ATL: Critical thinking

A study by Matsumoto and Juang (2004) challenged Piagetian developmental markers. They studied three cultures: Inuit of Canada, Baoul of the Central African Republic, and Aranda of Australia. The Inuit children solved a spatial task at age 7; the Aranda children at age 9; the Baoul children at age 12. However, when tested on the conservation of liquids, the Baoul children solved it at age 8; Inuit children at age 9; and Aranda children at age 12.

This study shows that cognitive skills reflect the demands placed on members of a society in their given environment. The Inuit and Aranda are nomadic societies in which children develop spatial skills at a younger age due to being part of ever-moving families, while the Baoul children live in a settled society where travel is minimal.  But the Baoul children are required to fetch water and store grain, which develops their liquid-conservation skills.

Read the following quote about developmental psychology from Matsumoto and Juang (2004, 172).

It is probably more than coincidence that stage theories produced by Westerners judge people from other cultures - and minorities within their own countries - in terms of how closely they resemble Westerners, thereby placing themselves at a relatively superior level of development. The popularity of stage theories in the 19th century, for example, coincided with the colonial European imperialism of the period.

Questions

1. What other cultural and/or environmental factors may not be taken into account when discussing child development in the West?

2.  To what extent do you agree with the statement by Matsumoto and Juang?  What does this mean for us as students of psychology?