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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Impact of Ritual on Child Cognition

The Impact of Ritual on Child Cognition

Rybanska, Veronika

Hardcover

Series: Scientific Studies of Religion: Inquiry and Explanation

Religion General General Sociology

ISBN10: 135010891X
ISBN13: 9781350108912
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: Jan 9 2020
Pages: 216
Weight: 0.95
Height: 0.60 Width: 6.30 Depth: 9.30
Language: English

In this book, Veronika Rybanska explores how ritual participation affects the cognitive abilities of children. Rybanska argues that, far from being a simple matter of mindless copying, ritual participation in childhood requires rigorous computation by cognitive mechanisms. In turn, this computation can improve a child's 'executive functioning': a set of cognitive skills that are essential for successful cognitive, social and psychological development.

After providing a critique of existing literature on religion and ritual, Rybanska presents a new interdisciplinary approach that draws from anthropology, psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Using cross-cultural examples, including a comparison between Melanesian culture and Western culture, Rybanska shows that some of the most socially important effects of rituals seem to be universal. The implications of this research suggest that we should rethink multiple aspects of child-rearing and educational policy, and shows that the presence of some form of ritual during childhood could have positive evolutionary benefits.

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