Ritual in development: Improving children’s ability to delay gratification
<p>To be accepted into social groups, individuals must internalise and reproduce appropriate group conventions, such as rituals. The high fidelity copying of such rigid and socially stipulated behavioural sequences places heavy demands on executive function abilities. Given previous research s...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2016
|
| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1797062645460762624 |
|---|---|
| author | Rybanska, V |
| author2 | Whitehouse, H |
| author_facet | Whitehouse, H Rybanska, V |
| author_sort | Rybanska, V |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>To be accepted into social groups, individuals must internalise and reproduce appropriate group conventions, such as rituals. The high fidelity copying of such rigid and socially stipulated behavioural sequences places heavy demands on executive function abilities. Given previous research showing that challenging executive functioning also improves it, it was hypothesised that prolonged engagement in ritualistic behaviours would improve executive functioning in children, in turn improving their ability to delay gratification. A three month circle-time-games intervention with primary school children in two contrasting cultural environments (Slovakia and Vanuatu) was conducted. In both environments we found the intervention improved children's executive function and in turn their ability to delay gratification. Moreover, these effects were amplified when the intervention task was imbued with ritual, rather than instrumental, cues. The findings presented in this thesis have potentially far-reaching implications for child-rearing and educational practices, suggesting ritual participation may be necessary for the cultivation of future mindedness.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T20:48:30Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:36c2e04a-1d99-4147-b693-b6a3d3b1c085 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T20:48:30Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:36c2e04a-1d99-4147-b693-b6a3d3b1c0852022-03-26T13:39:56ZRitual in development: Improving children’s ability to delay gratificationThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:36c2e04a-1d99-4147-b693-b6a3d3b1c085Developmental psychology--ResearchCognition in childrenCognitive scienceEnglishORA Deposit2016Rybanska, VWhitehouse, HMckay, R<p>To be accepted into social groups, individuals must internalise and reproduce appropriate group conventions, such as rituals. The high fidelity copying of such rigid and socially stipulated behavioural sequences places heavy demands on executive function abilities. Given previous research showing that challenging executive functioning also improves it, it was hypothesised that prolonged engagement in ritualistic behaviours would improve executive functioning in children, in turn improving their ability to delay gratification. A three month circle-time-games intervention with primary school children in two contrasting cultural environments (Slovakia and Vanuatu) was conducted. In both environments we found the intervention improved children's executive function and in turn their ability to delay gratification. Moreover, these effects were amplified when the intervention task was imbued with ritual, rather than instrumental, cues. The findings presented in this thesis have potentially far-reaching implications for child-rearing and educational practices, suggesting ritual participation may be necessary for the cultivation of future mindedness.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Developmental psychology--Research Cognition in children Cognitive science Rybanska, V Ritual in development: Improving children’s ability to delay gratification |
| title | Ritual in development: Improving children’s ability to delay gratification |
| title_full | Ritual in development: Improving children’s ability to delay gratification |
| title_fullStr | Ritual in development: Improving children’s ability to delay gratification |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ritual in development: Improving children’s ability to delay gratification |
| title_short | Ritual in development: Improving children’s ability to delay gratification |
| title_sort | ritual in development improving children s ability to delay gratification |
| topic | Developmental psychology--Research Cognition in children Cognitive science |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rybanskav ritualindevelopmentimprovingchildrensabilitytodelaygratification |