ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses two types of phenomena observed in some African cultures. One is that performance at visually specialized tasks is often poor – although it tends to improve with Western-type education; the second is that some African cultures contain considerable emphasis on sensory phenomena apart from the visual world. By ‘sensotype’ is meant the pattern of relative importance of the different senses, by which a child learns to perceive the world and in which pattern he develops his abilities. These patterns may be predominantly visual in one culture, while in another culture, auditory or proprioceptive senses may have a much higher relative importance. Tests used includes H. A. Witkin’s rod and frame test; a shortened version of his embedded figures test. People who are found to show analytic ability especially in one sensory realm, are held to represent a ‘sensotype’ different from that of persons who develop analytic ability in another realm.
