Humans vs. Animals | Psychology and Culture

What did Tomasello & Hermann (2010) study?

Compared great apes to 2 year-old human children; found similarities between them when it came to thinking about space, quantities, and causality. Found differences in children having a far more sophistication in thinking about social world.

What is cultural learning?

Learning from others and through others that entail important cognitive abilities that allow them to share intentions and facilitate this term. These cognitive abilities provide the foundation ofr cooperation and allow humans to create and transmit culture. Children are ready to lear culture from the moment they are born.

What is socialization?

The process by which we learn and internalize rules and patterns of behavior of the society that we live in. It is influenced by culture; starts from the very first day of life and happens over a long time; involves learning and mastering cultural norms, attitudes, values, and belief systems; can happen through direct and indirect learning.

What is enculturation?

The process to learn and adapt to one’s culture.

Define something that is constant across cultures.

People wishing to become competent, productive adults.

Define something that is different across cultures.

The meaning of competence and productiveness.

What are some agents of socialization and enculturation?

People, institutions, and organizations; essentially what helps people to ensure that it occurs.

What is Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory?

The ecology of human development involves “the scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodation between an active, growing human being and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the developing person lives, as this process is affected by the relations between these settings and by the larger contexts in which the settings are embedded.”

TLDR:

• Human development is a dynamic, interactive process between individuals and various ecologies.

• Ecologies range from proximal and immediate ecologies to more distal ecologies.

• Children contribute to their own development by interacting with and influencing people around them.
  - Children are active architects and producers of their own culture and development.

How is Bronfenbrenner’s Theory divided? (bottom to top; My Mommy Edna Makes Cake)

Microsystem → Mesosystem → Exosystem → Macrosystem → Chronosystem

What is the microsystem? What are examples of things in this system?

The setting that is most proximal/closest to the individual. Everyone with whom the child has consistent, almost daily contact. Examples: Family, friends, neighbors, teachers, religious systems, health services, the physical environment, etc.

What is the mesosystem? What are examples of things in this system?

Represents the linkages and processes taking place between two or more microsystems. It is based on the idea that microsystems mutually influence on another and are not independent. Examples: home and day care, family and peer group, etc.

What is the exosystem? What are examples of things in this system?

Represents the contexts that are beyond the child’s immediate environment, of which children may not directly be part of but which indirectly affect children’s development. Examples: School systems, parent’s workplace, community health, welfare institutions, extended family, hospitals, etc.

*This is a generalized definition. For some children, some examples may belong in the microsystem depending on what is needed for them.

What is the macrosystem? What are examples of things in this system?

Represents customs, values, and laws that are important in the child’s culture. Includes belief systems, resources, hazards, lifestyles, opportunity structures, life course options, patterns of social interchange that are embedded in overarching systems. Examples: culture, religion, society, attitudes, ideologies of cultures, etc.

What is the chronosystem? What are examples of things in this system?

Represents the influence of time, timing, and history. Examples: arrival of a new baby, timing of puberty, historical events.

What is the most important part of a microsystem?

Family; parents are one of the most important socialization agents. Observing parents helps one understand the essence of a culture and how cultural rules and values are reinforced and passed on from one generation to another. Presence or absence.

What is the Six Cultures Study?

Across six countries with differing cultures, they labeled the ecological factors that influenced children’s socialization environments and child development: economy, social structure, settlement pattern, household, and family organization.

What is Levine (1977, 1997)’s Hierarchy of Caregiving? (bottom to top)

Physical Health and Survival → Behaviors that lead to self-sufficiency → Behaviors that promote cultural values

What did Keller et. al (2010)’s study find?

In German cultures, middle-class mothers raised children who are autonomous. In Indian cultures, middle-class mothers raised children who are autonomous but also closely interdependent with others. Cultural differences in parenting goals translated into differences in how mothers interacted and played with their infants.

What are parenting goals?

What characteristics are valued for children as they develop

What is Baumrind’s (1971) dimensions of parenting?

Warmth — Responsivity toward child’s needs

Control — How parents enforce rules, regulations, and expectations.

