Acceso usuarios
Matías Fernández Ruiz, Andrea Sabina Taverna
La cognición causal -representación y razonamiento sobre eventos y relaciones causales- es fundamental para la mente humana. La mayoría de los estudios adoptaron una perspectiva cartesiana-universalista de la cognición, lo cual presenta limitaciones en su alcance. En contraposición, algunos han sugerido que la cultura es constitutiva de esos procesos. Sin embargo, la mayoría posee una perspectiva basada en la dicotomía universalidad-variabilidad y trabajan con categorías externas al grupo humano estudiado. Para superar esas limitaciones, es necesaria una perspectiva ecológica-relacional que considere las categorías nativas como fuente para investigaciones más coherentes con la ontología y epistemología del grupo humano estudiado. En este trabajo se muestra el tratamiento de datos que posibilitó la aplicación de esta perspectiva en un estudio sobre cognición causal entre los wichí del Chaco Central. Para ello, se analizan dos corpus de datos interrelacionados -uno etnográfico y otro experimental-, ambos constituidos por enunciados (N = 1449) de hablantes nativos residentes de la comunidad Wichi Lawet, de Laguna Yema (Formosa, Argentina). De esta forma, al aplicar diferentes métodos y técnicas de análisis cualitativos, se identificaron cinco repertorios conceptuales nativos sobre eventos causales, atributos nativos, causas explicitas, niveles ecológicos y tipos de causas. Este enfoque teórico-metodológico centrado en la perspectiva nativa y sus repertorios conceptuales, aporta una diferenciación muy valiosa al estudio psicológico-cognitivo de este grupo humano en particular y de poblaciones culturalmente diversas en general.
categorías nativas, causalidad, cognición causal, cultura, ecosistema, razonamiento causal, repertorios conceptuales, wichí
Causal cognition -representation and reasoning about events and causal relations - is fundamental to the human mind, since it allows us to diagnose causes, plan actions, solve problems, and predict future events. The bulk of research on causal cognition assumed a Cartesian-universalist perspective of cognition, which presents limitations in its scope because it is based on three supposedly universal ontological-cognitive domains (physical, biological, and psychosocial), it focuses on a cultural group (euro-descendant and urban Westerners) and considers culture as an input for domain-specific cognitive systems. In contrast, it has been suggested that culture is constitutive of cognitive processes related to causation, affecting both the content and processing of causal cognition. In such interaction, content plays a crucial role, as people often guide their reasoning and inferences with content-specific representations about properties, relationships, interactions, and a priori assumptions about how multiple causes combine in a given domain. This specific content is cultural, because not only its origin lies in cultural transmission, but also because it is shaped by causally relevant native concepts and categories, giving rise to cognitive diversity in causal attributions and framework theories of human groups. However, although there are previous studies that include minority populations, most have a perspective based on universality-variability dichotomy and work with external categories to the human group studied, which usually derives to universalisms or variability that always have a Western ontological-epistemological perspective as their reference. To overcome these limitations, it is necessary to use an ecological-relational perspective that avoids direct and inappropriate application of Western dualisms and considers native categories as a source for research more coherent with the ontology and epistemology of the human group studied. This work, show data analysis processing as a possible application of this perspective in a study on causal cognition among Wichi people. The Wichi are an indigenous population of Gran Chaco, with a strong native language -Wichi lhomtes- and a constellation of native categories that emphasize the relational character of their knowledge. Here, analyzed two interrelated corpus of data -one ethnographic, another experimental-, both made up of statements (N = 1449) from native speakers, residents of the Wichí Lawet community of Laguna Yema, Formosa, Argentina.
Thus, by applying different methods and techniques of qualitative analysis, it identified five native conceptual repertoires of causal events, native attributes, explicit causes, ecosystem levels, and types of causes. In this sense, the work shows a conscientious process of searching Wichi’s concepts, which emphasizes respect for native perspective, the cultural specificity of observational categories, and ecological validity. This work, with a theoretical-methodological approach focused on native perspective and their conceptual repertoires, provides a highly valuable differentiation to the psychological-cognitive study of this human group in particular and culturally diverse populations in general.
