University of Queensland.
University of Johannesburg.
Child Dev. 2019 Jan;90(1):51-61. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13084. Epub 2018 May 8.
This study examined future-oriented behavior in children (3-6 years; N = 193) from three diverse societies-one industrialized Western city and two small, geographically isolated communities. Children had the opportunity to prepare for two alternative versions of an immediate future event over six trials. Some 3-year-olds from all cultures demonstrated competence, and a majority of the oldest children from each culture prepared for both future possibilities on every trial. Although there were some cultural differences in the youngest age groups that approached ceiling performance, the overall results indicate that children across these communities become able to prepare for alternative futures during early childhood. This acquisition period is therefore not contingent on Western upbringing, and may instead indicate normal cognitive maturation.
本研究考察了来自三个不同社会的儿童（3-6 岁；N=193）的面向未来的行为，这三个社会分别是一个工业化的西方城市和两个地理上与世隔绝的小社区。孩子们有机会在六次试验中为一个即将到来的事件的两种不同版本做准备。来自所有文化的一些 3 岁儿童表现出了能力，而且每个文化中大多数最大的孩子在每一次试验中都为两种未来的可能性做了准备。尽管在接近最高表现的最小年龄组中存在一些文化差异，但总体结果表明，这些社区的儿童在幼儿期就能够为替代的未来做准备。因此，这个获得期并不取决于西方的教养方式，而可能表明是正常的认知成熟。
