Individualism vs Collectivism on Cognition

Cognition

Refers to the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging and problem solving 

Memory

A cognitive process that allows people to encode, store and retrieve information. It is a critical component in the learning processes and allows people to retain knowledge about the world + their history 

Flashbulb memories and Culture

• Different cultures value the expression of emotion, group harmony and relationships differently

• Collectivist cultures view the expression of negative emotional events as dangerous to relationships 

• This will limit the extent to which rehearsal takes place and could impact Flashbulb memories 

Individualism vs Collectivism on Cognition Study

Kulkofsky

Kulkofsky Aim

To investigate the role of cultures of flashbulb memories to see if there was a different in collectivist vs individualistic cultures 

Kulkofsky Procedure

• Researchers studied China, Germany, Turkey, the UK and the USA

• 247 participants from all countries identified as ‘middle class’

• Participants were given 5 minutes to recall as many memories as they could of public events in their lifetime 

• The events had to have occured at least one year ago

• The researchers used this list to create a memory questionnaire including the questions

• Where were you going the time you learn about it?

• What time of day was it?

• Where were you when you first learned of the event?

• Whom were you with?

• How did you learn about it?

• They then add to answer questions about the importance of the event to them 

• How nationally or internationally important was the event?

• How personally important was the event?

• How surprising was the event?

• How many times have you talked about the event since it happened?

Kulkofsky Results

• Statistical analysis showed all factors had a significant impact on the formation of FBMs

• Britain: (18)(2), USA (12)(3), Germany (9)(4), Turkey (6.5.)(5), China (6)

• In collectivist cultures, personal important and intensity of emotion played less of a role in predicting FBMs compared with more individualistic cultures 

Kulkofsky Conclusion

The culture you belong to will affect how you perceive and respond to an emotional event

Kulkofsky Generalisability

• Study included five diverse countries

• All participants were middle-class, which reduces confounding effects of socioeconomic status.

• Only middle-class individuals were studied — this limits generalisability to people of other socioeconomic backgrounds.

• The sample size per country was relatively small, which may limit national representativeness.

Kulkofsky Reliability

• The same questionnaire was used across all participants, increasing standardisation and replicability.

Kulkofsky Application

• The study offers practical insight into how culture affects memory, which is relevant for cross-cultural education

• Useful for understanding how people process major global events

• The findings apply mainly to public emotional events, not necessarily to personal memories

Kulkofsky Validity

• Questions covered a range of situational and emotional factors

• Controlled timing helped ensure memories were actually long-term.

• Self-report questionnaires introduce the risk of memory distortion, social desirability bias, or cultural differences in expressing emotions

Kulkofsky Ethics

• No deception, no harm, and fully informed consent likely obtained.

• Questions were about public events, so they likely didn’t trigger personal trauma.

• Some emotional events may have been distressing for certain participants (e.g. terrorist attacks, natural disasters)

Kulkofsky Supporting Study

Mullen

Mullen Aim

To investigate whether the age at which individuals report their earliest memory differs across cultures, and to explore how cultural differences may influence the development of FBMs

Mullen Procedure

• 768 undergraduate participants from Caucasian, Asian and asian-American groups

• Questionnaires were used to investigate relationship amongst birth order, gender, culture and earliest memory 

• Participants were asked to recall and write down their earliest memory, including as much detail as possible 

• Asked to provide an estimated age at the time of the memory

• Researchers collected age of earliest memory, content and emotional valence of the memory, language used at the time of memory 

Mullen Results

• Caucasian participants reported earlier first memories (3) compared to Asian (4 or later)

• Asian participants were more likely to describe memories that emphasised group or family contexts and less individualistic content 

• Caucasian participants more often reported memories that focused on self, emotion and personal experience 

• Similar results were found for first born children and females, whose earliest memories were earlier than males or later born 

Mullen Conclusion

Cultural values shape how and when FBMs are formed and recalled 

Mullen Generalisability

• Large sample size helps strengthen generalisability.

• Included Caucasian, Asian, and Asian-American participants, allowing for cross-cultural comparison.

• All participants were undergraduate students, may not represent the wider population or older adults.

• May not reflect working-class or non-academic individuals, so cultural findings could be influenced by education level.

Mullen reliability

• Standardised questionnaire format makes the study replicable.

• Similar findings across subgroups support internal consistency.

• Self-reported data on early memories can be unreliable, reducing reliability.

Mullen Applicability

• Useful in understanding how parenting styles impact memory

• Can be applied to educational psychology, developmental psychology, and cross-cultural therapy

• Findings about early memory formation might not apply to traumatic events or FBMs tied to highly emotional situations (e.g., accidents, disasters).

Mullen Validity

• Analysis of memory content, emotional tone, and language gives a multi-dimensional view of memory.

• Retrospective recall is vulnerable to distortion, reducing internal validity.

Mullen Ethics

• No deception, no harm, and memories recalled were likely non-traumatic

• Participants gave informed consent and remained anonymous.