Ramesh C. Mishra

Ecology, language, and performance on spatial cognitive tasks

The study of the orientation systems that people use in different cultures to describe the location of objects in space has drawn some interest of researchers in the fields of anthropology, psycholinguistics, and cognitive psychology. There has been a rethinking of the “linguistic relativity hypothesis,” and some empirical studies tend to support the notion that language is the major determinant of encoding and cognitive performance on spatial tasks. This paper reports a crosscultural study carried out with 545 children aged 4 to 14 years, both schooled and unschooled, in India and Nepal. The field sites were selected taking into consideration how reference to spatial locations is organized in the language as well as in the local cultural practices. In a village near Varanansi in India, people organize spatial locations mainly with reference to cardinal directions, but in the city of Varanasi, relative references are also used, although people in both the locations speak the same language (i.e., Hindi). I...

Cross-cultural views on human development in the third millennium

The authors examine the prospects of a cross-cultural approach for research in human development. They first examine the apparent conflict between the positivistic and the constructionist paradigms, and examine their methodological implications. They argue for a midline position, seeing the seemingly opposed paradigms as complementary rather than antithetical. The major part of the paper lists the further developments needed in the field, in particular taking new theories to the cross-cultural test more quickly, and working out culturally appropriate applications to social issues. Shorter sections are devoted to the choice of appropriate theoretical frameworks, to the development of “indigenous psychologies” and to the working conditions of researchers in different contexts. The authors conclude that the situation of a cross-cultural approach to human development has improved significantly in the last two decades, but that there is still a lot to be done to completely disengage developmental psychology from its inherent ethnocentrism by “taking culture seriously”.

Does the Importance of Parent and Peer Relationships for Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction Vary Across Cultures?

This study investigated whether the associations between (a) the quality of the parent-child relationship and peer acceptance and (b) early adolescents’ life satisfaction differed depending on the importance of family values in the respective culture. As part of the Value of Children Study, data from a subsample of N = 1,034 adolescents (58% female, M age = 13.62 years, SD = 0.60 years) from 11 cultures was analyzed. Multilevel analyses revealed a positive relation between parental admiration and adolescents’ life satisfaction independent of cultural membership. Further, the higher the importance of family values in a culture, the weaker was the positive effect of peer acceptance on adolescents’ life satisfaction. The results highlight the universal importance of parental warmth and support in adolescence and underline the effect of culturally shared family values on the role of peer acceptance for adolescent development.

Family models of independence/interdependence and their intergenerational similarity in Germany, Turkey, and India

Family change theory suggests three ideal-typical family models characterized by different combinations of emotional and material interdependencies in the family. Its major proposition is that in economically developing countries with a collectivistic background a family model of emotional interdependence emerges from a family model of complete interdependence. The current study aims to identify and compare patterns of family-related value orientations related to family change theory across three cultures and two generations. Overall, N = 919 dyads of mothers and their adolescent children from Germany, Turkey, and India participated in the study. Three clusters were identified representing the family models of independence, interdependence, and emotional interdependence, respectively. Especially the identification of an emotionally interdependent value pattern using a person-oriented approach is an important step in the empirical validation of family change theory. The preference for the three family models differed across as well as within cultures and generations according to theoretical predictions. Dyadic analyses pointed to substantial intergenerational similarities and also to differences in family models, reflecting both cultural continuity as well as change in family-related value orientations.

Schooling and everyday cognitive development among Kharwar children in India : A natural experiment

The confounding of chronological and educational age and of schooling and socioeconomic status are persistent problems in the study of the cognitive consequences of schooling. The educational system among the Kharwar in India provides a natural experiment to overcome these problems, since it shows neither source of confounding. The sample comprised of 201 schooled and unschooled Kharwar children from 6 to 9 years of age. The test battery contained tests of mathematics and memory with formal and local stimulus content, as well as tests of inductive reasoning, analogies, fluency, picture vocabulary, and numbers. Confirmatory factor analyses supported similar hierarchical factor structures, with general intelligence in the apex, for both unschooled and schooled children. The per annum score increments of chronological age were about twice as large as those of educational age. These findings illustrate the important role of everyday experiences in the development of basic features of cognitive functioning.

