PSYC2030 WEEK 3 LEC

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory

culture (macrosystem) surrounds and affects all levels of development.

Paul Baltes (Lifespan Perspective)

development is contextual: shaped by biology, family, school, religion, profession, nationality, ethnicity. 

Nature vs nurture debate

answer is both, but "nurture/society" (culture) is often ignored in practice even though theories say it matters. 

Spatial search strategy (Haun et al., 2006) 

• Dutch children → egocentric search strategy 

• Namibian Bushmen children → geocentric search strategy 

• If only Dutch children were studied, conclusions about "how children search" would be wrong/incomplete. 

Conformity — The Asch Test 

Classic finding: people conform to group opinion even when it's obviously wrong. 

• 1st-generation Asian-American children → much more likely to conform when watched (~50% "independent" judgments vs ~90% for others). 

Kim & Markus – "pen study"

• Caucasian-Americans → picked the unique/standout pen. 

• Asian-Americans → picked a common colour pen. 

Individualistic cultures

independence, uniqueness, autonomy, self-sufficiency.

Collectivistic cultures

group harmony, selflessness, family/community central.

Collaboration (Brisbane vs Borroloola/Robinson River, NT) 

• Task: box with hidden reward — one clear, one opaque. 

• Brisbane children: collaborate a bit when box is clear (can see inside) but collaboration drops sharply when box is opaque. 

• Borroloola/Robinson River children (First Nations, remote NT): collaboration actually increases when box is opaque. 

• Shows collaboration styles differ by culture — not "right" or "wrong," just different. 

Delayed Gratification — The Marshmallow Test 

• Japan vs USA replication:  

  • With a marshmallow: US kids ate it quickly; Japanese kids waited (cultural norm: wait for food). 

  • With a wrapped present: result flipped — US kids waited; Japanese kids unwrapped immediately (cultural norm: open presents straight away at parties). 

• Shows the capacity to delay gratification is universal, but how it's expressed depends on culture. 

Threat Detection (Penkunas & Coss, 2013) 

• People (adults & children) detect predators (snakes, lions) faster than prey (lizards, antelope) in visual search tasks — suggests an evolved bias. 

• Tested in India: tribal children living near tigers/leopards/cobras vs. children in Bangalore (city). 

• Result: no difference between groups — supports the idea this is a biologically inherited trait, not learned from experience. 

• Important because it shows not every psychological process is culturally variable — some are universal. 

WEIRD PROBLEM 

• WEIRD = Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic. 

• WEIRD people = only ~12% of world's population but ~96% of psychology research participants. 

Evidence of the weird problem

Developmental psychology (Nielsen et al., replicating Arnett): journals 2006–2010:  

• 58% USA 

• 18% other English-speaking countries (Aus, NZ, Canada, UK) 

• 15% Europe 

• 1% Africa, 1% South/Central America, 4% Asia, 1% Israel/Middle East 

• Non-human primates got as much research space as South/Central America 

• 1% didn't even report participant location 

WEIRD COMPARISON - BED SHARING

• Hayes et al. (2001): acknowledged "convenient sample" bias but still drew broad clinical conclusions without qualifying them culturally. 

• Luik et al. (2013): deliberately sampled diverse ethnic groups (Dutch, Turkish/Moroccan, Caribbean) → found bed-sharing predictors differ by cultural group; interpreted results with cultural nuance. 

• Beijers et al. (2019): explicitly noted results may be culturally specific — a good example of appropriate caution.