Children's Attention to Interactions Directed to Others: Guatemalan Mayan and European American Patterns

This study investigated differences in attention and learning among Guatemalan Mayan and European American children, ages 5-11 years. who were present but not addressed while their sibling was shown how to construct it novel toy. Each child waited with a distracter toy for her or his turn to make a different toy. Nonaddressed children front Mayan traditional families (with little maternal involvement in Western schooling; n = 40) showed more sustained attention and learning than their counterparts from Mayan families with extensive involvement in Western schooling (n = 40) or European American children (with extensive family involvement in schooling: n = 40). The nonaddressed Mayan children from highly schooled families in turn attended more than the European American children. These findings are consistent with research showing that traditional indigenous ways of organizing learning emphasize observation of ongoing interactions.