Between Culture and Biology: Perspectives on Ontogenetic Development

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Breaking away from the traditional nature/nurture dialectic, this study brings together biological, psychological and cultural perspectives on development. It asserts that the biological bases of behavior and cultural context should be approached in an integrated fashion to properly understand ontogenetic development and the constraints and opportunities for development. It also examines influences on developmental theory and the extent to which cultural ideas and practices reflect biological and psychological constraints.

Author(s): Heidi Keller, Ype H. Poortinga, Axel Scholmerich
Series: Cambridge Studies in Cognitive and Perceptual Development
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2003

Language: English
Pages: 450

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Figures......Page 13
Tables......Page 15
Notes on contributors......Page 16
Acknowledgements......Page 23
Introduction......Page 25
Organization of the book......Page 29
REFERENCES......Page 32
Part I Setting the scene......Page 35
1 Culture, biology and development across history......Page 37
Early background......Page 38
The Enlightenment......Page 39
Biology, race and development......Page 41
From biology to culture......Page 43
Fading of the boundaries......Page 48
Concluding comments......Page 50
REFERENCES......Page 51
2 Comparative developmental perspectives on culture: the great apes......Page 54
Missing links: culture and cognition, cognition and development......Page 55
Enculturation......Page 56
Evaluation......Page 57
‘Life history’ perspectives on culture in great apes......Page 60
Ecological demands......Page 61
Sociality......Page 62
Culture through the life cycle in orang-utans......Page 63
Evidence on orang-utan culture......Page 66
Hearts of palm......Page 68
Palm pith......Page 70
Life history perspectives on culture in other great apes......Page 71
Discussion......Page 74
REFERENCES......Page 75
Culture reinforces biology......Page 81
Culture and biology are mutually adapted for survival......Page 84
Culture selects from biology......Page 85
Individualism/independence and collectivism/interdependence: two idealized pathways through universal developmental stages......Page 86
Developmentally gradated tools......Page 89
Cognitive stages as age-dependent sensitive periods for cultural learning......Page 96
REFERENCES......Page 98
Part II Perspectives on development informed by culture......Page 101
4 Indian parents’ ethnotheories as reflections of the Hindu scheme of child and human development......Page 103
The Hindu world view and the scheme of human development......Page 104
Value of children and desired qualities in a ‘good child’......Page 107
Capturing social change......Page 108
Interpretations of cultural rules for marriage-partner selection......Page 109
REFERENCES......Page 111
Key concepts......Page 113
Boundaries of childhood......Page 115
Dimensions of childhood......Page 116
Conditions for development......Page 118
Divisions of childhood......Page 120
Conceptions of childhood and children’s rights......Page 125
Childhood and youth development in difficult circumstances......Page 128
Contributions of southern African conceptions of childhood to global developmental science......Page 131
Concluding remarks......Page 133
REFERENCES......Page 134
Genesis and characteristics of myth......Page 140
Ways of handling myth......Page 143
From myth to phantasm......Page 148
Chaos and guilt......Page 152
The counter-myth......Page 154
And finally?......Page 155
REFERENCES......Page 158
7 Integrating cultural, psychological and biological perspectives in understanding child development......Page 160
Development viewpoints......Page 161
Social psychological perspectives......Page 162
Biological viewpoints......Page 163
Implications for psychological explanation of cultural psychology......Page 165
Symbolic view of culture......Page 166
Culture and biology in psychological explanation......Page 167
Conceptions of self and others......Page 168
Development of moral understandings......Page 170
Process understandings of biological and cultural influences......Page 174
Conclusion......Page 175
REFERENCES......Page 176
Part III Perspectives on development drawing from the universal and the specific......Page 181
8 Between individuals and culture: individuals’ evaluations of exclusion from social groups......Page 183
Judgements about inclusion and exclusion......Page 184
Children’s domain-specific knowledge......Page 185
Children’s stereotypic knowledge......Page 190
Reasoning about inclusion and exclusion in multiple contexts......Page 194
Japanese and American children’s judgements about exclusion......Page 201
Exclusion in the family context......Page 202
The individual or the group?......Page 204
The individual and the group revisited......Page 206
Conclusions......Page 207
REFERENCES......Page 209
Child rearing and motive development: an empirical study......Page 215
