Search

The process of globalization is widespread, with consequences for social and psychological development. Cultural changes associated with globalization are manifested in children's experiences—how they spend their time, interact with one another, and learn about the world. To illustrate, in this article, we describe findings from research that examined children's behaviors when formal schooling is established, the economic base changes, and small‐scale traditional communities incorporate elements from industrialized societies. The effect of cultural change on children's development is a bidirectional process, and certain characteristics of childhood may make young people more likely to be early adopters of resources that are introduced during change. We conclude by stressing the need for more research and theory on children's contribution to cultural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study tries to interpret the results of a test of altruism among almost 200 children from four small-scale societies in Belize, Kenya, Nepal, and American Samoa. Samoan children and, to a lesser extent, Nepalese Newar children were altruistic in a dictator game test. We considered evidence that the four settlements varied according to a collectivistic dimension and that such collectivism may have strongly influenced responses to the test. Not only did test results correspond fully to degree of community collectivism across the four cultures (rank-order correlation coefficient = 1.00, p < .05, N = 4), but Samoan children also scored at the highest level across each age group from 3 to 9 years of age, and the Nepalese Newar participants scored at the second highest level at all ages. We posit that social and material conditions in Samoa and Nepal were likely sources of collectivism and, concomitantly, the strong altruistic tendencies but acknowledge that in exploratory research there will always be issues concerning interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cognitive research of Atran and Medin (2008) plus preliminary cross-cultural inquiry about owls permitted the formulation of a hypothesis: Inhabitants of coldclimate societies were likely to be, in relative terms, "experts" on owls. Subsequent cross-cultural study (N = 56) affirmed that in cold-climate societies, in contrast to others, the habits and characteristics of owls were more frequently noted, these birds were more often used functionally (especially for feather-ornamentation), and the human inhabitants of cold-climate areas manifested fewer negative supernaturalistic interpretations of owl behavior. For the sample as a whole, however, some form of magico-religious belief -- usually negative, such as association of owls with witchcraft -- exceeded all other practices and concepts, including functional uses and ethnozoological descriptions of owls. The importance of taking affective factors into account in cross-cultural cognitive research was emphasized. Exploratory analysis also revealed that owls were of extraordinarily high interest to Native North Americans, and reasons for this regularity were considered. The paper concludes with discussion of the relation between ecological setting and cultural conceptions of the natural world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practical and symbolic significance of the sun and the moon was coded for a world sample of societies. Methods included use of the eHRAF World Cultures (hereafter eHRAF) Word Search function and the coding of relevant eHRAF materials. The sun, objectively of greater importance than the moon for many aspects of human existence, was expected to be ethnographically more prominent than the moon, and this was found in 55 of 60 cases. There was also a strong tendency for ethnographic mentions of the moon to be made in connection with magico-religious ideas, whereas statements about the sun tended to be more equally divided between the magico-religious and techno-econo-environmental domains. In exploratory investigation, it was found that both sun and moon were frequently mentioned in the ethnographies of foraging societies, which in turn were found to be at the low end of a scale of cultural complexity. Discussion centered on interpretation of the findings and on suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous publication, we reported that on the whole, young children in four cultures predictably made same-sex role choices (e.g., girls preferring daughter to son). But contrary to prediction, we found that children in two patricentric societies (patrilineal descent, etc.) made fewer same-sex role choices than did those from two societies without gender-biased social principles (bilateral descent, etc.) This surprising finding, which constituted an acknowledged puzzle for interpretation, prompted the current reanalysis of the