Cross-Cultural Psychology. Lecture 3. Developmental aspects in Cross-Cultural

Cross-Cultural Psychology. Lecture 3. Developmental aspects in Cross-Cultural Psychology. Cross-cultural approach to developmental psychology. Piagetian theory: cross-cultural findings. Mathematical achievements across cultures.

1) Developmental psychology WAS So culture bound + so culture blind  result: psychologists ignored culture in children. 2) Developmental psychology today sees an individual and the developmental niche interacting and influencing each other. 3) 3 components of the developmental niche: a) the physical and social contexts in which a child lives (nuclear versus extended families) b) The culturally determined education and child-rearing practices (informal versus formal schooling and independence versus dependence training) c) The psychological characteristics of child’s parents (developmental expectations)

Piagetian theory of cognitive development. Principles: Infants and children actively engage with the world in order to understand how it operates. They want to understand basic concepts about matter, space, time, and causality. This understanding advances as a consequences of both maturation, as well as a desire to maintain equilibrium between current knowledge (assimilated) and new information (accommodated) acquired through experience. Cognition involves operations on mental structure built from the child’s action on and exploration of the world.

4 stages of cognitive development sensorimotor ( birth-2 years) ( do not have object constancy; do not understand about object permanence; they would perceive they had multiple mothers) preoperational stage ( 2- 6/7 years) ( there are mental symbols to represent the world of objects and people, but cognition is limited – one aspect or one event at a time; can’t reverse events) concrete operational ( 6/7 – 11/12 years) ( ability to combine more than one aspect of a object; finds similarities and differences – conservation tasks (number, mass, quantity, weight, volume) formal operational ( 11/12 – 19 years) ( logical testing of possible solutions, was able to deal with abstract, hypothetical, symbolic of factors affecting the speed at which pendulum will swing.)

Cross-cultural findings of cognitive development. Sensorimotor period (0-2) Piagetian studies have been conducted on hundreds of thousands of children, adolescents, and even adults, from 6 continents and hundreds of cultures and subcultures. (aborigines in Australia, Indians in Mexico, Eskimos in Alaska, Sudan in Africa) Conclusion: the qualitative characteristics of sensorimotor development are identical in all infants studied so far despite vast differences in their cultural environments. Culture seems to influence the rate of development to some extent, although the similarity of structure and process is more striking than the differences.

Concrete Operational Period (7-11). Results of findings fall into 4 distinct categories. Conclusion: 1) There is evidence in favor of the universality of operational period development 2) Whether or not these structures become functional and the rate at which this occurs appear to be strongly influenced by culture.

Formal Operational Period (12- ) Compare the findings: New Guinea: pendulum problems: no subjects-adolescents performed at this level (1977) Rwanda: few adolescents showed formal operational thought when tested (1977) Hong Kong (China): adolescents with British education showed as good as or better than performance by European or U.S. children (1966) Conclusion: 1) The inability to show universality of formal operational thinking among adolescents and adults is not confined by the cross-cultural area. 2) Some adults from Western technological cultures show low level of success on formal operational tasks. 3) Competent performance may occur only under certain circumstances.

General conclusion of cross cultural findings of Piagetian theory. Research has confirmed the invariance of the sequence and the structural characteristics of the periods proposed by Piaget. However, the pace at which each period develops, and the behavior associated with it, may vary significantly from one individual to another. The achievement of the final period is open to question. Survival in a particular culture may not call for formal logical thinking.

Mathematical achievement and child rearing practices. A contemporary argument states that U.S. school children lag far behind children of other nations in math achievement. It is asserted that Asian children, particularly those in Japan and China, outperform not only those in the United States but those of most other nations as well. What do cross-cultural studies tell us about this topic?

Explanation: cultural values, parents’ beliefs, and children’s achievements are interrelated. Compare: Chinese parents – set higher standards and work more with their children on homework. Parents’ attitude toward learning: self-improvement, diligence (particularly mothers’ concern) Japanese parents – emphasize mother’s teaching style: patient example and attempt to elicit interest in a subject rather than obtain correct solution. Spend time drawing, reading, writing, counting with their children. American parents – parents’ attitude is to interact less with children, especially when they do homework. They provide their children with games and materials they can enjoy independently.

What themes emerge from these and other studies? Recognition of the dominant role in this process played by mothers. Cross-cultural evidence strongly suggests that an informal teaching style, like that found in Asian cultures, focused on building interest, is a more effective way to teach very young children a variety of skills, including math.

3. Math and science play a small role in the U.S. conception of elementary education. It is recommended that elementary school teachers place less stress on computational drill in favor of understanding why arithmetic procedures work. 4. Elementary school lesson in Japan: 2-3- problems discussing from many angles and exploring underlying principles and implications. In U.S. : a brief time explaining a procedure and children solve many similar problems (accuracy and speed appreciated)

Home assignment. Compile your knowledge and observations of Kazakh culture/cognitive development – growth of intelligence and parents’ attitude to learning – their expectations from children. Reports: 1. Variations in family by structures ( Understanding Cross-Cultural Psychology P. Laungani: 2007, Ch. 7. pp 136-140.) 2. Child- rearing practices across cultures.