Cultural Differences in European-Heritage Siblings' and Mexican-Heritage Siblings' Attentional Patterns During an Activity

• In Event: Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

Previous research suggests that children from diverse cultural backgrounds develop keen attention and are more likely to learn by observing than middle-class children (Correa-Chavez & Rogoff, 2009). This study examined cultural differences in children’s attention patterns during a semi-structured interview. 17 sibling pairs, 7 European American heritage sibling pairs and 10 Mexican American heritage sibling-pairs, were interviewed at home regarding their after-school activities. The interviews lasted 5 minutes on average and were segmented into 10 second fragments for analysis. The analysis started with an ethnographic description of the videos examining the sibling pairs’ attentional patterns and related behaviors (sustained attention, interruption, cohesion. We went through many recursive cycles of coding and constant revision. A coding manual with the final categories of attention, interruption, gaze, and cohesion was developed. Our preliminary findings suggest that Mexican American heritage sibling pairs engage in more nonverbal communication, such as shared eye contact, and show more sustained attention even when they were not being addressed by the research assistant. Moreover, Mexican American heritage children were more likely to engage as a cohesive unit, allowing the other sibling to talk with little interruptions, as well as supporting their sibling when they were unsure of how to respond. They were also more likely to sit in close proximity and look at each other. The younger sibling was more likely to turn to the older sibling when responding to the interview and engaged in more physical contact. On the other hand, European American heritage sibling pairs were more likely to respond individually, were more prone to engage in interruption, extended overlap talk, and more likely to disengage (looked away) when not being addressed by the research assistant. They were more likely to sit away from their sibling and either faced away from each other or more towards the research assistant. Overall, Mexican-heritage siblings showed more attention to each other during the interview, helped answer the questions, and remained engaged even when it was not their turn to respond, while European American children were more likely to focus on the research assistant only when addressed, alternating attention but not focusing on their sibling. Findings from this research can inform educators and policy makers working with diverse families. It is important to be able to integrate and acquire a repertoire of attention skills and social communication skills to become more flexible in social interactions in the classroom and society.
The study is nearing the end of the pilot stage and the coding manual is almost finalized. A new research assistant will be trained for inter-rater reliability by the beginning of 2021, after which the 17 participants will be officially coded and analyzed for patterns and comparisons.

Authors

• Sylvia Liu, California State University, Fullerton
  Presenting Author

• Lucia Alcalá, California State University - Fullerton
  Non-Presenting Author

• Vanessa Barragan, California State University - Fullerton
  Non-Presenting Author