Ps4 344 Armor Final SDSU

two ways people can gain control over their lives

1. primary control 2. secondary control

cultural psychology (simplified)

the mind is shaped by content and context

independent variable

the variable that is manipulated

host culture

their new culture

heritage culture

their original culture

Are the physical attractiveness standards for weight universal?

*No* - more economically wealthy cultures consider slim women to be most attractive - less economically wealthy cultures consider heavier women to be most attractive (being called "fat" is considered a compliment in West Africa)

rule-based reasoning

- *analytic thinkers* tend to view the world as operating according to a set of universal abstract rules and laws *they will apply such rules and laws when they try and make sense of a situation *example: a graduate student murdered their professor, their are 97 pieces of information you can use to solve the case ---> these thinkers tend to EXCLUDE lots of information that they don't find relevant (ie: what the students favorite color was, what they were wearing, et cetera)

we are products of our culture

"it would hardly be fish who discovered the existence of water" - we don't really come to understand our own culture until we see it contrasted with other cultures - we are socialized by our cultures into thinking that most of our ways of doing things are particularly good and moral ---> as such, culturally normative behavior comes to be seen as natural, and deviations from that path often tend to be viewed as less desirable or even immoral ---> this thinking can lead people to the error of ethnocentrism

migrants

- those who move from a heritage culture to a host culture

ways to have a positive self-view

1. have high self-esteem 2. have face

Chapter 02 start

Chapter 02 start Culture and Human Nature

Chapter 03 start

Chapter 03 start Cultural Evolution

Chapter 04 start (gear up, this one is the most brutal chapter)

Chapter 04 start Methods for Studying Culture and Psychology

Chapter 5 start

Chapter 5 start Development and Socialization

Chapter 01 start

Chapter 01 start What is Cultural Psychology

color blind approach (also known as the "culture blind approach")

- "people are the same wherever you go" - usually said by people who have good intentions in that they don't want people do be judged by the content of their ethnic background but rather by the content of their character - the idea is to pretend like our ethnic differences do not exist so that people do not form an "us versus them" approach when it comes to ethnicity - proven by science to be the inferior approach *it creates an environment where people are blind to discrimination that has historically existed and still continues to exist

culture

- *"cultures" don't really exist* ---> cultures are not homogeneous entities with clear-cut boundaries *there are no large societies anywhere that include only people from one cultural background ---> even the most homogeneous societies contain individuals with different cultural heritages, traditions, religions, and languages *example: somebody speaks 5 different languages, grew up in Haiti, moved to Quebec at a young age, tried to instigate the independence of Quebec from Canada, and now is the UK Queen's representative to Quebec --> what culture is this person? --> I do not think even that person could answer --> culture is a social construct, it is not real, but fluid and always changing - globalization (and mass migrations of people's moving across the planet) facilitates cultural change *over 130 million people on the planet have moved away from the city that they were born in ---> around 10% of the US population are immigrants

Protestant Christians versus Jews (morality)

- *Jews* believe being a good person is dependent on *behaving in moral ways* --> Talmud ("the Old Testament") focuses more on behaviors because thoughts are "less controllable" and are "less likely to lead to future behaviors" ---> example: Jews believe that one of the best ways to honor one's parents is to take care of one's parents is to take care of them when they get old - *Protestant Christians* believe being a good person is dependent on *thinking in moral ways* --> the New Testament focuses more on thoughts because thoughts are "relatively controllable" and "lead to future behaviors" ---> example: Protestant Christians believe that one of the best ways to honor one's parents would be to have respectful thoughts towards them - there is also a greater emphasis on faith in Protestant Christianity than in Judaism *examples: i. membership in Protestant Christianity is defined by publicly accepting the Christian faith, and by being baptized ii. membership in Judaism is defined by being born to a Jewish biological mother

attention

- *at a given time, where one's cognitive abilities are directed* - analytic thinkers (who tend to perceive the world as consisting of discrete objects) are more likely to focus their attention on separate parts of a scene -those parts that represent discrete objects of interest- *tend to show "field independence" - holistic thinkers (who tend to perceive the world as consisting of an interrelated whole) should direct their attention more broadly, across an entire scene *tend to show "field dependence"

toleration of contradiction

- *Western cultures tend to not be tolerant of contradiction* *example: Aristotle proposed "the law of non-contradiction" ---> no statement can be both true and false ---> therefore "A" could not equal "not A" *another example: i. reasonable argument A ii. reasonable argument B ---> after seeing argument A and agreeing with the statement, when these thinkers are then showed argument B .... these types of thinkers are then most likely to pick argument A and forget about the argument B *these cultures usually expect the future to be linear and predictable more than Easterners ---> example: less willing to predict an economic recession despite years of economic gains - *Eastern cultures tend to embrace contradiction (called "naive dialecticism")* *because everything is perceived to be fundamentally connected with everything else and constantly in flux, real contradiction ceases to exist *example: if "A" is connected with "not A" and is always changing into "not A", then "A" is no longer in contradiction with "not A" ---> with this orientation towards the world, contradiction is not something to be rejected, but should be accepted *another example: i. reasonable argument A ii. reasonable argument B ---> after seeing argument A and agreeing with the statement, when these thinkers are then showed argument B .... they are more likely to pick argument B because these thinkers believe that life is contradictory and are not motivated to get rid of the contradiction *these cultures usually expect the future to be unpredictable more than westerners ---> example: more willing to predict an economic recession despite years of economic gains

dhat syndrome

- *a culture-bound syndrome, most common in South Asia, in which men develop morbid anxiety around concerns that they are losing semen* ---> causes 'morbid anxiety' ---> is usually found in Hindus that believe that they have angered the gods by masturbating or participating in sexual promiscuity ---> semen for these people is seen as a precious and essential commodity that protects a person from disease and is viewed as a key source of vitality - is virtually *non-existent in most cultures around the world, including US American culture* ---> why? --> because in order to be diagnosed with dhat syndrome, one must have a particular set of beliefs that would cause one to be concerned about losing semen in the first place, and such kinds of beliefs are derived from participating in particular cultural contexts. Without the necessary cultural participation, it is highly unlikely that one would experience dhat syndrome as a disorder in the way that many South Asians do

meritocracy

- *a social system that rewards people on the basis of the equity principle* ---> example: the more a person sells in a market economy, the more money they make - this system breeds competition *can create conflict between individual/groups if done in too extreme of a way - is common method used in individualist societies without labor unions/worker cooperatives

facial feedback hypothesis

- *a source of information we utilize when inferring our feelings is our facial expressions* *example: if we are trying to figure out if we feel happy, one clue that we might consider is whether or not we are smiling *example: an experiment was conducted where people were put in a position where they were smiling versus a position where they weren't smiling. These people were then asked to view cartoons and rate how amused they were by them. People that were put into the position of smiling were found to be much more amused than those that were not put into a position to smile

incremental theory of the world

- *a view of the world as flexible and responsive to an individual's efforts to change it* *example: you would like an Impossible Burger, and you need to go down to the grocery store to buy one. The chain of events that is initiated to go down to the store to get that burger is predicated on the belief that you have the efficacy to influence your social environment to get what you want *people are immutable entities working in a mutable world

identity denial

- *an individual's cultural identity is called into question because he or she doesn't seem to match the prototype of the culture* ---> example: "Where are you from?" I am from Los Angeles. "No, where are you really from?" *when ethnic minorities experience identity denial, they will tend to seek to go out of their way to publicly affirm their host's identity ---> example: an Asian American goes out of their way to eat more fast-food because they view that as 'the American thing to do'

culture-bound syndromes

- *appear to be greatly influenced by cultural factors and hence occur far less frequently, or are manifested in highly divergent ways in other cultures; they exist on a spectrum with universal syndromes....there is NO DICHOTOMY* ---> examples: hikikomori and dhat sundrome ---> more culture-bound syndromes: i. eating disorders ii. koro iii. amok iv. hysteria v. frigophobia vi. susto vii. voodoo death viii. latah viiii. malgri x. algonias xi. kufungisisa xii. ataques de nervios

facial expressions

- *are not accessibility universal because people perform worse at evaluating facial expressions from other cultures than they do at their own* .....however, they are similar everywhere despite culture ---> even blind people that have never seen facial expressions have similar facial expressions as people that can see just fine - there is a basic set of 6 EMOTIONS (not facial expressions) that are recognized mostly around WEIRD nations: i. anger ii. fear iii. happiness iv. sadness v. surprise vi. disgust *a couple of other emotions (like pride) are also heavily being considered to be added to this list - there are some cultural differences in facial expressions *there is a small cultural-specific component to recognizing faces ---> *some facial expressions are functional universal* (facial expressions are interpreted to indicate similar emotions across cultures, but the degree to which each expression is recognized varies across cultures) *example: straight men can recognize gay men (if they have participated in gay culture) just by looking at men's facial expressions, straight men that haven't participated in gay culture cannot do this as well *people judge facial expressions by looking at different parts of the face, examples: ---> Americans tend to look at the mouth for information ---> Japanese people tend to look at the eyes for information ---> Europeans tend to look at both the eyes and mouth for information

universal syndromes

- *are not caused by culture, but are caused by biology* - *anyone in any culture can get these syndromes* ---> the manifestations of these syndromes, however can vary across cultures ---> types of universal syndromes: i. depression ii. social anxiety disorder iii. suicide iv. schizophrenia

acculturation

- *the process by which people migrate to and learn a culture that is different from their original (or heritage) culture* ---> is hard to study because people move to a wide variety of places for different reasons --> examples: Did they move to a rural or urban area? Were they fleeing from violence and poverty, or looking for new opportunities to explore the world outside of them?

