Cultural Psychology Quiz (Chapter 8, 9)

Define the term Anthropocentricism.

- Anthropocentricism = projecting qualities of people into animals, but not the other way around - These were based on studies with urban children in the West with little experience with animals

What are the 4 types of group relationships, that are the basic elements of social interaction?

- Communal sharing - Authority ranking - Equality matching - Market pricing

Explain the difference between high/low relation mobility.

- High relational mobility -- More opportunities to create new social ties; more flexibility in deciding whether or not to associate with someone not in their ingroup. - Low relational mobility -- The social environment does not provide very many opportunities to create new relationships. - Significant relationships -- ingroups are not chosen —they exist by default.

What are some cultural differences in Ingroup/Outgroup Relationships?

- Individualistic cultures: • Belong to multiple ingroups and move easily from ingroup to ingroup • More likely to treat outgroup persons more equally, with less distinction between ingroups and outgroups - Collectivistic cultures: • Belong to fewer ingroups but have greater commitments to those groups • Greater lack of concern for outgroups; greater distancing, aloofness, and discrimination to outgroups

Explain the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, and the strong/weak associations to this theory.

--> The structure of a language determines or greatly influences the modes of thought and behavior characteristic of the culture in which it is spoken. Strong version = language determines thought - without access to the right words, people cannot have certain kinds of thoughts • Largely rejected - Weak version = language influences thought - having access to certain words influences the kinds of thoughts that one has

What are some benefits between High/Low relation mobility?

-> In cultures with High relational mobility: - Lots of opportunities for people to seek new interactions - Thus beneficial to attract potential new relationship partners • High relational mobilitypeople choose who will be ingroup membersthey can opt to avoid people who can be enemies -> In cultures with low relational mobility: - Much more stable relationship networks - Characteristics that attract people are relatively less useful • Low relational mobilitypeople aren't likely to be able to choose ingroups or ingroup membersenemies are likely to emerge from within

Explore the different mechanisms of attraction.

-> i) Mere exposure effect = a culturally universal mechanism whereby the more we are exposed to a stimulus, the more we are attracted to it -> ii) Similarity-attraction effect = a nonuniversal mechanism whereby people are attracted to others if they share many similarities

What are some analytical views and holistic views when it comes to understanding peoples behavior?

Analytic thinkers focus on objects' component parts, whereas holistic thinkers consider objects' relations with the context. - Same distinction is applied to understanding people.

Define the concept of Analytic Thinking.

Analytic thinking involves: - Separating objects from each other - Breaking down objects into component parts - Using rules to explain and predict an object's behaviour - Relying on abstract thought - Taxonomic categorization: Stimuli are grouped together according to the perceived similarity of their attributes

Explain the aspect of Bilateral Symmetry and how it is associated with actriveness.

Bilateral symmetry -- When an organism develops under ideal conditions its right and left sides will be symmetrical. • Genetic mutations, pathogens, or stressors in the womb--> asymmetrical development. • Asymmetrical faces are generally viewed as less attractive.

Define the term entitavity.

The Perception of groups as real entities, not collectins of individuals. Perception of the outgroups are associated with infrahumanization.

Define the term Mere Exposure Effect.

The more we are exposed to a stimuli, the more we're attracted to it (common across cultures)

What are the two sytems for reasoning?

i) Analytic Thinking ii) Holistic Thinking

What are the two types of attributions to understand peoples behavior?

i) Dispositional Attribute ii) Situational Attribute

Define the term Similarity-Attraction Effect.

people tend to be attracted to those who are most like themsleves --> attitudes, SES, looks, etc --> not as universal as mere exposure effect (eg. Canadians more than Japs)

Define the term Adversarial strategies, in reference to negotiation skills.

• Adversarial strategies = the other side's position is ignored; an indivudual only presses for one's own cause - Often escalates the conflict until a victor emerges - More commonly used in individualistic cultures

What are some analytical views and holistic views when it comes to reasoning styles?

• Analytic and holistic thinking also affects one's reasoning and categorization. • Analytic thinkers find a rule and apply it; Holistic thinkers find general resemblance and relationship between multiple aspects.

Explain the difference in views between the origin of holistic and analytical thinkers.

• Analytic thought evident in Aristotle's view of objects possessing properties such as "gravity," and Platonic view of the world consisting of discrete unchanging objects operating by universal laws. • Holistic thought is evident in classical Chinese ideas of harmony, interconnectedness, and change.

Explain the concept of Authority Ranking.

