What Does the Culture in
Cultural Neuropsychology Tell
Us About Psychology?
Antonio E. Puente
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Florida Institute of Technology
Melbourne, Florida
April 14, 2006
Outline
Purpose of Presentation
 Background and Biases
 Assumptions and Limitations
 Defining Concepts
 Examples from Neuropsychological
Studies
 Pragmatic Observations
 Theoretical Speculations

Purpose of Presentation
Summary of 25 Years of Research
Where Do Biopsychosocial Variables Fit
in Brain Dysfunction?
 Searching for a Neuropsychological “g”

Background and Biases
Ethnicity
 Educational
 Professional
 Theoretical

– Sperry
– Vygotsky-Luria
Assumptions and Limitations

Philosophy Vs Science

Functional Vs Organic

Culture Vs Biology

Individual Vs Contextual
Defining Concepts
Culture (Shared Extra-genetic
Knowledge)
 Brain and Neuropsychology
(Processor of Information; Information
about the Processor)
 Intelligence and Cognition
(Understanding/Tracking/Using
Discrete Information)

Overall Purpose

To Increase Purpose/Validity/Value by
Understanding the Individual in a
Biopsychosocial Context
– Historical- psychological (learning &
emotion aka psychopathology)
– Present- biological (and cognitive)
– Future- social cultural context
Insert Slides for Hispanic

4,5, 6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16, 17,
18, 19, 20, 21,22,23, 24, 25, 26
Examples from
Neuropsychological Studies

Background (1978-1985)
– Grenada, W.I.- Hypertension & Stress
– Argentina- Fulbright & the Malvinas
– Puerto Rico- APA Visiting Psychologist
Program & the Translation of Tests
Examples from Studies:
Continued

Intention (since 1985)
– 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 Five
“Studies”

Wechsler Intelligence Scales

Luria-Nebraska Battery

Amazon Indians

Russia

Hispanics
Wechsler Scales: I

Background
– Item Bias on the Wechsler Scales
– WISC


Puerto Rican Version
WAIS vs WISC
Wechsler Scales: II

Principal Collaborators In Psych Corp:
– William Hrabrick,, Aurelio Prifitera, Michael
O’Callahan, David Tulsky

Principal Co-Collaborators:
– Alfredo Ardila, Josette Harris, Andres
Barona, Laura Herrans (& Monica Rosselli)
– Consulting Workgroup (7)

Other Collaborators:
– 50-70 School and Clinical
Neuropsychologists Throughout the US
Wechsler Scales: III
Time-Frame
 Items
 Production
 Sampling
 Standardization

Wechsler Scales: IV

Time-Frame:
– Initial Work= late 1980s-1993
– Formal Work= 1994-2001
Wechsler Scales: V

Items:
– Borrowed Items
– Explicit and Implicit Bias
– Across Hispanic Subgroup Agreement
– Scoring Criteria
Wechsler Scales: VI

Production:
– Using Prior WISC & Foreign Versions
– Drawings
– Printing
– Pricing & Packaging
– Production
Wechsler Scales: VII

Sampling:
– Age
– Sex
– Educational Level (child and parent)
– Country of Origin
– Acculturation Level
– Language Preference of Child
– Socio-economic Status
Wechsler Scales: VIII

Standardization:
– Examiners



36
Geographical & Cultural Variability
Taped Tryout
– Methods



Tryout= 600
Standardization= 1,000
Test-Retest= 300
Wechsler Scales: IX

Current Status:
– “On Hold”
– No Internal or External Project Director nor
Funding
Luria-Nebraska
Neuropsychological Battery: I

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

Failed Attempts:
– Argentina
– Puerto Rico

Spanish Collaborators:
– Madrid- Juan Tobal, Antonio Cano, Juan
Manuel Cepedez, Itziar Iruarrizaga
– Granada- Juan Gody, Juana Garcia. Miguel
Perez
– Other- Salamanca; TEA, Western Psych.
LNNB: III

