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This study examined responses to questions oriented toward revealing the development of perspective taking. The sample comprised 180 three- to nine-year-old children in four traditional communities (in Belize, Kenya, Nepal, and American Samoa). Ten scenarios that asked the children about knowledge of handedness and also what was visible from their own and from another person's perspective were used. In all groups, the proportion of correct answers improved with age. Degree of industrialization-which had predicted better cognitive performance in other testing with these same children-was also a predictor of perspective taking on some of the items. Discussion includes possible interpretation of the results. © 2013 SAGE Publications.

This study investigated language data collected in 1978-1979 from ninety-six 3- to 5-year-old children in four different non-Western cultures: Garifuna in Belize, Logoli in Kenya, Newars in Nepal, and Samoans in America Samoa. There were 24 children per culture; half of the children were 3 years of age, and half were 5 years of age. The study examined the use of information-seeking questions in everyday life situations and the proportion of explanation-seeking questions (why-questions) in these communities relative to those reported among Western samples. Results revealed that the number of information-seeking questions does not differ from those of Western samples, but the proportion of explanation-seeking questions was much lower than that reported for Western children. Implications of these findings are discussed. © The Author(s) 2013.

Paraphilias (e.g., pedophilia, fetishism) are said to be virtually ineradicable once established. The authors propose that the motivational state known as the Zeigarnik effect, according to which interrupted tasks are better recalled than completed tasks, may provide understanding of this process, especially its later addictive-compulsive quality. Reasoning from Zeigarnik-type research, the authors predict a relation between early sexual arousal, its frustration, and subsequent events associated with such arousal. The paraphilias are thus seen as an unusual by-product of a normal adaptive process, that is, a tendency to privilege the recollection of unfinished over finished activities. The authors discuss why paraphilias are associated nearly exclusively with males, and why paraphilic tendencies are apparently quite rare in traditional societies. They also propose new research on the processes and outcomes entailed by the Zeigarnik effect, such research including, but not being limited to, sexuality.

Differential cognitive performance across cultural contexts has been a standard result in comparative research. Here we discuss how societal changes occurring when a small-scale traditional community incorporates elements from industrialized society may contribute to cognitive development, and we illustrate this with an analysis of the cognitive performances and everyday activities of children from four communities representing a range of such incorporations. We discuss this research in relation to ontogenesis and sociogenesis and propose several processes or mechanisms that may account for cultural and cognitive change in the context of societal absorption of elements common in industrialized settings. Our perspective centers on the claim that changes in cultural features are inextricably linked to changes in human activity and cognition. We also suggest that changes that align small-scale traditional societies in this way provide certain cognitive advantages for individuals raised in, and continuing to live in, traditional societies, and such advantages show up in many cognitive measures. We also use this information in discussing explanations for the Flynn effect. We conclude with consideration of some implications of the perspective we offer.

This study examined how societal changes associated with modernization are related to cognitive development. Data were from 4 cultural communities that represented a broad range of traditional and modern elements: the Garifuna (Belize), Logoli (Kenya), Newars (Nepal), and Samoans (American Samoa). Naturalistic observations and the performances of 3-, 5-, 7-, and 9-year-old children (N = 192) on 7 cognitive measures were examined. Results replicated age-related improvement on all measures. Contributions of modernity were evident in children's play behaviors and cognitive performances, especially in skills related to schooling. Modernization and schooling independently predicted differences on most of the measures. Results are discussed in relation to the Flynn effect, the worldwide increase in cognitive scores across generations, and the ways in which societal modernization may contribute to cognitive development.

In their long careers, John and Beatrice Whiting inspired investigation into a great variety of topics. Of these inquiries, men's experience of pregnancy-like symptoms occupied the interest of the late Ruth Munroe and the author for some years. Men's symptoms-morning sickness, lassitude, and so on-vary greatly both among individuals and across cultures. At the upper extreme, men average as many as five pregnancy-related symptoms in some culture groups, where they also display other behaviors related to the reproductive process (e.g., male 'menstruation'). Tests and behavioral responses among such men (and among similar males elsewhere) typically reveal female-like choices on covert measures but also a surprising pattern of defensively masculine choices at the overt level (e.g., drinking, wife beating). A case study invites still other questions. To help resolve some of the issues raised by these findings, the author proposes a new program of research focusing on potential hormonal correlates of male symptomatology.

Children's tendencies to aggregate with same-sex others and to increase spatial experience with age are investigated among 3- to 9-year-olds in four non-Western communities. Also investigated are gender-specific social behaviors, labeled by Eleanor Maccoby as male-style and female-style play. Analysis of naturalistic observations of daily activities indicate that during free time in all cultures, older children (7- and 9-year-olds) are much more involved in both same-sex aggregation and away-from-home spatial experience than are younger children (3- and 5-year-olds) and that older boys are more strongly involved in these events than are older girls. Older boys also display a marked degree of same-sex aggregation when enacting the male-style behaviors of physicality and attention seeking, but girls do not display a similar same-sex aggregation for any category of social behavior. Children's levels of gender understanding are unrelated to the outcomes. Keywords: gender; sex differences; same-sex aggregation; male physicality; naturalistic observations

Issues concerning aggressive behavior in children of four nonindustrial cultures are discussed. Belize, Nepal, Kenya and American Samoa were compared, and aggression among boys was more frequent than that among females, moreover, such behavior was more frequent in the patrilineal cultures. The presence of a parent tended to be associated with less aggression.

This article examines the relationship between climate temperature and the development of consonant-vowel (CV) syllable. Topics addressed include the higher CV rates in warmer climates and the lower CV frequency in languages with writing systems.

An obituary is presented for John W. M. Whiting, a professor and behavioral scientist. Topics include his numerous collaborations with other researchers, his attention to students, and his contributions to cross-cultural studies.

A study aims to discover whether women's speech frequency in the home setting that is, in the sphere of their greatest influence would be affected by their gender status. Results reveal that overall higher status for women is accompanied by greater relative frequency of speaking by mothers.

A four-culture study has been conducted on children aged 3 to 9, with respect to proclivities toward same-sex or different-sex roles. It has been observed that the Logoli of Kenya and Newars of Nepal are structured patricentrically whereas the Black Carib of Belize and the American Samoans are not structured patricentrally.

The indigenous languages of tropical and subtropical climates in contrast to the languages spoken in temperature and cold zones manifested high levels of sonority in a world sample (N=60). A conceptual model is developed where there are well-known correlations between climate and somatic variables.