Culture, behavior, and cognition - Sociocultural Approach

Question 1

What is etic?

Answer 1

refer to objective or outsider accounts

Question 2

What is emic?

Answer 2

refer to subjective or insider accounts

Question 3

Factor of etic approach

Answer 3

• Plans out research before arriving in the field
• Applies research findings globally; assumes that behavior is universal
• Uses standardized tests/theories from their own culture and applies them to local people
• Gathers data as soon as they arrive in the field

Question 4

Factors of emic approach

Answer 4

• Develop RQs after spending time w/ local community
• Applies findings to the local community that is being investigated
• Develops tests in consultation w/ local experts to apply to community. Theories are generated after spending time within the culture.
• Collects data only after they are familiar w/ local culture
• Tend to study a singular culture in depth w/ goal of improving some aspect of the lives of individuals in that culture

Question 5

Cultural Dimensions

Answer 5

Dimensions are how the values of society affect behavior. This describes the trans of behavior in any given culture. Hofstede’s research is an example of an etic approach and looked at the 40 most represented countries in the survey.

Question 6

In Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, what are the 5 categories?

Answer 6

1. Power Distance Index
2. Uncertainty Avoidance Index
3. Masculinity v.s. Femininity
4. Long-term v.s. Short-term orientation
5. Indulgence v.s. Restraint

Question 7

What is Power Distance Index in hofstede?

Answer 7

Extent to which a culture respects an authority figure

Question 8

What is Uncertainty Avoidance Index in hofstede?

Answer 8

Degree to which people are integrated into a group. “I” or “We”

Question 9

what are the differences between masculine and feminine in hofstede?

Answer 9

Masculine societies: achievement, competition, and wealth
Feminine societies: cooperation, relationships, and quality of life

Question 10

what are the difference between long-term and short-term in hofstede?

Answer 10

Connection to the past and attitude toward the future
Long-term: more focus on the future
Short-term: more focus on traditions

Question 11

what is the difference between indulgent and restraint cultures in hofstede?

Answer 11

Indulgent culture allows enjoyment of life. Restrained ones are stricter through social norms. Indulgent cultures: they are in control of their lives. Restrained culture: more fatalistic

Question 12

Individualism culture factors

Answer 12

Uniqueness is valued
Speaking one’s mind is important
Self is defined by ind. achievement
Freedom & autonomy is valued
Self-actualization is goal
Everyone has a right to privacy
Rule-breaking leads to guilt/loss of self-respect
Self reliance seen as a virtue

Question 13

Collectivism culture factors

Answer 13

Social harmony is valued
Modesty is important
Self is defined by group membership
Common fate/history guides one’s decisions
Advancing the interests of the group is the goal
Privacy is not expected
Rule-breaking leads to shame/loss of face
Shared responsibility & interdependence is a way of life

Question 14

Berry (1967) study

Answer 14

**CULTURAL DIMENSIONS
AIM: See if the dimension (individualism vs. collectivism) plays a role in the level of conformity
PROCEDURE:
3 different cultures - Temne of Sierra Leone (collectivistic), Inuit people of Baffin Island in Canada (individualistic) and Scots (reference group) (urban & rural scots)
Temnes and Inuits made up of people who had either never had western education & people in transition (western education/western employment)
Approx 120 P. in each group
P. brought into a room by themselves & given a set of 9 lines
Match the line below to the one that had the most resemblance to the top line
Practice test to make sure instructions are understood
On 3rd trial (of 6) P. told that they would be given a hint on what the other people of their community said - last two trials false answers were given
DV: no. of lines that they were away from the correct line
FINDINGS:
Temnes - much higher rate of conformity
Inuits - lower conformity rate than the scots
No significant difference within groups - if P. was traditional or highly exposed to western culture
→ Cultural dimension more significant in an individual’s level of conformity rather than their current relationship w/ that cultural identity

Question 15

evaluation points for berry study

Answer 15

Ecological fallacy: When one looks at two different cultures, it should not be assumed that 2 members from 2 diff. cultures must be different, or that a single member will always demonstrate dimensions which are the norm of that culture
Correlational research in nature - not possible to argue that culture causes these behaviors
the study was mostly ethical as there was informed consent, they were partially deceived, their identities remained confidential, they were debriefed, they could withdraw, and they were protected from harm

Question 16

Culture and Cognition

Answer 16

Culture affects behavior, attitude, and cognitive processes. Culture also plays a role in creating schema - what we remember. It also affects the way we remember.

