Cultural Patterns in Attending to Two Events at Once
A study was conducted that closely examined the cultural differences in children's simultaneous attention to two events versus quick alternation in which attending to one event momentarily interrupted attending to another. The study focused on thirty-one children who were between the ages of six and ten who was either Mexican or of European American Heritage. The study ultimately showed that the Mexican children whose parents had up to a seventh grade education attended to events simultaneously and Mexican and European Americans whose parents had more than twelve years of education more commonly altered their attention. The study showed how culture played a role in determining how the children paid attention to a particular event or series of events. Thirty-one children ranging from ages six to ten years old were the subjects of this study. The children were either of Mexican heritage or of European American Heritage. Some children came from families that had less than a seventh grade education and other children came from families who had obtained a minimum of a high school ed
Discussion Both simultaneous and alternating attention was studied and there were notable differences associated with the child's cultural background. On the average, the children's attention was most commonly on their own folding which averaged 92% of the time. Could this be a direct result of how the parents interact with the children when they are toddlers? Children of European American decent are often taught using verbal instructions in which they are expected to listen and conform. On the other hand, the Mexican children learned primarily from their parents through keen observation of ongoing events. The children were either noted for simultaneously attending an event or attend two ongoing events at the same time. The researchers wanted to determine if culture played a role in determining how the children paid attention to various origami demonstrations going on at the same time. There was less attention to conversations and other objects in the room with an average of only 9%. Therefore showing, that not only culture plays a role in determining how children pay attention. The educational level of the family also plays a vital role. As expected, the Mexican children who came from families with basic schooling used simultaneous attention 48% of the time which was more often than the children of European American heritage who came from families with a high school education or higher who used simultaneous attention 27% of the time. The children were placed into small groups where they were shown how to make different folded origami formations with very little verbal explanation. However, the cultural difference was seen with the Mexican children from families of lesser education.
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