Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Human abilities in theoretical cultures
- Part II Cultural responses to ability measurement
- 7 The British “cultural influence” on ability testing
- 8 Cultural influences on patterns of abilities in North America
- 9 Human abilities in the Eastern Mediterranean
- 10 The Norwegian experience of test use: A selective review of Norwegian tests and measurements in cultural context
- 11 Human assessment in Australia
- 12 Test performance of blacks in Southern Africa
- 13 Individual differences among the peoples of China
- 14 Japanese abilities and achievements
- Part III Cultural limits upon human assessment
- Author index
- Subject index
9 - Human abilities in the Eastern Mediterranean
from Part II - Cultural responses to ability measurement
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Human abilities in theoretical cultures
- Part II Cultural responses to ability measurement
- 7 The British “cultural influence” on ability testing
- 8 Cultural influences on patterns of abilities in North America
- 9 Human abilities in the Eastern Mediterranean
- 10 The Norwegian experience of test use: A selective review of Norwegian tests and measurements in cultural context
- 11 Human assessment in Australia
- 12 Test performance of blacks in Southern Africa
- 13 Individual differences among the peoples of China
- 14 Japanese abilities and achievements
- Part III Cultural limits upon human assessment
- Author index
- Subject index
Summary
Introduction
This chapter reviews research in human abilities assessment in the Eastern Mediterranean region and attempts to evaluate this research in terms of its general contribution to a basic understanding of the structure and relations of human abilities. It covers a sample of studies conducted mostly within the last 10 to 15 years, although some go back to the 1950s. The chapter reviews work mainly from Israel, Turkey, Greece, and Yugoslavia and is necessarily selective rather than comprehensive in its coverage. It nevertheless presents a general picture of psychological research on human abilities in a particular cultural context. Issues of theoretical significance in cross-cultural assessment are discussed whenever relevant to the work under consideration.
A number of problems were encountered in preparing this chapter, which required certain decisions about delimiting its scope. First, it turned out to be necessary to focus on certain topics in the vast area of human abilities, at the exclusion of others. Thus, for example, research on memory, language, and physiological correlates has not been covered. Second, a comprehensive review of all relevant research in all the countries in the area was not possible. Language and communication difficulties were the main reason. Although a thorough search of research reports and articles was conducted through major abstracts and indices, much work published in local languages could not be covered. Third, the very nature of research and the academic community in this part of the world proved to be problematic for this kind of review. Specifically, lack of communication or collaboration among the countries in the region and their researchers and the scattered nature of individual studies have made for a diffuse picture.
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- Human Abilities in Cultural Context , pp. 232 - 262Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1988
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