Across diverse cultural contexts, children and adults believe in the existence of religious and supernatural unobservables (e.g., gods, angels) as well as scientific and natural unobservables (e.g., germs, oxygen). In this article, we explore the role of cultural input and testimony in children's developing beliefs in supernatural and natural…

The Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS), PEDS: Developmental Milestones (PEDS: DM) and PEDS tools (i.e., the PEDS and PEDS:DM combined for use) are parent-reported screening tools frequently used to identify young children requiring early intervention. An ideal screening tool for all contexts would be brief, inexpensive with…

Background: Evidence and awareness of the importance of culturally adapting psychosocial interventions is growing. The aim of this paper is to systematically review studies on cultural adaptations of psychosocial interventions for parents and their children with intellectual disabilities, in low- and middle-income countries. Methods: Studies were…

Having an imaginary companion (IC) is a fascinating example of children's imaginative and pretend play. However, there are inconsistencies in the reported prevalence of children's ICs. This study examined how culture may affect this prevalence. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess whether the culture, as well as age, assessment method, sex, and…

Since Margaret Mead's field studies in the South Pacific a century ago, there has been the tacit understanding that as culture varies, so too must the socialization of children to become competent culture users and bearers. More recently, the work of anthropologists has been mined to find broader patterns that may be common to childhood across a…

This article offers interpretive perspectives on play as a cultural activity during middle childhood by contrasting two communities targeted for aid by external sport and play programs: a Chicago public housing community and a community of Angolan refugee camps. Ethnographic anecdotes, along with some survey results, demonstrate that aside from…

Research Findings: Children across cultures begin the process of becoming literate well before they begin formal schooling. The early narratives children share in conversation with others lay the foundation for various academic and nonacademic aspects of school readiness. Practice or Policy: The present review synthesizes the major work conducted…

In the mainstream discourse on child development and education, 'school readiness' has been conceptualized as the skills and knowledge that children need when they enter school in order to learn effectively in the school environment. However, school readiness is an idea which is entwined with our beliefs about child development and child needs (E.…

Examines historical and contemporary linkages between Black children and social policy. Focuses on: contributions of Black children; the obscurity of Black children in social policy; cultural diversity and policy implementation; and prospects for the future. (RJC)

Cultural deprivation has been found to affect the acquisition, development, and utilization of language for the child. The influences of environmental variables on language patterns are discussed as a series of conditioned responses reinforced in the developmental process. (Author)

The importance of providing children with deafness with opportunities to develop a solid deaf identity at an early age, which is based on Epstein's model of self-theory, is discussed. Seven categories of possible identities for people with deafness are outlined and the stages of developing a bicultural awareness presented. (Author/CR)

Points out how the theories advanced during the 1930s by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky can provide insights to western educational psychologists as they seek to understand child development and, particularly, as they devise ways of working with socially disadvantaged and mentally retarded children. (DB)

Introduces the theme of this issue, which expands comparative education topics inward, toward the developmental perspective of the child, and outward, toward culture, historically situated. Discusses findings from the International Assessment of Educational Progress in terms of cultural differences in children's attitudes toward learning. (KS)

This paper considers the psychological aspects of children's drawings. The utility of the Draw a Person Test (DAPT) for different types of pscyhological research is discussed, and the non-intellectual and cultural factors of the DAPT are described. Suggestions on the administration, scoring, and interpretation of drawings are given. The next two…

Examines perspectives on family influences on child development. Maintains that genetic and biological factors and parental actions/attitudes make important contributions to individual differences. Draws on research on gender differences and conduct disorders to illustrate that parental influence on individual differences within cultures has been…