Final answer:
Children from families with few material resources may show lower levels of cognitive development due to the daily stressors and challenges they face. Poverty can negatively impact the brain functioning and cognitive abilities of children. It is important to address these disparities and provide support to promote healthy cognitive development.
Step-by-step explanation:
Research has shown that children from families with few material resources may show lower levels of cognitive development. This is often due to the daily stressors and challenges that children living in poverty face, such as lack of access to basic needs like safety, shelter, and food. The brain functioning of children in poverty can be impacted, leading to reduced cognitive abilities. For example, a study conducted by Mark Kishiyama and his colleagues found that children living in poverty demonstrated reduced prefrontal brain functioning, similar to children with damage to the prefrontal cortex. This highlights the negative impact of poverty on cognitive development. Additionally, children from low-income households tend to perform more poorly on educational variables compared to their higher-income peers, such as standardized test scores, graduation rates, and college entrance rates. This achievement gap can start even before children enter school. The socioeconomic status and resources available to families play a significant role in shaping a child's cognitive development. It is important to address these disparities and provide support and resources to children from low-income families to promote healthy cognitive development.