Learning to be Human: teaching, culture and human cognitive evolution

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Teaching Culture ◽  
Life Pattern ◽  
Contemporary Schooling

Psychology has taken an evolutionary turn of late. This paper acknowledges the importance of adopting an evolutionary perspective in attempting to understand human cognition and development, but it suggests that the model adopted by many evolutionary psychologists is incomplete. Learning, teaching and cultural transmission play vital roles in the distinctive human life pattern, but have received inadequate attention in the literature. Drawing upon primatological, anthropological and psychological data, this paper offers an articulation of 'cultural learning', which, it is claimed, is a peculiarly accurate and resilient form of social form, made possible by the uniquely human capacity for an intersubjective engagement with the mental and intentional lives of other people. The paper discusses the character and appearance of imitative, collaborative and instructed forms of learning within early childhood, and tentatively identifies implications for child development and contemporary schooling.

PENANAMAN DISIPLIN PADA ANAK USIA DINI

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-35
Author(s):  
Abdul Ghofar
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Extreme Caution ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Concrete Operational

Early age is the golden age that only occurs once in the development of human life. This period is as well as a critical period in a child’s development. If at this time the child receives less attention,  it is feared that the child can not grow and develop optimally. One of the important things to get attention associated with education given at an early age is giving values of discipline through education in kindergarten. In developing the values   of discipline for early childhood needs to be done with extreme caution. This is because early childhood is children who are in the concrete operational stage of development as proposed by Piaget, while the value of discipline are common abstract concepts, so in this case the children can not necessarily accept what is taught by teachers / parents with abstract nature quickly. For that old man “or” teacher “must be very clever in choosing and determining the method to be used to instill the values of discipline to the child so that the message can be really understood by students for the provision of life in the future There are somes methods to instill the discipline values to the  children that can be offered  in this paper, namely the model of  authoritarian, permissiveness and democracy discipline, or method  of storytelling  or it could be a habituation method. According to the writer, of course each of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefor teachers or parents in  instilling the discipline values   to the children shall be adjusted situation and condition of the child and understand the theories of child development offered by the experts

scholarly journals Plant Experience Questionnaire (Rioux & Wertz 2021)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
camille rioux ◽  
Annie E. Wertz
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Parental Report ◽  
Convergent And Discriminant Validity ◽  
Infancy And Early Childhood ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Experience Questionnaire

A growing body of research investigating plant-related cognition and behaviors demonstrates that plants have shaped human minds and societies and that pursuing empirical research in this area can yield new insights into many aspects of human cognition and development, including food learning, danger avoidance, and cultural transmission. This research would greatly benefit from a validated measure that assesses experience with plants early in life. Here we present the validation of a new measure to assess such experience: The Plant Experience Questionnaire (PEQ), filling a major gap in the literature on plant-related cognition in infancy and early childhood. The PEQ was tested on a sample of 576 caregivers who completed the questionnaire about their child (age = 5-81 months). Factorial analysis revealed a four-dimensional structure of the questionnaire: (1) experience with indoor plants, (2) experience with outdoor plants, (3) eating from plants, and (4) parental prohibition from touching plants. The PEQ displayed good psychometric properties as shown with satisfactory internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity and is suitable for a broad age range from infancy to early childhood. Therefore, the PEQ is an efficient and valuable tool for assessing plant experience in early life via parental report.

scholarly journals AKULTURASI BUDAYA MELAYU DALAM TERJEMAH AL QURAN (Studi Signifikansi Bahasa al-Quran Terjemahan terhadap Pemahaman Islam di Sumatera Selatan)

1970 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-221
Author(s):  
Anisatul Mardiah
Keyword(s):  
Transmission Line ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Human Life ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
The South ◽  
Arabic Translation ◽  
Life Pattern ◽  
Real Picture ◽  
Regional Languages ◽  
Local Languages

Acculturation can also be called the process of spreading culture or cultural transmission in process. In disseminating the contents of the al-Quran among Muslims who are not Arabic, translation is certainly a necessity that must be fulfilled. Al-Quran translation in nusantara Indonesia has been going on since the 17th century. Beginning with Hamzah Fansuri, an ulama of Aceh, in the following period, the al-Quran was translated into various regional languages as well as Malay. Translation also became the main transmission line of the al-Quran to have direct dialogue with non-Arab Muslims, which turned out to be able to bring people towards advanced and more valuable civilizations. Especially in the South Sumatra region, the spread of the al-Quran and its translation in local languages made the ummah closer to the teachings of Islam. In the end, it was difficult to distinguish between acculturation and assimilation of Islam in various Malay customs and cultures in all areas of human life, because at the peak of the Malay slogan based on Shari'ah, Shari'ah based on the Koran and Hadith, is a real picture of the Malay of South Sumatr’s life pattern based on Islam.

scholarly journals PERANAN ORANG TUA DALAM PEMBINAAN DAN PENGEMBANGAN BAHASA PADA ANAK USIA 2-6 TAHUN

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Mainizar Mainizar
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Essential Factor ◽  
Developmental Age

One aspect of child development that parents are to be developed is language skills. Because language skills are very important in human life, especially to convey wishes, ideas, and problems encountered in everyday life. Language is the ability to communicate with other, in which the thoughts and feelings expressed in the form of symbols or symbols to express the sense of something. Language is an essential factor that distinguishes man from animals. With human language can position itself as civilized creatures and develop its culture. Language skills in children will develop in accordance with the developmental age. However, the development and progress of language would be better if accompanied by coaching and guidance from parents.Many things can be done in the parent language development in early childhood as pioneered and laid the foundation on child language,motor exercises, habit, maintain and supervise the children and prevent child language disrespectful language, develop language skills through play, and communicate actively in family.