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

Problems:
– Items


Hispanic Subculture
Literal Translation
– Copyright




Luria
Christensen
TEA
Western Psychological Services
LNNB: V

Translation:
– Original Translation by Bilingual
Neuropsychologist
– Back Translation by Two Bilingual
Neuropsychologist
– New Translation Developed
– Discrepancies With English Translation
Reconciled
LNNB: VI

Major Item Changes:
– Receptive Speech
– Expressive Speech
– Writing & Reading
– Arithmetic
– Intellectual Processes
LNNB: VII

Sampling:
– Total= 232 (men= 126; women= 106)
– Mean Age= 39.88 (15-88)
– Mean Education= 9.93(0-21)
LNNB: VIII

Correlations with LNNB I:
– Range= .5356 to .7232
– Education= -.48 to -.72
– Scales= .52 to .845
LNNB: IX

Next Steps:
– Publishing Patient Group Info
– TEA/Western Psychological Corporation
Copyright & Related Difficulties
Amazon Indians: I

Background:
– Culture-free Sample
– Caribbean, Latin America, Spain, Russia

Collaborators:
– Vivian Andrade (Brazil)
– Miguel Perez (Spain)
Amazon: II
First Study

Task
– CVLT Type Task (15 words)
– Words in Guaranis & Portuguese

Sampling
– Total= 20
– Guaranis (educated vs “uneducated”)
Amazon: III
(First Study Continued)

Results:
– Verbal Memory



similar number of words in first trial
different learning curves
more words total for indigenous Indians
Amazon Indians: IV
Second Study

Sample
– N= 12 per group
– Educated vs “non-educated” Guaranis

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)

Results
– No between-group differences
– “Un-educated” Indians did significantly
better in motor and visual tasks than in
verbal tasks in either language
Russia

Background
– Luria & Vygotsky
– Biannual International Luria Conference
– Anna Agranovich
Russia: II

Sample
Total = 40 per group
USA
Russia
Age
28.95 (18-44)
29.15 (18-43)
Ed.
13.68 (12-17)
14.25 (12-17)
Russia: III

Methodology/Instruments
Hemisphere
Anterior
Posterior
left/verbal
Fluency
Digits Backward
Digits Forward
Verbal Memory
right/visual
Ruff Figural Fluency
Color Trails
Visual Memory
Clock Test
Russia: IV

Results
Test
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Verbal Fluency
Digits Backwards
Digits Forward
Verbal Memory
Visual Memory
Clock
RFFT
CTT1
CTT2
USA
21.75
7.83
10.58
41.65
23.05
8.55
114.80
26.08
61.63
Russia
24.18
6.75
9.70
43.50
22.63
8.83
103.40
38.30
75.46
Hispanics in The US

Insert slides 28, 29
Some Pragmatic Observations

Translations
– Typical vs Required

Translators
– Typical vs Required

Norms
– Paucity of Data
– Heterogeneity of Groups

Criterion Validity
– Who is the Reference Value
– What is “Brain Damage”

Personnel
– Few Academics, in general
– Even Fewer Ethnic-Minorities Within the Field
Some Theoretical Questions
New, Novel, & Extremely Difficult
 History and Culture Do Matter
 Personal Manipulation of History and
Culture Matter Even More
 Cultural Knowledge Might be the
Manner in Which Natural Selection
Expresses Itself in Homo Sapiens
 Clinical Neuropsychology Might Help
Unravel This Expression


Insert slide 30,
Answers with Questions:
Where Do We Go From Here?
Is Reductionism Enough?
 Is the Tabula Rasa Really Blank?
 Does Individual Cognition Affect Gene
Pool Constitution?
 If so, is Culture the Mechanism?
 Is Intelligence and Neuropsychological
Constructs (e.g. Memory, Problem
Solving, etc.) Equal to Understanding of
Culture?
 If so, Does Mind Emerge from Brain
and, in turn, Control Brain?

Insert Slide 31
Further Information

Address:
– Department of Psychology, UNC-W,
Wilmington, NC 28403-3297

E-mail:
– puente@uncw.edu

Web Site:
– clinicalneuropsychology.us
– uncw.edu/people/puente