scholarly journals Towards a Model of Valued Human Cognitive Abilities: An African Perspective Based on a Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Oppong

Studies that investigate cognitive ability in African children and estimate the general cognitive abilities of African adults tend to work with existing models of intelligence. However, African philosophy and empirical studies in cross-cultural psychology have demonstrated that conceptualizations of human cognitive ability vary with location. This paper begins with the assumption that the existing Anglo-American models of cognitive abilities are valuable but limited in their capacity to account for the various conceptualizations of valued cognitive abilities in different human societies. On the basis of this assumption, I employ extant empirical evidence generated through ethnographic studies across Africa to formulate what an African model of valued human cognitive ability ought to be. The output of this formulation has been so christened a model of valued cognitive ability in order to draw attention to the fact that models of cognitive abilities have currency and values in each human society. This value allocation is expected to influence which elements of cognitive ability each human society will promote and develop. In addition, implications for theory, research and praxes are discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Nurpuri Waraswati ◽  
Rini Andriani

Early Childhood Education (PAUD) implements education that refers to all the basic aspects or abilities that are developing in the child. The basic ability of children is very interesting to be studied, one of them cognitive abilities of children. It is raised in connection with the lack of cognitive abilities in Adinda Cahaya kindergarten with the present method mainly through the activity of the art of music. The existing formulation in this study is "The activity of music art that can improve the cognitive abilities of children". The purpose of this study is to describe the cognitive abilities of children in music art activities.. There are six levels of cognitive ability: knowledge, understanding, application of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Research questions are 1). How does music activity and music learning time to support the development of children's cognitive abilities? 2. How does the child's memory of what the teacher has taught in music art activities? 3) How are children's development related to cognitive ability? The conclusion is that the study of music art gives a positive and influential effect on the child's cognitive development that will stimulate brain development and emotional intelligence.


2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Morris ◽  
Tanya Menon ◽  
Daniel R. Ames

Many tendencies in social perceivers' judgments about individuals and groups can be integrated in terms of the premise that perceivers rely on implicit theories of agency acquired from cultural traditions. Whereas American culture primarily conceptualizes agency as a property of individual persons, other cultures conceptualize agency primarily in terms of collectives such as groups or nonhuman actors such as deities or fate. Cultural conceptions of agency exist in public forms (discourses, texts, and institutions) and private forms (perceivers' knowledge structures), and the more prominent the public representations of a specific conception in a society, the more chronically accessible it will be in perceivers' minds. We review evidence for these claims by contrasting North American and Chinese cultures. From this integrative model of social perception as mediated by agency conceptions, we draw insights for research on implicit theories and research on culture. What implicit theory research gains is a better grasp on the content, origins, and variation of the knowledge structures central to social perception. What cultural psychology gains is a middle-range model of the mechanism underlying cultural influence on dispositional attribution, which yields precise predictions about the domain specificity and dynamics of cultural differences.


2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 1376-1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A Okely ◽  
Ian J Deary

Abstract Objectives Loneliness is associated with poorer cognitive function in old age; however, the direction of this association is unknown. We tested for reciprocal associations between loneliness and the cognitive ability domains of processing speed, visuospatial ability, verbal memory, and crystallized ability. Method We used three triennial waves of longitudinal data from the Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936, and tested for cross-lagged associations between loneliness and cognitive abilities using cross-lagged panel models. Results Better processing speed, visuospatial ability, or crystallized ability at age 73, was associated with less positive changes in loneliness between ages 73 and 76; however, these associations were not replicated between ages 76 and 79. Loneliness at ages 73 and 76 did not predict subsequent changes in cognitive abilities. Discussion Our findings indicate an association between cognitive ability and loneliness, such that individuals with lower cognitive abilities at age 73 may be at a slightly higher risk of becoming lonely. However, we did not find support for the hypothesis that loneliness causes a decline in cognitive health.


