Cultural patterns in attending to two events at once.

Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0372725 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0009-3920 (Print) Linking ISSN: 00093920 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Child Dev Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Malden, MA : Blackwell Publishers
Original Publication: [Chicago, etc.] : Published by the University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development [etc.]

Attention* ; Cross-Cultural Comparison* ; Imitative Behavior* ; Psychomotor Performance*; Mexican Americans/*psychology ; White People/*psychology; Adult ; Child ; Comprehension ; Concept Formation ; Educational Status ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mothers/psychology ; Social Environment ; Socioeconomic Factors

This study examined cultural differences in children's simultaneous attention to 2 events versus quick alternation in which attending to 1 event momentarily interrupted attending to another. Thirty-one 6- to 10-year-old U.S. children of Mexican and European American heritage folded paper figures with 2 other first- to third-grade children and an adult. Mexican heritage children whose mothers averaged 7 grades of school more commonly attended to events simultaneously. European heritage and Mexican heritage children whose mothers had more than 12 grades of school more commonly alternated attention. Differences are interpreted in light of traditional indigenous North and Central American emphasis on learning through observation of ongoing events as well as school practices that emphasize learning by attending to one event at a time.

Date Created: 20050517 Date Completed: 20050929 Latest Revision: 20221207

20240829

10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00870.x

15892785