Cultures of Infancy. The Foundation of Developmental Pathways

Development can be understood as a series of universal developmental tasks that pattern the human life span. These developmental tasks evolved during the history of humankind, mainly to solve recurring adaptive problems. They are functionally related to each other in the sense that the solution of earlier tasks influences the solution of later developmental tasks. Thus developmental and biographical continuity emerge. The resulting developmental pathways, however, are not conceived of as being absolutely determined by the earlier influences. Developmental pathways are informed by earlier as well as concurrent influences. Plasticity, yet not unlimited, characterizes developmental pathways as well as continuity

A Systems Theory Perspective

Aktualisierung: Am 12. Oktober 2018 wurde die digitale Version des Buchbeitrags um den fehlenden Teil (Seiten 53-66) ergänzt

Length-Length and Length-Weight Relationships of Oilfish (Ruvettus pretiosus), Escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum), Snake Mackerel (Gempylus serpens), and Longnose Lancetfish (Alepisaurus ferox) From the Gulf of Mexico and the Western North Atlantic Ocean

Oilfish, escolar, snake mackerel (order Aulopiformes, family Gempylidae), and longnose lancetfish (order Perciformes, family Alepisauridae) sampled from the western North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico were analyzed for length–weight and length–length relationships. These species are encountered as occasional bycatch of pelagic longline fisheries. The fish (161 specimens, 19.0–149.1 cm TL) were collected over a 3-year period (January 2007–January 2010) from pelagic longline gear targeting swordfish and tuna. For each species, 95% confidence limits (CI) of parameters b and log a and regression coefficients (r2) were calculated for log-transformed length–weight relationships. The length–weight parameter b for all species ranged from 2.881 to 3.358, with regression coefficients (r2) ranging from 0.75 to 0.98. Linear relationships between fork lengths, standard lengths, and total lengths were also calculated

Diferentes caminhos de socialização até a adolescência

A diferenciação do curso da vida humana em fases pode ser encarada como uma adaptação a demandas contextuais. As abordagens sociobiológicas têm atribuido às fases desenvolvimentais o status de conquistas filogenéticas ao invés de estágios transitários. Da mesma forma, o padrão e a duração das fases diferem através de contextos e culturas. A infancia é vista como a fase em que uma matriz social primária é construída. Embora esta tarefa desenvolvirnental seja universal, sua elaboração especifica difere em backgrounds culturais distintos. Os resultados desenvolvimentais desta fase fornecem as bases para modos especificas de exploração e aprendizado durante a infancia - a fase de aquisição. Uma trajetória tipicamente ocidental e uma trajetória tipicamente não-ociãental são apresentadas, levando, em seguida, a diferentes concepções de adolescência: de um lado, como uma moratória educacional e de desenvolvimento do sela; e, do outro, como o inicio da vida reprodutiva do adulto.The differentiation of the human life course into phases can be regarded as an adaptation to contextual demands. Especially sociobiological approaches have attributed developmentalphases the status of phylogenetic achievements rather than transitory stages. Accordingly, pattern and duration of phases differ across contexts and cultures. Infancy is regarded as thephase where a primary social matrix is constructed. Although this developmental task is universal, the specific elaboration differs with different cultural backgrounds. The developmental results of this phase lay ground for specific ways of exploration and learning during childhood as the acquisition phase. A typical Western and a typical non-Western developmental trajectory are presented, which then lead to different conceptions of adolescence as an educational and selfdeveloping moratorium on the one hand and onset of the adult reproductive life on the other

Knowing Your Audience: Lessons for Environmental Behavior Change from Mason County, WA

Washington State University Mason County Extension has been actively involved in environmental outreach and behavior change programs and in that role, has had multiple opportunities to gather audience research in partnership with other organizations. Research has focused on septic maintenance, livestock management, SMP regulations, shoreline planting as well as general attitudes toward BMPs (such as picking up pet waste) and personal values. Participants in audience research were shoreline residents as well as upland residents. Key findings will be summarized and their implication for effective messaging and outreach techniques will be discussed. These include: • Perception of messaging that focuses generally on Puget Sound vs. messaging about specific local issues • Barriers to septic inspection • Barriers to proper management of manure from livestock • Barriers to planting shoreline vegetation As a result of this research, messaging was developed that appealed to people’s sense of and pride in place and people’s concern for the health of themselves and their family. When appropriate, incentives were used to help motivate behavior. The messaging and outreach strategies that were developed and implemented for each of the issues will be summarized, as well as evaluation of the programs

