The acculturation effect and eyewitness memory reports among migrants

Purpose: When people migrate to new cultures, they adapt to their new culture while at the same time retaining the norms of their original culture. The phenomenon whereby migrants adapt to the cultural norms of a host culture has been referred to as acculturation. Using a mock witness paradigm, we examined the acculturation effect in the eyewitness memory reports of sub-Saharan African migrants in Western Europe. Methods: We sampled sub-Saharan African migrants in Western Europe, as well as sub-Saharan Africans living in Africa as a control group (total N = 107). The mock witnesses were shown stimuli scenes of crimes in African and Western European settings and provided free and cued recall reports about what they had seen. Results: Central details were reported more than contextual details by both groups of sub-Saharan Africans. Relative to the control group of sub-Saharan Africans living in Africa, sub-Saharan African migrants in Western Europe provided more correct central details in free recall. The longer migrants had resided in Western Europe, the less collectivistic they become. Migrants also provided more elaborate reports the longer their duration of residence in Western Europe. Conclusion: The findings of the current research suggest the new cultural environment of migrants impact their cultural norms, which may have implications for their eyewitness memory reports

Evaluation of some basic traits of a promising coconut hybrid: Sri Lankan green dwarf crossed to Vanuatu tall (sgd x vtt)

The Lethal Yellowing Disease locally referred to as the “Cape St Paul Wilt Disease” is the single most important disease that has devastated several hectares of coconut plantations in Ghana. Two decades of coconut screening for tolerant planting material has identified the Sri LankanGreen Dwarf crossed Vanuatu Tall (SGD x VTT) coconut hybrid as the most promising planting material in the context of disease. To provide farmers with planting material that has high disease tolerance and also good agronomic characteristics, the study compared some basic traits ofthe coconut hybrid with other important coconut varieties with the objective of determining the suitability of the SGD x VTT as alternative planting material to revamp the coconut industry in Ghana. Mean sample size of 25 palms per coconut variety under the study was analyzed using two sample t-test procedure. The study indicated that the yield performance of the SGD x VTT coconut hybrid was better than the tall coconut types including the local West African Tall (WAT) and compared favourably with the Malayan Yellow Dwarf crossed Vanuatu Tall (MYD x VTT) coconut hybrid. The good agronomic characteristics of the SGD x VTT coupled with itshigh resistance to the CSPWD proved its suitability as alternative planting material to revamp the coconut industry in Ghana

Reduction of spread of Cape St Paul wilt disease (CSPWD) of coconut by insecticidal hot-fogging and removal of diseased palms

No Abstract. Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science No. 1, 2005: 193-19

The history and epidemiology of Cape St Paul wilt disease of coconut in Ghana

The history of the spread of the Cape St. Paul Wilt (lethal yellowing) disease of coconut in Ghana is presented. Epidemiological studies showed that the disease starts slowly, then progresses (accelerate) rapidly before levelling off. In a farm, the disease first appears randomly on single trees, foci then develop around these trees, then in an explosive phase the foci coalesce destroying the whole farm. The disease spread by “jumps', in some cases, over long distances. The duration of the visible symptom phase of the disease was from 3 - 9.8 months. Disease stage I was found to be the longest phase. Disease initiated in the dry season months of January - April progressed faster than in the rainy months. Disease symptom remission was observed which could indicate that some trees are tolerant to Cape St. Paul Wilt. JOURNAL OF THE GHANA SCIENCE ASSOCIATION Volume 1 Number 2, January (1999) pp. 32-4

Cross-cultural differences in eyewitness memory reports

Increasingly, investigators conduct interviews with eyewitnesses from different cultures. The culture in which people have been socialised can impact the way they encode, remember, and report information about their experiences. We examined whether eyewitness memory reports of mock witnesses from collectivistic (sub-Saharan Africa) and individualistic (Northern Europe) cultures differed regarding quantity and quality of central and background details reported. Mock witnesses (total N = 200) from rural Ghana, urban Ghana, and the Netherlands were shown stimuli scenes of crimes in Dutch and Ghanaian settings and provided free and cued recalls. Individualistic culture mock witnesses reported the most details, irrespective of detail type. For each cultural group, mock witnesses reported more correct central details when crime was witnessed in their own native setting than a non-native setting, though for different recall domains. The findings provide insight for legal and investigative professionals as well as immigration officials eliciting memory reports in cross-cultural contexts

The acculturation effect and eyewitness memory reports among migrants

Purpose When people migrate to new cultures, they adapt to their new culture while at the same time retaining the norms of their original culture. The phenomenon whereby migrants adapt to the cultural norms of a host culture has been referred to asacculturation. Using a mock witness paradigm, we examined the acculturation effect in the eyewitness memory reports of sub-Saharan African migrants in Western Europe. Methods We sampled sub-Saharan African migrants in Western Europe, as well as sub-Saharan Africans living in Africa as a control group (totalN = 107). The mock witnesses were shown stimuli scenes of crimes in African and Western European settings and provided free and cued recall reports about what they had seen. Results Central details were reported more than contextual details by both groups of sub-Saharan Africans. Relative to the control group of sub-Saharan Africans living in Africa, sub-Saharan African migrants in Western Europe provided more correct central details in free recall. The longer migrants had resided in Western Europe, the less collectivistic they become. Migrants also provided more elaborate reports the longer their duration of residence in Western Europe. Conclusion The findings of the current research suggest the new cultural environment of migrants impact their cultural norms, which may have implications for their eyewitness memory reports