dataset. Our new analysis has led to two conclusions: (a) children from the two patricentric societies, besides scoring lower on same-sex role choices, also scored a good deal lower on cognitive-performance tests, so they were generally poor test-takers; and (b) children in one of the patricentric societies—though not in any of the other samples—expressed a strong preference for higher-generation roles (i.e., mother and father). Discussion centers on plausible interpretations of these new-found results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that speakers in warm-climate languages make use of relatively more vowels, and speakers in cold-climate languages relatively more consonants. The high sonority (audibility) of the vowel, and its adaptive value under certain conditions, have been invoked to account for its greater frequency in warmer climates. We show here, however, that the above generalization is over-broad, and that sound classes vary across climate zones in complex ways. One new finding is that speakers in warm-climate languages make more use of the so-called "sonorant" consonants, that is, consonants with some of the qualities of vowels. We offer a provisional framework that continues to find value in the concept of sonority and its relation to climate, but attempts to incorporate the new results and provide a more comprehensive explanation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The premises of this investigation were rooted in two cross-cultural trends: variation in male dominance (and thus in women's overall position) and the typically strong domestic status of women. In a four-culture study built around these regularities, this article's goal was 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. It was found that overall higher status for women was accompanied by greater relative frequency of speaking by mothers (vis-à-vis fathers). Also, mothers were the most frequent speakers among 12 different classes of speakers (mothers, teen males, etc.) in three of the samples, but fathers spoke most frequently among Kenyan Logoli, where women's gender status was the lowest. The results may provide an impetus to further sociolinguistic research on speech in the home setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a four-culture study, children, ages 3 to 9, were tested concerning proclivities toward same-sex or different-sex roles. Of the four cultures, two (Logoli of Kenya and Newars of Nepal) were structured patricentrically (virilocal residence, patrilineal descent, strong sex stereotypes). The other two cultures (Black Carib of Belize and American Samoans) were not structured patricentrically (neolocal or bilocal residence, etc.). It was predicted that because of salient gender differentiation, Logoli and Newar children would more frequently choose same-sex roles (father, mother, etc.) and culturally specified gender-appropriate tasks than would Black Carib and Samoan children. The results were opposite in direction to the predicted outcomes in 31 of 32 instances. Possible reasons for these findings, including Vygotskian accounts of development, are offered in the discussion. A positive aspect of the study is the clear counter- instance it provides to Barber's charge that behavioral scientists tend to find what they are looking for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a world sample (N = 60), the indigenous languages of tropical and subtropical climates in contrast to the languages spoken in temperate and cold zones manifested high levels of sonority. High sonority in phonetic segments, as found for example in vowels (versus consonants), increases the carrying power of speech sounds and, hence, audibility at a distance. We assume that in the course of daily activities, the speakers in warm/hot climates (a) are often outdoors due to equable ambient temperatures, (b) thereby frequently transmit messages distally, and (c) transmit such messages relatively intelligibly due to the acoustic and functional advantages of high sonority. Our conceptual model is similar to that of population biology, where there are well-known correlations between climate and somatic variables, and where it is assumed that communicative modalities and behaviors are selected or designed for success in specific habitats. We also take up possible alternative hypotheses and consider directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 predicta 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on an article about the link between consonant-vowel (CV) syllables and degrees of baby-holding by Melvin and Carole R. Ember which appeared in the Volume 101, 1999 edition of the 'American Anthropologist' journal. Communicative efficiency promotion; Individual vowel and consonant sounds' sonority variations; Association of sonority with warm and mild climates.

