Chapter 13: Cognitive Development and Interaction Contexts¹

The results of our work over the last decade with Colombian children living in poor urban areas have led us to question the widespread idea that deficits in cognitive development are produced by socioeconomic conditions. We will try to exemplify that there is not a causal link between socioeconomic status and cognitive development—a catalytic role it could play, which is demonstrable by the coexistence of both low and very high cognitive performances in very low socioeconomic levels. In poor urban contexts, cognitive development could be understood as an adaptation to the difficult conditions children have to face.

Furthermore, we doubt that the context of child development can be fully described through categories related to socioeconomic status. The research centered in family socioeconomic status takes into consideration only variables related to amount of money earned, living conditions, access to public and health services, and economic difficulties. We suppose that the contexts where these children are reared present characteristics that surpass the problems of social status.