Cognition is the act or process of obtaining knowledge, including perceiving, recognizing, reasoning and judging. Parents in various cultures are the contributors to way tin which children interpret knowledge. How things are portrayed to children in non-western cultures as well as western cultures determines what becomes important to them and determines what they acquire. For example, conclusions show that in the Navajo culture, the relationship between human and animal is very important. Because of this, decisions regarding animals may have a more serious effect than decisions of the "typical" western culture where this relationship is much less emphasized.
Discuss the relationship between culture, cognition and language. Describe the Sapir-Whorf ("linguistic relativity") hypothesis. What are its explanatory strengths and weaknesses.
The portrayed relationship is that thinking (cognition) is not completely determined by the language that is spoken. Instead, how one talks about the culture or people, or events focus attention on those particular things. He argued that in distinguishing between the "duration of events may not be as important in languages that do not have a progressive form, but is more important in progressive languages." It has been argued previously that this is a well-intended effort to change culture meaning by language. This idea can also be opposed.
Identify examples of Vygotsky's contextualist approach during language acquisition and the importance of scaffolding in parent-infant interaction.
Since Vygotsky believed that it is social interaction that shapes the abilities of one across the life span. Before anything else can be explained, scaffolding must be understood. Scaffolding is the temporary support of guidance provided to a child by parents, older siblings, peers, or other adults in the process of solving a problem. An example of this is the interaction between the parent-infant interaction when the child makes noises such as "ba, ma, da, fa" the parent then equates the sound with typical words for the language spoken in that culture. The parent builds scaffolding by guiding the child in developing tools necessary for communication within that specific culture. An example of scaffolding takes place when a mother helps her child complete a puzzle (learn a new skill). Once the child learns this skill, he or she no longer needs the guidance so the "scaffolding is removed." This aspect also happens with language, a parent continues to guide his or her child in learning words and phrases until the child has acquired hat aspect of knowledge on his or her own.
Identify examples of dialectical thought and adaptive logic in early adulthood and discuss how each might be conceptualized and measured in different ecocultural systems.
Adaptive logic is when individuals recognize cognitive limitations and adapt their thinking to meet demands of the environment. This idea becomes conceptualized in different ecocultural systems because demands of different environments and cultures require various cognitive abilities. For example, knowing the best way to hunt may be more important to the Navajo than the concept of working in an office to another culture. The Navajo has to learn certain techniques and adapt to their culture in order to get food, not paying attention to the importance of management skills in another culture.
Dialectical thought is a suggestion that for every viewpoint, there is an opposing viewpoint and both views can be considered simultaneously.
In certain cultures, the views of the elders are the only determining factor in the decision making, however, in other cultures, both the view of the elders and the views of the younger generation are combined and considered in order for final decisions to be made.
Distinguish between fluid and crystallized intelligence and comment on cultural variations in the way wisdom and experience are viewed in terms of different societies' unique developmental niches.
Fluid intelligence is the idea that individuals develop the "ability to form concepts, reason abstractly, and apply material to new situations."
Crystallized intelligence is the individual's accumulated knowledge and experience in a particular culture.
In various cultures it is hard to determine the reaction to one's "cognitive slowdown." Because of that slowness could be excused for experience, which is often respected. This slowness is also expected because of the idea of reflection for matters requiring "wise decisions." In certain cultures, slow cognitive response is positively viewed for the quality of the outcome.
Typically, in western societies, speed is valued much higher than "cognitive slowdown." The ability to make quick decisions is often seen as a sign of true intelligence. In non-western societies, individuals are encouraged to not look at themselves individually but as part of a group, thus "experience is more valuable than quick thought or action."