Behavioral aggression was observed among 192 3- to 9-year-old children in naturalistic settings in Belize, Kenya, Nepal, and American Samoa. Results showed that (a) boys exhibited aggression in approximately 10% of their social behaviors, girls in 6%, and in all four cultures the aggression of boys was more frequent than that of girls at a marginally significant level or better; (b) the aggression of boys occurred in the presence of large numbers (and proportions) of same-sex peers; (c) aggression declined with age; (d) only 5% of children's aggressive interaction was directed toward adults (individuals aged 17 years or older), whereas 30% of their other, nonaggressive interaction was directed toward adults; (e) the presence of either parent tended to be associated with less aggression; and (D aggression was displayed more frequently in the two patrilineal cultures (Kenya and Nepal) and less frequently in the other two cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on a study which examined the relationship between climate and consonant-vowel (CV) syllable within four language families living in warm climate areas. Background on related studies; Methodology; Results and discussion.

Comments on the methodology used by anthropologist Patricia Greenfield in a study of the historical changes in the Zinacantec Maya community in Chiapas, Mexico. Combination between psychology and anthropology approaches; Integration of technological approach in the study; Connections among the variables in the theoretical model of Greenfield.

Presents a study which attempts to account for the differential frequency of consonant-vowel (CV) syllable across languages. Temperature and the CV syllable; Literacy and the CV syllable.

McClelland (1961) has argued that the values implicit in Weber's (1930) so-called Protestant ethic lead individuals to a concern with achievement. In order to investigate whether introduction of a Protestant ideology into a non-Western society was associated with an orientation toward achievement, East African Quaker Abaluyia were compared with non-Quaker Abaluyia on a battery of tests. The findings indicated that Quakers emphasized education, held realistic beliefs about the behaviors bound up with success in their sociocultural system, exhibited health patterns similar to those of educated individuals in developing countries, and had been exposed in childhood to socialization practices that downplayed physical punishment. These results, although consistent with the Weber-McClelland formulation, were relatively sparse in relation to the total number of comparisons undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses concepts and relationships of analogy and homology to each other and to the phenomenon of parallel outcomes in animal and human behavior. Arguments of the author on the scientific value of a continuing investigation into parallelisms; Case study of responses to strong population pressure in East Africa; Usefulness of parallelisms.

Discusses the methodological issues in comparative field research and the application of these methodological points. Questions addressing design, measurement, analysis and interpretation; Hypothetical research example showing the application of methodological points raised; Conclusions of the study.

Reviews results of comparative field studies divided into different categories. Studies in the techno-economic and in the social-organizational sphere; Life cycle researches; Studies on the individual; Conclusions.

The present study, a follow-up of 6- to 12-year-old Kenyan children, indicated that there was reasonable continuity of performance on tests of spatial ability from early to later childhood but that a sex difference in spatial ability (found earlier among the same sample) was not displayed in later childhood. With correlational analyses, using a composite spatial score, it was ascertained that the background variables of significance for predicting spatial performance were age, years of schooling (especially for girls), directed distance from home (for boys), and proportion of time spent manipulating objects (the last two indices were derived from naturalistic observations conducted 4 years earlier). The results confirm the earlier finding (Munroe & Munroe, 1971) that movement through the environment is an important source of learning spatial skills for boys. The findings also indicate that direct tuition may be more important for the development of spatial skills in girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on the findings concerning on how climate, plant cover and mountainous terrain affects the sonority of language. They argue that warmer climate languages contribute to a higher proportion of consonant-vowel syllables and language sonority. The authors provide a discussion on the experiment carried which focuses on measuring the length of word through phonetic segments with the aim of evaluating speech and phonetic differences in languages.

This article compares the Logoli of Kenya, who occupy the most crowded farmland of the fastest growing nation in the history of the world, and similarly high-density populations with low-density groups on their responses to a measure that might tap psychological concerns about space and crowding. In eight secondary schools in western Kenya, 1,084 rural students representing communities of varying density levels were given maps containing only a road boundary and three circles representing homes. Participants were asked to fill in these maps with a variety of landmarks, some named in the directions and some left to the discretion of the participants. The maps were scored for dimensions that might reflect concerns about space, crowding, and scarcity of resources. In conclusion, participants from high-density areas made more unrestricted use of the space available than low-density participants and they avoided barriers that could represent enclosures. They added either no additional houses or many additional houses to the maps. These results illustrate a pattern that is associated with both concern and ambivalence. As such, the findings leave the impression of a less positive overall response to high population density than some previous research in this geographical area had suggested.

The article comments on earlier research on gender differences in dream reports from high school student in Kenya and attempts to develop scale of masculinity-femininity based on these dream-content areas. It informs that in earlier research on a sample of 300 dream reports from Gush, Kipsigis, and Logoli high school students in Kenya, there were seven content areas for which significant gender differences occurred. For example, it was reported that the dreams of boys more frequently included outdoor settings and the presence of implements. The dreams of girls, on the other hand, tended to include indoor settings and items of clothing. Most of the gender differences reported in the Kenyan sample minored those found in a study of the dreams of Americans. The study was to develop a scale of masculinity- femininity based on these dream-content areas and then to compare individual scores (N = 307) on that scale with several other measures of masculinity-femininity. To create the scale for dreams, it assigned each subject a single score based on the proportion of the seven dream-content items that were assigned masculine ratings.