Humaniora ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Prima Dona Hapsari ◽  
F.A. Wisnu Wirawan

The purposes of the research were to find out whether the communicative competence in English speaking skills had a significant relationship with students' cognitive abilities was English speaking skill the most important achievement. How cognitive abilities and communicative competencies in English speaking skills were managed for the primary purposes of the English debating team. This research combined both qualitative and quantitative research. It used a descriptive method by distributing questionnaire, doing a survey, using observation, and doing an in-depth interview as the methods to collect data. The informants were twelve students who participated in the national teams of English Debating Championship of Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta from 2013-2017. The results of this research reveal that there is a significant connection between communicative competence and cognitive ability in which cognitive ability has an important impact on thinking, critical analysis, and creativity. Furthermore, cognitive ability gives a direct influence on communicative competence in speaking English. This communicative competence is reflected in the ability to produce critical-intellectual andcommunicative-factual sentences in doing the analysis and giving the argumentation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Ellis ◽  
Gene Arnold Brewer ◽  
Matthew Kyle Robison

An individual encounters problem of varying difficulty every day. Each problem may include a different number of constraints. Multiply-constrained problems, such as the compound remote associates, are commonly used to study problem solving. Since their development, multiply-constrained problems have been related to creativity and insight. Moreover, research has investigated the cognitive abilities underlying problem solving abilities. In the present study we sought to fully evaluate a range of cognitive abilities (i.e., working memory, attention control, episodic and semantic memory, and fluid and crystallized intelligence) previously associated with multiply-constrained problem solving. Additionally, we sought to determine whether problem solving ability and strategies (analytical or insightful) were task specific or domain general through the use of novel problem solving tasks (TriBond and Location Bond). Multiply-constrained problem solving abilities were shown to be domain general, solutions derived through insightful strategies were more often correct than those derived through analytical strategies, and crystallized intelligence was the only cognitive ability that provided unique predictive value after accounting for all other abilities.


1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig T. Nagoshi ◽  
Ronald C. Johnson ◽  
Kelly Ann M. Honbo

SummaryThis study reports on the relative influences of parental attainment and cognitive ability and subjects’ own cognitive ability, personality, and social attitudes on the educational and occupational attainments and incomes of 183 Generation 3 subjects of Caucasian ancestry and 186 of Japanese ancestry originally tested in 1972–76 in the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition (HFSC) and re-tested in 1987–88. In contrast to earlier reports of sex differences in the influence of Generation 2 attainment and on Generation 3 attainment when these offspring were younger, family background had a trivial influence and own cognitive ability had a substantial influence on educational attainment for both racial/ethnic groups and both sexes. For income, however, own cognitive ability was only a significant predictor for male subjects. Within-family correlational analyses also supported this sex difference in influences on attainment.


Author(s):  
Asil Ali Özdoğru

Play is a universal form of human behavior that has been observed across all cultures and constitutes a fundamental role in children's development. This chapter summarizes theory, research, and practice of play in early childhood education from a cross-cultural perspective. Even though there are common qualities of play, there is a great deal of variation within and across cultures. In the multicultural environment of globalizing world, early childhood professionals need to make better use of play from an intercultural perspective. Effective utilization of play in early childhood education needs a thorough understanding of scientific theories and cross-cultural research on play. Quality early childhood education programs incorporate play as a central element in the curriculum with consideration of both individual- and group-level differences. Developmentally and culturally appropriate practice in early childhood education demands the assessment and utilization of individual and cultural characteristics of children in the planning and implementation of play-based interventions.


Mind ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thaddeus Metz

Abstract In this article I critically discuss some recent English language books in African philosophy. Specifically, I expound and evaluate key claims from books published by sub-Saharan thinkers since 2017 that address epistemology, metaphysics, and value theory and that do so in ways of interest to an audience of at least Anglo-American-Australasian analytic philosophers. My aim is not to establish a definitive conclusion about these claims, but rather to facilitate cross-cultural engagement by highlighting their relevance, at least to many western philosophers, and by presenting challenges to these claims that such philosophers would be likely to mount.


Author(s):  
Ignatius W.C. Van Wyk

African churches show little interest in the notion of the final judgment. Various reasons for the lack of interest in this important aspect of biblical faith are discussed. Special attention is given to the problems of time and history as they manifest in African thinking. The idea of punishment as it is perceived in Africa also receives attention. The article looks at the biblical texts on the final judgment from an African perspective. African philosophy and spirituality facilitate a rediscovery of the joyful dimensions of this notion. One of the main arguments is that Africa should not experience insurmountable problems in embracing this aspect of the gospel. On the contrary: Africa can assist the ecumenical world to discover aspects of this message not yet disclosed. The article concludes with a discussion on the fate of the African ancestors.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document