than 70-year olds. Additionally, older adults preferred only one-tenth as many options for Medicare Part D prescription drug plans as they are currently offered, on average, across the country (i.e. 5 versus 50).

Clearly then, older adults do not desire as much choice as they are offered, nor as much choice as younger adults do when making decisions. But how would they react to the possibility of having greater choice? In a separate study, Dr. Mikels’ research team measured self-reports of how much money older versus younger adults would be willing to pay for varying degrees of choice among prescription drug plans (i.e. 55, 25, 10, 5, or no options). Whereas younger adults were willing to pay increasingly more for additional options (roughly 50 dollars for every doubling of the choice set), older adults were largely unwilling to pay extra for more choice (Mikels, Reed, & Simon, under review).

But what is so bad about giving older adults too many options? In direct contrast to the more-is-better mentality, research suggests that excessive choice may be especially detrimental to decision making, as it not only undermines the quality of decisions, but also people’s motivation to choose anything at all (for a review see Botti & Iyengar, 2006). Individuals who are faced with dozens of options are less satisfied with their decisions than people who choose from relatively few options, even when the decisions appear as simple as selecting a variety of jam. And, given age-related declines in decision-making competence, this “choice overload” effect may be especially pronounced for older adults. As such, it would seem especially prudent to buffer older adults from these ill effects by tailoring decision environments more closely to their abilities and preferences.

What is the Best Way to Convey Information?

Having too much choice is only one of many factors contributing to the excessively complex decisions facing older adults. Another culprit in the onslaught of complex decisions may be the way in which these choices are presented. For example, when seniors select a Medicare Part D plan, they are not only choosing among dozens of options, but the plans are, by default, displayed on the website in only one manner—by cost to the average consumer. As a result of this one-size-fits-all approach, seniors may not be able to find the plan that best suits their particular health profiles. But how might we improve the system for presenting information about such crucial decisions? To combat the difficulties associated with choosing a Medicare Part D insurance plan, Dr. Simon developed innovative and consumer-friendly methods of presenting older adults with prescription drug plan information. Through the Cornell University Resource Education for Medicare Part D (CURxED) program, her team disseminated easy-to-read comparative information on each drug coverage plan to county extension offices, offices of aging, public libraries and the like. So as to facilitate the communication of plan differences to seniors, information sheets were compiled into three separate binders organized by insurance plan, illness (or combination of illnesses), and prescription drugs, respectively. By presenting various paper-based alternatives to the problematic electronic plan-based presentation of the Medicare Part D website, Dr. Simon’s team was able to convey to older adults the most cost-effective plans based on their individual backgrounds, and to encourage seniors to consider whether they should sign up for the benefit.

Implications

How can you apply these research findings to your daily life? If you are helping an older adult make a decision, you may want to consider the following suggestions:

Encourage going-with-your-gut when appropriate. For example, when helping older adults make complex decisions, it may be best to encourage them to focus on their feelings as opposed to the specific details. They may not only make better decisions, but also feel more satisfied with their choices. Similarly, when younger adults are making complex decisions for familiar domains, it may not hurt for them to “go with their gut” either.

Present age- and person-appropriate numbers of options. Older adults neither desire too many options, nor do they fare well when faced with complex decisions, so make sure that the choices you offer them are both reasonable and desired. For example, instead of listing all of the available home health care agencies in the area, first present the 5 or so most popular ones. If the person you are assisting isn’t satisfied with any of them, present an additional few options. By restricting the flow of information in this manner, you will increase the odds of making a high-quality, satisfying decision.

Give them the amount of information they want, not how much you think they want. Older adults’ decision-making strategies and preferences are significantly different from those of younger cohorts. As such, it is crucial to keep in mind that what seems reasonable and desirable to you may be overwhelming to older adults. The safest way of ensuring a good fit between the decisions presented to older adults and their individual characteristics is to simply ask them what they feel they can handle and/or prefer in terms of decision complexity.

