Developmental Psychology and Cultural Bias

Podcast

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

Questions and Answers

What is a major limitation of developmental psychology as indicated by Nielson et al. (2017)?

It primarily studies child development in rural areas.

It emphasizes the role of genetics in development.

It largely focuses on WEIRD samples. (correct)

It disregards the influence of immediate family interactions.

Which assumption about development is considered ethnocentric according to the findings discussed?

Social norms play a minimal role in child development.

Development is affected by relationships at multiple environmental levels.

Children acquire cultural knowledge through personal experiences.

Development follows a universal stage-like process. (correct)

What is the consequence of cultural bias in research methods?

It enhances the accuracy of cross-cultural findings.

It may lead to confirmation bias in research conclusions. (correct)

It simplifies the complexities of human behavior.

It encourages a diverse range of research participants.

Which concept explains how culture is both stable and variable over time?

Cumulative process Signup and view all the answers

According to the content, how do children primarily learn about their culture?

By actively observing and imitating others. Signup and view all the answers

What role do emotional cues play in children's learning about culture?

They contribute to emotion learning and societal norms. Signup and view all the answers

How does Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model view child development?

As influenced by multiple levels of relationships and environments. Signup and view all the answers

What is 'high-fidelity imitation' in the context of cultural learning?

Imitating behaviours, even those perceived as unnecessary. Signup and view all the answers

What is a suggested impact of having a narrow cultural focus in research participants?

It can result in findings that do not generalize across cultures. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes social learning as it pertains to cultural acquisition?

A method through which individuals learn from observing others. Signup and view all the answers

What is the distinction between mimicry and high-fidelity imitation in children?

Mimicry is unintentional imitation, whereas high-fidelity imitation involves copying unnecessary actions. Signup and view all the answers

What factor influences children's likelihood to overimitate according to Krieger et al. (2020)?

The social group membership of the model being copied. Signup and view all the answers

What aspect did Rochat et al. (2014) find regarding children's understanding of ownership?

Ownership reasoning is linked to family wealth and socioeconomic status. Signup and view all the answers

Which finding regarding fairness norms was observed by Blake et al. (2015)?

Older children show increasing rejection of unfair offers that disadvantage themselves. Signup and view all the answers

What did the cultural study on sharing by Weltzein et al. (2019) discover about family structure influences?

Exposure to interdependent values increases sharing among extended family children. Signup and view all the answers

Which condition showed the least consistent results in children's attribution of ownership as per Rochat et al. (2014)?

First contact condition Signup and view all the answers

How did children from different cultures react to resource distribution in Blake et al.'s (2015) study?

Cultural context significantly affected their willingness to accept unfair offers. Signup and view all the answers

What phenomenon did Horner & Whiten (2004) illustrate regarding high-fidelity imitation in children versus chimpanzees?

Children imitate all steps in a task, regardless of necessity, unlike chimpanzees. Signup and view all the answers

In what way did the cultural study findings differ between children in the USA and China regarding ownership?

Children from both countries assigned ownership differently based on socio-economic conditions. Signup and view all the answers

What did the global phenomenon of overimitation reveal about children from different cultures?

Overimitation is essential for cultural transmission in children everywhere. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Inherent Bias in Developmental Psychology

Developmental psychology has historically studied WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic) samples, leading to a limited understanding of development in other cultures.
Common assumptions include universal development with a specific timeline, stage-like development, and applicability of methods across all cultures. These assumptions are ethnocentric.
Bias exists in research questions (often relevant only to the researcher's culture) and participant selection (often limiting participants to the researcher's culture).
Research tools and methods may be culturally biased since they're developed and validated within a single culture.
Culture encompasses social norms and behaviours specific to a society.

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model

Child development is a complex system of relationships influenced by multiple environmental levels.

Foundations of Culture

Culture is relatively stable over time, yet varies across communities.
Cultural knowledge, skills, and social conventions accumulate over generations.
Culture evolves and adapts through social learning.

How Children Learn about Culture

Children are active learners, acquiring cultural knowledge through various strategies.
Social Learning: Children learn by observing and interacting with others.
Emotion Learning: Children learn emotional cues.
Natural Pedagogy: Children are predisposed to learn from demonstrations and instructions.
Questioning: Children actively seek clarification and new information.
High-Fidelity Imitation: Children imitate actions, even unnecessary ones, to understand cultural norms.

Types of Imitation

Imitation: Learning by observing and mimicking another's behaviour. Essential for social learning and skill acquisition.
Mimicry: Unintentional and unconscious imitation.
High-Fidelity Imitation or Overimitation: Copying actions even if unnecessary; a uniquely human trait.

Features of Overimitation and its Role in Developing Culture

Uniquely Human Trait: Children, unlike chimpanzees, often copy unnecessary actions.
Innate: Overimitation may be innate, not solely due to demand characteristics in studies.
Cultural Transmission: Overimitation allows children to learn complex social conventions.
Socially Selective: Children may be more likely to imitate members of their ingroup.
Global Phenomenon: Overimitation has been observed across various cultures.
Maintaining Cultural Customs: Children actively protest against deviations from cultural rules in their actions/behaviours.

Studies Showing How Culture Affects Development

Ownership and Culture (Rochat et al., 2014)

Children across cultures begin to understand ownership around age 2, implying this is an early developmental stage.
Ownership reasoning is influenced by wealth, generosity, and political ideals, reflective of cultural values.
Study observed responses (of children from different cultures) to ownership scenarios (first contact, familiarity, creation, rich-poor, neutral).
Children across cultures showed consistent understanding in contexts of creation and familiarity for ownership. However, conditions like first contact and wealth comparisons yielded diverse outcomes showing cultural variations.
U.S and Chinese children were more likely to assign ownership to the "poor puppet" reflecting cultural differences.

Fairness Norms (Blake et al., 2015)

Children from different cultures demonstrate varying degrees of willingness to reject unfair offers.
Fair Offers: Low rejection rates for fair offers across cultures.
Unfair Offers to Self: With age, children are more likely to reject unfair offers that disadvantage them.
Unfair Offers to Others: Children in some cultures (e.g., USA, Canada, Uganda) were more likely to reject unfair offers that benefitted them, while others (e.g., Mexico, Peru, China, Senegal) were less likely.
Development of fairness norms is influenced by both universal and cultural aspects.

This study examined how cultural and family contexts influence children's sharing behaviour.
Priming Interviews: Participants were subtly prompted toward either independence or interdependence in a priming interview.
Independent Priming: Children primed toward independence were more likely to take all resources for themselves.
Interdependent Priming: Children in extended families were more likely to share, while there wasn't a similar effect for nuclear families.
Family-level cultural factors have a stronger influence on sharing behaviour than country-level factors.

Studying That Suits You

Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.

Description

This quiz explores the inherent biases in developmental psychology, particularly regarding the limitations of WEIRD samples and the implications for cultural understanding in child development. It also examines Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model and foundational cultural concepts that influence psychological research. Test your knowledge on these important themes in psychology.