The Effect of Temperamental Reactivity on Executive Function as Mediated by Vagal Tone

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  • February 26, 2019
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  • Nowicki, Jennifer
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Abstract
  • Executive function plays an important role in the development of goal-oriented abilities, which can determine the degree to which children can succeed in various endeavors throughout their lives (Brocki & Bohlin, 2004; Wiebe et al., 2011). Temperament has been shown to have an effect on executive function in previous studies (Rothbart & Bates, 2006), as has vagal tone (Hansen, Johnsen, & Thayer, 2003). This experiment examined the effect of temperament on executive function in children, while including a measure of RSA at baseline as a potential mediating factor. This study found that though baseline RSA accounted for a significant amount of the relation between temperamental reactivity and executive function, ethnicity accounted for a large portion of the remaining variance, and African American children tended to score lower on the executive function tasks but higher on RSA and temperamental reactivity. These results may be explained by African American children being disproportionately exposed to risky environments, since high RSA and temperamental difficultness under unfavorable environmental conditions results increase children’s susceptibility to develop poor executive function. In line with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, future research on this question may be furthered by contrasting groups that reside either at the low or the far end of experiential risk, with the goal of examining whether there is an ethnic group for which “for the better or for worse” outcomes work best.
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  • In Copyright
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  • Funding: None
Advisor
  • Gariépy, Jean-Louis
Degree
  • Bachelor of Science
Honors level
  • Highest Honors
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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  • 32

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