The Impact of Ritual on Child Cognition (Scientific Studies of Religion: Inquiry and Explanation)

"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."-- Provided by publisher Title Page Copyright Page Contents Tables Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 One candy now or two candies later? 1.2 How schooling connects rituals and the ability to delay gratification Chapter 2: Rituals 2.1 What is and what should never be: How do we learn normative conventions? 2.2 How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat? Children’s awareness and learning of norms and normative structure 2.3 The theory of two cognitive stances: An alternative explanation for social learning 2.4 Another brick in the wall: The importance of normative conventions in human cultures 2.5 The theory of divergent modes of religiosity 2.6 Rituals as means of hazard precaution 2.7 Play the game: Children’s rituals 2.8 Why are rituals so hard? Chapter 3: Ritual stance adoption in two contrasting cultures 3.1 Introduction to Vanuatu culture and history 3.2 Schools and education in Vanuatu 3.3 Ritual in Vanuatu: Kastom and rispek 3.4 Introduction to Slovak culture and history 3.5 Schools and education in Slovakia 3.6 Ritual in Slovakia 3.7 Theoretical considerations for ritual in Vanuatu and Slovakia 3.8 Rituals and modes of ritualization 3.9 Possible causes of differences in the ability to delay gratification across cultural contexts Chapter 4: Executive function 4.1 Executive function and its components 4.2 Development of executive function 4.3 Rituals and executive function connection: Evidence from neurology and development 4.4 The impact of ritual on executive function 4.5 Enhancing or impairing executive function? The role of rituals in executive function processes 4.6 Measuring children’s executive function 4.7 Training and improving executive function: Intervention studies on the enhancement of self-regulatory skills 4.8 Ritual participation improves executive function in children: An empirical study Note Chapter 5: The ability to delay gratification 5.1 Good times, bad times: Variability in the ability to delay gratification 5.2 I want it all and I want it now: The developmental pathways of delayed gratification 5.3 To delay or not to delay? That is the question 5.4 Connecting executive function and the ability to delay gratification 5.5 Executive function and the ability to delay gratification: An empirical study 5.6 How does ritual promote the ability to delay gratification? 5.7 The impact of ritual on the ability to delay gratification: An empirical study Note Chapter 6: Summary and results 6.1 Cross-cultural similarities 6.2 Future directions References Index