Mothers' Developmental Timetables in Two Cultural Groups*

Abstract

To explore differences in concepts about development, mothers in two cultural groups were interviewed to determine: (a) their developmental timetables (the ages at which they expected various skills to appear); (b) the extent to which they taught various skills before school; and (c) the extent to which they perceived several qualities, once established, as stable over time. Variables were the child's gender, the child's birth order (first or not first to begin school), and the mother's ethnic background (Australian-born or Lebanese-born). Gender and birth order showed minimal effects; ethnicity had a strong effect in areas (a) and (b) but not (c). The results bring out the content of mothers' ideas, raise questions about factors affecting this content, and point to some aspects of mothers' ideas as inter-related.

Fathers' Involvement in the Care of Their Infants and Their Attributions of Cognitive Competence to Infants

“…In addition, fathers' education or socioeconomic status has been shown to be positively predictive of their participation in the care of their infants in some studies (Masalcha, 1982;Riley, 1985;Russell, 1981, although for absence of such findings see Oakley, 1974;Russell, 1980Russell, , 1982Russell, , 1983. The same background variables have been shown to be related to attributions of cognitive skills to infants, at least in the case of mothers (Goodnow, Cashmore, Cotton, & Knight, 1984;Ninio, 1979;Rosenthal, 1985): mothers of non-Western origin, and/or of lesser schooling and socioeconomic status, believe that infants acquire some basic cognitive skills at a later age than do their Western, educated counterparts. To assess the association between paternal involvement and beliefs independent of effects mediated by cultural background, demographic information was collected and the appropriate conditional analyses performed.…”

The adolescent mind in school: theory of mind and self-concept in Canadian and Polish youth

“…In contrast, in Western cultures such as Australia, Canada and the USA, research suggests that some parents may place high value on children learning self-assertion skills very early (e.g. Goodnow, Cashmore, Cotton, & Knight, 1984), so that children are able to learn to express their opinions and challenge the viewpoints of parents, teachers and peers (e.g. Vinden, 1999).…”

Socioeconomic status in Brazilian psychological research: II. socioeconomic status and parenting knowledge

“…The few studies that have been conducted have focused on three areas of parents' knowledge: specific health related practices, developmental milestones, and sources of parents' knowledge (e.g., Goodnow, Cashmore, Cotton, & Knight, 1984;Impicciatore, Nannini, Pharm, Pandolfini, & Bonati, 1998;Ninio, 1988;Tirosh, Mansour, Jaffe, & Cohen, 1998). Pachter and Dworkin (1997), for example, administered the KIDI to mothers from minority (Puerto Rican, African American, West Indian/ Caribbean) and majority cultural groups in the United States asking for normal ages of attainment of typical developmental milestones during the first three years of life.…”