Help seniors find the right information. There is a wealth of knowledge out there for seniors about critical healthcare decisions, including the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit. Unfortunately, most of it is on the Internet, which is an unfamiliar medium for the average older adult. Helping seniors effectively surf the web, especially on senior-specific sites such as the AARP website, may substantially increase their ability to make more informed and accurate healthcare decisions.

Don’t underestimate older adults’ abilities. Although there are certain types of decisions for which older adults do not perform as well as younger adults, most studies find little to no difference in the quality of decisions made by adults across age groups. It is now believed that older adults are able to effectively compensate for their diminished memory and processing resources through the use of accumulated knowledge and emotional skills. As such, discounting seniors’ abilities to make effective decisions for themselves based on common stereotypes of aging is not recommended.

Just because seniors prefer simple decisions doesn’t mean they cannot process complex ones. Research has shown that older adults are more selective than younger adults in their use of mental processing and deliberation. That is, they do not engage in effortful deliberation over judgments and decisions indiscriminately, but rather conserve them for major social and emotional decisions. The next time you notice an older person appear to skim over a decision instead of diving into the details, keep in mind that he or she may be doing so voluntarily, and not because of any mental impairment.

Further Resources

Emotion & Cognition Laboratory

Cornell University Resource Education for Medicare Part D

AARP (formerly American Association for Retired Persons)

References

Botti, S. & Iyengar, S.S. (2006). The Dark Side of Choice: When Choice Impairs Social Welfare. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 25(1), 24-38.

Carstensen, L. L. & Mikels, J. A. (2005). At the intersection of emotion and cognition: Aging and the positivity effect. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(3), 117-121.

Carstensen, L. L., Mikels, J. A., & Mather, M. (2006). Aging and the intersection of cognition, motivation and emotion. In J. Birren & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging (Sixth ed., pp. 343-362). San Diego: Academic Press.

Dijksterhuis, A., Bos, M.W., Nordgren, L.F., & van Baaren, R.B. (2006). On making the right choice: The deliberation-without-attention effect. Science, 311, 1005-1007.

Mikels, J. A., Larkin, G. R., Reuter-Lorenz, P. A., & Carstensen, L. L. (2005). Divergent trajectories in the aging mind: Changes in working memory for affective versus visual information with age. Psychology and Aging, 20(4), 542-553.

Mikels, J.A., Reed, A.E., & Simon, K.I. (2008). Older Adults Place Lower Value on Choice Relative to Young Adults. Manuscript under review.

Peters, E., Hess, T.M., Västfjäll, D., & Auman, C. (2007). Adult age differences in dual information processes: Implications for the role of affective and deliberative processes in older adults’ decision making. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2(1), 1-23.

Reed, A.E., Mikels, J.A., & Simon, K.I. (2008). Older adults prefer less choice than young adults. Psychology and Aging, 23(3), 671-675.

Slovic, P., Finucane, M., Peters, E., & MacGregor, D. G. (2002). The affect heuristic. In T. Gilovich, D. Griffin, & D. Kahneman (Eds.), Heuristics and biases: The psychology of intuitive judgment (pp. 397-420). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Strough, J., Metha, C.M., McFall, J.P., & Schuller, K.L. (2008). Are older adults less subject to the sunk-cost fallacy than younger adults? Psychological Science, 19(7), 650-652.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2008). The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit - An Updated Fact Sheet (KFF Publication No. 7044-08). Retrieved September 4, 2008, from http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/7044-08.pdf.

Human Development Today e-News

Human Development Outreach & Extension

The Way She Speaks – Maternal Conversation Style and Children’s Developing Autobiographical Memory and Sense of Self

ktb1@cornell.edu • February 4, 2009

Stacey Doan
Print version

Research by Dr. Qi Wang at Cornell University focuses on how culture affects maternal interaction style of memory sharing, which, in turn, influences children’s developing understanding of self and autobiographical memory (Wang, 2001, 2006; Wang, Leichtman, & Davies, 2000) In the context of discussion, memories take on personal meaning for the self as past events are re-interpreted and re-evaluated. This process leads to an understanding of the self in relation to the physical and social the world (Fivush, 2007). From a socio-cultural perspective, Dr. Wang’s research has identified cultural differences in the way that mothers narrate and discuss past events with their children. These differences have been linked to cultural variations in children’s self-concept and autobiographical memory. Specifically, European mothers have been found to use a more elaborative child centered approach which leads to more detailed autobiographical narratives, and independent self concept, while Chinese mothers’ tend to use a more didactic, mother-centered approach, focusing on appropriate behaviors, rules, and social obligations.
The Socio-cultural Perspective
Vygotsky (1978), one of the most prominent psychologists of the century, argued that children’s development is embedded in the every day interactions between parent and child. Social interaction, particularly language, is an important mechanism by which children learn to understand themselves. Furthermore, the socio-cultural perspective emphasizes the idea that these interactions are influenced by culture, which essentially provides individuals with certain frameworks that influence how the individual is seen in relation to others. Based on this perspective, in discussion of past events with their children, mothers from different cultures may have different goals regarding the purpose of remembering, and these goals further influence the way in which they speak to their children. For example, European American mothers’ use of high-elaborative conversation style has been shown to be associated with their values regarding an autonomous, individual identity (Wang, 2007).
Development of Children’s Ability to Participate in Reminiscing
The process of sharing memories between mother and child begins early in development. As soon as children become capable of using language to express themselves they begin to participate in discussing past events with caregivers. At about 18-20 months children can refer to the immediate past, but at this stage they actually make very few spontaneous, in-depth references to past events. At about 20-36 months children can provide simple responses to parents’ questions about the past. It is not until about 3-5 years of age that children are able to engage in more detailed conversations about the past. However, even at this age they rely on adults to scaffold, or provide most of the structure and content. By the time children are about 5-6 years of age, they are able to independently provide increasingly rich narratives about their past.
Cultural Differences in Maternal Reminiscing Style
Research of mother-child memory sharing has identified two distinct conversational styles (Fivush & Fromhoff, 1988; Fivush, Haden, & Reese, 2006). Mothers who engage their children in a “high-elaborative” conversational style frequently ask wh-questions (i.e., where, when, what, who, how, why), provide feedback and encouragement, and supplement information whenever the child fails to respond. In contrast, mothers who engage their children in a “low-elaborative” conversational style often repeat their pointed questions without providing embellishment or feedback. While these different conversational styles can vary within a single culture, cross-cultural studies have shown that European American mothers are generally more elaborative than Korean, Chinese, and Japanese mothers. For instance, in studies of memory conversations between American and Chinese mothers and their 3-year-old children, Wang and colleagues (Wang, 2001, 2006; Wang, Leichtman, & Davies, 2000) found that American mothers often used a high-elaborative conversational style, where they talked at length with their children about the past event, supplemented children’s responses with rich and embellished information, and provided immediate feedback to encourage children’s participation. In contrast, Chinese mothers tended to use a low-elaborative conversational style, where they directed the conversations by posing and repeating factual questions, provided little detail and embellishment, and often carried out the conservation in didactic style.
Furthermore, American mothers often took a child-centered approach, where the child was the focal point of the conversation and the talk surrounded the child’s interests, preferences, opinions, and personal attributes (Wang, 2001; Wang, et al. 2000). In contrast, Korean (Mullen & Yi, 1995) and Chinese (Wang, 2001; Wang et al. 2000) mothers often took a mother-centered approach, where the mothers set the direction for the conversation and emphasized interpersonal relations, moral rules, and behavioral expectations. Child-centered approaches, where mothers scaffold, interact with the child, and elaborate on past events have been associated with a variety of social emotional outcomes, including more detailed memories and coherent sense of an individual self.
Effects of Maternal Reminiscing Style on Autobiographical Memory
