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Joseph Berland’s study of South Asian nomads and entertainers is
unique among cross-cultural studies of cognition. Berland, an
anthropologist by training, has spent several years living among
the people he describes for us. This familiarity already sets him
apart from most psychologists, like myself, who have limited time
to spend among the people they study. Even more remarkable is the
appropriateness of the people chosen for this research. The
Qalandar offer a special opportunity to overcome obstacles posed by
alien test procedures, because their cultural traditions and world
view encompass the very theory and methods that Berland wanted to
use! In fact, as we quickly discover, the Qalandar sophistication
in testing people and in being tested to determine intellectual
competence is sufficient to tax the researcher’s ingenuity. Like
the people who won his admiration in this research, Berland knows
how to live by his wits. He judiciously mixes anthropological
observation and psychological experimentation. He permits the
setting to guide his choice of method and his knowledge of the
overall cultural context to constrain his interpretation. His work
will provide an important model for those of us who, like Tylor
long ago, believe that the study of culture can shed light on the
nature of human thinking.
*Michael Cole*
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