Heine Chapter 1

cultural psychology

the field that studies the implications of culture on thoughts and behavior; explores the dynamic interactions between individuals and their cultural environments and considers how people’s cultural contexts shape their thoughts, behaviors, relationships, and health

experiences

psychological processes are shaped by…

culture

any kind of information that is acquired from other members of one’s species through social learning that can influence an individual’s behaviors

culture

a group of people who are existing within some kind of shared context

culture

a dynamic group of people who share a similar context, are exposed to many similar cultural messages, and contain a broad range of different individuals who are affected by those cultural messages in various ways

universal

a concept, idea, or trait that applies to all humans across cultures, transcending social or cultural differences.

nonuniversal

Referring to psychological phenomena or processes that are specific to certain cultures and do not apply universally across all human experiences.

existential universal

exist in all cultures, although the process is not necessarily used to solve the sample problems, nor is it equally accessible across cultures (ex. success and its effect on hard work across cultures)

functional universal

psychological processes that exist n all cultures, are used to solve the same problems across cultures, yet are more accessible to people from some cultures than others

accessibility universal

psychological processes that exists in all cultures, is used to solve the same problems across cultures, and is accessible to the same degree across cultures (accessibility means the likelihood of a person using the particular psychological processes)

WEIRD

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic

A. the mind is believed to be inseparable from the surrounding culture

Cultural psychology is different from general psychology in that

A. the mind is believed to be inseparable from the surrounding culture

B. general psychology studies memories, emotions, and perceptions, whereas cultural psychology does not.

C. cultural psychology believes that the mind can be isolated from culture

D. general psychology believes that the underlying cultural processing unit (CPU) of the mind is best studied in its natural context

B. the brain is shaped by people’s experiences

A key point revealed by the study with the London cab drivers is that…

A. British cab drivers demonstrated greater brain plasticity than American cab drivers do.

B. the brain is shaped by people’s experiences.

C. the cultural part of the brain can be identified

D. culture and mind can be distinguished.

D. There is often more evidence for universals at more abstract levels of description

Which of the following best describes universals of psychological phenomena?

A. There is more evidence of universals for concrete phenomena than for abstract phenomena

B. There are no universals to the ways that the human mind operates

C. Monogamous and heterosexual love-based marriages are universal, but other kinds of marriage are not

D. There is often more evidence for universals at more abstract levels of description

A. existential universal

Which of the following terms describes a psychological process that exists in all cultures but is not necessarily used to solve the same problems?

A. existential universal

B. accessibility universal

C. functional universal

D. non -universal

C. People who grew up without being surrounded by carpentered corners see less of an illusion

When people around the world are compared with their judgments of the Muller-Lyer illusion, what happens?

A. People perform the same, as it’s an example of a psychological universal

B. Americans see less of an illusion than people from other countries do

C. People who grew up without being surrounded by carpentered corners see less of an illusion

D. People with more education see less of an illusion than people with less education do

C. It is typically easier logistically to study WEIRD samples than it is to study other kinds of samples

Which of the following is one reason why researchers might exclusively study WEIRD samples?

A. WEIRD samples are representative of all of humanity

B. Psychology experiments conducted in different cultures rarely yield different results

C. It is typically easier logistically to study WEIRD samples than it is to study other kinds of samples.

D. WEIRD samples represent the norm with respect to many key psychological phenomena.

color-blind approach

The color-blind approach refers to the perspective that promotes treating individuals equally without regard to their racial or ethnic backgrounds

multicultural approach

focusing on and respecting group differences

B. not drawing attention to people’s distinctive culture backgrounds

According to cultural psychology research, which behavior best reflects a color-blind approach?

A. striving to ensure that each cultural group is equally represented

B. not drawing attention to people’s distinctive cultural backgrounds

C. giving more opportunities to members of disadvantaged groups

D. attended to the ways that culture shapes people’s psychology

D. increase engagement and communication between people from different backgrounds

Adopting a multicultural approach has been found to

A. lead people to focus less on each other’s cultural backgrounds

B. result in majority group members focusing more on their cultural identity than minority group members do

C. be appreciated similarly between majority and minority group members

D. increase engagement and communication between people from different backgrounds

ethnocentrism

judging people from other cultures by the standards of one’s own culture

d. A child is given a new puzzle that she has never seen before, and she discovers a new solution by herself.

According to the definitions in this book, which of the following would not be a good example of culture?

A. iPhones

B. A child learning how to tie her shoes from her mother.

C. A child decides to get a lunchbox that’s similar to her friend’s

D. A child is given a new puzzle that she has never seen before, and she discovers a new solution by herself

E. A child learns to raise her hand in class to get the teacher’s attention

D. General psychologists believe people are born wit hessentially the same brain everywhere, whearas cultural psychologists believe people are born with different kinds of brains in different cultures

An important difference between cultural psychologists and general psychologists is…

A. General psychologists study people who have had their culture statistically controlled for.

B. Cultural psychologists study people from different cultures, while general psychologists study people from one culture

C. Cultural psychologists believe the mind is interdependent with context and content, whereas general psychologists believe the mind is independent from context and content

D. General psychologists believe people are born wit hessentially the same brain everywhere, whearas cultural psychologists believe people are born with different kinds of brains in different cultures

E. A child learns to raise her hand in class to get the teacher’s attention

B. existential universal

Imagine a psychological process that exists in all cultures, but is activated for different reasons across cultures. This would be an evidence for an…

A. nonuniversal

B. existential universal

C. functional universal

D. accessibility universal

E. conditional universal

A. determining universality

You review all the studies that you’ve done in your career and realize that they all use WEIRD samples. Based on this characteristics of your samples, which of the following challenges is the most applicable to your work?

A. determining universality

B. countering ethnocentrism

C. getting jerungdu

D. overcoming the Muller-Lyer illusion

E. defining culture

A. determining universality

While chatting over coffee with your friend, you overhear someone say, “I don’t understand how those Hindus let cattle wander around their cities and not eat them. Where I come from, cattle are raised, branded, and then turned into steak and burgers. What the Hindus do just isn’t normal.” Which of the following does this situation best demonstrate?

A. segregation

A. determining universality

C. integrationism

D. discrimination

E. assimilationism