An in-progress research report of perceptual-cognitive development of young black children in three cultures.
This paper examines a study of perceptual-cognitive development among black children from three cultures. The study investigates patterns of perceptual and cognitive functioning as a transaction among developmental, genetic, environmental, cultural, and child-rearing variables. The samples consisted of four and eight year olds from three distinct groups: (1) white and black middle socio-economic status (SES) children from the US; (2) lower and middle SES children from St. Kitts in the Caribbean; and (3) middle SES children from Nigeria. The research paradigm permits a cross-cultural comparison of three samples of middle-class, urban, English-speaking, black children in relation to six areas of perceptual-cognitive development, four anthropometric, and three physiological measures. Because of the inclusion of a white sample, the interactions of SES, race, culture, nutritional status, proximity to the equator, and physical growth and development can be correlated with the performance of black children on perceptual-cognitive tasks. Results of data analyzed thus far are reported and implications are discussed.
D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D044383:Black People; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria; D010465:Perception; D014900:West Indies