Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Modern Research in Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2024
DOI:
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The Role of Physiological and Psychological Needs on Cognitive Functioning
James Hardy
ABSTRACT:
An apparent association between household income and childhood academic performance has been widely reported in recent years, both in the England and internationally. This issue of educational inequality is commonly associated with those from ethnic minority groups but has also been seen to impact those in majority groups. There has been a distinct lack of clarity around why such an association may exist, despite a wave of controversy surrounding this topic. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to attempt to establish if, and to what extent, basic physiological and psychological needs impact cognitive functioning in children. A self-report questionnaire was completed by 19 pupils in England, aged between 10 and 11 years old, to ascertain levels for basic needs in reference to nutrition, water, sleep and happiness, as well as levels of cognition in memory and problem-solving. The results showed that water (p = .028) and diet (p = .014) were the only statistically significant predictors of cognitive functioning. Accordingly, these results indicate that basic physiological needs, which can be impacted by household income, can impact cognitive functioning and subsequently academic performance in children.
keywords: academic performance, memory, problem-solving, water, nutrition