Recently awarded the Spencer Foundation Research Grant on Education, Lucia Alcalá’s research interest is centered on understanding how culture guides social and cognitive development in early childhood and, more recently, in college students. She is exploring the impact of children’s contributions to household work on their collaborative and problem-solving skills. She is also examining the impact of service-learning (local and international) on college students’ civic development, identity development, and social responsibility.
After obtaining her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from USCS as a first-generation college student, Alcalá spent two years working in several Maya communities in Yucatan. She was interested in understanding how mothers and children in these communities conceptualize learning and helping.
Alcalá conducted weekly visits to these communities to observe children helping at school and participating in household chores and community events. She wanted to understand why children help so extensively there and what motivates them to help others. In many indigenous communities, children take the initiative to help, learn, and contribute. In contrast, children in middle-class American communities have limited access to work and are involved in adult-controlled activities.
After conducting interviews with children and mothers, it was clear that for them, helping is a community responsibility, and children are eager to help others. This is not the case in middle-class communities in Mexico and the USA, where children help minimally, and their help is often contingent on rewards or negotiation.
Photo credits: Lucia Alcalá and photo of 3 children sitting with books by Deira Jiménez-Balam