Culture And Brain Function n Searching for Answers

Culture And Brain Function n Searching for Answers with Clinical Neuropsychology Antonio E. Puente University of North Carolina at Wilmington n Mary Washington College n April 20, 2001

Outline Purpose of Presentation n Background and Biases n Assumptions and Limitations n Defining Concepts n Examples from Evolution n Examples from Three Neuropsychological Studies n Explanations and Possibilities n Implications and Directions n

Purpose of Presentation Summary of 25 Years of Research and Practice n Where Do Biopsychosocial Variables Fit in Brain Dysfunction? n Searching for a Neuropsychological “g” n

Background and Biases Ethnicity n Educational n Professional n Theoretical n – Sperry – Vygotsky-Luria

Assumptions and Limitations n Philosophy Vs Science n Functional Vs Organic n Culture Vs Biology n Individual Vs Contextual

Defining Concepts Culture (Shared Extra-genetic Knowledge) n Brain and Neuropsychology (Processor of Information; Information About the Processor) n Intelligence and Cognition (Understanding/Tracking/Using Discrete Information) n

Examples from Three Neuropsychological Studies n Background – Grenada, W. I. - Hypertension & Stress – Argentina- Fulbright & the Malvinas – Puerto Rico- APA Visiting Psychologist Program & the Translation of Tests

Examples from Studies: Continued n Intention – Why do Ethnic-Minorities do Poorly on Most Cognitive & Neuropsychological Measures? – Three Generations = Anglo Saxon – Cattell and the Concept of “g” – Is There Common Information Processing Across Cultures?

Examples From Studies: Three Attempts n Wechsler Intelligence Scales n Luria-Nebraska Battery n Amazon Indians

Wechsler Scales: I n Background – Item Bias on the Wechsler Scales – WISC Puerto Rican Version n WAIS vs WISC n

Wechsler Scales: II n Principal Collaborators In Psych Corp: – William Hrabrick, , Aurelio Prifitera, Michael O’Callahan, David Tulsky n Principal Co-Collaborators: – Alfredo Ardila, Josette Harris, Andres Barona, Laura Herrans (& Monica Rosselli) – Consulting Workgroup (7) n Other Collaborators: – 50 -70 School and Clinical Neuropsychologists Throughout the US

Wechsler Scales: III Time-Frame n Items n Production n Sampling n Standardization n

Wechsler Scales: IV n Time-Frame: – Initial Work= late 1980 s-1993 – Formal Work= 1994 -2001

Wechsler Scales: V n Items: – Borrowed Items – Explicit and Implicit Bias – Across Hispanic Subgroup Agreement – Scoring Criteria

Wechsler Scales: VI n Production: – Using Prior WISC & Foreign Versions – Drawings – Printing – Pricing & Packaging – Production

Wechsler Scales: VII n Sampling: – Age – Sex – Educational Level (child and parent) – Country of Origin – Acculturation Level – Language Preference of Child – Socio-economic Status

Wechsler Scales: VIII n Standardization: – Examiners 36 n Geographical & Cultural Variability n Taped Tryout n – Methods Tryout= 600 n Standardization= 1, 000 n Test-Retest= 300 n

Wechsler Scales: IX n Current Status: – “On Hold” – No Internal or External Project Director – No Existing Psych Corp Infrastructure – No Funding

Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery: I n Background – National Academy of Neuropsychology 1979 Meeting in Orlando – Luria-North Dakota Neuropsychological Battery – Initial Collaboration with Golden & “Item Interpretation of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery” – Chilean Journal of Psychology (1982)

LNNB: II n Failed Attempts: – Argentina – Puerto Rico n Spanish Collaborators: – Madrid- Juan Tobal, Antonio Cano, Juan Manuel Cepedez, Itziar Iruarrizaga – Granada- Juan Godoy, Juana Garcia. Miguel Perez – Other- Salamanca; TEA, Western Psych.

LNNB: III n Literature Review: – 500 Total Articles on the LNNB – 34 on the LNNB and Ethnic/Foreign Samples – 4= Children; 30= Adult – Empirical= 23 (BD, Schizophrenia) – Translations= 9

LNNB: IV n Problems: – Items Hispanic Subculture n Literal Translation n – Copyright Luria n Christensen n TEA n Western Psychological Services n

LNNB: V n Translation: – Original Translation by Bilingual Neuropsychologist – Back Translation by Two Bilingual Neuropsychologist – New Translation Developed – Discrepancies With English Translation Reconciled

LNNB: VI n Major Item Changes: – Receptive Speech – Expressive Speech – Writing & Reading – Arithmetic – Intellectual Processes

LNNB: VII n Sampling: – Total= 232 (men= 126; women= 106) – Mean Age= 39. 88 (15 -88) – Mean Education= 9. 93(0 -21)

LNNB: VIII n Correlations with LNNB I: – Range=. 5356 to. 7232 – Education= -. 48 to -. 72 – Scales=. 52 to. 845

LNNB: IX n Next Steps: – Publishing Patient Group Info – TEA/Western Psychological Corporation Copyright & Related Difficulties

Amazon Indians: I n Background: – Culture-free Sample – Caribbean, Latin America, Spain, Russia n Collaborators: – Vivian Andrade (Brazil) – Miguel Perez (Spain)

Amazon: II First Study n Task – CVLT Type Task (15 words) – Words in Guaranis & Portuguese n Sampling – Total= 20 – Guaranis (educated vs “uneducated”)

Amazon: III (First Study Continued) n Results: – Verbal Memory similar number of words in first trial n different learning curves n more words total for indigenous Indians n

Amazon Indians: IV Second Study n Sample – N= 12 per group – Educated vs “non-educated” Guaranis n Tasks – CVLT type task (15 matched words) – 12 Figures of indigenous animals – WMS-R Logical Memory – WAIS-R Digit Span – WAIS-R Block Design

Amazon Indians: V Second Study (continued) n Results – No between-group differences – “Un-educated” Indians did significantly better in motor and visual tasks than in verbal tasks in either language

Explanation of Current State of the Scientific Literature New, Novel, & Extremely Difficult n History and Culture Do Matter n Personal Manipulation of History and Culture Matter Even More n Cultural Knowledge Might be the Manner in Which Natural Selection Expresses Itself in Humans n

Answers with Questions: Where Do We Go From Here? Is Reductionism Enough? n Is the Tabula Rasa Really Blank? n Does Individual Cognition Affect Gene Pool Constitution? n If so, is Culture the Mechanism? n Is Intelligence and Neuropsychological Constructs (e. g. Memory, Problem Solving, etc. ) Equal to Understanding of Culture? n If so, Does Mind Emerge from Brain and, in turn, Control Brain? n

Further Information n Address: – Department of Psychology, UNC-W, Wilmington, NC 28403 -3297 n E-mail: – puente@uncwil. edu n Web Site: – clinicalneuropsychology. com – uncwil. edu/people/puente