• Authority ranking = people linearly ordered along hierarchical social dimension - Higher on the ranking = more privilege and prestige - Lower on the ranking = entitled to protection and care from those above

Explain the concept of Communal Sharing.

• Communal sharing = members of a group emphasize common identity - Everyone treated the same - Resources tend to be pooled for use by everyone - No one person "deserves" more of the resources more than others

Define the term Compromising strategies, in reference to negotiation skills.

• Compromising strategies = proposing solutions that hopefully increase the likelihood that the other party would be satisfied with them - Typically works toward reducing conflict - Usually, neither party gets exactly what he/she wants, but neither party loses out to the other. - More commonly used in collectivistic cultures.

How does Language influence Color Perception?

• Cultures do seem to carve up the color spectrum differently, with different boundaries. • The question is: If people don't have a word for green, do they still see green the same way? • People show evidence that the perception of the different colors is influenced by the colour categories used in their respective languages.

How do culture differentiate between how they cooperating vs. competing with each other?

• Cultures vary in the degree to which people prefer cooperating and competing with each other. • People from collectivistic cultures--> cooperation • People from individualistic cultures competition

Define the concept of Dispositional attribute that is used to understand peoples behavior?

• Dispositional attribution -- Explaining people's behaviours by attending to their personal characteristics

Explain the concept of Equality Matching.

• Equality matching = social structure based on balance and reciprocity - Record keeping is done to keep track of what is exchanged, and people are motivated to pay back what has been exchanged, in turns. - A turn-based social structure - Not common in Western cultures, but quite common in cultures around the word

Explain the aspect of Average Features and how it is associated with actriveness.

• Faces with averagely proportioned features -- more attractive. • Average features -less likely to contain genetic abnormalities; symmetrical • We can process any kind of stimulus that is closer to a prototype easier than one that is further from a prototype. •***** It is noteworthy that "average is attractive" does not apply to aspects beyond facial features.

How do the two systems for reasoning differ between cultures? Give examples.

• Holistic thinkers perceive a scene as an integrated whole and have field dependence - Field dependence = Difficulty in separating objects from each other • Analytic thinkers are able to separate objects from each other - Field independence = Tendency to separate details from the surrounding context.

Define the concept of Holistic Thinking.

• Holistic thinking involves: - An orientation to the entire scene - Attending to the relations among objects - Predicting an object's behaviour on the basis of those relationships - Relying on associative thought - Thematic categorization: Stimuli are grouped together on the basis of causal, temporal or spatial relationships among them

What are some differences between individualistic and collectivistic cultures when it comes to creativity?

• Individualistic cultures thus tend to focus on novelty. -> More likely to create novel and "game-changing" innovations • Collectivistic cultures tend to focus on usefulness and appropriateness. -> More likely to create innovations that are incremental improvements on existing innovations

Explain the concept of Market Pricing.

• Market pricing = a social structure that also emphasizes balance and reciprocity - Unlike equality matching, though, the equal exchange in a market pricing structure occurs on the same turn. - Based on proportionality and ratio

How does language influence Mathematics?

• Much of numeric cognition is a cultural invention—people have few innate math abilities. • Young children can represent numbers up to 3—anything more requires cultural learning. • Some cultures do not have number terms beyond "two" (e.g. the Piraha from the Amazon have terms that correspond to 1, 2, and many).

What are the two ways in which negotiation can take place?

• Negotiating can be done in two ways: - Adversarial or confrontational - Compromising

What are some factors that contribute to prejudice? What are some factors that reduce that prejudice judgement?

• Origins of and factors contributing to prejudice: - Kinship sentiment - Competition between groups - Discrimination used to impose inferior status - Aspects of personality • The contact hypothesis: - Contact between groups effective in reducing prejudice - Optimal conditions

Explain the aspect of Clear complexion and how it is associated with actriveness.

• People are attracted to healthy mates. • Skin signals health. • People have strong aversive reactions to skin conditions.

Define the concept of Situational attribute that is used to understand peoples behavior?

• Situational attribution -- Explaining people's behaviours by attending to contextual variable.

Define the term Social Facilitation. Explain how it can affect working with others.

• Social facilitation = presence of others helps performance on well-learned tasks, but interferes with performance on poorly-learned task - even observed across species.

What are three aspects in which physical attrictiveness is considered universal?

• Some aspects -- universal: -> i) Clear complexion -> ii) Bilateral symmetry -> iii) Average features

How does language influence Spatial Perception?

• Some languages have egocentric spatial terms (e.g. right, left, in front of). • Others use cardinal directions (e.g. north, east).