Whether cultural and political conditions in the United States have modified development and socialization processes, and the extent to which ancestral cultures have changed are examined in the 19 chapters of this collection. A major focus is the learning consequences of two value themes that characterize and contrast Euro-American culture in North America and much of Western Europe with that of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Native American societies. The first is dimension of an individualistic and independent orientation versus a collective, social, and interdependent orientation. The second theme is the contrast between the early socialization goal of maximizing educational development versus the socialization goal of infant survival and childhood subsistence skills.
References follow each chapter.