Cross Cultural Studies Of Perceptual Development Flashcards
What may differences in abilities be down to?
Biological factors e.g genetics or diet
Ecological factors e.g local environment, cultural history and/or education
What study investigated relative size and overlap?
Hudson
What did Hudson investigate?
Relative size and overlap
What were Hudsons findings?
He found people in various parts of Africa had difficulty seeing depth in the pictures which included various depth cues such as relative size and overlap
What briefly, what are the evaluation points for Hudson’s study?
Ambiguous questions
Only 2 depth cues were in the drawing
Explain the ambiguous questions evaluation point for Hudson’s study…
The questions may have been misinterpreted by the participants, or cultural bias had an influence and they were stated in a western-friendly way, we shouldn’t assume all cultures interpret all questions in the same way. When they were asked ‘which animal is closest to the man’ they may not have interpreted that to me ‘which animal would be closest to the man in real life?’
Explain the ‘two depth cues only’ evaluation point for Hudson’s study…
When other cues were added African participants were more likely to interpret the picture in 3D
What were the findings of the study related to the ‘two depth cues only’ evaluation point related to Hudson’s study?
When texture gradient cues such as pebbles were added Zambian children gave 64% 3D answers compared to 54% in Hudsons original study
What do Hudson’s results suggest?
The results suggest that perception is learned otherwise you would have expected 100% 3D answers if perception was innate.
What do the results of the study associated with the evaluation of Hudson’s study suggest?
That texture gradient cues may be innate where as others such as relative size are learned from experience
Why are cross cultural studies useful for helping us to understand if perception is innate or learned?
Because different cultures have a different environment, however humans all share the same biological make up. So if there are universals in behaviour we can infer that that behaviour is innate rather than learnt.
What study investigated visual illusions?
Segall et al
What did Segall’s investigate?
How different cultures interpreted visual illusions
What were Segall’s findings?
European groups were more susceptible to the muller-Lyer illusion than the non-European groups
What is an explanation for Segall’s findings?
That European groups live in a carpentered world so it represents a corner such as in a room or the outside of a house. Because we are more used to seeing such objects we are more likely to fall for the illusion.