secondary control

- *attempt(s) to align oneself with existing realities, leaving the realities unchanged but exerting control over the psychological impact of these realities ---> it involves accepting one's circumstances* *also known as "adjustment", and "external locus of control" *example: you're with a group of people going out for lunch, and the group decides to order a vegan pizza, you're not a vegan, but you come to feel that the pizza is ok and you're willing to have it for lunch ---> you're desires and goals adjust themselves to what you're environment is most likely to provide - in hierarchical collectivist cultures, the world seems somewhat impervious to efforts by a lone individual to change things *people are mutable entities working in an immutable world *more likely to see problems as caused by systems, not people

prevention orientation

- *attending to any potential weakness by working towards correcting those weaknesses by improving themselves* - this decreases the chances of these cultures losing "face" - trying to avoid bad things - more common in *collectivist cultures* - Japanese people persist longer after failures than successes ---> more interested in working on things they did poorly, so that they could improve themselves and be less likely to fail in the future ---> *is a self-improvement motivation*

downward social comparison

- *comparing your performance with the performance of someone who is doing even worse than you* *when we compare ourselves to someone who is worse off than us, we create a favorable comparison that casts our own performance in a positive light - example: the easy way to feel better about the C you received on the test is to surround yourself with people that got D's ---> this is usually a good occasion to avoid the people that received A's; *when we compare our performance with someone who is doing better then we are, this is known as* ------> *upward social comparison* ---> can be painful to do because the contrast can make you look and feel worse

situational attributions

- *explaining people's behavior by considering how the situation is influencing them ---> considering the individual's relation with their context* *utilizes holistic thinking *example: Dan is in a store angrily arguing with a shop clerk. Why is Dan behaving like this? ---> holistic thinkers are most likely to explain Dan's behavior by considering the characteristics of the situation he is in ---> perhaps Dan is angry because he purchased some defective merchandise and the store clerk is not allowing him to exchange it - most commonly seen in collectivistic cultures (like in East Asian cultures)

Are there universal standards of physical attractiveness around the world?

- *fashion styles are influenced by cultural norms and context (are not universal); but physical features that Humans find attractive are cultural universal* - physical attractiveness around the world seems to be more important for women than it is for men - *there are numerous commonalities across cultures on what is considered physically attractive* (cultural universal) ---> *clear skin* that is free from blemishes, blotches, sores, and rashes (from an evolutionary perspective, clean skin is a good indicator of health) ---> *bilateral symmetry*; or "people's whose left sides of their body look identical to their right sides" (from an evolutionary perspective, bilateral symmetry is a good indicator of developmental stability; it is a good indicator that a person is free from genetic mutations, pollution, pathogens, and stresses encountered inside the womb --> indicates bad health) ---> *facial features that are average in size and configuration*, examples: average-sized nose, average-sized mouth, average-sized smiles, and average-sized distance between the eyes are considered most attractive (from an evolutionary perspective average-sized features are less likely to have genetic abnormalities than people with deviant features, and people like "quickly processing prototypes"); there are a few notable exceptions to this rule men prefer youthful features in women, women prefer masculine features in men, and mixed raced faces tend to be found most attractive (people are attracted to genetic diversity as a marker of healthy genes, and multiracial faces are a combination of some of the best faces we have encountered throughout our lives); *bodies that are seen as most attractive are those that depart considerably from the average (height, muscles, breasts, weight, et cetera)* - in the lecture, these characteristics of an attractive face are cultural universal (everyone inherently sees these features as objectively beautiful): *women: i. large eyes (indicates youth) ii. high cheekbones (indicates sexual maturity) iii. small nose, small chin *men: i. large eyes (indicates youth) ii. high cheekbones (indicates sexual maturity) iii. large chin - averaged faces between two (and/or more) individuals is always seen as more attractive...always; why? i. complexion is better (smoothed out through averaging) ii. youthful appearance iii. faces are more symmetrical

associative reasoning

- *holistic thinkers* should be more likely to make sense of a situation by considering the relationships among objects or events *they usually look for evidence of events clustering together, such as similarity among events *example: a graduate student murdered their professor, there are 97 pieces of information you can use to solve the case ---> these thinkers tend to INCLUDE lots of information that analytic thinkers would find irrelevant (ie: what the students favorite color was, what they were wearing, et cetera) ---> holistic thinkers are always looking for the background (the big picture), and by observing the bigger picture, the pieces that make up that big picture tend to be better understood

interdependent view of self relations with in-group and out-group members

- *in-group*: *has a number of close-relationships and these relationships are MORE self-defining than the relationships of independents *are BETTER at reading the emotions of in-group members *more likely to conform when surrounded with in-group members - *out-group*: *has a CLEAR CUT boundary between their in-groups and out-groups *are LESS willing to cooperate with out-group members (less willing to trust strangers) *are WORSE at reading the emotions of out-group members *less likely to conform when surrounded with out-group members - in-group relationships are extremely important to interdependent people because they have obligations to their in-group members. Therefore, it is very important for interdependent people to distinguish who is in their in-group, and who is not

independent view of self relations with in-group and out-group members

- *in-group*: *have a number of close relationships, but these close relationships are LESS self-defining than the relationships of interdependents *are WORSE at reading the emotions of in-group members - *out-group*: *has a PERMEABLE boundary between their in-groups and out-groups *are MORE willing to cooperate with out-group members (more willing to trust strangers) *are BETTER at reading the emotions of out-group members - these people perceive themselves as existing separately from the social environment, therefore new relationships can be formed and old relationships can be dissolved without having a large impact on the independent person's perception of his or her identity ---> hence these types of people should be more willing to form new relationships, maintain larger networks of relationships, and be less distressed should any of these relationships fade away over time

assimilation strategy

- *involves an attempt to fit in and fully participate in the host culture while making little or no effort to maintain the traditions of one's heritage culture* - people using this strategy have positive attitudes towards the host culture and negative attitudes toward the heritage culture ---> these people reflect a desire to leave behind the ancestral past as to fit in with the host culture - the middle used strategy - are likely to be used by ethnic minorities that are accepted, and are given good economic opportunities

separation strategy

- *involves efforts to maintain the traditions of the heritage culture while making little or no effort to participate in the host culture* - people using this strategy have positive attitudes towards their heritage culture and negative attitudes towards their host culture ---> these people do not wish to acculturate to the host culture --> they would prefer to continue to exist in the world of their heritage culture - the middle used strategy - ethnic minorities that experience racism and/or economic deprivation are likely to use this strategy

neurasthenia

- *is a culture-bound syndrome* - *is a form of depression* - a nervous syndrome of more than 50 symptoms *is described as "an exhaustion of the nervous system" - major symptoms include: a. poor appetite b. insomnia c. weakness in the back d. hysteria e. inability to concentrate - was most commonly diagnosed throughout the 19-to early 20th century - *is no longer a recognized disorder, but is now seen as a version of somatization-heavy depression* ----> *is much more common in China*

agonias

- *is a culture-bound syndrome* - is primarily identified among Portuguese people, and Azoreans - *is an anxiety disorder in which people report feeling a wide array of different symptoms, including a burning sensation, a loss of breath, hysterical blindness, sleeping, and eating disorders*

ataques de nervios

- *is a culture-bound syndrome* - is primarily identified among Puerto Ricans - *emotionally charged situations (like funeral and family conflicts) lead to symptoms including palpitations, numbness, and a sense of heat rising to the head*

malgri

- *is a culture-bound syndrome* - is primarily identified among various Aboriginal Australian groups - *when afflicted individuals enter the sea or a new territory without engaging in the appropriate ceremonial procedures, they believe that they are invaded by a totemic spirit that makes them physically sick, tired, and drowsy*

voodoo death

- *is a culture-bound syndrome* - is primarily identified in Africa - *is a condition in which people are convinced that a curse has been put on them or that they have broken a taboo, which results in a severe fear reaction that sometimes leads to their own deaths*

susto

- *is a culture-bound syndrome* - is primarily identified in Latin America - *people feel that a frightening experience has caused their souls to get dislodged from their bodies, leading to a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms*

latah

- *is a culture-bound syndrome* - is primarily identified in Southeast Asian cultures, in Siberia, and among the Ainu people in Hokkaido, Japan - is a condition in which *people fall into a transient dissociated state after some kind of startling event* (such as being tickled or thinking they have seen a snake) ---> *following this event, the person usually exhibits some kind of unusual behavior, such as barking like a dog, shouting sexually charged statements, or acting in culturally inappropriate ways, after which the person retains no memory of the outburst*

kufungisisa

- *is a culture-bound syndrome* - is primarily identified in a number of cultures in Africa, in the Caribbean, among Native Americans, and among East Asians - translates to "thinking to much" in the Shona language (spoken in Zimbabwe) - *is a condition associated with anxiety and somatic problems that are thought to stem from mental exhaustion* ---> *people believe that their mind has been damaged by excessive thinking and can thus no longer properly function, and they experience panic attacks and irritability*

frigophobia

- *is a culture-bound syndrome* - primarily identified in China - *is a morbid fear of catching a cold, which leads people to to dress in heavy coats and scarves, even in summer*

suicide

- *is a universal syndrome* - *is more prominent in some cultures then others* ---> example: in 1994 the Lithuanian suicide rate was 81.9 men per 100,000 and 13.4 women per 100,000; in Egypt, the 1994 suicide rate was 0.1 men per 100,000 and 0.0 women per 100,000 - *people in different cultures tend to commit suicide at different points in their lives* ---> example: suicide rates are higher among Native American tribal adolescents than among mainstream Canadian adolescents - *different cultures will commit suicide for different reasons* ---> examples: in the West, depression and sadness are the most common reasons for suicide, in Japan people sometimes commit suicide to "accept responsibility and preserve one's honor"

depression

- *is a universal syndrome* - is one of the most commonly identified psychological disorders in the West --> is the number three most identified forms of injury on the planet, after respiratory problems and dysentery (diarrhea problems) --> depression is predicted to become the number one form of injury by 2030 unless something can be done to stop this trend *is an extremely familiar disorder, as virtually everyone has experienced occasions when they experience some of the symptoms of depression, such as sadness, feelings of futility, and a loss of energy ---> such feelings are relatively short, and are typically confined to the aftermath of a tragedy or a personal disappointment --> if these feelings last for long periods of time and become extremely debilitating, then a person could be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) - *bipolar depression is most common in English-speaking countries, and less common in East and South Asia*

