LI, Biology and Culture

• Life span development is a dynamic co-construction of biological and cultural processes occurring simultaneously within different time scales (microgenetic, ontogenetic, phylogenetic) and across different levels (neurobiological, cognitive, behavioral, sociocultural).

LI, Biology and Culture

• Phylogenetic time: Culture affects genes (cultural change modifies long term biological natural selection process)– (ex. urban living and stress resistant genes).

LI, Biology and Culture

• Ontogenetic time: Culture affects social situational context (values, norms, language, etc. transmitted through social interaction), which affects individual ontogeny over the life span.– ex. infant sleep in industrial vs. traditional

cultures.

LI, Biology and Culture

• Microgenetic time: Culture affects moment-to-moment activities & experience (genetic, neuronal, cognitive, behavioral) – ex. Asian children’s use of abacus enhances

mental calculation; music training affects brain function.

LI, Biology and Culture

• Development involves feed-downward (culture-biology) and feed upward (biology-culture) interactive processes.

• Plasticity exists at all levels and at all ages.

QUINTANA ET AL.Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Child Development

• Introduction to special issue—focus was on:– Normative development in context– Intergroup relations and attitudes– Identity development

QUINTANA ET AL.• Trends in research represented in special issue:

– Distinguishing race/ethnicity and cultural effects

– Distinguishing culture and immigration status effects

– Finding proximal mediators of demographic effects

– Focus on context (neighborhood, racial density, etc.)

– Need to study normative development nonethnocentrically

– Ethnic/racial identity—multidimensional and fluid

– Acculturation/acculturation conflict

– Intergroup relations/attitudes

– Methodological advances: • Research-community collaboration

• Measurement of ethnicity/race variables

QUINTANA ET AL.

• Challenges:– Theoretical: Need theory of context effects– Measurement: Need explicit, not proxy measures– Content: Much research to be done– Cultural validity: Sampling, constructs/measures, &

analyses