Cultures of Infancy

by Heidi Keller

Overview

The Classic Edition of Heidi Keller's Cultures of Infancy, first published in 2007, includes a new introduction by the author, describing for readers the original context for her work, how she has further developed her research and thinking, and the ongoing relevance of this volume in the context of future challenges for the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032255828
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/26/2022
Series:	Psychology Press & Routledge Classic Editions
Pages:	346
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Heidi Keller is Professor Emeritus of Psychology and former Head of the Culture and Development Department, Faculty of Human Sciences, at Osnabrueck University, Germany. She is a Director of Nevet, The Greenhouse of Context-Informed Research and Training for Children in Need at the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Among many international awards, in 2019 she was the recipient of the SRCD Award for Distinguished Contributions to Understanding International, Cultural and Contextual Diversity in Child Development.

Table of Contents

Foreword     ix
Preface     xiii
The Conception of Infancy     1
The Developmental Phase of Infancy     1
The Scientific Study of Infancy     3
The Psychobiology of Infancy     5
Infant Preparedness for Social Learning: Brain Development During Infancy     5
Learning as the Human Mode of Development     7
Learning Relationships: The Acquisition of a Social Matrix     8
The Component Model of Parenting     14
The Concept of Culture     30
The Sociodemographic Portrait of Traditional Rural Village Life     33
The Sociodemographic Portrait of Western Urban Middle-Class Families     47
Conclusion: Two Cultural Prototypes     51
The Research Methodology: Infancy Assessment     53
Recruitment of Study Participants     53
Procedures     57
Cultural Models of Parenting     90
The Social World of Infants     91
Parenting Strategies     102
Variations of Independence and Interdependence     161
Urban Middle-Class Families in Traditionally Interdependent Societies     163
The Cultural Model of Parenting in Families With an Assumed Autonomous-Related Orientation     170
The Rural-Urban Difference Within Societies     184
Historical Changes     205
Generational Changes     212
Conclusion     217
Relations Among the Dimensions of the Parenting Model     218
Relations Among Socialization Goals, Family Orientation, and Parenting Ethnotheories     219
Relations Among Socialization Goals, Discourse Style and Content in Ethnotheory Interviews, and Observed Parenting Behavior     222
Relations Among Socialization Goals, Discourse Style and Content, Conversational Style, and Nonverbal Parenting Behavior     226
Conclusion     226
Developmental Consequences of the Early Parenting Experiences     228
The Development of Self-Recognition     229
The Development of Self-Regulation     231
Assessing Self-Recognition     232
Assessing Self-Regulation     235
Contingency Experience and Mirror Self-Recognition     242
The Role of Fathers for Mirror Self-Recognition in German Toddlers     244
Summary     245
Developmental Milestones of Self-Development Beyond Infancy     246
Outlook     250
Cultural Models of Parenting and Developmental Pathways: Synthesis and Conclusion     251
The Nature of the Two Parenting Styles      257
The Relation Between Behaviors and Ideas     263
The Role of Education     264
Cultural Pathways of Development     267
Beyond a Western Independent Bias     270
References     271
Author Index     305
Subject Index     315

Editorial Reviews

'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

From the Publisher