social anxiety disorder

- *is a universal syndrome* - previously known as "social phobia" - the fear that one is in danger of acting in an inept and unacceptable manner, and that such a poor performance will result in disastrous social consequences *these fear(s) become excessive and can lead them to avoid social anxiety-eliciting situations altogether, thereby impairing their lives - *is most common in Asia (is very common, but not considered a bad thing like in the US)* ---> the concept of "face", and the fears of not fitting into a society that heavily values conforming makes this disorder makes East Asians feel more shy....however being shy is *viewed as a positive thing in East Asia*, whereas *in the West it is looked down upon (Americans value extroversion more than introversion)*; it is so prevalent in East Asia, that social anxiety is seen as the norm rather than the exception ---> *when felt in East Asia, social anxiety disorder is usually instead manifested as taijin kyoufushou (TKS)* - *the diagnosis prevalence is most prevalent in the US than any other culture on planet (7% prevalence)*

equality matching

- *is based on the idea of balance and reciprocity; people keep track of what is exchanged, and are motivated to pay back what has been exchanged in equivalent terms* ---> this is the least familiar of the four structures to Westerners, and it is quite common in many poorer, collectivist cultures throughout the world - examples: i. Western situation examples: *Christmas cards *taking turns *exchanging dinner invitations *car-pooling ii. Non-Western example: *rotating credit association (on a fixed occasion, every family in a tribe makes an equivalent contribution of money to a pool and one family gets the entire amount. Each family gets a turn of this, so every handful of years each one enjoys a short period of wealth. People ensure that their contributions are equal, and that their chances of taking home the pot of wealth are also equal. Each family gets an equal chance, regardless of rank in society

taijin kyoufushou (TKS)

- *is the East Asian manifestation of social anxiety disorder (is a culture-bound syndrome)* -is treated pretty much with the same medication as social anxiety disorder; however, the symptoms are quite distinct ---> whereas people with social anxiety disorder will tend to be more preoccupied with anxieties about how they will make fools of themselves in social situations and how everyone will publicly discover their faults.... in contrast *TKS involves a number of physical symptoms, many of which are psychosomatic, such as extensive blushing, heightened body odor, sweating, and penetrating gaze* ---> in the "offensive" type of TKS (which is a diagnostic category) the individual is not only preoccupied with these symptoms but is also certain that these symptoms will offend and create a great deal of unease in others ---> these people avoid social situation primarily for the fear of disturbing others

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (also known as the "Whorfian Hypothesis" or "Linguistic Relativity")

- *language obliges how we think* *example: rather than calling someone in a wheel-chair "handicapped", a lot of people think we should call them "physically challenged" ---> the idea behind this is that by changing the words we use, we also change the way most people will think about people in wheelchairs; instead of thinking of them as 'unable', we instead think about them as 'capable despite their physical condition' - language CAN affect color perception ---> just know that it is influenced by color categories - language CAN influence odor perception *cultures with a wide array of words for different odors can identify and differentiate the smells of different odors better than cultures that do not have a wide array of words for different odors - language CAN influence perceptions of agency (blame) *example: just know that English speakers are better at remembering who broke a vase than Spanish speakers - language CAN influence the spatial arrangement of objects and time perception *example: English/Dutch and Guugu Ymithirr both arranged things in opposite ways - language CAN influence mathematical understanding *example: a tribe in the Amazon called the Piraha has trouble comprehending numbers greater than 2 (there are only the numbers 1, 2, and "a lot" in their language) ---> without an understanding of mathematical language, adults with learning about mathematical concepts as children (like the numbers 5, 10, and 50), default to a logarithmic understanding of mathematical concepts (example: 10 is somewhere in between 1 and 100)

market pricing

- *members of a party calculate and exchange the ratios of goods that are exchanged so that the transaction will be equivalent in value for both parties* ---> perceived attempts at this are most common in Western societies, and most modern market theories of economics view all transactions in these terms ---> people expect to ultimately receive something equivalent to what they have given; however, in market pricing, both sides of the exchange usually occur at once, and different kinds of goods can be exchanged for one another - examples: i. I can purchase you pound of coffee with a sack of flower and six seashells because we have calculated that both sides of the transaction are equal in value ii. I can get your assistance in repairing my leaky roof in exchange for $500 because we can come to an agreement that this is what your time and skills are worth

What happens when people move to a new diverse culture?

- *moving to a new culture involve's psychological adjustment* ---> examples: acquiring a new language, learning new interpersonal and social behaviors, becoming accustomed to new values, often becoming a member of a minority group, adjusting one's self-concept --> the longer immigrants spend in a new culture, the more similar their emotional experiences become to those of other people living in that culture, and the more they adapt to a new culture, the more they acquire the host culture's for relating to others - the *U-shaped curve* occurs, *(also called "the acculturation curve")* i. *"the honey-moon stage"* ---> in the first few months, migrants have a relatively positive experience --> they enjoy the new experiences, meeting new people, trying new foods, communicating with people in a foreign language, and feeling the excitement of participating in a novel and exotic environment ii. *"the crisis" or "culture-shock" stage* ---> following the honeymoon stage, the crisis stage last between 6-18 months --> in this stage, most visitors turn a corner and begin to have increasingly negative views about their host culture --> the thrill of having novel and exotic experiences wears off and these experiences become tiring and difficult --> examples: migrants realize that their lack of language skills hinders them from flourishing in their new environment; they realize they do not know how the new culture's system works enough for them to flourish; their new friends usually lose interest in them and move on; they usually cannot relate to the people's customs in the new culture ; migrants will become home-sick and will start to miss items from their home-culture (like the TV programs, or the food) --> culture shock occurs --> culture-shock can be so problematic, that many sojourners will quit their new host country, and move back to where they cam from iii. *"the adjustment" phase* ---> after wallowing for several months in the crisis stage, most migrants will begin to adjust to the local culture and enjoy their experiences more --> their language abilities improve, they make new friendships with the locals and find themselves partaking in and enjoying the local culture (the tv shows, the food, et cetera), they start to learn more about how the culture's system works and start to think more like the locals do; ultimately, they start to become one with their new culture --> this process tends to extend over a number of years, and the more time spent in the new culture, the more people begin to become proficient at functioning within it * the U-shape curve can even occur after a migrant returns back to their country of origin --> called "reverse culture-shock" *this curve is not how every migrant reacts, but it is how most migrants react *the more ethnically homogeneous a culture is, the longer the U-shaped curve adjustment takes ---> example: US can take 1-5 years to adjust....Japan (98% ethnically homogenous) can take over 5-10 years

propinquity effect (also known as the "mere exposure effect")

- *people are more likely to become friends with people with whom they frequently interact* ---> the closer in proximity people are, the more likely they are to interact and become friends ---> can be in person or via Internet - is a cultural universal - follows the principle, *the more we are exposed to a stimulus the more we find ourselves attracted to it*

similarity-attraction effect

- *people tend to be attracted to those that are most like themselves* ---> works with friends and romantic partners ---> examples: people tend to become closer when they share interests in their attitudes, economic background, personality, religion, social background, activities, et cetera - appears to exist to some degree in both Canadian and Japanese cultures ---> no matter where tested, it is always *more extreme in North American cultures*

discounting

- *reducing the perceived importance of the domain in which you performed poorly* *example: instead of easing the sting of your bad grade, you might say something to yourself like, "Who really cares about chemistry anyways? I'm not going to become a chemist."

residential mobility

- *some cultures are more likely to change their place of residence then other cultures* ---> Americans have long been recognized as an especially mobile people - those with higher residential mobility become more individualist, less loyal to the institutions they have participated in (like the college they graduated from), are more loyal to familiar chain stores (like Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway over mom and pop businesses/ regional stores) - those with lower residential mobility tend to be more loyal to their institutions, have higher crime rates (and less community action to lower those crime rates), more gentrification, and more goods sold in the chain stores that moved in

primary control

- *striving to shape existing realities to fit their perceptions, goals, or wishes* *also known as "internal locus of control", "influence", and "agency" *example: you would like an Impossible Burger, and you need to go down to the grocery store to buy one. The chain of events that is initiated to go down to the store to get that burger is predicated on the belief that you have the efficacy to influence your social environment to get what you want - Western cultures stress the malleability of the world by the individual *people are immutable entities working in a mutable world *more likely to see problems as caused by people, not systems

self-serving biases

- *tendencies for people to exaggerate how good they think they are* *one study asked American college professors if they thought they were better than the average Professor ---> 94% of the sample claimed that they were indeed better than the average college professor *most Americans regardless of demographics have some level self-serving biases - people are unlikely to have a self-serving bias in regards to domains of life where a persons relative standing compared to others is more easily measured and visible *examples: height, calculus skill, free-throw shooting skills, physical attractiveness

hikikomori (Japan)

