Lecture 4

Question 1

Cultural neuroscience

Answer 1

Focusses on factors that affect biological and psychological processes that reciprocally shape beliefs and norms shared by groups of individuals.

Question 2

Genetics

Answer 2

The core of nature/nurture interactions. 99% of our genes are fixed and 1% differs across individuals. Genes can have effects that depend on external variables.

Question 3

Epigenetics

Answer 3

The study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. Environmental factors cause genes to switch on or off without modification of the DNA-sequence. Epigenetic tags can result form lifestyle choices or specific experience (culture). These tags are hereditary.

Question 4

Culture and neuropsychological assessment

Answer 4

The normative data (vergelijkingsmateriaal) we have, is often based on WEIRD-patients. This is not only partial, but also biased. The biggest commonalities (gemeenschappelijkheden) between people are driven by schooling, science and technology.

Question 5

Influence of culture on neuropsychological assessment

Answer 5

• Values and meaning: there is no general agreement on which answers are normal.
• Modes of knowing: there are different ways of knowing something. As a collective or individualistic.
• Conventions of communications: can be a one-way questions, or an authority who tells you to do something. The type of question also matters, both in way of asking and in content.

Question 6

Analytic thinking

Answer 6

Focus on object, perceived as independent from the context. Taxonomic categorisation. Most common in individualistic societies.

Question 7

Holistic thinking

Answer 7

Focus on the relations among objects. Thematic categorisation. Most common in collectivistic societies.

Experiment: perceptual environments can induce specific patterns of attention. Looking at a Japanese street view (holistic) caused people to see more changes in their surroundings.

Question 8

Field dependence

Answer 8

Difficulty to see separate elements. Linking/integration an object into its context. More common in holistic thinkers.

Question 9

Field independence

Answer 9

Tending to separate objects form each other. More common in analytic thinkers.

Question 10

Rod-and-frame task

Answer 10

Task to measure field-dependence. You have to say if the line in the box is exactly vertical or a couple degrees off.

Question 11

Patterns of abilities

Answer 11

Which abilities are learned an go together vary per culture. Culture describes what should be learned, at what age and by which gender. This results in culture-specific clusters of skills or abilities that ‘belong’ to a stage of life or role. Tests need to be appropriate for the subjects learning opportunities and contextual experience.

Question 12

Cultural values

Answer 12

Can dictate what is and what is not appropriate/ relevant to do in a certain situation. Like listening to authority, being alone with someone, sharing private information or performing a task with speed (in a test-environment).

Question 13

Familiarity with testing

Answer 13

Being tested is part of our culture, which can cause:
- Attitudes that facilitate good performance (motivation, purpose).
- Familiarity of test elements being used (animals, food, plants etc.)
- Strategies needed to solve a task.

Question 14

Language and testing

Answer 14

Language use and meaning differs per culture and knowledge of a language correlates strongly with a positive test outcome, thus test instructions need to be understandable and appropriate!

Question 15

Whorfian hypothesis

Answer 15

Language influences thoughts, and the language that you speak limits or expands your thought options.

Question 16

Education

Answer 16

Accounts for 50% of the variation within IQ-tests. It increases your test-knowledge and familiarity with testing strategies. Schooling also increases cognitive performance.

Question 17

Illiteracy

Answer 17

Not being able to read or write.

The illiteracy rate varies per age group and country, and is more prevalent in women than in men. In decreases over time and varies immensely per region.

Learning to read also improves certain cognitive tasks. Using real-life, concrete situations in tests is a way to avoid the influence of illiteracy.

Question 18

Functional illiteracy

Answer 18

Reading and writing is inadequate to manage daily living and employments tasks that require skills beyond a basic level.

Question 19

Dementia

Answer 19

The prevalence of dementia is higher in poorer countries and is related to a lower SES due to life-style factors (diabetes, smoking, drinking etc.). Also more prevalent in immigrants. Western doctors find it hard to diagnose people from different cultures correctly due to:
- Language barriers
- Different presentation of symptoms
- Education level
- Lacking assessment tools
- Lacking cultural knowledge
- Stigma on illness in certain cultures
- Wanting to solve it within the family
This often leads to underdiagnosis in older people and overdiagnosis in younger people.

Question 20

Tulipa battery

Answer 20

List of tests that are culturally fair.

Question 21

Cross-cultural dementia screening

Answer 21

Uses:
- Instructions in own language
- Culture fair items
- Nonverbal as much as possible

Question 22

Clinical implications

Answer 22

• Need for specific care and adjustment in health care institutions
• Broad use of culture-fair diagnostic tools
• Adjustment in care-homes (food, facilities etc.)
• Increasing awareness among migrant groups

Question 23

High context culture

Answer 23

People are strongly involved with each other and this leads to people sharing a lot of information. Because a lot of information is widespread, it doesn’t need to be passed on explicitly anymore and more attention is paid to the non-verbal signs in a conversations. More common in Asian cultures.
High context cultures have a communication style based on body language, tone, and overall context.

Question 24

Low context culture

Answer 24

There is relatively little involvement between individuals and there is less shared information. Because there is less shared knowledge, details must be told explicitly and more attention is paid to the verbal message during a conversation. More common in Western cultures.
Low context cultures are more straightforward and explicit in communication.