A sample of Me'en (Mekan) drawn from a population having minimal contact with pictorial materials was found to be able to recognise correctly, albeit gradually and with a degree of effort, clearly depicted animals. They did make however some responses which in the west would be considered anomalous, and appeared to find the task stressful.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BiesheuvelS., 1952, “The study of African ability. Part 1. The intellectual potentialities of Africans”, African Studies, 11, 45–57
2.
BrimbleA. R., 1963, “The construction of a non-verbal intelligence test in Northern Rhodesia”, Rhodes-Livingstone Journal, 34, 23–35
3.
RossiniC. Conti, 1925, “I Mekan o Suro dell'Etiopia del sud-ovest e il loro linguaggio”, Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei lincei (Roma), 22, 397–463
4.
DeregowskiJ. B., 1968a, “Pictorial recognition in subjects from a relatively pictureless environment”, African Social Research, 5, 356–364
5.
DeregowskiJ. B., 1968b, “Difficulties in pictorial depth perception in Africa”, British Journal of Psychology, 59, 195–204
6.
DeregowskiJ. B.BythW., 1970, “Hudson's pictures in Pandora's box”, Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 1, 315–323
7.
DeregowskiJ. B., 1971, “Responses mediating pictorial recognition”, Journal of Social Psychology, 84, 27–33
8.
DeregowskiJ. B.SerpellR., 1971, “Performance on a sorting task: A cross-cultural experiment”, International Journal of Psychology, 4, 273–281
9.
HaberlandE., 1959, “Die Bodi”, in Altvölker Südäthiopiens, Ed. JensenA. E. (Kohlhammer, Stuttgart)
10.
HerskovitsM. J., 1950, Man and His Works (Knopf, New York)
11.
HochbergJ.BrooksV., 1962, “Pictorial recognition as an unlearned ability: A study of one child's performance”, American Journal of Psychology, 75, 624–628
12.
HudsonW., 1960, “Pictorial depth perception in sub-cultural groups in Africa”, Journal of Social Psychology, 52, 183–208
13.
KiddD., 1925, The Essential Kaffir (A. and C. Black, London)
14.
LawsR., 1901, in Geography and Atlas of Protestant Missions, Ed. BeachH. P. (Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, New York)
15.
MuldrowW. F., 1972, “Language of the Maji area”, in Language in Ethiopia, Ed. BenderM. L. (Oxford University Press and Haile Selassi 1 University Press, London) (in press)
16.
NadelS. F., 1939, “The application of intelligence tests in the anthropological field” in The Study of Society, Eds. BartlettF. C.GinsbergE.LindgrenE. J.ThoulessR. M. (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., London)
17.
PotterM. C., 1967, “On perceptual recognition”, in Studies in Cognitive Growth, Eds. BrunerJ. S.OliverR. R.GreenfieldP. M. (John Wiley, New York)
18.
SigelI., 1968, “The distancing hypothesis: A causal hypothesis for acquisition of representational thought”, Paper delivered at University of Miami, the Symposium on Effects of Early Experience