- *the abnormal avoidance of social contact, typically by adolescent males* - translates to "pull away" or "social withdrawal" - it is a condition in which people have spent at least 6 months in an asocial state, not participating in education or employment, having no intimate relationships with anyone outside of the immediate family with onset before the late 20's, and for which other psychiatric disorders cannot explain the primary symptoms of withdrawal - can last for decades/life - up to one million Japanese people suffer from it (maybe, the numbers are unreliable however) - is believed to be caused by intense societal pressure (like being the eldest son, and feeling like you cannot do your family honor) - is believed to be a mental condition *native exclusively to Japanese culture*, why?: i. the hypothesized causes of the disorder are less likely (or are not at all) present in any other cultures ii. the reactions of parents to hikikomori sufferers might emerge differently across cultures *example: one American psychologist who has researched hikikomori argues that if his child started showing symptoms, the first thing he would do would be to "break down the kitchen door and deal with the child directly" ---> this type of approach just simply would not be a popular approach to take in Japan (it could lead to the child becoming violent or committing suicide) - hikikomori is one example of how culture is heavily implicated in the expression and experience of psychopathology

face

- *the amount of social value others give you if you live up to the standards associated with your position* *the higher your social position, the greater amount of face becomes available to you ---> example: the president of a company has a lot of face, whereas a mailman has very little face - face can also be shared by groups *example: in 2008 Olympics (in Beijing) their overall success was seen by many Chinese as boosting the face of all of China - face in extremely important in hierarchical, collectivist societies (such as China and India) *what matters is not how positively you think of yourself, but whether significant others think you're doing well. If others grant you face, you'll enjoy all of the privileges that come with all of the enhanced status and power - face is seen as something that is more easily lost than gained *example: it is easier to lose a good-paying job, than to be promoted to a better paying job ---> because face is easily lost, these cultures tend to partake in *prevention orientation* over "promotion orientation"

entity theory of self

- *the belief that aspects of the self are largely resistant to change* *abilities and traits are largely fixed as innate features of the self *attributes are mostly inborn ---> as one gets older, their attributes stay the same over time *example: if someone fails a test that subscribes to this theory, they will think they are intellectually challenged and should probably find something they are good at doing instead - this theory of self is way more *common in individualistic cultures* *these people when led to believe that intelligence is attainable for most people, tend to support universal socialist programs to help people more *more likely to use innate aptitude tests (like the SAT and IQ tests) when determining university admission

incremental theory of self

- *the belief that we can easily change, and are expected to change* *people's abilities and traits are malleable and can be improved ---> the attributes one possesses (examples: soccer playing skills, extroversion, intelligence) are not seen to remain constant throughout life but are perceived as reflecting how hard one has worked on them *example: if someone fails a test that subscribes to this theory, they will think they haven't studied hard enough and if they want to succeed they should study harder - this theory of self is way more *common in collectivistic cultures* *these people tend to believe everyone has the chance of becoming intelligence if they put the effort in *are more likely to test knowledge (example: what year was the Suez Canal built?) when considering university admission

display rules

- *the culturally specific rules that govern which emotional expressions are appropriate in a given situation and how intensely they should be exhibited* *examples: i. some cultures encourage their people to show their emotions in clear, if not exaggerated form ---> for example, among certain Arab populations, it is dishonorable if a man does not respond to an insult with a great demonstration of anger ii. other cultures encourage people to express their emotions in a muted form, or to conceal them altogether ---> for example, among the Utku Eskimos, public expressions of anger are strongly condemned

prestige bias (type of cultural learning)

- Humans are especially concerned with detecting who has prestige -that is, they seek others who have skills and are respected by others- and try to imitate what these individuals are doing - viewed as an extremely efficient way of cultural learning *instead of picking random people to imitate, we tend to want to pick people we view as successes/ experts - trait developed via evolution

cultural fit

- *the degree to which an individual's personality is compatible with the dominant cultural values of their host culture* ---> the greater the cultural fit of a person with the host culture, the more easily they should acculturate to it --> examples: Malaysian migrants high in the extroversion personality trait (a general orientation toward seeking active stimulation from the environment and being generally outgoing) fared better in New Zealand than Malaysian introverts; Americans high in the individualist mindset fare better moving to the UK then moving to China; working class college students (have a more interdependent mindset than non-working class college students) have a much harder time moving out of their homes and into dorms

cultural distance

- *the difference between two cultures and their way of life* ---> the amount of necessary information that needs to be acquired in order to thrive in a new culture ---> the more learning a person needs to do, the more cultural distance there is --> example: an immigrant from the US to the UK has far less cultural distance than an immigrant from the US to China

psychologization

- *the extent to which people are experiencing symptoms primarily in their mind* - is much *more common* form of depression *among Westerners*

somatization

- *the extent to which people experience symptoms primarily in their bodies* - is much *more common* form of depression *among Asians* *in Asia, there is more of a stigma when talking about one's emotions *in Asia, people do not pay as much attention to their emotions as they do in the West

bi-cultural identity integration

- *the extent to which people see their two cultural identities as compatible or in opposition with each other* ---> for example: some bi-culturals tend to see their two cultural identities as quite compatible with each other. These people integrate aspects of both cultures into their everyday lives --> they HIGH bi-cultural identity integration (I am Chinese AND American) ---> another example: in contrast, other bi-culturals tend to see their two cultural identities in opposition to each other. That is, they feel like they can identify with (for example) their Chinese identity, or their American identity, but they cannot identify with both identities simultaneously. They feel like they have to choose between their identities, depending on the situation --> these people have LOW bi-cultural identity integration (I am Chinese OR American)

stereotype threat

- *the fear that one might do something that will inadvertently confirm a negative stereotype about one's group* ---> example: there is an US American stereotype that African Americans "fare worse at intellectual activities" -(people experience stereotype threat when they realize that they are at risk of confirming a negative stereotype, and in doing so, they can end up "proving" the negative stereotype)---> if you are an African American engaged in a difficult intellectual task, it is likely that this false, negative stereotype will come to mind --> if you are an African American having difficulty with an intellectual task, then perhaps you may be afraid of proving the stereotype --> leads to massive amounts of stress, and possible physical/mental health problems -> can lead to worse test scores and is a factor in the why more African Americans drop out of high school than other ethnic American groups

subjective well-being

- *the feeling of how satisfied one is with their life* - *characteristics of satisfied people:* i. *wealth* *people that live in countries in which they have access to enough wealth to easily meet the basic needs of life tend to be considerably more satisfied than those that do not ii. *human rights* *countries that promote human rights the most tend to have the happiest citizens; conversely, those countries in which people live under the constant threat of being thrown in jail for suspicions of plotting against the government/ whoever is in charge are on average not as happy iii. *equality* *nations which have various social policies to minimize differences in opportunities among its citizens, tend to have some of the happiest people around - individualist cultures tend to base subjective well-being on how many positive emotions they were experiencing more than collectivist cultures - collectivist cultures tend to base subjective well-being on if they are living up to others' standards on if they're a good person ---> if they feel highly respected by others then they tend to feel good about their lives *a reason for this is experiencing positive emotions does not help with reducing depression, as it does with individualist cultures *brooding over negative emotions (self-reflection) does not brew depression in these cultures, as it does with individualist cultures - European Americans tend to remember their pasts in a more positive light than Asian Americans, this is because they have different mindsets on how happy they should be: *European Americans appear to be operating under an implicit theory that they should always be happy *Asian Americans appear to be operating under the theory that emotional experience, like other aspects of life, should be balanced and consist of both positive and negative experiences *ultimately when people think back over their lives, they are likely to interpret their feelings with respect to these culturally divergent theories, however, when both cultures consider their feelings at a given time, those theories do not much come into play

ideal affect

- *the kinds of feelings that people desire, and structure their lives around increasing the likelihood that they will experience these emotions* - positive emotion are sought after differently by different cultures *most Americans and Latin Americans ideal affect contains positive emotions high in arousal ---> example: most Evangelical American Christian sects encourage jumping, shouting, and applause during worship ---> example: many Americans enjoy stimulating experiences (like snowboarding, or sports) *most East Asians ideal affect contains positive emotions low in arousal ---> example: most Buddhist sects encourage meditation and calming of the mind ---> example: many East Asians enjoy calming experiences (like going to a picnic in the park)

compensatory self-enhancement

- *the means of compensating for doing poorly on a particular activity by focusing on how good one is at something unrelated to that activity* *example: instead of acknowledging the poor grade you received on the test, you distract and remind yourself of your excellent ability to create nuclear kill-streaks in Call of Duty MW2 - when engaging in this strategy you can focus on, and perhaps exaggerate, how good you are at something unrelated to your setback so that you can compensate for the pain of your failure and can again self-enhance by recruiting other kinds of positive thoughts about yourself

idealization

- *the more unrealistically a person sees their partner, the more in love with their partner they are* ---> example: instead of a partner being "mean" and "cruel", the partner in love may see them as "emotional" and "carefree" - *fuels love marriages* - is FAR more common in individualist cultures

self-esteem

- *the positive or negative overall evaluation that each person has of himself or herself* *when European Canadians were asked to complete a self-esteem measure, the vast majority were found to have high self-esteem ---> 93% of a very large sample of European Americans rated themselves as having self-esteem above the average midpoint

principle of equality

- *the principle that resources should be shared equally among the members of a group* ---> example: everyone gets the exact same amount of money regardless of whether or not they need it

friendship

- *the quality of one's friendships is one of the best predictors of happiness* ---> having close friends increases the length of one's life - *is universal*ly seen to one degree or another across cultures - *individualist people tend to have more friends than collectivists* ---> individualists are more casual when making friends ---> example: an American sitting next to you on a plane may be very friendly, tell you their life story, then bid you farewell and never see you again - collectivists tend to care more about giving advice to their friends (whether they want it or not), and see friends more as people that will provide practical support when needed (like monetary funds) ---> *to collectivists, friendship is seen more as an obligation* - West Africans are less trusting of friendships

integration strategy

- *the strategy that involves attempts to fit in and fully participate in the host culture while at the same time striving to maintain the traditions of one's heritage culture* - people using this strategy have positive views toward BOTH their heritage and their host culture *these people are seeking the best of both worlds - is the most commonly used strategy - are likely to be used by ethnic minorities that are accepted, and are given good economic opportunities *leads to the best outcomes, can only occur when the host culture accepts the ethnic minority, and good economic opportunities are provided

marginalization strategy

- *the strategy that involves little or no effort to participate in the host culture or to maintain the traditions of the heritage culture* - people using this strategy have negative views towards BOTH their heritage AND their host cultures *this strategy is relatively rare ---> this strategy may be pursued more by people who have grown up in multiple cultures across their childhood (called "Third Culture Kids") --> they often identify more as "global citizens - the least used strategy - ethnic minorities that experience racism and/or economic deprivation are likely to use this strategy - has the worst outcomes, is likely to happen when a host society is hostile to the ethnic minority group

blending

- *the tendency for bi-cultural people to manifest psychological tendencies in between those of their two cultures* ---> example: a Japanese person living in Canada feels emotions halfway between those common in Japan, and halfway between those common in Canada; both cultures will be affected (to at least some extent) to the other's culture - it takes roughly three generations for a family to become fully acculturated to a culture

frame switching (also known as "alteration")