The stylistic and content differences in mother-child memory sharing can have direct consequences for children’s autobiographical memory operations. Shared conversations of the past help children understand the socially accepted ways of narrating and evaluating one’s past experiences as well as how to incorporate past experiences into one’s personal life story (Nelson & Fivush, 2004). High elaborative mothers in essence scaffold their children’s narrative abilities through the type of questions they ask and the information they provide. In addition, through evaluations and feedback, highly elaborative mothers indicate valuing their children’s participation. Finally, a child centered approach emphasizes the importance of individual experience; specifically the function of reminiscing becomes intertwined with the conceptualization of the self (Wang 2006, 2008).
Studies by Wang and colleagues have rendered empirical support to these cross-cultural differences in autobiographical memory. When asked to recount their past experiences, European American preschool and grade school children often provided more elaborate and detailed memory accounts than did Chinese and Korean children (Han, Leichtman, & Wang, 1998; Wang, 2004). The American children also recollected more about specific past events than the two groups of Asian children, who recollected more about daily routines. Furthermore, American children referred more frequently to their own roles, preferences, and emotions than did Chinese children, who talked more about other people rather than themselves in their memory narratives. Collectively, these findings suggest that the style that mothers use and content that mothers focus on during memory conversations with their children may have enduring effects on children’s own memory operations.
Interestingly, these cultural differences in children’s memory appear to extend to adulthood. In a study where college-aged students were asked to report their earliest childhood memory, Wang (2001) found that Americans reported lengthy and specific accounts of memories that are self-focused and emotionally elaborated. Chinese, on the other hand, reported brief accounts of memories that are centered on general routines, are collective-focused and emotionally neutral. In another study, Wang and Conway (2004) examined the autobiographical memory of middle-aged adults who were each asked to recall 20 memories from any period of their lives. Not surprisingly, Americans provided more memories of individual experiences and unique, one-time events that focused on their own roles and emotions, while Chinese provided more memories of social and historical events that focused on social interactions and significant others. Collectively, these findings suggest that cross-cultural differences in autobiographical memory are evident early in life and last through life.
Self Development
In addition to autobiographical memory, mothers’ conversational style may influence a child’s self-concept. Autobiographical memory has been referred to as the “extended self” or the “remembered self,” and is believed to be closely intertwined with the self-concept (Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000). While our self-concept shapes how we remember our experiences, our memories in turn help to define who we are. Importantly, the way that an individual comes to understand him - or herself is deeply rooted in the culturally prevailing views of selfhood. The promotion of individuality, self-expression, and personal agency  attributes that are prized in Western cultures, often facilitates the development of an independently-oriented self that is well-bounded, separate and distinct from other people. In contrast, the promotion of communality, interpersonal harmony, and personal humility  attributes that are valued in East Asian cultures, often encourages the development of an interdependently-oriented self that is fused within a complex web of relationships and social networks (Markus & Kitayama, 1991).
Cultural differences in the conceptions of self have long been documented to influence a wide array of psychological processes (Markus & Kitayaman, 1991). Pertaining to the current analysis, differences in the cultural conceptions of self hold important implications for memory. An independent self-construal, how the self is represented, that focuses on the self as a unique entity with particular qualities and attributes would facilitate attention to and encoding of relevant information that is specific to the self. On the other hand, an interdependent self-construal constituted primarily by social roles and obligations may place precedence on retaining information important for maintaining social harmony and understanding one’s relations to others (Mullen, 1994; Wang, 2001; Wang, 2004).
Mothers in conversation with children emphasize different components of the past. In socializing an independent self-construal, Western mothers are more likely to focus on the child’s internal states. Specifically, the child is encouraged to talk about and reflect on how they felt in a past event . Mothers ask about and encourage children to express their opinions and concerns. Later on when children are able to speak about their own memories, they similarly have a self-focus, discussing their own internal states, preferences and feelings. Chinese mothers, on the other hand, are more likely to focus on children’s behaviors, frequently discuss how their actions may influence other people, and bring up social events rather than events personal to the child.
Tips for Parents and Child Educators
Consider your goals before starting a discussion with your child. What aspects of the event do you think is important for your child to remember? To what extent do you think you should focus on the child’s thoughts, feelings, and desires or how their behavior has an influence on others?

