In our unit of research (Unidad de Neurobiología Aplicada), we study the associations between childhood poverty on self-regulatory development.
Typically, we conduct experiments in a laboratory and schools, but with the pandemic of COVID-19, this is no longer possible. NeuroUX has provided us with a powerful platform for reaching more of our participants at lower cost. They helped us transition our lab-based test to a mobile cognitive test which gathers useful data about how child cognition changes over time. We designed a remote experiment for children from 5 to 8 years old and their families with the aim of deepening the knowledge about the integration of different self-regulatory processes from the combined evaluation through laboratory tests and the coding of videos on children's activities in their homes, and their modulation by different individual and contextual factors, including the socioeconomic (SES) aspects.
The study design includes: (1) a sociodemographic survey (EMA) with items to explore children's health and development history, as well as household SES conditions; (2) a set of 8 activities to evaluate cognitive (attention, inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, cognitive control style and fluid processing) and emotional (arousal and emotion recognition) regulation processes; and (3) the production of 4 videos of 5 minutes each on children's activities in their homes. The first round of data collection has started in the month of July 2020, and another 3 rounds are planned at 6, 12 and 18 months, in order to carry out an analysis of the development of these aspects, as well as the eventual effects related to the quarantines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
By understanding the specific neural, cognitive, behavioral and sociodemographic factors that are associated to everyday activities, our scientific contributions can lead to interventions that may help optimize outcomes for underprivledged children around the world.