Cultural evolution and cultural psychology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Mesoudi
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Cultural Inheritance ◽  
Human Psychology

Cultural evolution is a branch of the evolutionary sciences which assumes that (i) human cognition and behaviour is shaped not only by genetic inheritance, but also cultural inheritance (also known as social learning), and (ii) this cultural inheritance constitutes a Darwinian evolutionary system that can be analysed and studied using tools borrowed from evolutionary biology. In this chapter I explore the numerous compatibilities between the fields of cultural evolution and cultural psychology, and the potential mutual benefits from their closer alignment. First, understanding the evolutionary context within which human psychology emerged gives added significance to the findings of cultural psychologists, which reinforce the conclusion reached by cultural evolution scholars that humans inhabit a ‘cultural niche’ within which the major means of adaptation to difference environments is cultural, rather than genetic. Hence, we should not be surprised that human psychology shows substantial cross-cultural variation. Second, a focus on cultural transmission pathways, drawing on cultural evolution models and empirical research, can help to explain to the maintenance of, and potential changes in, cultural variation in psychological processes. Evidence from migrants, in particular, points to a mix of vertical, oblique and horizontal cultural transmission that can explain the differential stability of different cultural dimensions. Third, cultural evolutionary methods offer powerful means of testing historical (“macro-evolutionary”) hypotheses put forward by cultural psychologists for the origin of psychological differences. Explanations in terms of means of subsistence, rates of environmental change or pathogen prevalence can be tested using quantitative models and phylogenetic analyses that can be used to reconstruct cultural lineages. Evolutionary considerations also point to potential problems with current cross-country comparisons conducted within cultural psychology, such as the non-independence of data points due to shared cultural history. Finally, I argue that cultural psychology can play a central role in a synthetic evolutionary science of culture, providing valuable links between individual-oriented disciplines such as experimental psychology and neuroscience on the one hand, and society-oriented disciplines such as anthropology, history and sociology on the other, all within an evolutionary framework that provides links to the biological sciences.

EFFECTS OF PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES and PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: A RESEARCH REVIEW

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (26) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pushpita Rajawat
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Child Development ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
National Level ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Research Review ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

The relative effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches and pedagogies in early childhood has raised substantial debate. While the other are associated with the acquisition of basic skills and knowledge and some of them are associated with socio-emotional development and problem-solving abilities. In general, research revealed both positive and negative effects of pedagogical approaches, without favouring specific pedagogical approaches over mainstream ones. However, it is important to note that research evidence and studies considering the same approaches in the same context are very limited. On the other hand, specific pedagogical practices are found to enhance child development, including high-quality interactions involving sustained-shared thinking methods, play-based learning, scaffolding, as well as a combination of staff- and child initiated activities. Research impacts pedagogy and pedagogical practices in the sense that research findings can inform policy makers and practitioners on best practices and what works best in enhancing staff performance, process quality and child development. Research on pedagogy and practices is usually not conducted at the national level, but focuses on particular programmes. So, research review has been used as a guide or manual to provide pedagogical guidance for Early Childhood Education (ECE) staff not only in India but also worldwide. The main focus of the study is that how of the best pedagogical practices and approaches across the country can be useful and implemented in early childhood education

scholarly journals Extended parenting and the evolution of cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1803) ◽  
pp. 20190495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Uomini ◽  
Joanna Fairlie ◽  
Russell D. Gray ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cultural Learning

Traditional attempts to understand the evolution of human cognition compare humans with other primates. This research showed that relative brain size covaries with cognitive skills, while adaptations that buffer the developmental and energetic costs of large brains (e.g. allomaternal care), and ecological or social benefits of cognitive abilities, are critical for their evolution. To understand the drivers of cognitive adaptations, it is profitable to consider distant lineages with convergently evolved cognitions. Here, we examine the facilitators of cognitive evolution in corvid birds, where some species display cultural learning, with an emphasis on family life. We propose that extended parenting (protracted parent–offspring association) is pivotal in the evolution of cognition: it combines critical life-history, social and ecological conditions allowing for the development and maintenance of cognitive skillsets that confer fitness benefits to individuals. This novel hypothesis complements the extended childhood idea by considering the parents' role in juvenile development. Using phylogenetic comparative analyses, we show that corvids have larger body sizes, longer development times, extended parenting and larger relative brain sizes than other passerines. Case studies from two corvid species with different ecologies and social systems highlight the critical role of life-history features on juveniles’ cognitive development: extended parenting provides a safe haven, access to tolerant role models, reliable learning opportunities and food, resulting in higher survival. The benefits of extended juvenile learning periods, over evolutionary time, lead to selection for expanded cognitive skillsets. Similarly, in our ancestors, cooperative breeding and increased group sizes facilitated learning and teaching. Our analyses highlight the critical role of life-history, ecological and social factors that underlie both extended parenting and expanded cognitive skillsets. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals’.

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