Abstract
Over the last decade, there has been a massive increase in research about the connection of religious beliefs and practices to the ‘cognitive architecture’ of human beings. It is claimed that the way in which people naturally think, and the way the human mind develops, is not just the result of social environment. It is the product of deep structures, perhaps ultimately physiological, in the human mind. Whether the fact that we are perhaps naturally religious supports or debunks religion is a controversial matter. The growing body of empirical research in the cognitive science of religion, however, certainly gives us fascinating material to ponder.
This book is an illuminating contribution to that general area. Combining work from developmental psychology and anthropology, it concentrates on the function of ritual in the development of children’s intellectual capacity. Veronika Rybanska is based at Oxford in the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology. Her empirical research specifically draws from work with children in Slovakia, as an example of an advanced Western nation, and Vanuatu, a remote archipelago in the South Pacific, formerly known as the New Hebrides. Despite vast differences in culture and circumstance, the research indicated that the children exhibit similar cognitive capacities. Basic human nature can be held to be the same everywhere.
The specific focus of the book on ritual contains multiple references to contemporary research, and the effect can be overwhelming for a general reader. It puts forward an important thesis, though, that participation in ritual has an important effect on cognitive development. It is argued that the discipline necessary for children to be involved in ritual activities of all kinds has a significant influence on their ability to delay gratification: in other words, to control their immediate desires. All rituals, whether in children’s play, institutional activities in school or religious ceremonies, the author argues, ‘contribute to, and maintain, a sense of order and stability in life’ (p. 7). Training in any ritual, including those of religion, supports a sense of belonging, with the teaching of convention and custom. It helps train cognitive processes that are involved in self-control, particularly attention, inhibitory control and working memory. This contributes to the development of what is termed ‘executive function’ – basically, the cognitive control of behaviour.
Rybanska ends by lightly touching on what she terms ‘the widespread devaluation of ritual and tradition in Western child rearing and education’ (p. 165). She speculates on the deleterious effect this has had on ‘executive function’. Less emphasis on disciplined, collective activity can ignore the wider importance of learning norms and conventions. The result may be a reduction in the ability to exercise self-control and defer gratification. Religious rituals, in and out of school, have been in decline. This valuable research demonstrates how, apart from having an intrinsic value, they perform a vital function in the development of human mental faculties.