Abstract
Because of the dominance of Western theory and methods in psychology, a truly indigenous study of the cognitive styles of other peoples is probably impossible to carry out at the present time. However, in the Central African Differentiation Project (Berry et al., 1986) two factors have permitted us to approach an indigenous perspective. One is that there is an apparent similarity between the descriptions of the Field-Dependent/Field-Independent cognitive style made by Witkin et al. (1962) and some of the characteristic cultural and psychological differences that have been observed between hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists (Berry, 1976); thus, it may be that this particular Western theory provides a reasonable reflection of an indigenous reality. The second factor is that in this project, many of the tests were developed using local materials and forms of instruction, so that some of the foreign character of the assessment procedures has been reduced, and may match indigenous situations.
This chapter is a resume of the psychological findings from the Central African Differentiation Project. It is a revised version of the paper “Patterns of perceptual and cognitive abilities of Biaka Pygmies and Bangandu Villagers” (by Annis, van de Koppel and Berry) that was presented at the Workshop by Annis. A full account of the project, including the ecological and ethnographic materials, can be found in Berry, van de Koppel, Senechal, Annis, Bahuchet, Cavalli-Sforza and Witkin (1986).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Annis, R.C. (1980). Bantu and Pygmy perceptual patterns: An eco-cultural study. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
Berry, J.W. (1976). Human ecology and cognitive style: Comparative studies in cultural and psychological adaptation. New York: Sage/Halsted.
Berry, J.W. (1981). Developmental issues in the comparative study of psychological differentiation. In R. Munroe, R. Munroe & B.B. Whiting (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural human development. New York: Garland Press.
Berry, J.W. (1984). Towards a universal psychology of cognitive competence. International Journal of Psychology, 19, 335–361.
Berry, J.W. & Irvine, S.H. (1985). Bricolage: Savages do it daily. In R.J. Sternberg & R. Wagner (Eds.), Practical intelligence: The origins of competence in everyday life. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Berry, J.W., van de Koppel, J.M.H., Senechal, C., Annis, R.C., Bahuchet, S., Cavalli-Sforza, L.L., & Witkin, H.A. (1986). On the edge of the forest: Cultural adaptation and cognitive development in Central Africa. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Cole, M., Jay, J., Glick, J., Sharp, D. (1971). The cultural context of learning and thinking New York: Basic Books.
Dasen, P.R. (1974). The influence of ecology, culture and European contact on cognitive development in Australian Aborigines. In J.W. Berry & P.R. Dasen (Eds.), Culture and cognition. London: Methuen.
Ferguson, G.A. (1954). On learning and human ability. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 8, 95–112.
Ferguson, G.A. (1956). On transfer and the abilities of man. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 10, 121–131.
Jahoda, G. (1980). Theoretical and systematic approaches in cross-cultural psychology. In H.C. Triandis & W.W. Lambert (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology, Vol.1. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition. (1982). Culture and intelligence. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of human intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lee, R.B. & De Vore, I. (1968). Problems in the study of hunters and gatherers. In R.B. Lee & I. De Vore (Eds.), Man the hunter. Chicago: Aldine.
Levi-Strauss, C. (1966). The savage mind. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
Lonner, W.J. & Sharp, D. (1983). Psychological differentiation in a rural Yucatec Mayan village. In S.H. Irvine and J.W. Berry (Eds.), Human assessment and cultural factors. New York: Plenum.
McLuhan, H.M. (1962). The Gutenburg galaxy. New York: Wiley.
Okonji, M.O. (1969). The differential effects of rural and urban upbringing on the development of cognitive styles. International Journal of Psychology, 4, 293–305.
Okonji, M.O. (1980). Cognitive styles across cultures. In N. Warren (Ed.), Studies in cross-cultural psychology, Volume 1. London: Academic Press.
Ord, I.G. (1968). Manual for Pacific Design Construction Test. Hawthorn, Victoria: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Poortinga, Y.H. (1971). Cross-cultural comparison of maximum performance tests: Some methodological aspects and some experiments with simple auditory and visual stimuli. Psychologia Africana. Monograph supplement No. 6.
Scribner, S. & Cole, M. (1973). Cognitive consequences of formal and informal education. Science, 182, 553–559.
Siann, G. (1972). Measuring field-dependence in Zambia: A cross-cultural study. International Journal of Psychology, 1, 87–96.
van de Koppel, J. (1983). A developmental study of the Biaka Pygmies and the Bangandu. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Witkin, H.A., Dyk, R.B., Paterson, H.F., Goodenough, D.R. & Karp, S. (1962). Psychological differentiation. New York: Wiley.
Witkin, H.A. & Berry, J.W. (1975). Psychological differentiation in cross-cultural perspective. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 6, 4–87.
Witkin, H.A. (1977). Theory in cross-cultural research: Its uses and risks. In Y. Poortinga (Ed.), Basic problems in cross-cultural psychology. Lisse: Swets and Zeitlinger.
Witkin, H.A. & Goodenough, D.R. (1981). Cognitive styles: Essence and origins (Psychological Issues, Monograph 51). New York: International Universities Press.
Wober, M. (1966). Sensotypes. Journal of Social Psychology, 70, 181–189.
Wober, M. (1967). Adapting Witkin’s field independence theory to accommodate new information from Africa. British Journal of Psychology, 58, 29–38.
Wober, M. (1975). Psychology in Africa. London: International African Institute.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Berry, J.W., van de Koppel, J.M.H., Annis, R.C. (1988). A Comparative Study of Cognitive Style among Biaka Pygmies and Bangandu Villagers. In: Berry, J.W., Irvine, S.H., Hunt, E.B. (eds) Indigenous Cognition: Functioning in Cultural Context. NATO ASI Series, vol 41. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2778-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2778-0_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7749-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2778-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive