Tutorial 1: Classics

what does “general psychology” infer?

people and their minds are the same all round the world

Who suggested the CPU and what is it?

Richard Schweder suggested the brain is a “general processing unit” → works independently from culture and is the same in everyone

what is the basic idea of a cultural psychologist?

the mind is deeply influenced and entangled with culture

How did the “figure line task” show that culture shapes our mind?

americans performed better on absolute length task while East Asian performed better at the relative length task

(finding it harder → greater activation of inferior parietal lobe and right precentral gyrus = attentional control)

Why does culture shape our mind?

because our mind is plastic and keeps changing according to the experiences we make

what is the difference between the notion of sexuality in the sambian tribe and western societies?

in western sexuality is seen as an identity defining attribute while in sambia men go through all sexualities (first homosexual, then bisexual and then heterosexual)

what are the four levels of universality ?

• non-universal (specific to a culture)

• existential universal (function varies)

• functional universal (accessibility varies)

• accessibility universal (no variation at all)

what is the Müller-Lyeer Illusion and how is it connecte to culture?

only people from western cultures are fooled by the illusion because they are more frequently exposed to corners

what is a problem to consider about the psychological database with respect to culture?

it is mainly weird and therefore m´not representative

(wester, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic)

what is the “colour blind approach”?

ignoring the differences between cultures and treating people as if everyone is exactly the same despite different cultures

what is the multicultural approach?

focusing on the differences between people from different cultures

→ has been found to be more beneficial since minorites ca keep their own culture more

what is ethnocentricism?

judging people from other ethnicities based on standards of your own culture

what is the goal of the “20 statements test”?

measuring self concept

what is a main difference between the self concept between western and non-western individuals?

western people define themselves more by individual traits while eastern people define themselves more in terms of social roles

what are the key characteristics of an independent worldview?

• self concept is derived from inner attributed

• stable over time and across situations

• line between ingroup and outgroup is not solid

• identity = coherent entity

• key boundary = self and non self

what are the key characteristics of an interdependent worldview?

• identity= relation entitiy

• identity is more fluid an malleable

• defined by things outside of you

• key boundary = ingroup vs outgroup

how does trust and commitment differ in independent and interdependent worldviews?

interdependent = more committed to ingroup, less cooperation with ourgroup; trust is more confined to ingroup

independent = less commitment to ingroup, trust is more general

what is the relationship between SES and inter/independent worldview and what is an exception?

low SES = interdependence

high SES = more independent

(exception impoverishment→ no relationships, Japan → high SES = more interdependent)

what is self consistency?

acting the same always, regardless of the circumstances (people, environment etc)

who suggested that we have a need for self consistency?

Leon Festinger

how is the experience of cognitive dissonance different for people with an independent vs interdependent worldview?

people with an independent worldvoew have a stronger need for SELF consistency but people with an interdependent worldview have a stronger need for consistency when other are involved

what are the two kinds of self-awareness?

subjective self awareness = perspective from within, unconscious, attention on outside world, I

objective self awareness = outside-in, me, as others see you/interact with you

what is the difference between self awareness and inter/independent worldview?

independent worldview → stronger subjective self awareness

interdependent worldview → stronger objective self awareness

who has usually a more accurate self view?

people with an objective self awareness (how other see them), often from collectivist cultures

what are implicit theories?

beliefs we take for granted that guide how we interpret the world

what is an incremental theory of self?

believing that character and traits are malleable and can change over time

what is an entity theory of self?

believing that out character stays the same throughout life, traits are seen as fixed and innate

what are etic and emic qualities?

etic= universal

emic= specific to culture

what are tight and loose cultures?

tight = strict norms that are expected to follow

loose = relaxed norms, not everyone is expected to follow them

what are prescriptive and proscriptive rules?

prescriptive = what should be done

proscriptive= what should not be done

what are the three dimensions of comparative studies?

• exploratory vs. hypothesis testing

• considering contextual factors or not

• structure oriented vs. level oriented

what are the four types of structure oriented studies?

• structure-oriented psychological differences

• structure oriented generalizablity

• structure oriented ecological linkage

• structure oriented contextual theory

what are the four types of level-oriented studies?

• level oriented psycholgical differences

• level oriented generalizability

• level oriented ecological linkage

• level oriented contextual theory