Question 17

what type of research method did Kearins use?

Answer 17

quasi (cause and effect)

Question 18

Kearins (1981) study

Answer 18

**CULTURE AND COGNITION
AIM: see how the aborigines spatial memory compares to those of australian children
PROCEDURE:
44 adolescents (27 boys & 17 girls) of aboriginal origin and 44 adolescents (28 boys & 16 girls) of australian origin
As the concept of “standard” testing situations is culturally foreign to Aboriginal students, no testing was done until students had time and opportunity to ask questions. This study was done outdoors.
Placed 20 objects on a board divided into 20 squares - allowed to study for 30 seconds
Several variations of the tasks
Objects gathered in center & P. asked to place objects on the board in the same arrangement
FINDINGS:
Indigenous australian adolescents correctly allocated more objects than white australians - way of life has a significant impact on what one remembers
18% of white australian children had obtained a perfect score, while 75% of indigenous Australians had at least one perfect score
The survival of Aboriginals in the harsh desert landscape had encouraged and rewarded their ability to store and encode information using visual retrieval cues.
This suggests that survival needs may shape and reward a particular way of encoding information in memory.

Question 19

evaluation points for kearins study

Answer 19

Difficult to know exactly the reason behind the results. There must be an evolutionary root to this behavior, however it is very unlikely that their memory strategies are genetic.

Question 20

KULKOFSKY ET AL (2011) study

Answer 20

**CULTURE AND COGNITION
AIM: See if there was a difference in rate of flashbulb memories in collectivistic & individualistic cultures
PROCEDURE:
275 adults from China, Germany, Turkey, the UK and the USA
Given a memory questionnaire which mirrored the questionnaire used by BROWN & KULIK 1977; given a series of nine events and asked about the circumstances where they first heard about the event - when yes, P. asked to write an account of their memory & rate it on a scale of personal importance and asked if they had a flashbulb memory of personal events
Asked about when and how they learnt about the events recalled by P. in 5 minutes, and then about the personal importance of the event
In native language of the participants
FINDINGS:
Collectivistic cultures (China): personal importance & intensity of emotion played less of a role in predicting flashbulb memories
More individualistic cultures - opposite
Less rehearsal of the triggering event compared to P. of other cultures lowered chances of developing a FBM, so significant difference in creation of FBM if event was of national importance

Question 21

Enculturation

Answer 21

The learning and maintenance of the behaviors and norms of our own culture is called enculturation.

We aren’t born with “culture”, however, we develop an understanding of the values, language, and expectations of the culture by interacting with gatekeepers and peers

Question 22

ODDEN & ROCHAT (2004) study

Answer 22

**ENCULTURATION
AIM: investigate Social Cognitive Learning Theory on development of cultural norms in Samoa
PROCEDURE:
Longitudinal study - 25 months & 28 children
Samoan culture is a very hierarchical - high power distance index
Children left to learn things by themselves - don’t fish with experienced adults
Then 46 12 year olds given a multiple choice test of basic knowledge
FINDINGS:
Male children observed without direct instruction
10 year olds would experiment w/ fishing equipment without adult supervision
By 12, most children could fish
Used the same method to learn social rules & how the behave w/ adults
Multiple choice test showed that they had a broad understanding of the concepts & rituals of society
Cultural norms are not taught directly, learned through observation by children of adults in the community
→ Observational learning is key in enculturation (learning cultural norms, skills etc.); at least in some cultures (s.a. those with a high-power distance index)

