PSYC 308: Chapter 9

two basic systems for reasoning

analytic and holistic

what does analytic thinking involve

1. separating objects from each other

2. breaking down objects to their component parts

3. using rules ot explain and predict an object’s behaviour

4. relies on abstract thought

what does holistic thinking involve

1. an orientation to the entire scene

2. attending to the relations among objects

3. predicting an object’s behaviour on the basis of those relationships

4. relies on associative thought and direct experience

the way people understand the physical world is based on how they understand…

the social world

in independent cultures, people learn to think of others as being

independent from each other and composed of their component parts, and think of the physcial world the samw way

in interdependent cultures, people generalize to an attention of

relations among object’s in one’s environment

field dependence

holistic thinker perceive a scene as an integrated whole and find it difficult for them to separate objects from each other

field independence

the ability to separate objects frome ach other

what task can test for field independence

rod and frame task

recognition accuracy for previously seen animals methods

participants are asked to describe the original pictures while they are looking at them. later, they were shown other photos, some the same and some with a different background. then they were asked whether they have seen the animal in the picture before

recognition accuracy for previously seen animals westerners results

1. describe the focal animal

2. unaffected by the change of the background

recognition accuracy for previously seen animals east asian results

1. describe the scene starting off with the context

2. performance is worse if the background is switched

recognition accuracy for previously seen animals implications

east asians see the scene as bound together and westerners see it as a collection of parts

interpreting emotional experience initial interpretations

1. east asian judgements of the centre target’s facial expression are more influenced by the expressions of the surrounding people

2. judging emotional expressions is more of a social event for east asians

interpreting emotional experience methods

used an eye monitor to see where participants looked

interpreting emotional experience results

1. in the first second, people from both cultrues look at the target

2. after, east asians look at the background more than westerners who fixate of the focal target

what are the differences between western and east asian perspective drawing

1. westerners look flatly

2. east asians have more of a bird’s eye view

comparisons of paintings in museums western vs east asian

east asia has moderately more scenery paintings and western countries have significantly more portraits

what is the difference between number of additional objects in students drawings

east asians have more

what is the difference of taking pictures with subjects between westerners and east asians

the subject has more face in the frame in western photography

what is the difference in information in web pages between westerners and eat asians

north american webpages have fewer links and words than comparable East Asian ones

what has a similar pattern of east asian web pages?

scientific conference posters

how do East Asians perform on busier scenes, like Where’s Waldo?

better than north americans

dispositional attribution

explaining people’s behaviours by attending to their personal characteristics

situational attribution

explaining people’s behaviours by attending to contextual variables

fundamental attribution error

assuming someone’s characteristics based on their context

attention

the act or state of applying the mind to something or directing cognitive activity in a certain way

The Rorschach inkblot results

1. european americans tend to described what they saw based on a single aspect of the image

2. chinese americans gave whole card responses, describing what they saw based on the entire image

saccades

rapid eye movements indicating the gaze from one fixation point to another

how is photography associated with urban landscapes?

japanese have more edges and boundaries in their photos, as the urban areas are busier in Japan than the US

american vs chinese true crime articles results

1. american articles had moe references to the temperment of the accused

2. chinese articles had nore references to the situation that had provoked the accused rather than the person’s disposition

how do religious groups differ in their dispositional attribution?

americans Protestants are more likely than american catholics to make dispositional attributions, due to protestants having a greater commitment to the idea that individuals have a soul

how does socioeconomic status impact attributions

working class americans make more situational attributions and fewer dispositional attributions that middle class americans

law of non-contradiction

proposing that no statement could be both true and false, and this “A” could not qual “not A”

native dialecticism

the acceptance of contradiction

perceived plausibility of arguments study results

1. americans see two contradictory arguments, they view the better argument as even more plausible than when they encountered this same argument itself

2. chinese see two contradictory arguments, they view the weaker argument as more plausible than when its presented alone

how does contradictory self-view manifest in Americans and Japanese?

1. Americans have feeling of anxiety and depression

2. Japanese have better physical health in Japan

how do chinese and americans perceive change?

1. chinese are twice as likely to predict a tend would reverse direction in the future

2. americans were more likely to predict the trend would continue in the same direction as in the past

cultural differences in early speech habits

1. japanese mothers speak less to their young children than americans

2. chinese infants vocalized less in response to laboratory events than European American infants

cognitive tasks and speaking up study results

1. thinking out loud impairs the performance of Asian Americans on IQ test items, although saying the alphabet out loud while thinking has little impact on their sores

2. Americans had little impact on thinking out loud, but reciting the alphabet impairs their performance

high-context culture

people are deeply involved with one another, share information that guides their behaviour and communicate in with less explicit communication(East Asian)

low-context culture

less involvement among individuals, and therefore less shared information to guide behavior- therefore they communicate in more explicit detaul, as others are less able to fill in the gaps of what is not said (Western)

tone study results

1. Americans had a harder time making judgements about vocal tone than making judgements about words

2. Japanese found it harder to focus on the meaning of the word while ignoring the tone while ignoring the meaning

3. Japanese are habitually paying attention to the tone than the content of what is being said

Whorfian hypothesis of linguistic relativity

language determines/influences how we think

colour perception is influenced by…

the terms for color categories in the language of a culture

odor study results

english speakers have less word for odors, therefore cannot identify different smells as well as the Jahai

English and Spanish vase study results

1. English and Spanish speakers were equally accurate when identifying those who had acted intentionally

2. English speakers were more accurate than the Spanish speakers in recalling who had broken the vase unintentionally

3. English speakers have more agency

Guugu Yumithirr directional terminology

cardinal directions

Dutch directional terminology

describe locations relative to their physical selves

aristotle’s principles

1. Law of identity: A = A

2. Law of excluded middle: A = B or A= Not B, these are the only two possibilities

3. Low of noncontradiciton: Not A = Not A

   There cannot be any contradiction

facial recognition study

when people verbally describe a face, this later impairs their recognition of the face because one’s verbal description do not capture the whole of the face

how do westerners value the spoken word more than east asians?

• ancient beliefs viewed knowledge to emerge through the spoken word

• freedom of speech

• eastern religions also emphasize silent meditation rather than prayer

how do young children without number terms represent numbers?

logarthmically