Culture and Cognition 3A Flashcards
Describe the Carpentered World Hypothesis
Suggests that people in urban, geometrically structured environments (with man right angles) perceive visual information differently compared to people in non-western, rural areas.
Are Western urban dwelling participants more or less likely to be susceptible to the Müller-Lyer illusion?
Western urban dwelling participants are more likely to be susceptible
What thinking style focuses on individual elements and emphasises object-centred perception?
Analytic or holistic?
Analytic Thinking
What is the difference between field independent vs field dependent?
Field-independent people are able to seperate the object from the field and pay attention to a specific object. More analytic style, western
Field-dependent people pay attention to and remember background and contextual information. More holistic style, asian
Identify the hypothesis that states:
People who live in perceptually-busy environments (complex arrays of stimulus) tend to attend to contextual information
The Environmental Complexity Hypothesis
Culture may influence your attention in the environment
What thinking style accepts contradictions as natural parts of reality that can co-exist?
Dialectical Thinking
Common in East Asian cultures
What thinking style views contradictions as problems to be resolved through logic?
Analytical Thinking
Common in Western cultures
What style of ‘categorisation’ is considered systematic and objective and:
- Groups items based on shared characteristics
- Focuses on inherent structural similarities
Taxonomic Categorisation
Examples: Biological animal taxonomy (kingdom, genus, species)
classifying animals as “mammals” based on shared traits like having hair/fur, being warm-blooded, and producing milk for their young.
What style of ‘categorisation’ is considered subjective and adaptable to specific contexts and:
- Groups items based on contextual, functional or pragmatic relationships
- Based on personal experience, utility or situational relevance
Non-taxonomic Categorisation
For example, grouping “things to take to the beach” might include sunscreen, towels, and snacks - items that aren’t taxonomically related but serve a common purpose in that context.
Give an example of System 1 - Fast thinking from the ‘two-step process of information formation’
System 1 - Fast thinking
- First impressions (superficial processing)
- Rely on salient cues
- Usually more bias
Give an example of System 2 - Slow thinking from the ‘two-step process of information formation’
System 2 - Slow thinking
- Considered impressions (systematic processing)
- Complex impressions
Describe the fundamental attribution error, including cultural differences
The Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) is a bias that demonstrates how people tend to overemphasize personal characteristics when explaining another’s behaviour, while underestimating situational factors.
Differentiate dispositional attributions and situational attributions
People tend to attribute internal / dispositional causes first then may consider external / situational explanations later
Although, these differences in stimulus response are often culturally associated with analytic (dispositional) or holistic (situational)
What are cultural differences in the Fundamental Attribution Error?
- FAE is LESS prevalent among Asian cultures
- Asians are more likely to make situational attributions from the outset to justify someone else’s actions compared to Westerners using more dispositional attribution.