Question 23

CHARLTON ET AL. (2002) study

Answer 23

**ENCULTURATION
AIM: Investigate effects of the introduction of television on aggression in children
PROCEDURE:
TV was introduced, amount of violent content shown was equivalent to that of the UK
Cameras set up in playgrounds of the two primary schools
FINDINGS:
After 5 years, aggression in children did not increase - good behavior prior to the introduction of the TV maintained

Question 24

evalutaion points for charlton

Answer 24

Culture - very remote location
Method - not all violence is displayed physically, not certain that there was no change
Not all effects of TV are negative - positive influences not studied

Question 25

Acculturation

Answer 25

Acculturation is the phenomenon that describes groups of individuals with different cultures coming into continuous contact, resulting in the change in the original culture patterns of either or both groups.
** Berry proposes: maintaining one’s culture but also situational factors in new cultures.

Question 26

acculturation describes the process of what?

Answer 26

cultural and psychological change due to the contact of two or more cultural groups.

Question 27

4 different acculturation strategies used by people:

Answer 27

assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization

Question 28

Difference between enculturation and acculturation

Answer 28

Moving to a new culture causes a clash between enculturation (maintaining cultural identity), and acculturation (changing cultures to fit in).

Question 29

Acculturative stress/Culture Shock

Answer 29

The stress resulting from this is known as acculturative stress.

Question 30

acculturation gaps.

Answer 30

This refers to the generational differences in acculturation.

Question 31

MIRANDA AND MATHENY (2000) Study

Answer 31

**ACCULTURATION
AIM: See which factors in the lives of Latino immigrants in the US would decrease the level of acculturative stress - the psychological, somatic and social difficulties that may accompany acculturation
PROCEDURE:
Random sample of 197 members of social service agencies
Completed questionnaires and tests for family cohesion, level of acculturation, acculturative stress & coping strategies for stress
FINDINGS:
Immigrants with good coping strategies, good proficiency in english and a strong family structure were less likely to experience acculturative stress
Immigrants who had spent longer time in the US were less likely to demonstrate stress and had a higher level of acculturation
Suggests there are many protective factors which influence the extent to which an individual acculturates & the effect it will have on mental health

Question 32

evaluation points for miranda and mahtney

Answer 32

Only look at latino immigrants - possible that acculturation affects diff. cultures differently, possibly as they may have differing ways of coping with acculturation

Question 33

LUECK AND WILSON (2010) study

Answer 33

**ACCULTURATION
AIM: Investigate variable that may predict acculturative stress in a nationally representative sample of Asian American immigrants
PROCEDURE:
2095 Asian Americans (AA) -1271 were 1st generation Asian immigrants (AI) from several Asian cultures
R. carried out semi-structured interviews - interviewers had similar cultural & linguistic backgrounds to participants of the same population
Random sample of P. contacted to validate data from interviews
Interviews measured: level of acculturative stress, impact of language proficiency, language preference, discrimination, social networks, family cohesion and the effect of socioeconomic status on acculturative stress
FINDINGS:
70% of P. had acculturative stress (AS) according to the sample
Bilingual preference, positive treatment, sharing family values and satisfaction with socioeconomic status seemed to be protective factors

Question 34

evaluation points for lueck and wilson

Answer 34

Giving tests to immigrants - language barriers (understanding vocabulary and interpreting questions)
Psychologists make assumptions about what ‘healthy’ acculturation is
Age during migrations, length of residency, education, sexual orientation, religion, class & traumatic experiences may influence the experiences of immigrants
Difficult to find representative samples that can be used to generate theories - but such studies have a high attrition rate & low rate of participation
Ethical considerations - P. may not be aware of their rights, R. seen as an Authority figure, which may hinder the subjective experience of P.
Illegal or undocumented immigration - R. must consider this issue when publishing findings, and keep identities protected so that P. are not at risk.