Lecture 1: Culture Vocab Flashcards
Abnormal
“Away from” a norm
Norm
The central tendency (Mean, median, mode) of a group or a population
Group
A set of individuals that interact eg. Our class
Population
A set of individuals that share at least one characteristic eg. People of Thai descent
Descriptive norms
Norms that describe the characteristics of a group or population
Prescriptive norms
Norms that prescribe behaviors or mental states eg. Waiting your turn in line, saying “thank you”, helping relatives
Things you’re expected to do in the society
Biological norms
Norms that characterize a biological population eg. Bilateral symmetry, having an internal skeleton, binocular vision, etc
Cultural norms
norms that characterize a cultural group or population eg. Greeting by shaking hands in the western countries vs bowing in Asia
How are biological norms acquired?
Through growth
How are Cultural norms acquired?
Through learning
Culture what is it?
Learned patterns of cognition and behavior that are characteristic of a group.
Culture, what’s it made up of?
Normative group beliefs, values, attitudes, practices, skills, rituals, artifacts, constructed niches
Dual inheritance theory
Where humans inherit both genetic and cultural information from their ancestors.
And these two forms of inheritance interact!
Examples of dual inheritance
Lactase persistence (biological property) resulting from dairy farming (a cultural practice)
Why do cultural norms exist and persist?
- Biological factors
- Cultural factors
- Cultural norm enforcement
Biological factors (why does it make cultural norms exist/persist?)
Humans have an inherent instinct to imitate —> facilitates social learning which is learning from others!
Cultural factors (why does it help norms exist/persist?)
Norms are TRANSMITTED via culture and also ENFORCED via culture
Cultural norms enforcement
Behavior that punishes people who violate cultural norms. eg. Cheaters in games, law enforcement
Why might norm enforcement be beneficial?
- Reduces within-group conflict
- Promotes group-cohesion
Group cohesion
The extent to which a group successfully COMMUNICATES and COOPERATES (Shared cognition and shared behaviors)
What’s the benefit of group cohesion?
It promote the achievement of group goals eg.research teams, ancestors in the ancient times cooperate or die
Why is norm enforcement harmful sometimes?
It punishes people for being DIFFERENT! Eg. 1952 sexual deviation in the DSM, and Gender Identity Disorder
Do clinicians have a right to diagnosis and treatment?
Not a right but a RESPONSIBILITY!
Why should we diagnose at all?
There is real variability in mental health problems so diagnoses can give
1. Possible causes
2. Possible treatments!