What are the four parenting styles derived from Baumrind’s (1971) dimensions of parenting?

• Authoritarian (High Control + Low Warmth) — Focuses on obedience and punishment over discipline.

• Authoritative (High Control + High Warmth) — Creates positive relationships while enforcing rules

• Uninvolved (Low Control + Low Warmth) — Provides little guidance, nurturing, or attention. Can be child neglect in extreme forms.

• Permissive (Low Control + High Warmth) — Doesn’t enforce rules as ‘kids will be kids.’

What are the symptoms of certain parenting styles on children?

• Authoritarian — Children have poor communication skills, are socially incompetent, and are aggressive. Can be anxious, withdrawn, lack spontaneity, and intellectual curiosity.

• Authoritative — Children have positive mood, self-reliance, self-confidence, higher emotional and social skills, more secure attachment to caregivers. More psychologically healthy, socially competent, independent, and cooperative children.

• Permissive — Children are usually immature, have difficulty controlling impulses, and acting independently, or socially withdrawn.

• Uninvolved — Children usually have little self-control and little respect for others, more likely to participate in delinquent activities. Can be noncompliant and demanding. Faring for the worst.

What is the controversy surrounding Baumrind’s parenting styles?

These inferences were developed based on observations of White American families. In other cultures, how parental control is defined varies. From the Western perspective, involvement and support can restrict or dominate a child. In the Eastern perspective, this is a form of love.

What did McNeely & Barber (2010) study?

Children across 12 nations/ethnic groups from Africa, Australia, Asia, the Balkans, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America felt loved when:

• Their parents provided a valuable commodity, which varied across culture (ex: emotional support, time, moral, guidance and advice, material resources)

What did Cheah et. al (2015) study?

The differences between European mothers and Chinese mothers in how they expressed warmth to their children. The study found that European parents were far more physical with their warmth and spent quality time with their children. Chinese parents were more practical with their warmth by setting up their lives and satisfying their needs (food).

What are the five domains of parenting practices?

Protection, Control, Reciprocity, Guided Learning, and Group Participation

What role do siblings play in socialization?

Although the definition may vary based on culture, they are a pivotal role in children’s socialization. They can act as tutors, buddies, playmates, and caretakers. You learn skills through them, such as perspective taking, social understanding, and conflict negotiation. The repeated and prolonged interaction makes older siblings influential role models, such as gender role attitudes and delinquent behaviors.

What was Mead (1978)’s study about?

The differing levels of peer influence on socialization.

• Postfigurative Cultures — In cultures where cultural change is slow, socialization occurs primarily by elders transferring their knowledge to their children. Elders hold the knowledge necessary for becoming a successful and competent adult. Lowest peer influence.

• Configurative Cultures — In cultures where cultural change occurs more rapidly, adults continue to socialize their children, but peers play a greater role in socializing each other. Young people may have to turn to one another for advice and information. Median peer influence.

• Prefigurative Cultures — In cultures where cultural change is very rapid, young people may be the ones to teach adults. The knowledge that adults hold may not be sufficient for the next generation, and adults may need to look to younger people for advice and information. High peer influence.

What is the criteria for bullying?

Intentional physical or psychological harm, based on power imbalance between bullying and victim, and repeated over time. Traditional bullying is conducted through hitting, name-calling, spreading rumors, and social exclusion. Cyberbullying is conducted through electronic means, such as social media, text, or blogs.

What did Smith et. al’s (2002) study show?

It studied whether or not the definition and expression of bullying vary across cultures. There were few gender differences. For 8-year-olds, it was aggressive vs. nonaggressive. At 14, different forms of aggression (physical, verbal, and social exclusion) emerge due to sophistication of the mind.

• A cultural difference that was found was that in England, bullying occurs between two people in a playground. In Japan, bullying occurs between a class and one person within a classroom. In Asian countries, social exclusion is the main form of bullying rather than physical or verbal aggression.

How do educational systems play a role in socialization?

They are a formalized mechanism of instruction in many societies and cultures. It contains key enculturation agents and teaches and reinforces cultural values. The school system itself and the content taught in schools reflect the choices regarding what a culture believes is important to learn.