Universal relationships between child rearing and aggression......Page 217
Culture-specific relationships......Page 219
The wider context......Page 220
Tradition......Page 221
Naive personality theories and value systems......Page 222
Religion, seniority and teacher’s authority......Page 223
Cultural context and developmental outcome......Page 224
First global evidence of heritability......Page 225
Chemical (hormonal) factors......Page 226
Integration of cultural and biological factors......Page 228
REFERENCES......Page 232
Part IV Perspectives on development informed by evolutionary thinking......Page 237
Biological underpinnings: the evolutionary heritage......Page 239
Learning relationships: the acquisition of a social matrix......Page 241
Infants and caregivers: biological preparedness for relationship formation......Page 244
Component model of parenting......Page 245
Parenting system 1: primary care......Page 246
Parenting system 2: body contact......Page 247
Parenting system 3: body stimulation......Page 248
Parenting system 5: face-to-face......Page 249
Attention......Page 250
Sensitivity towards positive and negative signals......Page 251
Warmth......Page 252
Contingency......Page 253
Conclusion......Page 254
REFERENCES......Page 256
Evolutionary approaches......Page 265
Diversity within evolutionary thought......Page 266
Infant caregiving in three cultures......Page 271
The study and the families......Page 272
Background......Page 273
Patterns of caregiver–infant proximity and responsiveness......Page 274
Caregiver–infant responsiveness......Page 276
Applying evolutionary approaches......Page 277
Evolutionary psychology......Page 278
Evolutionary ecology......Page 281
Evolutionary cultural anthropology......Page 285
Integration......Page 288
Summary and conclusions......Page 290
REFERENCES......Page 291
12 Shame across cultures: the evolution, ontogeny and function of a ‘moral emotion’......Page 294
On the origins of the ‘negative self-reflexive emotions’ and the blushing/flushing complex......Page 296
Social consensus and the adjustment of the self......Page 298
The development of shame and related members of the ‘family of self-reflexive emotions’......Page 299
Blushing and the panhuman shame complex: the ‘natural semantic metalanguage’ and a cross-cultural approach......Page 304
The data and the analysis......Page 305
Shame, fear, anger and rage......Page 313
Conclusion......Page 314
REFERENCES......Page 315
Appendix I......Page 322
Appendix II......Page 323
Part V Metaperspectives......Page 325
13 Culture and development......Page 327
Embryogenesis......Page 328
Postnatal development......Page 329
Culture as the species-specific medium of human development......Page 330
Examples from early ontogeny......Page 332
Prolepsis: a cultural mechanism of induction?......Page 333
Phylogenetic precursors......Page 336
Early ontogeny......Page 337
A tentative summation......Page 340
REFERENCES......Page 341
14 Behaviour–culture relationships and ontogenetic development......Page 344
The (non-)identity of psychological functioning across cultures......Page 345
The (in)coherence of culture......Page 347
Loosening culture–behaviour relationships......Page 350
Redefining culture–behaviour relationships......Page 351
Non-linear dynamics as models of choice......Page 354
Constraints and discontinuities in ontogenetic development......Page 355
Conclusion......Page 359
REFERENCES......Page 360
Kuhn’s approach: some comments......Page 365
Critical reception of Kuhn’s approach......Page 366
The usefulness of paradigms: perspectives guide theorizing and research......Page 369
Recent trends in (cross-cultural) psychology: identifying perspectives in psychology......Page 372
Distinguishing features......Page 374
The physical perspective (mechanistic view of human beings)......Page 376
The biological perspective (organismic, evolutionary view of human beings)......Page 377
The perspective of the self-reflective human being......Page 379
The cultural perspective (the historically situated human being)......Page 381
Demarcation of the four perspectives: classical dichotomies in psychology......Page 382
A closer look at the relationships between perspectives: beyond incommensurability......Page 386
Relationships as seen from the physical perspective......Page 389
Relationships as seen from the biological perspective......Page 390
Relationships as seen from the self-reflective perspective......Page 392
Relationships as seen from the cultural perspective......Page 396
Cultural psychology: more than a sub-branch of psychology......Page 398
REFERENCES......Page 399
16 Epilogue: conceptions of ontogenetic development; integrating and demarcating perspectives......Page 408
Perspectives on development......Page 409
(Mainly) phylogenetic orientations......Page 410
(Mainly) cultural origins......Page 412
(Mainly) psychological concerns......Page 414
Three themes......Page 415
Conceptions of change and continuity......Page 416
Future research and theorizing......Page 419
Conclusion......Page 422
REFERENCES......Page 423
Author index......Page 427
Subject index......Page 439