Critical Thinking in Cross-Cultural Psychology

1. Critical Thinking in Cross-Cultural Psychology

2. The Evaluative Bias of Language • No clear distinction between objective description and subjective evaluation • Words we choose reflect our value system • More so with objects than people • Values both shape and are shaped by our use of language. • Examples of differences in perspective • Old or Mature • Obsessed or Committed • Reckless or Brave • Narcissistic or High Self-Esteem • Dependent or Loyal

3. Differentiating Dichotomous Variables and Continuous Variables • Dichotomous Variables- when phenomena in the world can be divided into two mutually exclusive categories (Heads or tails, Pregnant not pregnant) • Very Black and White • Continuous Variables-phenomena that consist of an infinite number of points between two polar opposites. (Individualism or Collectivism, Conservative or Liberal, Introverted or extroverted) • Shades of grey • Most phenomena related to people are continuous variables

4. Similarity Uniqueness Paradox • Determining the similarities and differences between any set of events is dependent on the perspectives from which you choose to view them. • Always compare and contrast to understand why you are looking from the perspective you choose to view

5. The Barnum Effect • Barnum Statement- a personality description of a particular individual or group that is true of practically all human beings • The Barnum Effect- refers to people’s willingness to accept the validity of such overly inclusive and generic appraisals • “There is a sucker born every minute” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z11DeKK13vM&feature=related

6. The Assimilation Bias • In general we do not make appropriate use of Assimilation and Accommodation strategies as defined by Piaget. • Usually go the assimilation route more than the accommodation route. • We like to make data fit our schema • Generates bias

7. The Representativeness Bias • We often times need to make quick decisions about the world we live in • Use heuristics to do so (Tversky and Kahneman, 1974) • Trade off results in greater speed in decision making, but less accurate decisions • Representative Heuristics • Most basic • Involves judging the likelihood that something belongs to a particular category • Leads to stereotyping • Can produce systematic errors called representative bias • Still produce more right answers than wrong ones, which is why we use them. • Most dangerous when prototype categories exist with regards to particular groups of people. • A class divided

8. The Availability Bias • Most powerful impressions come from events that are particularly vivid • Availability Heuristic (Tversky and Kahneman, 1973) • The easier to retrieve, the more likely we are to think it occurs frequently • Can result in systematic errors in making judgments called availability bias

9. Fundamental Attribution Error • What causes people’s behavior? • Dispositional Attributions-Internal • Situational Attributions-External • We are prone to attribute behavior to internal factors more than external factors • Called Fundamental Attribution Error • What causes this? • Cognitive Biases-derive from our limited capacity to process information • Motivational Biases-derive from our desire to satisfy our own personal needs • Very common in western culture because of our belief that we are in control • We have great difficulty accepting fairness and injustice in life (Lerner, 1970) • Ex (rape victims act seductively, homosexuals brought aids on themselves)

10. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy • Perceiver’s assumptions about a person can cause a person to meet those assumptions • Rosenthal and Jacobson 1968- Teachers told students expected to be intellectual bloomers by test/Students actually bloom • Always remember that we are effected by others as well.

11. Correlation • Statement about the relationship and association between two variables • Does not imply causation • Unidirectional Causation • Does A cause B? • Does B cause A? • Bidirectional Causation • Do A and B cause each other? • Does C cause A and B? • Multidirectional Causation • Could there be a combination of these causal relationships? • Post hoc error (assuming that because B follows A, A caused B) often occurs because of parataxic reasoning (assuming events are causally linked because they happen in a close time frame

12. The Naturalistic Fallacy • Equating our description of what IS with what OUGHT to be • Confusing an objective description with Subjective Value Judgment • Four Variant of the Fallacy • Common=Good • Uncommon=Bad • Common=Bad • Uncommon=Good • Just because something is true of nature, that does not make it right • Evolutionary Psychology

13. The Belief Perseverance Effect • Clinging to beliefs in spite of evidence to the contrary