- *the tendency for bi-cultural people to switch between different cultural selves* ---> example: a Japanese person living in Canada feels and thinks like a Japanese person when in Japanese contexts, and feels and thinks like an Canadian when in Canadian contexts; the Japanese person will speak and do Japanese things in the Japanese context, and speak and do Canadian things in the Canadian context --> even works with psychological phenomena; example: when Westernized Chinese citizens from Hong Kong are primed with Americans pictures, the can be goaded to think as an individualist would, and vice-versa as a collectivist with Chinese images - mono-cultural people can frame-switch as well (if primed) --> proves EVERYONE is capable of frame-shifting, but bi-culturals that were born in the host country (as opposed to immigrating there) do so more strongly (it is easier for them to do so) *example: US Americans can be primed to think in interdependent terms (like how a Chinese person is likely to think) when they consider players as a part of teams, rather than as individuals

fundamental attribution error

- *the tendency to attribute others' behavior to their dispositions and our own behaviors to our situations* *the tendency to ignore situational information (example: a person speaking in front of a class of people they don't know) while focusing on dispositional information (example: the person is looking and speaking nervously in front of the class) ---> when we (Americans) see people acting, we are most likely to assume they are doing so because of underlying dispositions, and we tend to ignore the situational constraints that might be driving their behavior - IS NOT ACTUALLY FUNDAMENTAL (UNIVERSAL) *is only unique to individualistic cultures *people living and growing up individualistic cultures (as time passes) are most likely to make dispositional attributions about people, whereas their situational attributions remain largely unchanged ---> example: by the time Americans are adults, most claimed that people's behaviors are largely due to their personalities *people living and growing up in collectivistic cultures (as time passes) are most likely to make situational attributions about people, whereas their dispositional attributions remain largely unchanged ---> example: by the time Indians are adults, most claimed that people's behaviors are largely due to their situational constraints ---> collectivistic cultures actually have *reverse fundamental attributional error* (meaning that these people tend to attribute others' behavior to their situations and our own behaviors to our dispositions)

field independence

- *the tendency to separate objects from their backgrounds fields* *analytic thinkers tend to think this way *example: ROD AND FRAME TASK ---> in this task, the rod, and the surrounding frame are rotated independently. The frame provides misleading information about the angle of the rod, so it is necessary to ignore the frame to correctly identify the angle of the rod ---> people who are high in field independence DO THIS WELL *example: these type of thinkers when shown the same fish in different backgrounds are MORE likely to recognize the fish ---> these thinkers focus on objects; when the background is switched but the same object is still there, they are likely to recognize the object *when drawing art, these thinkers tend to focus mostly on the most important objects and less on the backgrounds

field dependence

- *the tendency to view objects as bound to their backgrounds* *holistic thinkers tend to think this way *example: ROD AND FRAME TASK ---> in this task, the rod, and the surrounding frame are rotated independently. The frame provides misleading information about the angle of the rod, so it is necessary to ignore the frame to correctly identify the angle of the rod ---> people who are high in field independence DO NOT DO THIS WELL *example: these type of thinkers when shown the same fish in different backgrounds are LESS likely to recognize the fish ---> these thinkers focus on backgrounds; when the background is switched but the same object is still there, they are less likely to recognize the object unless it is paired with the original background again ---> for these thinkers when the background was changed, the fish no longer looked quite the same *when drawing art, these thinkers tend to focus less on the most important objects and more on the backgrounds ---> they make more complox art with "busier scenes" filled with more information than field independent artists

self-consistency

- *thinking and behaving the same/similar no matter the situation* *examples: ---> people high in self-consistency will behave the same when around their friends, professors, and family ---> people low in self-consistency will behave differently around their friends (might be more playful), professors (might be more respectful), and family (might be more caring) - Americans (representing individualist cultures) tend to be more self-consistent across situations - Japanese (representing collectivist cultures) tend to be less self-consistent across situations *Japanese people tend to me more self-critical in the presence of others, and more positive towards themselves when alone - being more self-consistent across situations reduces cognitive dissonance in Americans (Individualists cultures), raising self-esteem ---> they feel authentic, and other people like them more - being self-consistent across situations does not matter too much to Koreans) representing Collectivistic cultures) , but rather being consistent in relationships (like being a son that is always there for their parents) matter very much ---> being consistent in their relationships raises the self esteem of collectivistic cultures

seniority system

- *time with the company and/or age is rewarded* ---> for example: all individuals working for a company might get the same raise each year, however those who have been working for the company longer have received more raises and hence are being compensated more - this system reflects the principle of equality because there is no competition among individuals for compensation *can depress motivation to work harder though there is not much evidence it does this (Japanese companies partake in this system more....and have the hardest working workers in the world) - is more common in collectivist societies with at least a moderate labor union base

dispositional attributions

- *trying to understand people by considering their inner characteristics underlying attributes, and their personality traits* *utilizes analytic thinking *example: Dan is in a store angrily arguing with a shop clerk. Why is Dan behaving like this? ---> analytic thinkers are most likely to explain Dan's behavior by considering his internal characteristics ---> "perhaps Dan has a short temper, and his arguing is evidence of his sometimes disagreeable personality - most commonly seen in individualistic cultures (like many Western cultures)

entity theory of the world

- *we can see the world as something that is fixed and beyond our control to change* *example: you're with a group of people going out for lunch, and the group decides to order a vegan pizza, you're not a vegan, but you come to feel that the pizza is ok and you're willing to have it for lunch ---> you're desires and goals adjust themselves to what you're environment is most likely to provide *people are mutable entities working in an immutable world

learned helplessness

- *when an individual feels that they are unable to control or avoid unpleasant events, and the person will suffer from stress and potentially depression* - Humans need to have some level of controls and decision making over their lives, if they don't, then learned helplessness ensues *example: poor/working class people in the US lack choice in payment, in medical care, in housing, and overall in many important facets of life ---> creates more learned helplessness than middle class people that have access to most of all of these things

internal attribution

- *when people attribute the cause of the problem within ourselves* *example: I received a bad grade on the test because I could not understand my professor's lectures or I received a bad grade on the test because my cousin was getting married and so I wasn't able to study for the test

external attribution

- *when people attribute the cause of their actions to something outside themselves* *example: I got a bad grade on that test because the trolley was late and I couldn't get to my test on time

basking in the reflected glory

- *when we emphasize our connection to others that performed successfully and feel better about ourselves by sharing in the warm glow of the others' success* *example: research reveals that people are more likely to refer to their university's football team with the pronoun "we" than "they" if the team has recently won a game AND if the individual has just done poorly himself or herself on a test ---> ultimately, people wish to rid themselves of the bad feelings of their poor performance by aligning themselves with the more successful football team

James-Lange Theory of Emotions

- *when we experience a stimulus, our bodies react to that stimulus (fast heart rate, faster breathing, increased blood flow, et cetera), and in reaction to our physiological responses, we feel emotion* ---> example: someone going out for a hike stumbles upon a bear, the hiker's heart starts pounding, then the hiker feels fear and the runs away (*stimulus ---> body response ---> emotion*) - each individual emotional word is a description of a different bodily state - is an evolutionarily adaptive trait developed by our ancestors to survive dangerous situations *example: those ancestors that felt a fear response to a bear ran away, survived, and passed genes onto offspring; those ancestors that did not feel a fear response to a bear were eaten and did not produce offspring - *makes case for the universality of emotions in the Human experience (all Humans experience the same emotions)*

gemeinschaft and gesellschaft relations

- 19th century German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies argued that there are two means by which individuals can relate to each other in a group: 1. gemeinschaft 2. gesellschaft

American vs Chinese parenting

- Americans tend to socialize individualistic mindsets into their children and emphasize their successes to encourage future successes - Chinese parents tend to socialize collectivistic mindsets into their children and emphasize their failures to encourage future successes

Humans vs Chimps encephalization quotient

- Human encephalization quotient doubles Chimps - Chimps have considerably more muscle mass (27% more muscle mass) -Chimps have 60% more digestion tract - Humans are able to have such large brains because through evolution we started to reroute energy and mass from muscles and digestive tract so that we could have larger brains *this increase in intelligence allowed us to begin cooking our food, resulting in less chewing time and greater energy extraction from food (Humans average one hour a day chewing food, chimps average six hours a day) ---> this made our digestion tract smaller, and our brains continued to get larger

there is a SENSITIVE PERIOD for language acquisition in Humans

- Humans can understand up to 150 different phonemes *however, most languages only use 70 phonemes ---> so how do English speakers distinguish our language between the sounds/phonemes of other languages? ---> there is a critical period in young infants where they can actually discriminate among all phonemes that Humans produce, and as we are exposed to language we actually automatically begin to categorize sounds in ways that are used by the languages that we are hearing ---> this process begins VERY EARLY IN INFANT LIFE, and within the end of the first year of life this ability is lost - Humans are biologically prepared to attend to Human speech as soon as we come into the world - if the sensitive period is missed, grammar and syntax is almost impossible for even intelligent people to comprehend *unfortunate example: Genie was abused and found when she was 13 years old chained to her crib. She did develop is vast vocabulary, but could not form perfect sentences ---> example: "Think about Mama love Genie" ---> despite decades of exposure to English as her only language, Genie has not been able to attain the grammatical competence of a 4-year-old

