Culture and Early Infancy Among Central African Foragers and Farmers Hewlett et al 1998 Article Review 9-8-10

Culture and Early Infancy Among Central African Foragers and Farmers
Hewlett et al 1998
Article Review 9-8-10

This article is based on the research of a group of developmental psychologists, Hewlett, Lamb, Shannon, Leyendecker and Scholmerich, and the observed the behaviors of two communities, the Ngandu and the Aka, and how the adults cared for the infants. The two communities were of interest to them due to the socioeconomic similarities; both are small communities and have little consumerism. The two communities differ in how they obtain food and other necessities for life. The Ngandu are farmers who do not move their settlements. The Ngandu are “slash and burn” farmers with marked gender, intergenerational inequality, and stronger chiefs. The Aka are hunter gatherers or foragers who move their settlements. The Aka move their camps several times a year, have high gender and intergenerational egalitarianism and have minimal political hierarchy. The study focused on variability in infant care in small scale or transitional non western cultures.

Hewlett and his colleges observed the daily living activities, caregiving behaviors, and interactions between the child and parent such as physical affection, vocalizing, holding, face to face contact, fussing and smiling. Two groups of infants 3-4 months old and 9-10 month olds were observed. 20 Aka 3-4 month olds, 20 Aka 9-10 month olds, 21 Ngandu 3-4 month olds, and 20 Ngandu 9-10 month olds. The children were observed 3 hours on 4 different days so that all 12 daylight hours were covered. Thirteen of the Aka 3 month olds, 12 of the Ngandu 3 month olds, 9 of the Aka 9 month olds, and 12 of the Ngandu 9 month old were boys. 14 of the 9-10 month old (6 Aka), and Six of the 3-4 month olds (3 Aka, 3 Ngandu) were first borne. 20% of the Aka and Ngandue fathers in both age categories studied had more than one wife. None of the Aka engaged in a cash economy or had a formal education. The Aka parents engaged in subsistence activities during the observations. The Ngandu women and men engaged in subsistence and market activities but none had employment outside of the home. Several of the Ngandu women, and most of the men had received some elementary education. The families completed their daily living activities while being observed. The observations happened during both the rainy and dry seasons. The observed sampled the parents and childrens dyadic behaviors as well as location, position, and identity of the adult near, holding or caring for the infant during a 45 minute period. Data was observed for 20 s and 10s for recording.

The article discussed the differences pervious research from LeVine (1974, 1989, 1994) when caring for a child among different cultures as an environmental factor. The article reports that Children who are born in urban- industrial or pedagogical cultures tend to have parents who focus on active engagement, stimulation, and social exchange. Children cost more, and contribute less to their society. Parents tend to focus more on cognitive skills as the mortality rate of infants is lower. The article reports that children who live in an agrarian or pediatric society are more focused on physical development, survival and health of the child due to higher infant mortality rates. Agrarian parents tend to respond quicker to fussing, feed their infants on demand and keep their children in closer proximity.

The two communities experience a high infant mortality rate, observe each other frequently and have associated with each other for generations. The researchers feel as though this should create more similarities between responsiveness to fussing, frequency of breastfeeding and that both cultures have had the opportunity to learn from each other and modify their child care behaviors.

The article observes the work load of caregivers in different cultures and the effects upon child caregiving, daily activities, and interactions between the child and parent. The article reports the interactions between the communities.

The Aka focus on sharing. They share with many people in many households daily and there is greater age and gender egalitarianism. The Aka live in camps of 25-35 made up of blood relation or married persons. Aka houses are made by women. The men, women and children cooperatively hunt with nets. The men attempt to chase game into the net, while the women stay close to the net and tackle animals once they are trapped. Men and women contribute equally. The Aka’s substance system involves “immediate returns”, which can foster more sharing within the community as there is less invested.

The Aka infants are fed more frequently, adult interactions are more proximal, and are held closer than the Ngandu infants by their caregivers. The Aka caregivers are more likely to respond to each fuss or cry by soothing the infant. The data discusses that the Aka holding their baby has a higher energy cost, as the mothers are pygmies, are shorter and lighter than the Ngandu women. The Aka infants are held almost all the time, and this may explain why the infants sleep more than the Ngandu.

The Ngandu households have marked inequality and some sharing between household with elderly and men receiving move than others. The Ngandu live in communities of around 100 to 400 people. Ngandu women are primary providers who plan, weed, harvest, and prepare meals. The men clean, and burn plantations. The Ngandu are actively engaged in a local cash economy, many are small scale merchants. The workload of the ngandu mothers appears to be greater than the Aka, as well as the substance system is described as “delayed returns”.

The articles statistical analysis reports that the Ngandu adult infant interactions were more distal and became more pronounced in late infancy. The Ngandu infants were less likely to be left to fuss or cry. The Ngandu stimulate their infants more by using distal behaviors. Ngandu infants are held half as frequently as Aka infants. Ngandu infants thus fuss, cry, smile and vocalize to maintain and attract their parent’s attention. The parents will vocalize and stimulate their infants in return.


I find it interesting that this study has followed LeVine’s research while still having subtle variances in environments, social interactions of community members, hierarchy, economy, and outcomes within the two communities which have affected the children’s development and interactions with the parents.