A comparison between the development of the appearance-reality distinction in the People's Republic of China and the United States

Flavell, John H.; Zhang, Xiaodong; Zou, Hong; Dong, Qi; Qi, Sen

doi:10.1016/0010-0285(83)90015-4

Cited by 83 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The results showing no cultural differences in representational tasks are consistent with studies conducted in both the West (e.g., Wellman et al, 2001) and the East (e.g., Flavell et al, 1983b). However, there is some evidence of subtle differences in non-representational naïve psychology task performance.…”

Section: Subtle Differences Between Uk and Singaporesupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Most studies examining the influence of culture on the development of naïve psychology have focused on a single country, continent, or region, including: Africa (e.g., Avis and Harris, 1991), Asia (e.g., Flavell et al, 1983b;Naito et al, 1994;Lee et al, 1999;Tardif and Wellman, 2000), Australia (e.g., Siegal and Beattie, 1991;Nielsen and Dissanayake, 2004), North America (e.g., Gopnik and Astington, 1988;Wellman and Bartsch, 1988;Moses and Flavell, 1990;Wellman and Woolley, 1990;Gopnik and Slaughter, 1991;Moses, 1993), Europe (e.g., Wimmer and Perner, 1983;Brown and Dunn, 1991;Perner et al, 1987) and the Middle East (e.g., Yazdi et al, 2006). These studies provide evidence that the development of understanding of internal mental states such as pretence, desires, emotions, perceptions, intentions and beliefs corresponds with a similar marked shift between 2 and 5 years of age in a variety of different cultures.…”

Section: Cultural Universals and Differences In Naïve Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Cross-Cultural Variations in Naïve Psychology among 2-year-olds: A Comparison of Children in the United Kingdom and Singapore

Lim¹,

Williams²,

Cebula

et al. 2010

J Cogn Cult

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Children's understanding of naïve psychology is the main focus of this study. Research evidence suggests that 2-and 3-year-olds understand some aspects of naïve psychology. By 4 years, they develop internal representations of mental states. Previous studies have also reported crosscultural variations in naïve psychology development. The majority of this research has focused on Western individualistic societies such as Australia, Europe and North America, and Eastern collectivism societies such as China and Japan. Singapore with its blend of Eastern and Western values represents a unique case for comparison with Western societies. This paper reports a crosscultural study of young children's developing understanding of naïve psychology in Edinburgh, UK and Singapore. It addresses three main questions: (a) Are there cross-cultural differences in the development of naïve psychology?; (b) What are children's performance sequences on naïve psychology tasks?; and (c) Are naïve psychology concepts coherent? The participants were 87 children from the UK (n=43, mean age 2 years 4 months) and Singapore (n=44, mean age 2 years 5 months). This study incorporated several established tasks of pretence, desires, emotions, perceptions, appearance-reality and false-beliefs to investigate children's understanding of non-representational and representational mental states. The results showed no gross crosscultural differences. However, significant cultural differences in performance on two tasks and differences in the coherence of naïve psychology concepts were identified. The results highlight the importance of considering subtle cultural influences on children's developing understanding of various aspects of naïve psychology.

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Section: Subtle Differences Between Uk and Singaporesupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Cultural Universals and Differences In Naïve Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-Cultural Variations in Naïve Psychology among 2-year-olds: A Comparison of Children in the United Kingdom and Singapore

Lim¹,

Williams²,

Cebula

et al. 2010

J Cogn Cult

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However Avis and Harris's (1991) study illustrates the power of the two-cultures approach in bolstering a claim for universality (see also Flavell, Zhang, Zou, Dong, & Qi, 1983, for similar evidence among Chinese children). Cultures that are theoretically maximally divergent on the domain under question yield the most convincing examples of potential universals (e.g., comparing color perception across groups that differ in their color terms, Heider & Oliver, 1972; but see Roberson et al, 2000Roberson et al, , 2004 comparing facial expressions across cultures with minimal shared cultural history and contact with each other, Ekman, Sorenson, & Friesen, 1969).…”

Section: Generalizability Across Two Culturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Universals: What Are They and How Can We Know?

Norenzayan¹,

Heine²

2005

Psychological Bulletin

657

530

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Psychological universals, or core mental attributes shared by humans everywhere, are a foundational postulate of psychology, yet explicit analysis of how to identify such universals is lacking. This article offers a conceptual and methodological framework to guide the investigation of genuine universals through empirical analysis of psychological patterns across cultures. Issues of cross-cultural generalizability of psychological processes and 3 cross-cultural research strategies to probe universals are considered. Four distinct levels of hierarchically organized universals are possible: From strongest to weakest claims for universality, they are accessibility universals, functional universals, existential universals, and nonuniversals. Finally, universals are examined in relation to the questions of levels of analysis, evolutionary explanations of psychological processes, and management of cross-cultural relations.

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“…Similarly, preschoolers and adults in most cultures known to anthropologists have a "theory of biology," which dictates that species have biological "essences" and that superficial transformations performed on an animal do not alter its species-specific essence (Atran, 1998;Berlin, 1992;Berlin, Breedlove, & Raven, 1973;Gelman & Hirschfeld, 1998;Keil, 1994). Preschoolers and adults across cultures also have an elaborate "theory of mind," which entails, among other things, the attribution of beliefs and desires to people, and the appreciation that people may have false beliefs (Avis & Harris, 1991;Callahan et al, 2005;Flavell, Zhang, Zou, Dong, & Qui, 1983;Gardner, Harris, Ohmoto, & Hamazaki, 1988).…”

Section: Intuitive and Counterintuitive Concepts In Cultural Narrativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memory and Mystery: The Cultural Selection of Minimally Counterintuitive Narratives

et al. 2006

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We hypothesize that cultural narratives such as myths and folktales are more likely to achieve cultural stability if they correspond to a minimally counterintuitive (MCI) cognitive template that includes mostly intuitive concepts combined with a minority of counterintuitive ones. Two studies tested this hypothesis, examining whether this template produces a memory advantage, and whether this memory advantage explains the cultural success of folktales. In a controlled laboratory setting, Study 1 found that an MCI template produces a memory advantage after a 1-week delay, relative to entirely intuitive or maximally counterintuitive cognitive templates. Using archival methods, Study 2 examined the cognitive structure of Grimm Brothers folktales. Compared to culturally unsuccessful folktales, those that were demonstrably successful were especially likely to fit an MCI template. These findings highlight the role of human memory processes in cultural evolution.

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A comparison between the development of the appearance-reality distinction in the People's Republic of China and the United States

Cited by 83 publications

References 2 publications

Cross-Cultural Variations in Naïve Psychology among 2-year-olds: A Comparison of Children in the United Kingdom and Singapore

Cross-Cultural Variations in Naïve Psychology among 2-year-olds: A Comparison of Children in the United Kingdom and Singapore

Psychological Universals: What Are They and How Can We Know?

Memory and Mystery: The Cultural Selection of Minimally Counterintuitive Narratives

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