religion and achievement motivation

- Max Weber (in early 20th century) argued that the cultural meanings associated with the Protestant Reformation allowed for the birth of capitalism in his book, "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" *proposed individualism began to form because early Protestant proposed making an individual relationship with God ---> Lutheranism founder Martin Luther proposes that each individual has a *calling* ---> the idea was that we are all God's servants in the world and that we are all each given a specific duty or job to take care of while we tend the planet. In addition, God gives each individual the unique capacities and skills needed to fulfill his or her calling, and it is incumbent upon individuals to discover their calling. The highest moral duty that individuals were believed to have was to serve God well by working hard at their calling ---> with the Protestant Reformation, work had become a moral obligation rather than something necessary for sustenance ---> this shift in attitude had an enormous impact on society *predestination also played a giant role in the development of capitalism ---> because of predestination, any sign of material success was seen as evidence that one was one of the elect chosen by God to go to Heaven - evidence cited is that predominantly Protestant countries became the most economically wealthy societies and some of the most individualistic on the planet - these ideals were "secularized" into society (meaning that descendants of Protestants that are areligious/ do not practice still have these values instilled into them) *many non-immigrant Americans take their work very seriously and bosses are annoyed when people bring up non-work related topics ---> when Protestants are working, they appear to not seem to have much interest in anything else *when Protestants feel anxiety that they are "not one of the elect" (usually via sinful thoughts), they almost always work harder at whatever it is they're doing

absolute length task

- Westerners do better at "the absolute length task" whereas as non-Western cultures tend to do better at "the relative length task" - just know that this is evidence that "mind and culture cannot be disentangled" ---> the mind is shaped by experiences, and cultures differ in the kind of experiences they provide

eating disorders

- a classification of culture-bound syndromes - most common among college students, North Americans, and women *examples: bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa

existential universal

- a cognitive tool found in all cultures that DOES NOT SERVE THE SAME FUNCTION and is ACCESSIBLE to a different degree in different cultures. *example: motivation ---> Westerners and East Asians differ in the function of their motivation (Westerners find experiences with success to be motivating, and experiences with failure to be demotivating; in contrast to East Asians that are the opposite, most find experiences with success to be demotivating, and experiences with failure to be motivating), however both cultures experience equally motivation - the cognitive tool: *variation in function across cultures *NO variation in accessibility across cultures

promotion orientation

- a concern with advancing oneself and aspiring for gains - trying to secure good things - more common in individualist cultures - Canadians persist longer after successes than failures ---> allows Canadians to view themselves more positively

co-sleeping

- a custom in which parents (or grandparents) and their children (usually infants) sleep together in the same room *can last into early primary school years - common amongst collectivist and non-European cultures

self-improvement motivation

- a desire to seek out potential weaknesses and work on correcting them ---> usually *enacted by prevention orientation*

distributing resources (morality)

- a government has money that they would like to give to the citizens, how would they go about this: 1. principle of need 2. principle of equality 3. principle of equity

plow cultivation

- a large animal is used to pull the plow over the soil *controlling the plow requires a lot of muscular strength and quick bursts of energy *men (usually having more muscle mass) tend to do this - women tend to stay away and take care of the children because this type of work requires a lot of concentration, it cannot be stopped and resumed very easily, and it can put nearby children at risk - *centuries of this practice formed cultures where women are valued more in sexist, traditional roles*

encephalization quotient

- a measure of brain size relative to body mass, ours is scaled at 4.6 ---> this means Human brains are 4-5 times larger than other mammals our body size - us Humans have the largest encephalization quotient of almost any mammal - our big brains allow us to have the high-fidelity cultural learning and sophisticated language skills that are unique to us Humans - this requires a lot of energy---> most of the energy we get from food (16% of it) goes to our Brains

incest avoidance (underlying value of all cultures)

- a moral principle that post-pubescent family members of the opposite sex should not sleep in the same room together - is a culturally universal moral (all Human cultures follow this norm) - incest destroys family relations and produces offspring with serious genetic defects

dictator game

- a mutually anonymous behavioral economics game in which one person ("the dictator") unilaterally determines how to split an amount of money with the second player *example: a coin is flipped, the winner gets $100 --> the winner ("the dictator") gets to choose how much money they give to the loser (the most fair option would be to give the loser $50) - findings: *two variables predicted societies which made larger (i.e. more fair) offers: i. market integration ---> the more experience people had in dealing with markets, the stronger their motivations for fairness ii. participation in a popular world religion (i.e. Islam/Christianity) ---> larger societies tend to have religions that offer moral guidance (whereas tribal religions do not) --> participating in these religions is associated with people playing an anonymous game more fairly, or perhaps because of a belief that their behavior is not anonymous in the eyes of their creator

sensitive period

- a period of time in an organism's development that allows for the relatively easy acquisition of a particular set of skills - if an organism misses that chance to acquire those skills, it would have a difficult time doing so later, after the sensitive period has expired - some organisms specialize shortly after birth, such as gosling imprinting on the first caretakers they encounter and following them as if they were their mothers - other organisms, such as humans, can continue to specialize throughout their lives in some domains, as your ability to learn cultural psychology demonstrates

reference group effects (a challenge with using surveys when conducting cross-cultural survey research)

- a tendency for people to evaluate themselves by comparing themselves with others from their own culture *example: a person that 5'8 ---> when asked to rate themself on a scale of 1-7 for statement "I am tall", you would likely get different results from different countries ---> in Japan that person would likely mark themselves down as a 5 or 6 ---> in Canada that person would likely mark themselves down as a 2 or 3 ---> in the Netherlands (tallest people on the planet) that person would likely mark themselves down as a 1 *reference group effects are a problem because simple statements like "I am tall" can take on completely different meanings across cultures ---> this occurs because people in different cultures use different standards to answer the same questions - this occurs because we compare ourselves to others around us (example: a stupid person might see themselves as the most intelligent person in the world if all they are is surrounded by even stupider people --> like the movie Idiocracy)

deprivation effects (a challenge with using surveys when conducting cross-cultural survey research)

- a tendency for people to value something more when it is lacking in their culture *example: British people (that have a universal health-care service where everyone is covered free at the point of service) value health-care less than Americans (whom almost 100 million are uninsured or underinsured, and lack any kind of universal health-care service) - deprivation effects pose a serious challenge to the investigation of values between cultures (with each culture having different response biases and reference groups), therefore self-report surveys should only be used in determining values within cultures (that share the same response biases and reference groups)

major depressive disorder (MDD)

- a type of depression - to be diagnosed, a person much show evidence of at least five of the following nine symptoms, including at least one of the first two, fr two weeks or more: i. depressed mood ii. adhedonia (an inability to feel pleasure) iii. change in weight and/or appetite iv. sleep problems v. psychomotor change vi. fatigue or loss of energy vii. feelings of worthlessness and/or guilt viii. poor concentration and/or indecisiveness viiii. suicidality - lifetime prevalence rates (meaning that a person has been diagnosed with MDD at least once in their life) range from 4.9% to 17.1% of the population in the US - as many as 44% of Americans are depressed at a given time (according to less stringent criteria) *depression rates are far less in other cultures, particularly in China, depression rates are 1/5th of US depression rates *depression rates are far higher in other cultures, particularly in Nigeria, they are 4 times higher than in the US - not all cultures manifest the same types of depressive symptoms *example: depressed European Americans often have a depression that shows a "flattening affect" (meaning that they hardly respond to emotion-eliciting stimuli); however, depressed Asian Americans show exaggerated emotional responses to the same stimuli - there appear to be reliable cultural differences in the extent to which people emphasize psychological (psychologization) versus physiological (somatization) symptoms of depression

individualism

- a variety of practices, institutions, and customs that encourage individuals to place their own personal goals ahead of the collective and to consider how they are distinct from others *examples common in individualistic cultures include: tracking of children at school, college-age children being encouraged to move out of their parents' homes, workers being given unequal or meritocratic pay at the office, employees being given individual offices/cubicles, people choosing to put their elderly into retirement homes

secularization theory

- a view that religion is on the decline, and that people around the world are turning to secular and rational ways of understanding their lives - is not entirely true because more people are becoming religious, not less

cultural priming

- activation of cultural ideas within participants by making certain ideas more accessible to participants *example: American and Chinese participants are asked to think either how they are different from others (an independence prime) or how they were similar to their family and friends (an interdependence prime) ---> then participants were asked to describe themselves in an open-ended survey ---> results: when Chinese participants (a collectivist culture) encountered the independence prime, their self-descriptions became similar to how Americans would describe themselves; when Americans (an individualist culture) encountered the interdependence prime, their self-descriptions became similar to how the Chinese would describe themselves - when cultural ideas are activated that are more common in another culture, people start thinking in ways that are more similiar to the thinking of people from tat culture

cumulative cultural evolution (called "the ratchet effect")

- after an initial idea is learned from others, it can be modified and improved upon by other individuals ---> over time this information grows in complexity and utility *example: the evolution of cars over the last hundreds of years, over time they keep getting safer, they've gotten much faster, and more fuel-efficient - effective modes of social transmission are needed to create the ratchet effect *ours would be language - only Humans have effectively shown the ability for significant cumulative cultural evolution - is becoming more and more efficient in Humans as our population grows, and as globalization intensifies ---> the larger the group of people, and the more those people are in contact, the better cultural information can be maintained and improved upon - can also be reversed when a smaller part goes into isolation from the larger group *example: Tasmanians (living on Tasmania -an island off the coast of the Australia mainland) that crossed the Bass Strait land bridge before it closed thousands of years ago were found to have had worse technology then when colonized by the British in the 18th century

two olympians win gold medals, one is american, the other is japanese; their responses reflect:

