L2-L5 Flashcards
Who came up with the 5 academic definitions of culture?
Kroeber and Kluckhohn
5 academic definitions of culture
descriptive, historical, normative, structural, psychological
Descriptive definition of culture
all social activities in the broadest sense, such as language, marriage, property system, etiquette, industries, art, etc.
Historical definition of culture
total social heredity of mankind or, more specifically, a particular strain of social heredity (i.e. behaviors passed between generations)
Normative definition of culture
all standardized social procedures and customs, passed on socially, that form a people’s way of life
Structural definition of culture
a system or organization of interdependent values common to specific social groups, forming a pattern that is unique to each society
Psychological definition of culture
all results of human learned effort at adjustment to the environment we exist in
2 definitions of culture according to the textbook
kind of information and a group of individuals
Information definition of culture
any kind of information acquired from other members of one’s species through social learning that can influence an individual’s behavior
People definition of culture
a group of people who are existing within some kind of shared context
3 main challenges with distinguishing cultures
fuzzy or fluid boundaries; tendency to change over time; more within-culture variability (i.e. individual differences) than between
Assumption of general psychology
the mind operates according to a set of natural and universal laws independent from context or content
CPU metaphor in general psychology
the mind is perceived as a highly abstract central processing unit (CPU) that operates independently of the context within which it is thinking and the content it is thinking about
What mental processes do general psychologists focus on?
lower-level processes (e.g. visual perception, memory) that emphasize the need for strict experimental control
Assumption of cultural psychology
cultural meanings are intertwined with the way the mind operates; thinking involves context and content
What mental processes do cultural psychologists focus on?
higher-level processes that emphasize the importance of relaxing experimental control
Behaviorism
all human behaviors are what can objectively be measured as stimulus-response patterns
What 2 brain regions are most involved in the figure-line task?
left inferior parietal lobule (small lobe) and right inferior precentral gyrus
What function are the left inferior parietal lobe and right precentral gyrus associated with?
increased attentional control
Difference between the relative and absolute task in figure-line task
need to use contextual cues; ignore environmental information and focus on one specific element
What cultural group performs better on the relative task?
East Asians (showed less activation of the left inferior parietal lobule and right inferior precentral gyrus)
What cultural group performed better on the absolute task?
European Americans (showed less activation of the left inferior parietal lobule and right inferior precentral gyrus)
2 main conclusions from the figure-line task
culturally less familiar tasks require more attentional control; culture and the brain are intricately intertwined
4 levels of universality of psychological processes
nonuniversal, existential universal, functional universal, accessibility universal
Nonuniversal (cultural invention)
psychological process or cognitive tool that doesn’t exist in all cultures (e.g. the use of an abacus, numerical reasoning)
Existential universal
psychological process that exists in all cultures but not used to solve the same problems nor equally accessible across cultures; variation in function (e.g. criticisms could be perceived as derision or motivation)
Functional universal
psychological processes that exist in all cultures, are used to solve the same problems across cultures, but are more accessible to people from some cultures than others (e.g. use of punishment to encourage fairness)
Accessibility universal
psychological processes that exist in all cultures, are used to solve the same problems across cultures, and are accessible to the same degree (e.g. social facilitation)
Social facilitation
tendency to perform better on a simple or familiar task the more people one is surrounded with
WEIRD
Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic
Is culture inherent?
No; it isn’t a biological concept, rather it is learned
Color-blind (culture-blind) approach
emphasize similarities and ignore cultural differences to prevent discrimination
Multicultural approach
appreciating and recognizing cultural differences
What is the preferred cultural approach of minority groups?
multiculturalism
Advantage of multiculturalism for minorities
greater ethnic identification and less perception of threat
Disadvantage of color-blindness for minorities
compelled to hide or downplay one’s ethnic identity, which is mentally taxing
What is the preferred cultural approach of majority groups?
