This US-Brazil collaborative research proposal between Dr. Jaan Valsiner and colleagues, Clark University, Worcester, MA, and Drs. Maria D. C. P de Lyra, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco and Angela U. Branco, Universidade de Brasilia, is a two-year, multi-disciplinary study of development of human communicative processes in different socio-cultural contexts. This study in metacommunications will involve the PI, eight U.S. researchers, and 4 graduate students in developmental psychology and education. Each researcher will focus on a different, but related factor of socio-cultural psychology ranging from the investigation of language development in different cultures, the mechanisms of national identity, formation, and maintenance, human adaption to varied physical and family environments including stress generated by low income economies, and issues ofviolence in personal relations. Brazilian teams will gain further elaboration of their research methodologies - especially in the area of statistical data analysis, while US scientists will extend their perspectives by gaining a better perspective on the phenomena of communicative and metacommunicative processes in the context of a different society - one whose academic background is based upon a French model. Presentation of findings is expected at a international conference in 2000 and in the publicaiton of joint research papers. ***