- americans tend to focus on: on how their performance reflected their own personal characteristics - japanese tend to focus on: on how their performance was guided on the expectations of others - ultimately, culture shapes a number of key aspects on the self-concept (how one views themselves)

bulimia nervosa

- an eating disorder - characterized by *binge-eating and induced vomiting* in order to keep weight low - prevalence rates among female university students have reached anywhere from 5 to as high as 19%! - in order to be be diagnosed with this, one must experience recurring episodes of binge eating (in which one eats an unusually large amount within a 2-hour period while feeling a lack of control over this eating), along with recurrent inappropriate behaviors to prevent weight gain (e.g., self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, excessive exercise), which happens at least twice a week for three months; must have one's self-evaluation be unduly influenced by one's body weight; and must not be concurrently diagnosed with anorexia nervosa - is *a culture-bound syndrome* ---> this disorder is becoming more prevalent in Western society as cultures change to encourage strict beauty standards in their populations ---> *appears to almost exclusively exist within Western cultures*

anorexia nervosa

- an eating disorder - in order to be diagnosed with this, one *must refuse to maintain normal body weight*, be diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, be intensely fearful of gaining weight or becoming fat, deny the seriousness of one's low body weight, and, for postmenarcheal females, miss three consecutive menstrual cycles - *is a culture-bound syndrome* ---> *this disorder is becoming more prevalent in Western society as cultures change to encourage strict beauty standards in their populations* ---> *appears to be seen to some extent in all cultures*, but is manifested differently depending on the culture, and appears to be very prevalent in Western cultures more than others --> example: wanting weight loss so *one doesn't eat*, other cultures may consider not eating to be holy (to be spiritually ascetic)

public goods game

- an economic game in which a group of people have the option to contribute some of their money to a common pool, after which the experimenter multiplies the money in the pool and then redistributes it to all the members of the group; if a player chooses not to contribute their money then they can leave having more money than those that did (called "getting a free-ride")---> the best collective outcome is for everyone to cooperate and put in all of their money *players usually took the free ride, unless *altruistic punishment* occurred (those that didn't cooperate were punished by getting their money taken away from them until they cooperated fully) *the message taken here is that Humans feeling motivated to punish those that refused to cooperate ensured that group members didn't get a free-ride, which allowed Humans to develop norms for cooperation, and for large societies to flourish - in societies lacking norms for civic cooperation and high levels of public trust, *antisocial punishment* occurred (that is, sometimes people would pay their own money to punish another player, even if that player was cooperating) *the motivations for antisocial punishment seemed to be largely a function of revenge, in which people would punish a player who had punished them on a previous round ---> to some extent is common in many cultures

Muller-Lyer Illusion

- an illusion of line length that is distorted by inward-turning or outward-turning corners on the ends of the lines, causing lines of equal length to appear to be different - different cultures see the line length as different, examples: * noncarpenter/miner cultures tend to see left side as larger than right, falling for the illusion *carpenter/miner cultures tend to see both sides as equal in length, noticing that the right side is simply farther away than the left side

reasoning styles

- analytic and holistic thinkers might go about solving their problems in quite different ways: 1. rule-based reasoning 2. associative reasoning

who performs better on Math tests? Americans or East Asians?

- answer = East Asians *why? their cultures value it more and teach it more in class with real-world examples, but also: 1. East Asians parents are almost twice as likely than American parents to give their kids a desk -----> this signifies to the children that education is important 2. this importance placed on education from a young age from East Asian parents socializes East Asian children to value education like their parents and society do 3. East Asian parents set higher standards on their children's test scores than American parents do ---> makes East Asian children work harder in academic settings 4. East Asian languages have far fewer range of vocabularies in math (example: one-ten, two-ten, three-ten versus American eleven, twelve, thirteen, et cetera) 5. East Asians adopted the metric system which is wayyyyyy simpler than American system

Culture

- any kind of information that is acquired from other members of one's species through social learning that is capable of affecting an individual's behaviors *examples: beliefs, technologies, habits, practices - a particular group of individuals who are existing within some kind of shared context, are exposed to many similar cultural messages, and contain a broad range of individuals who are affected by those cultural messages in divergent ways *example: most Americans live under the same cultural institutions, engage in similar cultural practices, see the same advertisements, follow the same norms, and have conversations together on similar topics - Humans are a cultural species

adherents who are orthodox

- are committed to the idea of a transcendent authority *this authority is viewed to have existed long before humans and as operating independently of people ---> this authority is viewed to be more powerful than all of human experience *the authority originated in a moral code and revealed it to Humans in sacred texts ---> this moral code is perceived to stand across all times and circumstances and should not be altered to accommodate any societal changes or individual differences *individuals and society are expected to adapt themselves to this ordained moral code - relates more with ethic of divinity

close relationships

- are essential to Human functioning - people are reportedly the most happy when they are in the presence of others - is a cultural universal

individualistic cultures

- are more likely to elaborate on independent aspects of themselves - they come to feel distinct from others - emphasize the importance of being self-sufficient - examples: a culture where children are typically provided with their own bedrooms, where college student earn their own money from summer jobs to help pay for their entertainment and college tuition, where employees are paid on the basis of how much profit they help the company earn, or where the elderly use their own savings to pay the costs of moving into retirement homes - primarily the US, other English speaking countries, and Western Europe have individualist mindsets - individualism tends to vary as a function of social class *the less wealthy a person is, the less individualist they tend to be ---> therefore if working-class people are put into a setting that emphasizes individualism, they do worse than middle-class/wealthy people

high relational mobility

- are usually *common in more individualist cultures* - their relational ties are flexible enough and opportunities for new relationships are available enough, that they feel they can find new relationships and not feel overly bound by their old relationships *if one particular relationship is found to be insufficiently rewarding to devote appropriate relationship-maintenance efforts, it might be neglected and allowed to wither away, and the person might move on to form new relationsh"ips with others that can prove to be more rewarding *prime example: college students ---> such students have typically moved away from home (and are thus not as bound by their past relationships), and they are living among many others (several thousand in the case at large universities) whom they meet in a variety of contexts, such as shared classes, shared student clubs, shared parties, and other shared interests. In such contexts, opportunities to form potential new relationships are abundant, and people often work to make themselves more attractive in case any new relationship opportunities arise - these people will strive to be unique so that they can find more like-minded others (is why the mere-exposure effect is more prevalent in these cultures) - people affected by the "halo effect" (attractive people are more liked) tend to be happier in these societies

low relational mobility

- are usually *more common in more collectivist cultures* - involves more unconditional and lasting attitudes towards relationships *these people perceive that they have few opportunities to form new relationships; and their past relationships, their commitments and obligations to those relationships continue to guide them. Relationships are viewed as stable, often lifelong connections (obligations) that provide both benefits to the individuals involved and costs in order to maintain them - the interdependent self is primarily defined on the basis of one's close relationships ---> in-group relationships are not seen as chosen, but are rather seen as existing by default. One is born into a family within a network of relatives, and these relationships are not up to negotiation. They simply exist, whether one likes them or not - low-relational mobility contexts are not always positive---> some people really do not get along with each-other, but it is not an option to decide that they will not longer engage with that person, they will continue to have a relationship, albeit one that is frequently characterized by negative feelings - Western example: holiday family dinners *you hate going to them because you get into fights over politics at thanksgiving dinner, but you still see them every year because they are family - people affected by the "halo effect" (attractive people are more liked) tend to be less happier or no significant effect is found at all in these societies

moral obligations

- are viewed as: i. objective obligations *people believe that they have an obligation to act in a certain way, even if their is not rule or law that requires them to do so *if an obligation exists only when a law is present, then the obligation is perceived as a matter of convention and not an objective obligation ii. legitimately regulated *people should be prevented from engaging in a moral violation, or they should be punished if they act in such a way *if people feel that someone should not be prevented from engaging in an act, they are viewing the act as a matter of personal choice and not a moral obligation - examples: 1. most Westerners would view pickpocketing as a violation of a moral obligation because stealing from another is perceived as wrong, regardless of what rules or laws exist, and would hold that pickpockets should be presented from stealing 2. in contrast, most Westerners would view failing to attend a friend's graduation ceremony as a matter of personal choice rather than as a violation of a moral obligation. Westerners might expect people to attend their friend's ceremonies, but they generally don't believe that people should be punished for choosing not to attend 3. most Westerners would view a 17-year-old who bought a beer from a bar as committing a conventional violation, not a moral one, as they could imagine that in some cultural contexts this action would not be breaking the law ---> violations are considered to be moral ones only if they are objective obligations that can be legitimately regulated

reference group effects can be avoided by

- avoiding subjective measures that might have different standards in groups being compared *example: a statement such as "I am helpful" can be interpreted quite differently depending on the culture's standards for what kinds of behaviors are perceived to be helpful. In contrast, a statement such as "If a friend of mine needed help with his studies, I would be willing to cancel my own plans to spend the evening helping him" is more concrete in describing the situation in terms of what kind of help is needed and what kinds of sacrifices are made ---> ultimately, THE MORE CONCRETE THE SCENARIO THE LESS LIKELY IT IS THAT PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES WOULD INTERPRET THE MEANING DIFFERENTLY *these survey questions can be too specific, make sure to include several items that indicate helping behaviors to produce the most accurate data - can also avoid by skipping surveys altogether and instead using: i. behavioral measures *example: watching how people react to certain events in real-time ii. physiological measure *recording the phsuological responses of people in real time ---> however, both strategies can be very expensive and time consuming

ethnocentrism and determining cultural variability

- avoiding the ethnocentric perspective is extremely difficult because people are socialized to think in ways consistent with their cultural values and to evaluate practices in terms of how well they fit with a culture's view of what is good or bad (called *ethnocentrism bias*) - ethnocentrism bias is an enormous challenge to consider standards for psychological phenomena that would be universally valid, rather than those favored within one's own culture *example: if asked "which cultures provide the highest quality of life?", wouldn't most people in every culture say it is their culture that provides the best quality of life?

