Comparisons were made of the findings of fifty cross-cultural studies of psychomotor development, from birth to two years, of contemporary groups of infants on five continents. The effects of ethnicity, amount and type of caretaker stimulation, and nutritional status were discussed. African infants showed the greatest early acceleration, Caucasian infants the least, while Latin American and Asian infants ranked intermediate. Within each ethnic group, "traditionally" reared, rural infants showed greater motor acceleration than "Westernized, " urban infants in the first six to twelve months, and a greater decline, after weaning, in adaptive and language development, in the second year. Within both traditional and Westernized samples of the same ethnic groups, infants with higher birthweight were more accelerated.

The effect of westernization on the psychomotor development of african (yoruba) infants during the first year of life

Infants Around the World: Cross-Cultural Studies of Psychomotor Development from Birth to Two Years

SUMMARY

The Yale Developmental Schedules were administered to 66 infants at one year of age from Kingston, Jamaica. All the infants had been born at the University Hospital, Kingston, and had been seen regularly since birth. They were predominantly of Negro extraction or of mixed parentage, and mostly came from working class or lower middle class families. The infants showed slightly accelerated development over the normal white child of the Gesell Schedules, particularly in gross motor behaviour. Socio-economic status, birth order, weight at one year and birth class all affected the infants' performances. The effect of race (heredity) against culture (environment) could not be assessed as no comparable Caucasian group could be found as controls.



RESUME

Mesure du developpement denfants Jamaicains



Les echelles de developpement de Yale ont ete appliquees a 66 enfants de un an, a Kingston, Jamaique. Tous les enfants etaient nes a 'University Hospital, de Kingston, et avaient regulierement ete suivis depuis la naissance. La plupart etait dorigine noire ou metis et venait de families ouvrieres ou simples. Les enfants montraient un developpement legerement accelere par rapport aux reperes de Gesell pour 'enfant blanc normal, particulierement sur le plan de la motricite. Le statut socio-economique, 'ordre de la naissance, le poids a 1 an et la classe sociale dorigine marquaient toutes les performances de 'enfant. Les effets de la race (heredite) et ceux de la culture (environnement) n'ont pu etre compares en raison de 'absence dun groupe controle Caucasien.



ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

Uberwachte Entwicklung bei Kindern in Jamaica



Bei 66 einjahrigen Kindern aus Kingston, Jamaica, wurde die Yale Entwicklungstabelle angewandt. Alle Kinder waren in der Universitatsklinik in Kingston geboren und seither regelmasig uberwacht. Sie stammten vorwiegend aus Negerfamilien oder von gemischten Eltern und kamen aus der Arbeiterklasse oder der unteren Mittelklasse. Die Kinder zeigten eine gering beschleunigte Entwicklung gegenuber weisen Kindern nach der Gesell Tabslle, vor allem im allgemeinen motorischen Betragen. Sozio-okonomischer Status, Geburtenzahl, Gewicht mit einem Jahr und Geburtsklasse hatten Einflus auf die Entwicklung der Kinder. Der Effekt der Rasse (Vererbung) gegenuber der Kultur (Umgebung) konnte nicht festgestellt werden, da keine vergleichbaren Kaukasischen Kinder als Kontrollen gefunden werden konnten.



RESUMEN

Determination del desarrollo en lactantes de Jamaica



Se aplicaron los esquemas de desarrollo de Yale a 66 lactantes de un ano de edad de Kingston, Jamaica. Todos los ninos habian nacido en el Hospital de la Universidad de Kingston y habian sido vistos regularmente desde el nacimiento. Eran predominantemente de raza negra o mestizos y la mayoria procedian de clase obrera o de clase media baja. Los ninos mostraron un desarrollo ligeramente acelerado por encima de los ninos blancos normales en el esquema de Gesell, especialmente en el comportamiento motor. El estado socio-economico, el orden de nacimeinto, el peso al ano de edad y el tipo de parto fueron factores que afectaron a todos los performances de los ninos. El efecto de la raza (herencia) frente a la cultura (medio ambiente) no pudo ser determinado porque no pudo encontrarse ningun grupo caucasico que pudiera tomarse como control.

Developmental assessment of Jamaican infants.

Plasticity and Structure THE ROLE OF EXPERIENCE IN INFANCY

The dialectics of change and continuity, of differentiation and integration, of plasticity and structure form the fabric of developmental psychology. Looking back, we can see emphasis being given to one polarity or the other within different subject-matter areas over the years (e.g., intelligence and language) and, less often, find a true appreciation of their interplay.

The effect of westernization on the psychomotor development of african (yoruba) infants during the first year of life

Citations

Infants Around the World: Cross-Cultural Studies of Psychomotor Development from Birth to Two Years

Developmental assessment of Jamaican infants.

Plasticity and Structure THE ROLE OF EXPERIENCE IN INFANCY

Plasticity and Structure

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The Comparative Motor Development of Baganda, American White, and American Black Infants