color-blindness (which leads to strong dislike of minorities with strong ethnic identity)
Outcome of multiculturalism with high vs low initial prejudice
worse interactions; better interactions
Ethnocentrism
judging people from other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture
Similarity between cultural psychology and cross-cultural psychology
both deal with the role of cultural processes on various aspects of human psychology
Difference between cultural psychology and cross-cultural psychology
CCP compares across numerous cultures, looks for differences and universals
Similarity between cultural psychology and sociology
both deal with the relationship between one’s cultural environment and one’s mental processes and behaviors
Difference between cultural psychology and sociology
sociology focuses on large and abstract societal structures (e.g. social classes, govt institutions) and uses qualitative measures
Similarity between cultural psychology and multicultural psychology
both involve studying how culture affects psychology at both individual and social levels
Difference between cultural psychology and multicultural psychology
latter focuses on how people of different cultural backgrounds interact with each other within one geopolitical context
3 types of biases in imitation
prestige bias, similarity bias, and conformist transmission
Prestige bias
tendency to imitate those who have skills and are respected by others
Similarity bias
tendency to choose who to imitate and learn from based on the target’s similarity to oneself
Conformist transmission
tendency to learn from people who are engaging in behaviors that are more common compared with others
Cultural transmission
transfer and acquisition of cultural information through social learning
3 kinds of cultural transmission
vertical, horizontal, oblique
2 factors that affect the relative importance of the kinds of cultural transmission
size and degree of industrialization of a society
Vertical transmission
parents teaching cultural information to their children; primary form of socialization in small-scale societies
Horizontal transmission
passing on cultural information between peers, usually people of the same generation
Oblique transmission
passing on of cultural information from someone from an older generation to someone from a younger generation (excluding parent-child)
Most common form of cultural transmission in hunter-gatherer societies
vertical transmission; horizontal and oblique transmission once past the toddler phase (e.g. cooperative rearing)
Most common form of cultural transmission in industrialized societies
vertical and oblique transmission (due to formalized education, telecommunications)
What is the main issue with cultural transmission?
assumes top-down approach although the reverse can be true
3 cognitive capacities that facilitate cultural learning
mentalizing or ToM, ability to communicate using language, motivation to share experiences
Theory of Mind
understanding that others have different beliefs, thoughts and perspectives than oneself
Outcome of achieving a ToM
a revolution in cognitive skills
How does ToM develop?
develops as a function of social interactions and playing with others throughout childhood
Theory of cultural learning
ToM enables humans to engage in unique, species-specific forms of learning wherein different forms of learning emerge at distinct developmental stages each involving a revolution in cognitive tools
Who proposed the theory of cultural learning?
Tomasello, Kruger, and Ratner
What do infants focus on from birth to 9 months of age?
the physical world and objects presented; no attention is paid to the intention of the teacher
Emulative learning
learner tries to figure out how the use of an object affects the environment and how to manipulate the object; common in human infants and non-human primates like chimps
What functions do infants develop from 9 months to 4 years of age?
perspective taking, gaze following, joint attentional interactions, recognizing others as intentional agents; when true cultural transmission emerges
What functions do infants develop from 4 to 6 years of age?
recognizes others as mental agents, starts referring to the mental states of others, engages in deception and instructed learning
What functions do infants develop from 6 to 7 years of age?
recognize others as reflective agents, engages in drama and collaborative learning, able to reason based on some hypothetical other
People as mental agents
we have independent thoughts and perceptions of the world that exist within our minds (though may not be correct)
False-beliefs task
assesses a child’s ability to infer whether someone has mistaken beliefs
Instructed learning
internalizes explicit instructions from a teacher or model and regulates own future behavior in a similar context through intersubjective dialogue
Collaborative learning
transactive discussions wherein participants engage in joint planning to solve a problem and co-create new cultural information; key for development of moral reasoning skills
Imitative learning
learner internalizes the goal-directed behavioral strategies associated with an object and focuses on fulfilling the goal of the model
Gene-culture coevolution
the interaction of culture and genes
When is imitative learning more likely to occur?
demonstrator is warm and nurturing, an authority figure, or has been rewarded for their behavior; situation is ambiguous or unfamiliar; learner has been rewarded for previous imitative learning
Evoked culture
humans have a biologically encoded database of behaviors that are activated in certain environmental conditions
Transmitted culture
people learn about cultural practices through social learning or modeling
