Ch. 1 - Intro to Cultural Psychology Flashcards
Define culture + give examples
- INFORMATION acquired from other members of one’s species through SOCIAL LEARNING that can influence your behavior [Ex. Idea, belief, technology, habit]
- as a group of INDIVIDUALS existing in some kind of shared context; on Global level refers to broad expanses of population around the world [Ex. Western culture]
Difference between general and cultural psychology
General - assumes mind operates independently from context and content, according to a set of universal and natural laws
Cultural - assumes Mind and culture are inseparable - operates within context and culture
What are 3 challenges to thinking of people as a culture?
- Unclear cultural boundaries
- cultures change over time
- Individual variation exists in a culture -unique individual experiences
How does the view of the mind as a CPU contribute to interest in universals?
Viewing the mind as a CPU assumes that mind operates based on a universal set of underlying processes, therefore conducting experiments in controlled environments to reduce error will help understand these processes
Evidence for the fact that our brain changes as a result of experience?
Ex. Juggling - ppl who juggle have increased grey matter in regions processing visual motion
Ex. People who learn to read have thicker corpus callosum, facial recognition prcoessing in right hemisphere, improved verbal memory
Hedden at Al - How did easterners vs. westerners perform on Absolute vs. Relative Tasks in the Figure line study
Absolute task - draw line identical to one in box [WESTERNS FIND EASIER]
Relative task - draw line proportional to one in box, east asians if easier
Non Universal
aka cultural invention, specific to one culture - Psychological process doesn’t exist in all cultures [Abacus reasoning]
Functional vs. Existential universal
BOTH: Psychological process exists in all cultures
Existential universal - difference in function, not used to solve same problems and not as easily accessible across cultures [Internal motivation in west vs. east]
Functional Universal - difference in accessibiliy, used to solve same problems, but more accessible to some cultures than others [Ex. Punishment for unfairness]
Accessibility universal
process exists in all cultures, used to solve same problems, easily accessible across all cultures
- good candidates: those emerging in early infancy, shared across species
What is WEIRD?
Proportion WERID: non westerner?
% samples from american undergrads?
Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic
Chance of american undergrad: non westerner is 4000:1
70% samples from american undergrad students
Why is studying a weird population a problem?
Not representative sample, yet we assume findings are universal
SAMPLE IS NARROW AND NON REPRESENTATIVE, yet most theories built from weird samples - therefore theories are not generalizable yet we assume they are
Industrialized vs. Non industrialized societies differences [4]
- Visual illusions [Mueller Lyer line illusion, if depth perception developed due to seeing corners and carpentry, illusion pronounced]
- perceptual fairness [indust. concerned w treating ppl fairly]
- folk biological reasoning [indust. project human qualities onto nature/animals, from Disney portrayal]
- Egocentric spatial reasoning [focus on space relative to our own pov]
What differences exist between western vs. non-western societies? [6]
- more analytic ]abstract, logical] vs. holistic thinking
- more independent self concepts [self understood as individual rather than part of a network]
- more motivation for self-enhancement [tend to focus on what’s good abt rather than whats bad]
- less conforming
- more desire for choice
- morality based on JUSTICE CONCERNS [emphasis on fairness and individual rights]
What differences exist between Americans vs. other westerners? [4]
- Defensive reactions to thoughts of death [according to TMT, could reflect heightened existential anxiety associated with extreme individualism]
- more independent selves
- more analytic reasoning
- more desire for choice
What differences exist between university educated Americans vs. other Americans? (5)
- higher heritability IQ estimate as a function of SES
EVEN RELATIVE TO AMERICANS
- more independent view of self
- less conforming
- more justice-based morality
- more defensive responses to death thoughts
Scientific reason for studying cultural psychology?
- we can’t fully understand humans/minds without understanding culture
Practical reasons for studying culture?
Understanding how cultural differences influence how people live/think about others will help us understand how people live their lives
What is colour blind approach and an argument favoring this approach?
ASSUME: Everyone is the same and don’t attend to cultural differences
EVIDENCE: Highlighting any group differences can lead to discrimination, for example, even in flipping a coin, people have more hostility towards their outgroup
Multicultural approach + rationale
- attend to differences between cultures, focusing and respecting group differences
Rationale: People identify strongly with their groups and will do better when group characteristics are attended to
Why should we take a multicultural approach?
- companies w multicultural policies have more employee engagement + trust,
- more positive reactions between European Canadian and First Nation students
- people hearing colour-blind arguments act in more prejudiced ways towards minorities than when they were exposed to multicultural arguments
- majority members may feel excluded unless the message highlights benefits for both majorities and minorities
