# Environmental influences on cognition

> IB Psychology · IB Psychology 2027 First Assessment
> Source: https://www.owlsprep.com/study/ib-psychology-lc-environmental-influences-on-cognition/

The potential influence of one or more environmental factors on one cognitive process.

## Learning objectives

- The potential influence of one or more environmental factors on one cognitive process.

## Core concept

Cognitive processes are influenced by the everyday environment a person lives in, not just their biology. Nutrition is one factor — what and whether a person eats affects the mental resources available for a task. Socioeconomic conditions are another — early poverty is linked to poorer cognitive development, partly through the resources and stimulation a child receives. These are population-level, largely correlational influences: they show environment matters for cognition, while the exact mechanisms remain debated.

> **info**
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> **Level note:** The 2019 syllabus examined 'cognitive processing in a technological (digital/modern) world' as HL-only; the 2027 LC coverage does not mark LC_9 as HL, so it is built as core here — flagged for the KP line.

## Key studies

IB Psychology answers must be supported by named studies. Learn these to cite as evidence:

**Martins et al. (2020)** — A review of 30 studies found a general consensus that breakfast benefits cognitive function, with low-glycaemic-index foods possibly better, though the mechanisms are not fully understood. — *Anchors NUTRITION as an environmental influence on cognitive performance — and its own caution that the mechanism is unclear.*

**Dickerson and Popli (2016)** — Using UK cohort data, experiencing poverty earlier in life had a more detrimental effect on cognitive development, with parental investment a more significant factor than family stress. — *Anchors the SOCIOECONOMIC environment as an influence on cognitive development, and points to the mediating factor (investment).*

## Evaluation (AO3)

**Strength — real-world and applicable** — Large samples and cohort data give findings with clear policy relevance (breakfast programmes, early-years investment) that lab-only work cannot.

**Limitation — correlational and confounded** — Environment cannot be randomly assigned, so factors like poverty travel with many others (nutrition, stress, schooling); causal direction and mechanism are hard to isolate.

## Scope

> **note**
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> Environmental influence on ONE cognitive process (cognitive performance/development) is the focus. Its biological-interaction side is BIO_5; its developmental side is HD_8; strategies to actively improve a process are LC_10.

## Common pitfalls

- **Wrong:** Reading a correlation between an environmental factor (poverty, breakfast) and cognition as simple, direct causation.
  - Why it fails: A frequently penalised misconception in IB Psychology exams.
  - Correct: These are largely correlational population effects with confounds (parental investment, SES, stress); the studies themselves flag that the mechanism is not fully established, so claim influence cautiously.

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