Understanding shoreline landowner views on water quality best management practices and outreach

Place-based research targeting rural shoreline property owners provided valuable insights into water quality issue awareness, viewpoints, and willingness to adopt best management practices (BMPs). This information can improve the efficacy of outreach programs designed to motivate shoreline homeowners to protect adjacent waterways. Between 2009 and 2016, 7 different sets of audience research were conducted to determine how to increase the voluntary adoption of water quality BMPs on private land. The studies focused on shoreline landowners and were conducted in rural areas in the South Puget Sound and Hood Canal regions of Washington State. Barriers and motivators for a variety of water quality related BMPs were identified and outreach methods and messages were developed and tested. BMPs were related to on-site septic maintenance, pet waste, shoreline vegetation plantings, and livestock management. Septic and planting BMPs are the focus of this presentation which demonstrate the importance of audience assessment and evaluation. Differences and similarities in audience responses of the different sub-regions were determined and evaluated. The similarities that did exist across all areas were that shoreline property owners are most motivated by messages that connect BMPs to specific, local waterbodies; demonstrate an effect on personal interests; and are accompanied by factual information and data. The research also indicated that successful outreach programs identify credible messengers and focus on a BMP of highest interest to the audience. Post outreach evaluation showed that the high interest BMP focus allowed outreach staff to then introduce other BMPs to shoreline homeowners with greater success

Un buen hijo es un hijo tranquilo: Estatus social de la madre, conceptos maternos del comportamiento apropiado y ansiedad ante los extraños en los niños cameruneses Nso de un año

Our article questions the assumption that stranger anxiety develops universally in children; thereby our study is rooted in a long tradition in psychological anthropology of testing the universality of theories formulated in Western society. We argue that the infant\u27s behavior towards strangers is the product of socialization processes that represent adaptations to cultural contexts. Our study investigates the ethnotheory of childrearing and the development of stranger anxiety in a Cameroonian community of traditional Nso farmers. The participants of the study were 29 Cameroonian Nso mothers with one-year old children. Using a multi-method approach, we demonstrate that Nso mothers value inexpressive infants that adjust easily to others. Accordingly, a considerably large number of one-year old Nso infants showed no stranger anxiety when encountered by a stranger. Maternal social status and her social support system proved crucial to successful implementation of the socialization goal of a calm child. Our data support the view that child behavior is a product of culturally constructed experiences of daily life. The acknowledgement of the cultural construction of stranger anxiety carries implications for developmental theories, especially for attachment theory, which relies on the universality of stranger anxiety in their most acclaimed paradigm, the Strange Situation.Este artículo cuestiona la suposición que la ansiedad ante los extraños se desarrolla universalmente en los niños; de ese modo nuestro estudio se basa en la tradición larga de antropología psicológica de investigar las universalidades formuladas en la sociedad occidental. Argumentamos que el comportamiento de los niños hacia los extraños es el producto del proceso de socialización que representa adaptaciones al contexto cultural. Nuestro estudio investiga la etnoteoría de crianza de los hijos y el desarrollo de ansiedad ante los extraños en la comunidad camerunés de los cultivadores tradicionales Nso. Los participantes del estudio fueron 29 madres cameruneses Nso con hijos de un año. Usando el enfoque de varios métodos, hemos demostrado que las madres Nso valoran los niños inexpresivos que se adaptan fácil a los demás. Por lo tanto, un número considerable de niños Nso de un año no mostraron ninguna ansiedad ante los extraños al encontrarse con un extraño. Estatus social de la madre y su sistema social de apoyo se han mostrado cruciales para la buena implementación del objetivo social del niño tranquilo. Nuestros datos apoyan la opinión que el comportamiento de los niños es el producto de experiencias cotidianas construidas culturalmente. El reconocimiento de la construcción cultural de la ansiedad ante los extraños lleva implicaciones para las teorías de desarrollo, especialmente para la teoría de apego, que cuenta con las universalidades de ansiedad ante los extraños en su paradigma más aclamado, la situación extraña