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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
Published on: June 12, 2017
Childhood poverty, chronic stress, and adult working memory
Gary W Evans1, Michelle A Schamberg
1Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401, USA. gwe1@cornell.edu
Abstract:
The income-achievement gap is a formidable societal problem, but little is known about either neurocognitive or biological mechanisms that might account for income-related deficits in academic achievement. We show that childhood poverty is inversely related to working memory in young adults. Furthermore, this prospective relationship is mediated by elevated chronic stress during childhood. Chronic stress is measured by allostatic load, a biological marker of cumulative wear and tear on the body that is caused by the mobilization of multiple physiological systems in response to chronic environmental demands.
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