Set aside a quiet time to discuss past events with your child. For younger children, events where both parent and child were present will allow parents to do more scaffolding and structuring of the conversation.

Consider the type of events you wish to discuss with your child and their implications. Selecting social events would allow you to reflect on your child in relation with others, social norms, and behavioral expectations. Choosing a personal event, would allow you to focus on your child’s experiences, thoughts and feelings relating to the event, and how this event may influence the child’s perception about him/herself.

Discuss one-time, relatively novel events, rather than daily repeated activities. Children sometimes have difficulty teasing apart events that occur on a daily basis.

Ask a lot of “wh” questions (e.g. who, what, where, when, why). Provide answers when the child does not remember. Avoid repeating questions, or “looking” for a right answer. Try not to create a test-like atmosphere.

You can choose to focus on the child’s thoughts and feelings, by asking what they particularly liked, how they felt, and drawing out their thoughts. This type of conversational focus, instills children with an autonomous, independent sense of self, and elaborative autobiographical memory. Alternatively, if your concern is for your child to understand behavioral norms and social rules, focus on their specific behaviors, how their behaviors might have affected others, and what they would do differently or similarly. Conclude with “lessons learned”. This type of conversation aids children in focusing on the self in relation to others, and encourages an interdependent self-concept.

Provide positive feedback when your child participates and be responsive to their contribution to the conversation.

Most importantly, have fun and engaging conversations. Demonstrate to your child that you are invested and interested in their life!
Resources

Dr. Qi Wang’s Social Cognition Website
References
Conway, M.A., & Pleydell-Pearce, C.W. (2000) The construction of autobiographical memories in the self memory system. Psychological Review, 107, 261-288.
Fivush, R., & Fromhoff, F. A. (1988). Style and structure in mother-child conversations about the past. Discourse Processes, 11, 337-355.
Fivush, R., C.A. Haden and E. Reese (2006) `Elaborating on Elaborations: Maternal Reminiscing Style and Children's Socioemotional Outcome', Child Development 77: 1568—88.

Fivush, R. (2007). Maternal Reminiscing Style and Children's Developing Understanding of Self and Emotion, Clinical Social Work, 35, 37-46.
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98, 224-253.
Mullen,M. (1994). M.K. Earliest recollections of childhood: A demographic analysis. Cognition, 52, 55–79.
Mullen, M. & Yi, S. (1995). The cultural context of talk about the past: Implications for the development of autobiographical memory. Cognitive Development, 10, 407–419.
Nelson, K. and Fivush, R. (2004). The Emergence of Autobiographical Memory: A Social Cultural Developmental Theory', Psychological Review, 111, 486—511.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between Learning and Development (pp. 79-91). In Mind in Society. (Trans. M. Cole). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wang, Q. (2001). ''Did you have fun?''American and Chinese mother-child conversations about shared emotional experiences. Cognitive Development, 16(2), 693-715.
Wang, Q. (2006). Relations of maternal style and child self-concept to autobiographical Memories in Chinese, Chinese Immigrant, and European American 3-year-olds. Child Development, 77(6), 1794-1809.
Wang, Q. (2007). "Remember when you got the big, big bulldozer?" Mother-child reminiscing over time and across cultures. Social Cognition, 25, 4, 455-471.
Wang, Q., Leichtman, M. D., & Davies, K. (2000). Sharing memories and telling stories: American and Chinese mothers and their three year olds. Memory 8(3), 159-177.
Wang, Q. & Conway, M. A. (2004). The stories we keep: Autobiographical memory in American and Chinese middle-aged adults. Journal of Personality, 72, 5, 911-938.
Wang, Q. (2008). Emotion knowledge and autobiographical memory across the preschool years: A cross-cultural longitudinal investigation. Cognition, 108, 117-135.

