ed. Most of the examples given, such as the Native American openness to sharing, are antithetical to the dominant American cultural mode of competition. To the Native American, the group is more important than the individual. If Native Americans do not appear as competitive, or interested in self-display, there is a cultural reason behind such behavior.
Native American children in a dominant culture classroom will appear uncooperative if asked to "recite," to use an archaic educational word. Perhaps the prevalent interest in, and preponderance of, cooperative learning is a direct result of multicultural trends. Certainly, a Native American student who was reticent to answer a teacher's question directly (to "recite") would feel more comfortable in a cooperative situation, where the group effort was more valued than an individual display of competence.
Mental retardation professionals must be careful to design diagnostic tests with cultural bias in mind. If three times as many non-dominant culture children live in poverty than do dominant culture children (see p. 44, text), we have to address the environmental differences contributing either directly, or indirectly, to mental maturation. What is due to genetics, and what is due to the environment? Methods of qualitative, as well as quantitative evaluation, will seek to separate out environmental, from genetic, factors. Such is the direction of the future.
Certainly performance (behavior) reflecting cultural differences should be considered in applying the label of mental retardation. As has been seen above, non-genetic differences may account for behavior. If such differences can be considered (controlled), then the mental retardation specialist is in a position to manipulate or not manipulate the environment to the benefit of the client. For example, a child could appear to have learning deficits in one environment, but not in another. Considering behavior wh...