Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-21T21:53:23.429Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

WEIRD walking: Cross-cultural research on motor development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2010

Lana B. Karasik
Affiliation:
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Bethesda, MD 20892-7971. lana.karasik@nih.govMarc_H_Bornstein@nih.gov
Karen E. Adolph
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003. karen.adolph@nyu.educatherine.tamis-lemonda@nyu.edu
Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003. karen.adolph@nyu.educatherine.tamis-lemonda@nyu.edu
Marc H. Bornstein
Affiliation:
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Bethesda, MD 20892-7971. lana.karasik@nih.govMarc_H_Bornstein@nih.gov

Abstract

Motor development – traditionally studied in WEIRD populations – falls victim to assumptions of universality similar to other domains described by Henrich et al. However, cross-cultural research illustrates the extraordinary diversity that is normal in motor skill acquisition. Indeed, motor development provides an important domain for evaluating cultural challenges to a general behavioral science.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adolph, K. E., Karasik, L. B. & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2010) Motor skills. In: Handbook of cultural developmental science, ed. Bornstein, M. H., pp. 6188. Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Bastien, G. J., Schepens, B., Willems, P. A. & Heglund, N. C. (2005) Energetics of load carrying in Nepalese porters. Science 308:1755.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bayley, N. (1969) Bayley scales of infant development. The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Bennett, W. C. & Zingg, R. M. (1935) The Tarahumara, an Indian tribe of northern Mexico. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H. (1980) Cross-cultural developmental psychology. In: Comparative methods in psychology, ed. Bornstein, M. H., pp. 231–81. Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H. (1995) Form and function: Implications for studies of culture and human development. Culture and Psychology 1:123–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bril, B. (1988) Bain et gymnastique neonatale: Enfants Bambara du Mali (Motion Picture) . France: Centre d'Etude des Processus Cognitifs et du Langage Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Socieles.Google Scholar
Chew, S. (2005) Double binds around my feet: The enormity of the everyday in women's writing and writing about women. Journal of Gender Studies 14:137–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, B. E., Moon, R. Y., Sachs, H. C. & Ottolini, M. C. (1998) Effects of sleep position on infant motor development. Pediatrics 102:1135–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fox, A. T., Palmer, R. D. & Davies, P. (2002) Do “Shufflebottoms” bottom shuffle? Archives of Disease in Childhood 87:552–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frankenburg, W. K. & Dodds, J. B. (1967) The Denver developmental screening test. Journal of Pediatrics 71:181–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gesell, A. (1928) Infancy and human growth. Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, S. (1992) Most of the subjects were white and middle class: Trends in published research on African Americans in selected APA journals, 1970–1989. American Psychologist 47:629–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heglund, N. C., Willems, P. A., Penta, M. & Cavagna, G. A. (1995) Energy-saving gait mechanics with head-supported loads. Nature 375:5254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hopkins, B. & Westra, T. (1988) Maternal handling and motor development: An intracultural study. Genetic, Social and General Psychology Monographs 114:379408.Google ScholarPubMed
Humphrey, N., Skoyles, J. & Keynes, R. (2005) Human hand-walkers: Five siblings who never stood up. Discussion Paper. Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, London, United Kingdom.Google Scholar
Karasik, L. B., Bornstein, M. H., Suwalsky, J. T. D., Zuckerman, A., Adolph, K. E. & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2010) Places, parenting, postures, and pieces: A cross-cultural comparison of mothers and their 5-month-olds' motor development and object exploration. Poster presented at the meeting of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, Albuquerque, NM, February 17–20, 2010.Google Scholar
Kennedy, S., Scheirer, J. & Rogers, A. (1984) International education in psychology: The price of success – our monocultural science. American Psychologist 39:996–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mei, J. (1994) The Northern Chinese custom of rearing babies in sandbags: Implications for motor and intellectual development. In: Motor development: Aspects of normal and delayed development, ed. van Rossum, J. & Laszlo, J., pp. 4148. VU Uitgeverij.Google Scholar
Moghaddam, F. M. (1987) Psychology in three words. American Psychologist 42:912–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parke, R. D. (2000) Beyond white and middle class: Cultural variations in families assessments, processes, and policies. Journal of Family Psychology 14:331–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robson, P. (1984) Prewalking locomotor movements and their use in predicting standing and walking. Child: Care, health, and development 10:317–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, R. (1984) Psychology in its world context. American Psychologist 39:1017–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Segall, M. H., Campbell, D. T. & Herskovits, M. J. (1966) The influence of culture on visual perception. Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
Sexton, V. S. & Misiak, H. (1984) American psychologist and psychology abroad. American Psychologist 39:1026–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Super, C. M. (1976) Environmental effects on motor development: The case of “African infant precocity.” Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 18:561–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trettien, A. W. (1900) Creeping and walking. The American Journal of Psychology 12:157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triandis, H. C. (1980) Handbook of cross-cultural psychology. Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Zelazo, P. R. (1983) The development of walking: New findings on old assumptions. Journal of Motor Behavior 2:99137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar