Western Developmental Psychology in Non-Western Cultures

Discussion1: Western Developmental Psychology in Non-Western Cultures

For the most part, the theories you exploredin this course focused on Western cultures. Western cultures often are thebaseline when conducting cross-cultural comparisons. Miao and Wangs (2003)article examining Chinese developmental psychology provides insight into howanother culture examines human development. While major developmental theoristsand researchers (e.g., Gesell) influenced Chinese researchers, the topics ofinterest for Chinese researchers did not necessarily reflect those of Westernresearchers.

This course has introduced multipleperspectives and presented culturally diverse research examining all phases ofhuman development. For this Discussion, consider what led research to beconducted to examine diverse settings and groups. Was it an attempt to broadenthe population within which the findings could be applied, a reaction to a gapin the literature, or perhaps a critique of a conclusion or theory?

If you have not had an opportunity to delveinto a statistics or methodology course, some of the techniques in this weeksresearch articles might be confusing, but the process that the researchers usedshould be understandable.

By Day 5

Respond to at least one of your colleagues posts and explainwhether you agree or disagree with your colleagues assessment.

To prepare forthis Discussion:

        Review this weeks Learning Resources andconsider the applicability of American/Western developmental psychology toNon-Western countries and cultures.