Cultural psychology : theory and method / Carl Ratner.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-213) and index.

1. Cultural Psychology from the Perspective of Activity Theory. The Influence of Cultural Activities on Psychological Phenomena. The Influence of Cultural Artifacts on Psychological Phenomena. The Influence of Cultural Concepts on Psychological Phenomena. The Dialectical Relationship Among Cultural Activities, Artifacts, Concepts, and Psychological Phenomena. Agency from the Perspective of Activity Theory. Advantages of Activity Theory for Cultural Psychology -- 2. Individualistic Approaches to Agency: A Critique. The Individualistic Conception of Agency and Culture. Critique of the Individualistic View. The Scientific and Political Value of Conceptions of Agency -- 3. Implications of Activity Theory for Cultural Psychological Research. The Researcher Must Possess a Comprehensive, Detailed, Profound Understanding of Social Activities, Artifacts, and Concepts to Relate Them to Psychological Phenomena.

To Elucidate the Specific Cultural Character of Psychological Phenomena the Researcher Must Construe Them in Concrete Rather than Abstract Terms. The Cultural Features of Psychological Phenomena Must Be Gleaned from Investigating the Phenomena Themselves. Experimental Procedures Are Powerful Tools for Indicating the Association Between Psychology, Activities, Artifacts, and Concepts. Qualitative Methods Are Necessary for Discerning the Cultural Character of Psychological Phenomena. The Qualitative Methods that Investigate Cultural Facets of Psychological Phenomena Must Be Rigorous and Systematic in Order to Draw Warranted Conclusions. Cultural Features of Psychology Must Be Discerned by the Cultural Psychologist Through Skillful, Probing Analysis Because People Are Ordinarily Not Aware of Them. The Foregoing Principles of Cultural Psychological Research Are Applicable to Studying Cultural Aspects of Psychological Phenomena in All Societies --

4. Interviewing Techniques for Eliciting Cultural-Psychological Information -- 5. A Procedure for Analyzing Cultural Themes in Verbal Accounts. A Phenomenological Procedure for Identifying Psychological Themes in Verbal Accounts. An Application of the Phenomenological Procedure to Cultural Psychology. A Cultural Analysis of Psychological Themes. Objective Determination of Meanings. Quantification -- 6. An Empirical Investigation into the Cultural Psychology of Children's Moral Reasoning.