Indigenous Cognition: Functioning in Cultural Context

Cognitive psychology has established itself as one of the major branches of the discipline. with much to its credit in such areas as decision making. information processing. memory and learning. Similarly. the assessment of cognitive abilities has become one of the hallmarks of the practice of psychology in the school. in the factory and in the clinic. In recent years. these two branches have begun to interact. and the two approaches have begun mutually to engage each other. A third trend, that of cross-cultural cognitive psychology, has been informed both by experimental cognitive sciences and by the practice of ability assessment (see. for example. Berry and Dasen, 1974; Cole and Scribner, 1974). However. the reverse has not been true: the cognitive processes and abilities of much of the world's peoples studied by cross-cultural psychologists have not been introduced to psychologists working in these two Western traditions (see Irvine and Berry, 1987). This volume attempts to begin this introduction by asking the question: "What is known about the cognitive functions of other peoples that could enable extant psychology to become more comprehensive, to attain a 'universal' cognitive psychology?" Who are these "other peoples". and by extension, what then is "indigenous cognition"? The first question is rather easy to answer. but the second is more difficult.

Klappentext

Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Indigenous Cognition and Models of Information Processing, Kingston, Canada, June 15-20, 1986

Inhalt
I Indigenous and Universal Cognition.- 1 Cognitive Values and Cognitive Competence Among the Bricoleurs.- 2 Culturally Invariant Parameters of Cognitive Functioning.- 3 Coding, Attention, and Planning: A Cap for Every Head.- 4 The Whorfian Hypothesis Revisited: A Cognitive Science View of Linguistic and Cultural Effects on Thought.- 5 Alphabetic Literacy and Brain Processes.- 6 An Ecological and Social Cross-Cultural Model: The Case of Greece.- II African Evidence.- 7 Cognitive Competence in Africa and Models of Information Processing: A Research Prospectus.- 8 Constructing the Intellect of the Shona: A Taxonomic Approach.- 9 Distance Constancy in Bushmen: An Exploratory Study.- 10 A Comparative Study of Cognitive Style AmongBiaka PygmiesBangandu Villagers.- III Native North American Evidence.- 11 Contextualisation and Differentiation In Cross-Cultural Cognition.- 12 Cree Cognition in Natural and Educational Contexts.- 13 Indian Achievement in School: Adaptation to Hostile Environments.- Contributors To This Volume.- Author Index.