A Cross-cultural Perspective on Cognitive Development Theories used in Indian Settings

Cross-cultural applications of developmental theories have raised a number of is sues related to the developmental status of children in Third World countries. This paper analyses the outcomes of research carried out with children in the Indian setting using some major theories of cognitive development. It is argued that group differences in testperformance are most likely to be interpreted as "deficits" if one fails to analyse the context in which children are brought up. On the other hand, differences in testperformance can be meaningfully understood and interpreted by adopting an ecocultural perspective.