Douglass Price-Williams

Cognitive Styles of Children of Three Ethnic Groups in the United States

Children of three subcultural groups in the United States-Anglos, Blacks, and Mexican-Americans-were tested with the Portable Rod and Frame Test. The results showed that Black and Mexican-American children, and females in all three groups, scored in a significantly more field-dependent direction than Anglo children. The results confirmed previous findings that members of groups which emphasize respect for family and religious authority and group identity and which are characterized by shared-function family and friendship groups tend to be field-dependent in cognitive style. Members of groups which encourage questioning of convention and an individual identity and are characterized by formally organized family and friendship groups, on the other hand, tend to be more field-independent.

Social Conformity and Psychological Differentiation

Abstract This study examined the role of socialization experiences in the development of psychological differentiation. In each of three countries (Holland, Italy, Mexico) two villages were selected as presenting a contrasting picture with regard to degree of emphasis on conformity to family, religious and political authority. It was hypothesized that within the pair of villages in each country children from the village which stressed social conformity would tend to be more field dependent and show other signs of less developed differentiation than children from the village in which social conformity was less emphasized. In each of the six villages approximately 100 children (boys and girls, aged 9–11 and 13–15) were studied. Differentiation was assessed by a battery of tests of field-dependence-independence and the figure-drawing test. In every comparison of mean test scores between pairs of villages, in each of the three countries, children from the village in which social conformity was stressed obtain...

Achievement Motivation in Children of Three Ethnic Groups in the United States

Children of three ethnic groups in the United States-Anglos, Blacks, and Mexican Americans-were asked to tell a story to each of seven line drawings depicting persons in a setting related to education. Stories were scored for n Achievement and family achievement (oriented toward achievement goals from which the family would benefit or that would gain recognition from family members). The results showed that Mexican-American and Black children scored higher on family achievement than did Anglo children. Anglos, however, scored higher on n Achievement. On those cards depicting parental figures, however, Mexican-American and Black children tended to score higher on n Achievement than Anglo children. Females in all three ethnic groups scored lower on n Achievement but higher on family achievement than males. It was concluded that contextual conditions are most important in expression of achievement motivation and that the particular form in which achievement is expressed is determined by the definition that culture gives to it.

Developmentally Disabled Women who were Molested as Children

The problems involved in treatment of developmentally disabled women who were sexually abused as children are discussed. Treatment issues and parental relationships of these women are examined. The authors recommend enlarging treatment for this population.

Divergent Thinking, Cultural Differences, and Bilingualism

Summary Mexican-American, black and Anglo fourth grade children (N = 183) from Catholic parochial schools in Houston, Texas, were tested with the Unusual Uses Test and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The Anglo Ss scored higher than the blacks and Mexican-Americans on the Peabody test. Mexican-American and black males scored higher than Anglo males on both fluency and flexibility as measured by the Unusual Uses Test. Black males scored higher on fluency than any of the other subgroups. On the other hand, Anglo females scored higher on fluency and flexibility than the other females. Furthermore, Anglo females scored higher on flexibility than any of the other subgroups. Black females obtained the highest flexibility/fluency ratio. The results of the male Ss supported the hypothesis that children of minority groups and children who are “balanced” bilinguals tend to do better on the Unusual Uses Test. The female results, however, did not support this hypothesis and could not be explained by the study.

Ethnic Differences in Delay of Gratification

Summary Questions related to the problem of accepting a small reward immediately or waiting for a bigger reward were given to 180 fourth-grade children composed of three ethnic groups sampled from a relatively poor socioeconomic region of a South-Western area in the United States. In addition questions related to the factor of trust in the promises of investigators to deliver the bigger reward were undertaken. The sample consisted of 60 Anglos, Blacks, and Mexican-Americans, respectively; each ethnic group divided in turn into an equal number of boys and girls. Results showed that at the fourth-grade level Black and Mexican-American children were more prone than Anglo children to accept the immediate gratification rather than choose the later and bigger reward. No sex differences within each ethnic group were found, with the exception of the Mexican-American group for one out of the three conditions tested. The factor of mistrust in the promises of the investigators was noticeable in the Black children, d...

Social competence and maladaptive behavior of people with dual diagnosis

This study describes the social competence and maladaptive behavior of mentally retarded individuals with psychiatric impairments and examines the validity of five major psychiatric diagnoses as applied to the mentally retarded population: schizophrenia, personality disorders, autism, adjustment disorders, and conduct disorders. The adaptive and maladaptive behavior of individuals with a dual diagnosis (N=3,975) have been compared with the behavior of control samples who were selected by a pair-wise matching procedure on age, sex, IQ, and type of residence (i.e., own home or independent living, community care facilities, and state institutions). Among the dual diagnosis population, schizophrenic adults and autistic children have shown disturbances in many areas of adaptive and maladaptive behavior in comparison to their nonpsychiatric counterparts. Conduct disturbances, personality disorders, and adjustment disorders have shown significantly higher maladaptive behavior than their non- psychiatric counterparts. The results indicate a strong need for refined diagnostic techniques for identifying personality disorders and adjustment disorders in the mentally retarded population.

Approaching cultural psychiatry from opposite ends

Chunn, Jay C., Patricia J. Dunston, and Fariyal Ross‐Sheriff, eds. Mental Health and People of Color. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1983. xxi + 472 pp. including list of contributors and index.

Disciplines in search of data: The Australian aborigine viewed through a diversity of lenses

24.95 cloth. Spielberger, Charles D., and Rogelio Diaz‐Guerrero, eds. Cross‐Cultural Anxiety. Volume II. New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, 1983. xi + 218 pp. including list of contributors and index.

Towards an experiential analysis of shamanism

34.58 cloth. Favezza, Armando R., and Ahmed D. Faheem, eds. Themes in Cultural Psychiatry: An Annotated Bibliography, 1975–1980. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1982. 194 pp.