Description
Book SynopsisCultures of Infancy presents the first systematic analysis of culturally informed developmental pathways, synthesizing evolutionary and cultural psychological perspectives for a broader understanding of human development. In this compelling book, author Heidi Keller utilizes ethnographic reports, as well as quantitative and qualitative analyses, to illustrate how humans resolve universal developmental tasks in particular sociodemographic contexts. These contexts are represented in cultural models, and three distinct models are addressed throughout the text: the model of independence with autonomy as developmental organizer; the model of interdependence with relatedness as the developmental organizer; and the model of autonomous relatedness representing particular mixtures of autonomy and relatedness.
The book offers an empirical examination of the first integrative developmental task-relationship formation during the early months of life. Keller shows that early parenting ex
Trade Review
'The author of Cultures of Infancy asserts that the human brain is designed to be molded by the enviornments it encounters... Heidi Keller posits a parenting system to explain the ways in which infants are socialized into the ways of their culture... Culture of Infancy would be appropriate for cultural anthropologists interested in comparative child-rearing practices and for psychologists researching cross-cultural differences in parenting.' - Karen Zelan, PsycCRITIQUE
Table of ContentsContents: Preface. Foreword. The Conception of Infancy. The Psychobiology of Infancy. The Concept of Culture. The Research Methodology: Infancy Assessment. Cultural Models of Parenting. Variations of Independence and Interdependence. Relationships Among the Dimensions of the Parenting Model. Developmental Consequences of the Early Parenting Experiences. Cultural Models of Parenting and Developmental Pathways: Synthesis and Conclusion.
