Culture and Cognitive Process

1. Culture and Cognitive Process

2. What are Basic Cognitive Processes? • Cognition includes all mental processes used by humans to transform sensory input into knowledge. • Sensation • Perception

3. CULTURE AS COGNITION

4. Most scholars view culture itself as cognition. • Hofstede (1980): culture is “mental programming” • Berry et al. (1992): culture defined as norms, opinions, beliefs, values and worldviews, which are all cognitive products • Matsumoto & Juang (2007): culture is a knowledge system • Bottom line: it is cognitive skills that allow humans to have culture.

5. CULTURE AND PERCEPTION

6. Perception and Physical Reality • Our perceptions of the world do not necessarily match the physical realities of the world or of our senses. Ex) Blind spot Change in perception of lukewarm water Primary vs. Secondary properties of “physical” objects

7. Cultural Influences on Visual Perception • Optical illusions: perceptions involving apparent discrepancy between how an object looks and what it actually is The Horizontal-Vertical Illusion The Mueller-Lyer Illusion

8. Cultural Influences on Visual Perception • Theories on reasons for optical illusions: • Carpentered world theory • Front-horizontal foreshortening theory • According to both theories, what we see is affected by what we learn about how to see things (which is developed mostly through cultural experiences)

9. Cultural Influences on Visual Perception • Cross-cultural studies have challenged traditional notions about optical illusion. • Rivers (1905): Compared English, Indians and New Guineans • English more fooled by Mueller-Lyer illusion • Indians and New Guineans more fooled by horizontal-vertical illusion • Segall et al (1963, 1966): Compared industrialized vs. nonindustrialized groups • Same results as Rivers

10. Cultural Influences on Visual Perception • Theory on cultural differences in visual perception • Symbolizing three dimensions in to theory • Other studies also show that physiology, in addition to learning, can play a role in observed cultural differences. • Stewart (1973) • Cultural differences also exist in depth perception .

11. Cultural Influences on Visual Perception • The question of whether these study findings would generalize to three-dimensional world remains.

12. Cultural Influences on Visual Perception • Attention: • Masuda & Nisbett (2001) • When asked to recall objects in a scene, Americans and Japanese both recalled focal object of scene; Japanese remembered more background objects. • Japanese were more influenced by changes in background information in other recognition tasks as well. • These differences may be due to differences in environment

13. Culture and Categorization • Universal: Process of categorization • Universal categories: facial expressions, colors, stereotypes, and shapes • Cultural differences: the way in which people categorize things • Western adults categorize by function whereas African adults categorize by color. • American children categorize by shared function, whereas Chinese children categorize by shared contextual relationships.

14. Culture and Memory • Universal: Memory decrease with age and hindsight bias • Cultural differences: memory as a function of oral tradition for meaningful material and serial position effect

15. Culture and Math Abilities • Universal: Ability to do math • Everyday cognition • Cultural differences: overall math abilities and achievements (these differences probably due to differences in educational systems and practices)

16. Culture and Problem Solving • Problem solving: process of discovering ways of achieving goals that are not readily attainable. • Solving of two-step problems depended on context for Liberians • Solving of syllogisms related to schooling

17. Culture and Creativity • Universal: Characteristics of creative individuals • Across cultures, highly creative individuals posses a high capacity for hard work, willingness to take risks and high tolerance for ambiguity and disorder. • Cultural differences: specific ways in which creativity fostered

18. Culture and Dialectical Thinking • Dialectical thinking: tendency to accept contradictions in thought or belief. Not good or bad but good and bad • Cultural differences: East Asians prefer dialectical thinking ,whereas Americans prefer logical determinism • Peng and Nisbett (1999)

19. Culture, Regret and Counterfactual Thinking • Counterfactual thinking: hypothetical beliefs about the past that could have occurred to avoid or change negative outcome. Ex revisionist history. • Universal: Feeling of regret over inaction than action.

20. Summary • Sources of cultural differences in cognition are unknown for the most part. • May be due to differences in ancient philosophies in Greece and China • Or it may be other cultural differences such as education • Or it may be noncultural factors

21. Culture and Dreams • Several cultural differences have been noted regarding manifest content of dreams, emotions associated with dreams and role of dreams in cultures.

22. Culture and Consciousness • Culture and Dreams • As noted in your text, cultural differences have been found between Finnish and Palestinian Children, as well as between Irish, Israeli and Bedouin children, as well as between Anglo-American, Mexican American, and African American women. • The role of dreams is also different across cultures, for instance Mayan Indians use dream sharing and interpretation in teaching.

23. Culture and Time • Cultural differences have also been found on time perspective and orientation • Hall (1973) • Hofstede (2001): Long versus short-term orientation • There significant cultural variations on the notion of “being on-time” • Some research suggests cultural differences in time orientation are related to weather, health and happiness.

24. CULTURE AND INTELLLIGENCE

25. Culture and Intelligence • The concept of Intelligence • Technically speaking, from a Western perspective, IQ is a conglomeration of numerous intellectual abilities centering around verbal and analytic tasks. • Historically, IQ is the most hotly debated psychological construct. • Is intelligence generalized (G) or situation specific (S)?

26. Traditional Definitions of Intelligence • Intelligence: In American psychology, IQ is based on a conglomeration of numerous intellectual abilities centering around verbal and analytic tasks are purported to tap: • Reflection of cognitive development • Comprised of many subcomponents including verbal and spatial comprehension • Operation, content and product • General intelligence (g)

27. Cross-Cultural and Multicultural Research on Intelligence • Cross-cultural and cross-ethnic group differences in intelligence • Great debate on sources of such differences. Is it biological or cultural? • Is IQ biologically predetermined? • Twin studies, brain size, brain function • Is IQ culturally determined? • Economic deprivation and social class • Stereotype threat • Evaluation of both positions: Some problems with empirical evidence of both sides

28. Culture and Intelligence (cont.) • Is IQ biologically predetermined? • Differences stem from heredity (are innate). See Arthur Jensen. • Twin studies indicate that identical twins raised in separate environments are similar in IQ. • Is IQ culturally or environmentally determined? • Ethnic and racial minorities score lower because they are economically deprived.

29. Culture and Intelligence (cont.) • Cultural differences may be the result of different beliefs about what intelligence is or due to the use of culturally inappropriate measures of intelligence. • Stereotype Threat (Claude Steele)-societal stereotypes about a group can actually influence the performance of individuals from that group (African Americans performed worse when asked to indicate their race before taking a test then afterwards.)

30. The Concept of Intelligence in Other Cultures • There are significant cultural differences in what intelligence is i.e., the concept and meaning of intelligence. • Intelligence defined differently • This makes valid comparison of intelligence difficult if not impossible. • Intelligence tests require knowledge of culture, which also makes valid comparisons difficult

31. Culture and Intelligence (cont.) • Intelligence Tests • The need for and use of IQ tests historically was to help school personnel identify children in need of special education. • Not everyone benefited. • Ellis Island-immigrants tested as mentally defective. • The average score of minorities continues to be 12-15% lower than average European Americans.

32. Recent Developments in Theories about Intelligence in Contemporary Psychology • To set the record straight, theoretical understanding of intelligence in American psychology are continually expanding. • Creativity • Emotional Quotient (EQ) • Logical mathematical, linguistic, musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal • Contextual, experiential, componential • Intelligence maybe more aptly defined as “skills and abilities necessary to effectively accomplish cultural goals”