PSYCHOLOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF THIRD WORLD DEVELOPMENT

Unlike other social sciences, psychology has for long remained outside the orbit of social change and national development. Because of the very nature of socio-economic development that is taking place in the Third World countries, psychology has a distinct role. Temporal compression and cacophonic nature of changes have caused conditions of instability that have brought to the fore many socio-psychological problems requiring immediate attention. The role of psychology in this context and the factors underlying the limited impact it has made so far have been discussed. Some robust findings in psychology that have obvious implications for policy formulation and action programme are outlined.     

THE TRANSFER OF PSYCHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE TO THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES AND ITS IMPACT ON DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF FIVE ARAB GULF OIL-PRODUCING STATES

Psychological knowledge transmitted by universities in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is presented and some historical-cultural roots identified. Required courses for a B.A. are similar to those in the United States. Almost all courses are taught in Arabic and offered in the Faculties of Education. Four types of psychology books are identified. Laboratories are well equipped and libraries well stocked with Arabic and English books and periodicals. Research is primarily directed towards educational-psychological issues. Psychological tests are widely used but lack adequate standardization. Efforts are being made to develop tests locally. Psychology has not attracted enough top-quality students and expatriate professors are in the majority. Impact is mostly felt in Special Education and the media, but not enough in management and planning. Recommendations to ameliorate the situations are suggested.     

CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY TO THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF WORK AND ITS RELEVANCE TO SOCIETIES OF THE THIRD WORLD

It is argued that the concept of work is central to consideration of the future both of the industrialized and the Third World. Work must be sharply distinguished from paid employment to which we cannot look to provide entitlement to full citizenship, a role which it has acquired over a comparatively short period of time in industrial civilization. Work and education are artificially divided, the price for which is greatly higher in the developing than in the developed world. Sociotechnical assessment should be undertaken to ensure that the selection of technologies for use in developing countries will meet their requirements for the encouragement and growth of social and political as well as manual skills. There is a need for community processes to be studied and understood without neglect of their historical dimension.     

THE IMPACT OF AUDITION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF VISUAL ATTENTION

Interactions between audition and vision were investigated in two experiments In the first experiment, school-age hearing children, deaf children with cochlear implants, and deaf children without implants participated in a task in which they were to respond to some visual signals and not others This task did not involve sound at all Deaf children without implants performed much more poorly than hearing children Deaf children with cochlear implants performed considerably better than deaf children without implants The second experiment employed a longitudinal design and showed that the rate of development in visual selective attention was faster for deaf children with cochlear implants than deaf children without implants Moreover, the gams were rapid–occurring within 2 years post-implant surgery The results suggest that a history of experience with sounds matters in the development of visual attention The results are discussed in terms of multimodal developmental processes     

THE USE AND IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGY IN VENEZUELA: TWO EXAMPLES

Two cases are presented to illustrate how psychological knowledge and technology have been used in Venezuela. The first case relates to the use of psychological technology in Venezuelan politics where it is possible to identify a change from “caudillismo” to a more democratic “voting against” political culture. There is evidence that imported political compaigning techniques and extensive use of polling have been a factor of some importance in such change. The second case refers to the activities of the Minister for the Development of Intelligence, who has started a group of projects to improve cognitive functioning in different age groups. These programs are too recent to ascertain their effectiveness; so data is reported on an opinionative evaluation of one of the projects, carried out among Venezuelan psychologists and pediatricians.     

信息加工认知心理学的发展和面临的挑战

本文认为当代信息加工认知心理学发展的特点是：（１）与高新科学技术结合．在基础理论的研究方面有较大的突破;（２）将自然认知与社会认知的研究结合起来,促使信息加工的研究能更接近人类实际的认知过程：（３）将基础理论研究与应用研究相结合,不断扩大认知心理学的研究领域和应用范围．为了迎接面临的挑战和适应社会发展的需要,信息加工认知心理学应更充分地体现时代精神,坚持走实验研究和现象学研究相结合、定量研究与定性研究相结合、微观研究与宏观研究相结合,以及文理互补、多科渗透的发展道路。