The article looks at a study which investigated whether attentional behavior of boys would vary if father absence was considered over the full life span or over the earliest years of life. The previously mentioned study explored the effect of father absence only for the duration of the investigation, not for other periods in the subjects' lives. The authors conducted the present analysis to ascertain whether attentional behavior would still vary if father absence was considered over the full life span or over the earliest years of life. The authors evaluated information from interviews with the subjects' mothers that focused on major life experiences of the subjects, including the presence or the absence of a father or father-surrogate. Based on the information provided by the mothers, two independent coders constructed time lines indicating whether the father or a father-surrogate had been living at home, for each subject, on a month-by-month basis. Interrater agreement on items (individual months) was at 100% for 14 out of 15 time lines and at 93% for the 15th time line. Further analysis indicated that in all four culture groups a high degree of father absence was associated with overattentiveness to males among the youngest and the oldest boys (3- and 9-year-olds), but the pattern tended to be the reverse for 5- and 7-year-old boys, weakening overall trends.

This article compares the sex differences in East African dreams of three Kenyan tribes in a replication of a previous research on friendliness in dreams of these tribes. The authors remark that because of the salient differences between American and East African cultures, including the presence of sexual segregation and patrifocal social organization in East Africa, no predictions concerning sex differences were made for the present data. Scoring for friendliness was based on whether the source or the object of friendliness was the dreamer, a male character a female character, an animal, or a residual other. This analysis indicated that the dreams of female students yielded a higher incidence of friendliness than did those of male students. Additionally, the female dreamers themselves were more frequently the recipients of friendly acts than were male dreamers, and they more frequently dreamed that other female characters were involved in friendly acts. This general outcome may reflect the strong male bias in social organization and groupings. With much superior social status, male members of the tribes may exhibit and dream of friendliness toward each other more frequently, whereas female members may exhibit and dream of more all-inclusive friendliness.

Discusses the relationship between cultural complexity and free time. Analysis of Garry Chick's statement on the broadening of leisure scholarship from an anthropological perspective; Pursuit of a definitive answer to the question of what happens to leisure when cultures grow more complex; Free time's negative association with cultural complexity.

In previous research in a traditional society in Brazil and South Africa and in a sample of American undergraduates (Gregor, 1981; Hall & Van de Castle, 1966; Lee, 1958), the dreams of men have displayed a higher frequency of aggression than have the dreams of women. In an East African study, however, women dreamed more of nonphysical aggression than did men and equally of physical aggression (Munroe et al., 1985). These anomalous results prompted the present study, which, using the same set of East African dreams, involved further analysis of the relationship between sex and aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hall and van de Castle's (1966) analysis of the content of 1,000 American dreams revealed several sex differences: (a) Men dreamed more of outdoor settings and women, more of indoor settings; (b) men dreamed equally of physical and nonphysical aggression, but women dreamed more of nonphysical aggression; (c) women described more emotions in dreams than did men; (d) men more frequently included implements, and (e) women more frequently included items of clothing. The present study investigated the replicability of these results for the Gusii, Kipsigis, and Logoli of East Africa. In each of the societal areas, the students in both a male and a female secondary boarding school were tested and interviewed in English during a day-long session. Among other measures, students wrote descriptions of a recent dream. In total, 325 dreams (182 male, 143 female) were scored for each variable by using the Hall and Van de Castle (1966) scoring criteria. Scoring for physical aggression, nonphysical aggression, implements, and clothing was based on a presence versus absence judgment; for setting, on an indoor versus outdoor judgment; and for emotion, on judgment of the number of emotions described per dream. The coding reliability, on a minimum of 34 dreams for each variable, was .82 on a numerical scale for number of emotions mentioned and an average of 93% agreement (range = 88 to 100%) on the dichotomous-coding categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]