Cognitive adaptations to stressful environments: When childhood adversity enhances adult executive function.
J Pers Soc Psychol
; 109(4): 604-621, 2015 Oct.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26414842
ABSTRACT
Can growing up in a stressful childhood environment enhance certain cognitive functions? Drawing participants from higher-income and lower-income backgrounds, we tested how adults who grew up in harsh or unpredictable environments fared on 2 types of executive function tasks inhibition and shifting. People who experienced unpredictable childhoods performed worse at inhibition (overriding dominant responses), but performed better at shifting (efficiently switching between different tasks). This finding is consistent with the notion that shifting, but not inhibition, is especially useful in unpredictable environments. Importantly, differences in executive function between people who experienced unpredictable versus predictable childhoods emerged only when they were tested in uncertain contexts. This catalyst suggests that some individual differences related to early life experience are manifested under conditions of uncertainty in adulthood. Viewed as a whole, these findings indicate that adverse childhood environments do not universally impair mental functioning, but can actually enhance specific types of cognitive performance in the face of uncertainty.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Estresse Psicológico
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Adaptação Psicológica
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Incerteza
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Função Executiva
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Adultos Sobreviventes de Eventos Adversos na Infância
/
Inibição Psicológica
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article