Linguistic Relativity and Spatial Concept Development in Nepal

Reports the results of a study done in a mountainous region of Nepal on a sample of 144, 6–14 year old boys and girls, schooled and unschooled. A variety of tasks was selected for the analysis of language children use for describing space and for the assessment of spatial encoding and cognitive performance on spatial developmental tasks. The results confirm that the language people use to describe spatial arrays is linked to the way in which they orient themselves in the environment. The age trends in language development indicate a change from intrinsic and projective to geocentric references, with almost no use of egocentric terms, while the encoding of spatial arrays is predominantly absolute (age changes being task specific). Overall, spatial cognitive development is quite independent of spatial encoding, but shows some statistically significant relations to the use of geocentric language.

Role of Coping Strategies and Social Support in Perceived Illness Consequences and Controllability among Diabetic Women

Interest in the processes by which people cope with stress has grown dramatically over the past decade. In the present study the role of coping strategies and social support in perceived illness consequences and illness controllability beliefs among diabetic women (n = 100) were studied. It was found that approach coping strategies reduced the severity of perceived illness consequences, whereas avoidance coping strategies increased the severity of perceived illness consequences. The approach strategies of coping were positively correlated to self and doctors’ control. The patients characterised by high level of social support felt less severe consequences of illness. These findings are discussed in the context of the current analyses of lay theories and also folk models of illness find due representation.

Geocentric Dead Reckoning in Sanskrit- and Hindi-Medium School Children:

A linguistic and cognitive process that has received scant attention in mainstream developmental psychology is the use of a geocentric frame of spatial reference, which amounts to using a large-scale orientation system (such as cardinal directions) in describing and encoding the location of objects on table space, inside a room. As part of a larger cross-cultural study of the development of this process, in India, Indonesia and Nepal, we present here a study on the possible implications of using a geocentric frame of reference in developing an accurate dead-reckoning skill. Children aged 11 to 15 years in two types of schools in Varanasi, India, who were known from a pretest to use a geocentric frame in language and cognition, were blindfolded, spun around and led blindfolded to a second room. A majority of them were able to keep track of cardinal directions despite these disorienting procedures. They were interviewed about the processes and sources of their skill.

Cultural differences in cognitive styles.

This chapter starts with the “integrated theoretical framework” for the cross-cultural study of behavioural development, which uses an eco-cultural perspective, and shows that child development occurs in the micro-system of a “developmental niche” consisting of the physical and social contexts in which the child lives, educational practices, and parental ethnotheories. The latter are linked to values and cosmologies at the cultural level of the macro-system, such as religious beliefs and practices. Enculturation and socialization are the main processes of cultural transmission, while acculturation also has to be taken into account. The second part then presents a review of the cross-cultural literature on culture and cognition, from which we conclude that cultural differences occur in cognitive styles rather than in the presence or absence of particular cognitive processes. These two theoretical propositions are then illustrated with examples drawn from our research on the development of spatial language and cognition, in particular results from Bali, Indonesia. For example, the likelihood of choosing a geocentric frame of spatial reference is found to be higher in rural, more traditional children who speak Balinese rather than urban, more acculturated children choosing Bahasa Indonesian (a language that favors an egocentric frame). The general conclusion of our research program is phrased in terms of an egocentric vs. geocentric cognitive style. We show supportive evidence from the study of geocentric language and cognition, and discuss the counterexample of results in Switzerland (Geneva), where children did not use a geocentric frame at any time.

The “other” truth of culture and omniculturalism

The paper engages with Jahoda’s (2012) and Moghaddam’s (2012) papers and examines Jahoda’s stand of not seeking to define culture because of the problems posed by the term. It is argued that clarification of a concept can be achieved through systematic analysis of definitions of a term and an acceptable definition can be co-constructed. Definitions are seen important where social policies are to be formulated. Moghaddam’s concept of “omniculturalism” is found problematic in addressing issues related to religious fundamentalism as it does not contest the policies and values of neo-liberalism enshrined in globalization. We suggest an alternate twin strategy that will first address problems of structural inequalities and injustice, followed by intergroup dialoguing involving various religious groups to deal with the processes that lead to creation of the other.