Human Development Today e-News

Human Development Outreach & Extension

Poverty and Maternal Responsiveness

ktb1@cornell.edu • February 4, 2009

Karene Booker

We know Poverty Matters for Children’s development, but why? One of the reasons poverty is bad for children is because it reduces maternal responsiveness. But why are low-income mothers less responsive to their children’s needs than their more affluent counterparts?

Many studies on poverty and parenting in North America have revealed an association between household income and maternal responsiveness. The evidence indicates that low-income mothers tend to be less responsive to their children’s physical and emotional needs which partially explains why poverty is harmful for children’s development.

“What we did not know is why poverty leads to unresponsive parenting in the first place,” said Gary Evans, Cornell Professor in the Departments of Design and Environmental Analysis and Human Development and lead author of a paper in the current issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Development. “Our study provides evidence that low-income mothers are less responsive to their children compared with middle-income mothers because of two key aspects of the ecological context of poverty. First, low-income mothers face a daunting array of psychosocial and physical stressors that diminishes their capacity to be a responsive parent. Second, mothers living in poverty may also be less attuned to the needs of their children because they themselves lack adequate social networks.”

The paper is important not only because it sheds light on the question of why poverty is harmful to children, but also because the authors examine this question in an understudied population - rural white parents of young adolescents living in North America. Nearly all of the data examining poverty and parenting comes from urban, ethnic minority families.

There are numerous studies that document that adults living in poverty experience more negative life events and income-related stressors than lower and middle class adults. There is also evidence that low-income households have smaller social networks to help them cope with stressors. A smaller body of literature demonstrates the potential for parental stress or social isolation to reduce parental responsiveness. What has been missing, however, is a direct test of why poverty leads to unresponsive parenting.

Two hundred and twenty-three mothers and their seventh to eighth grade children were evaluated in their homes. Maternal stress was measured with the Perceived Stress Scale. This 10-item scale assesses how unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overwhelming persons find their lives. Maternal social networks were gauged with the Social Network Index. This instrument evaluates participation in 12 types of social relationships, including spouse/partner, parents, parents-in-law, children, other close family members, close neighbors, friends, workmates, schoolmates, fellow volunteers, and religious and non-religious affiliations. Maternal responsiveness was measured by youth perceptions of maternal responsiveness. A rating scale consisting of eleven items tapping both instrumental (e.g., help with homework) and emotional responsiveness (e.g., willing to talk to me when needed) was developed for this project.

The data showed that poverty erodes maternal responsiveness because low-income mothers experience increased psychological stress and have smaller social networks. Diminished social resources may be especially challenging for low-income, rural mothers because of longer distances from town, family and friends coupled with lack of mass transit and high fuel and car maintenance costs.

The findings address questions about the mediational pathways between poverty and maternal responsiveness, providing a template for further research as well as valuable insights for policy makers designing programs to improve parenting among low-income families.

For Further Information

Evans, G.W., Boxill, L., & Pinkava, M. (2008). Poverty and maternal responsiveness: The role of maternal stress and social resources. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32, 232-237.

Boxill and Pinkava are former Cornell undergraduate students majoring in Biology and Society and Human Development respectively.

Winter 2009

ktb1@cornell.edu • January 20, 2009

	Discovering Child Language and Cognitive Growth Results from research in the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab, under the leadership of Barbara Lust, demonstrate how well equipped children are, beginning at birth, to accomplish the complex task of learning language.
	New Program Brings a Scientific Eye to the Law Researchers from Cornell's Law, Psychology, and Human Development Program are studying how psychological processes such as memory, perception, judgment and decision making play out in the law. Results from their research are influencing judicial decisions across the nation.