The Interactive effect of Serotonergic Polymorphisms and Socioeconomic Status in Predicting Executive Function and Academic Achievement /Young children prefer variety, but not necessarily scarce itemsent

Sammy Ahmed
ABSTRACT: A large body of literature has demonstrated the impact of early social environment on the development of cognitive and academic outcomes. In recent years, however, there has been a growing interest in understanding how genetic factors can account for individual variability in executive function and academic success. Although research on the genetic underpinnings of cognition and achievement exist, there has been very little work done examining the interactive influence of genes and environment on executive function and academic outcomes, using allelic association approaches. Since serotonin system genes have been linked to several correlates of academic related outcomes, the current study examined the interactive influence of serotonergic polymorphisms and socioeconomic status on executive function and academic achievement. Using a nationally representative sample (n = 4,898), we found that measures of executive function mediated the relation between SES and academic achievement. Further, the path from SES to executive function was moderated by genetic variants in the Tryptophan Hydroxylase 1 gene (TPH1).

BIOGRAPHY:
Sammy is a third year doctoral student working with Frederick Morrison and Pamela Davis-Kean. He received his Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology from New York University. His research focuses on the genetic and environmental predictors of neuro-cognitive development and academic achievement. He will be presenting work from his 619, which examined the longitudinal influence of socio-economic status and serotonin system genes on executive function and academic achievement.

Margaret Echelbarger
ABSTRACT:
Variety seeking and scarcity bias are two well-documented phenomena shown to influence adults’ decision-making. However, little work has been dedicated to exploring the emergence and development of these phenomena in children. In this talk, I present results from two experiments testing whether children (3-12 years) prefer scarce items to non-scarce items, and whether children prefer variety to non-variety sets of items for themselves, for others, and when in competition with someone else. Although children 4-5 years and older exhibited a clear preference for variety sets of items, they did not necessarily prefer scarce items. The implications of these results for our understanding of how economic judgments develop in childhood will be discussed.

BIOGRAPHY:
Margaret Echelbarger is a third-year doctoral candidate in Developmental Psychology, working with Susan Gelman. Prior to Michigan, she received a master’s in Child Language from the University of Kansas. She is broadly interested in children’s understanding of market forces and money, and in her current work, is exploring the development of variety seeking and scarcity bias in children.