Broadening horizons: 25 years of advancing cognitive development research through linguistic and cultural diversity
Over the past 25 years, research in cognitive development has begun to embrace linguistic and cultural diversity. For example, the field has begun to move away from focusing on predominantly WEIRD, English-speaking populations, and rather, moved toward including historically underrepresented groups....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Developmental Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdpys.2025.1605723/full |
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| author | Sirada Rochanavibhata Natsuki Atagi |
| author_facet | Sirada Rochanavibhata Natsuki Atagi |
| author_sort | Sirada Rochanavibhata |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Over the past 25 years, research in cognitive development has begun to embrace linguistic and cultural diversity. For example, the field has begun to move away from focusing on predominantly WEIRD, English-speaking populations, and rather, moved toward including historically underrepresented groups. The field has also transitioned from deficit perspectives of linguistic and cultural diversity to embrace an asset-based model in which differences from the “norm” in cognitive development are viewed as strengths. Additionally, more continuous representations of linguistic and cultural diversity often complement the more traditional, binary conceptualizations of linguistic (e.g., monolingual vs. bilingual) and cultural (e.g., Eastern vs. Western) backgrounds. Through these more representative accounts of our heterogeneous society, we have gained valuable insights into the development of cognitive processes in children. This mini review will summarize recent research findings in sub-disciplines of cognitive development, including attention, perception, executive function, and language, that were made possible by including linguistically and culturally diverse populations. We also identify future challenges related to systematic measurement and assessment of multilingualism and culture. We conclude by discussing the way forward, including large-scale collaborative efforts in developmental research (e.g., ManyBabies, Wordbank). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cec9f50bf1284257aa82f79d4ece4fa8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2813-7779 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Developmental Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-cec9f50bf1284257aa82f79d4ece4fa82025-08-20T03:28:50ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Developmental Psychology2813-77792025-07-01310.3389/fdpys.2025.16057231605723Broadening horizons: 25 years of advancing cognitive development research through linguistic and cultural diversitySirada Rochanavibhata0Natsuki Atagi1Department of Child and Adolescent Development, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, United StatesDepartment of Child and Adolescent Studies, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, United StatesOver the past 25 years, research in cognitive development has begun to embrace linguistic and cultural diversity. For example, the field has begun to move away from focusing on predominantly WEIRD, English-speaking populations, and rather, moved toward including historically underrepresented groups. The field has also transitioned from deficit perspectives of linguistic and cultural diversity to embrace an asset-based model in which differences from the “norm” in cognitive development are viewed as strengths. Additionally, more continuous representations of linguistic and cultural diversity often complement the more traditional, binary conceptualizations of linguistic (e.g., monolingual vs. bilingual) and cultural (e.g., Eastern vs. Western) backgrounds. Through these more representative accounts of our heterogeneous society, we have gained valuable insights into the development of cognitive processes in children. This mini review will summarize recent research findings in sub-disciplines of cognitive development, including attention, perception, executive function, and language, that were made possible by including linguistically and culturally diverse populations. We also identify future challenges related to systematic measurement and assessment of multilingualism and culture. We conclude by discussing the way forward, including large-scale collaborative efforts in developmental research (e.g., ManyBabies, Wordbank).https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdpys.2025.1605723/fullbilingualismcognitive developmentlinguistic and cultural diversitymultilingualismWEIRD |
| spellingShingle | Sirada Rochanavibhata Natsuki Atagi Broadening horizons: 25 years of advancing cognitive development research through linguistic and cultural diversity Frontiers in Developmental Psychology bilingualism cognitive development linguistic and cultural diversity multilingualism WEIRD |
| title | Broadening horizons: 25 years of advancing cognitive development research through linguistic and cultural diversity |
| title_full | Broadening horizons: 25 years of advancing cognitive development research through linguistic and cultural diversity |
| title_fullStr | Broadening horizons: 25 years of advancing cognitive development research through linguistic and cultural diversity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Broadening horizons: 25 years of advancing cognitive development research through linguistic and cultural diversity |
| title_short | Broadening horizons: 25 years of advancing cognitive development research through linguistic and cultural diversity |
| title_sort | broadening horizons 25 years of advancing cognitive development research through linguistic and cultural diversity |
| topic | bilingualism cognitive development linguistic and cultural diversity multilingualism WEIRD |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdpys.2025.1605723/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT siradarochanavibhata broadeninghorizons25yearsofadvancingcognitivedevelopmentresearchthroughlinguisticandculturaldiversity AT natsukiatagi broadeninghorizons25yearsofadvancingcognitivedevelopmentresearchthroughlinguisticandculturaldiversity |