multicultural people are probably more creative

- being exposed to more than one culture can expose one to more than one way of thinking, to additional perspectives ---> can lead to more creative (and unique) ways of thinking *example: American director Ang Lee (lived in Taiwan until 21) has had many hit moves like The Life of Pi, Brokeback Mountain, and Sense and Sensibility - being exposed to more than one culture fosters integrative complexity

language acquisition

- best done during the sensitive period - early in life, after the sensitive period and before puberty our brains are still pretty liable for organizing themselves in response to language output - after puberty, however our brains are not as flexible ---> capacity to effectively learn new languages declines with age

proximal causes

- causes that have direct and IMMEDIATE relations with their effects *example: 168 Spaniards were able to conquer the vast Incan Empire fielding around 80,000 soldiers ---> what caused this> ---> the Spaniards had an experienced political organization that drew on the experiences of thousands of years of written history, advanced ocean-going ships, steel swords, steel armor, guns, and horses (which are very agile); all of which easily bested the Incan foot soldiers that used stone clubs, slingshots, and quilt armor while facing a deadly smallpox epidemic that would kill millions ---> these proximal advantages are what allowed 168 Spaniards to conquer the Incan empire

adolescence

- characterized as a chaotic period of "storm and stress" when teens act out against authority figures, commit acts of delinquency and criminal behavior, suffer from a great deal of emotional stress. and are at risk for substance abuse and suicide - is an existential universal concept - the more individualistic and modern (urban/cities) the society is, the more chaos adolescence is associated with ---> in less modern societies, people are more collectivistic and tend to do what their parents did (example: if your family has farmed for generations, you probably would as well) ---> but in more modern societies that are also individualist, people have more choices to decide how they'd like to spend their lives. This can be extremely stressful, and this causes all sorts of psychological problems for adolescents in Western cultures

the terrible twos

- characterized by terrible temper tantrums *is important because the terrible twos are seen to serve an important function in the young child's socialization to be a mature, verbally assertive individual - the more individualist the culture is, the worse the terrible twos are *in more interdependent cultures, such signs of noncompliance (like temper tantrums) are often replaced by efforts to fit in and belong

shifting cultivation

- characterized by the Earth being dug up with a tool similar to a contemporary garden hoe *entails planting and weeding with the children nearby - women do most of the agricultural work

culture wars

- clashes within mainstream society over the values and norms that should be upheld *examples: abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, euthanasia rights - the battle lines that define these culture wars on drawn between those that have: 1. an impulse towards orthodoxy 2. an impulse towards progressivism

differences between infant-parent relationship between cultures

- collectivist cultures (Costa Rican, Gujarati, Cameroonian) held their babies far more than individualist cultures *the more attention given to babies by their mothers, the faster babies recognize that they exist as distinct entities from everything around them *infants sleep with their parents in the same space as their parents (the same bed or room) ---> called "co-sleeping" - individualist cultures (German, Greek) had face-to-face time far more than collectivist cultures *infants sleep in their own space (a different room from the parents)

conformity and culture

- collectivistic cultures are more willing to conform than individualistic cultures, especially when collectivistic cultures are conforming to their in-groups - when picking pens, people from individualist cultures tend to pick the rarest option (if 4 blue pens, and one red pen, the individualist person will pick the red), whereas people from collectivistic cultures will tend to pick the most common pen (if 4 blue pens, and one red pen, the collectivistic person will pick the blue) *individualistic cultures value uniqueness more than collectivistic cultures ---> collectivistic cultures value conformity more than individualistic cultures ---> the more lower class an individual is, the more collectivistic they are ---> example: lower class Americans (while more individualistic than East Asians) are more collectivistic than middle class Americans ---> however, collectivistic cultures are less conforming to outgroups, and sometimes even downright anti-conformist to outgroups

collectivism

- contrasted to individualistic cultures - a variety of practices, institutions, and customs that encourage individuals to place relatively more emphasis on collective goals -specifically the goals of one's ingroups- *examples common in collectivistic cultures include: children sleeping with their parents, classes of school-children being promoted together to the next grade regardless of the performance of some individual children, marriages being arranged by parents, companies compensating their employees on the basis of how long they've been unemployed, and extended families living under the same house

natural selection shares parallels with cultural evolution

- cultural evolution is basically natural selection but with ideas * example: manners ---> what is considered polite changes every century ---> when a new idea of what is polite become popular enough, the old idea starts to die out ---> the new idea then takes it's place and is now what is considered to be polite - some differences: i. natural selection copies genes (with few and rare mutations) that can not really be changed; whereas culture is almost never perfectly copied and always is being changed ii. natural selection passes genes vertically from parents to offspring with genetic variants changing slowly over time; whereas cultural evolution passes ideas horizontally from one person to anybody else almost instantly (like with the Internet) iii. natural selection is by nature adaptive (trying to increase chances of offspring survival); whereas cultural evolution isn't always so ---> examples: NAZIs starting WW2 which ended up killing millions, China's cultural revolution which ended up killing millions, Capitalisms many failings which continues to kill

evoked culture

- culture evoked from the surrounding geography - all people, regardless of where they come from, have certain biologically encoded behavioral repertoires that are potentially accessible to them ---> these repertories are engaged when the appropriate situational conditions are present *examples: all people get aggressive when their children are threatened; everyone prefers attractive mates (physical beauty, intelligence, kindness, sense of humor); both situations are important in ensuring the survival of the parents genes via their offspring * another example: the more parasite infections prevalent in the cultures geographical area, physical attractiveness is more important (because physically attractive people are very likely healthy and are likely not infected by parasites) ---> this is a universal characteristic to Humans (accessibility universal)

the Sambia

- culture from Papua New Guinea - an ex warrior culture that sees the world as feminine - they attempt to "cleanse" their boys of their femininity so that they can grow into men *they do this by extremely painful rituals such as extremely invasive nose piercings and beating the boys in their tribe senseless with sticks ---> they believe this gives their boys a sense of power called "jerungdu" (or the "supreme essence of maleness") *the ultimate way to achieve jerungdu however, is to have all of the boys from the age of 7 until marriage (usually at 17) to give oral sex (fellatio) to men in order to absorb their semen and gain jerungdu - known for their "ritualized homosexuality" *the nearby tribes of the Etoro and the Kaluli partake in similar rituals (except the Kaluli receive semen not orally, but anally) ----> interestingly the Etoro and Kaluli view each other's rituals as abhorrent and disgusting, but their own as "normal" - compared to Western society: *Westerners view their sexuality as lifestyles (homosexuality, bisexuality, or heterosexuality) *Sambians view their male's sexuality as phases/stages of life (homosexuality before marriage, bisexuality until fatherhood, heterosexuality after fatherhood and until death) *cultural psychologists have concluded that sexual motives are biological, but sexual orientation is shaped by specific cultural beliefs and practices

cultural innovations build on previous structures

- cultures do not start from scratch, they are adapted upon from past cultures examples: *21st century US came from 20th century US, and 20th century US came from 19th century US, and so on *areas of Germany that had a history of Jewish pogroms 5 centuries earlier had more support for the NAZIs then areas that did not have a history of Jewish pogroms 5 centuries earlier

culture and mind make each other up

- cultures emerge from the interactions of the various minds of the people that live within them, and cultures then, in turn, shape the ways that those minds operate - because cultures often do differ in dramatic ways in terms of their practices, institutions, symbols, artifacts, beliefs, and values, the ways that people think, act, and feel should also vary in important ways - considering all of this, cultural psychologists thus expect to find significant differences in the psychological processes among people from various cultures

ethic of divinity

- developed by Shrewder and colleagues (1997) - concerned with sanctity and the perceived "natural order" of things *immoral behavior is framed in terms of sinning against the sacredness of a deity - one is obligated to preserve the standards mandated by a transcendent authority *involves a belief that God (or gods, or whatever the creator singular or plural) has created a sacred world, and everyone's obligation is to respect or preserve the sanctity of this world *actions are seen as immoral if they cause impurity or degradation to oneself or others, or if one show's any disrespect to the creator(s) and/or their creations ---> example: caricaturing the prophet Muhammad is a blatant violation of ethics for many Muslims ---> more extreme example: necrophilia --> this example was in the book; a man goes to a store, buys a dead chicken, takes it home, has sexual intercourse with it, cooks it and then eats it - very important for most of the world's cultures - the more lower socioeconomic status a people are (including Western cultures), the more likely they are to value this ethic *these people tend to base there moral decisions on how bothered they were *these people often come up with moral justifications to rationalize the strong emotions they have when witnessing undesirable behaviors

ethic of community

- developed by Shrewder and colleagues (1997) - emphasizes that individuals have duties that conform with their roles in a community or social hierarchy *there is an ethical principle to uphold one's interpersonal duties and obligations to others *actions are seen as wrong when individuals fail to perform their duties ---> example: an immoral action would be a son's failure to attend his parents' wedding anniversary celebration because he doesn't feel like it - immoral behaviors are perceived as those that involve a failure to live up to the duties and obligations associated with one's roles - very important for most of the world's cultures - seems to be more important for women than for men; =seems to be more important for collectivist cultures

ethic of autonomy

- developed by Shrewder and colleagues (1997) - views morality in terms of individual freedom and rights violations *emphasizes personal choice, the right to engage in free contracts, and individual liberty *an act is seen as immoral under the ethic of autonomy when it directly hurts another person or infringes on another's rights and freedoms as an individual ---> example: an immoral action would be to steal somebody's lunch money, because it causes harm to that person - the ethic of autonomy appears to be critical importance in all cultures - Kohlberg's stages of moral development are seen as an ethic of autonomy - most important ethic to Westerners, and higher SES

Two Factor Theory of Emotions

- developed by Walter Cannon - *when an emotion is felt, physiological arousal occurs and the person uses the immediate environment to search for emotional cues to label the physiological arousal* ---> example: two groups are injected with epinephrine (adrenaline), and told that the shot wouldn't do anything. One group is then confronted with a weak happy stimulus, the other with a weak angry stimulus. Whereas other groups did not react to the weak stimuli, these two groups injected with epinephrine did. The two groups did not know why they felt so much emotion, and so they attributed it to the stimuli in front of them, and so the group confronted with the happy stimuli became happy, and the other group confronted with the angry stimuli became angry (*body response ---> finds stimulus ---> emotion*) - *makes case for the variability of emotions in the Human experience (people interpret their physiological signals differently across cultures)*

Russian cultural-historical school

- developed by developmental psychologists Lev Vygotsky, Alexander Luria, and Aleksei Leontiev in the Soviet Union - school of thought that argued people interact with their environments through human made ideas (or what they called "tools") that have been passed to them down across history ---> is called CULTURAL LEARNING *examples: cultural inventions like the wheel, agriculture, or democracy - according to this view, all of human thought is sustained and expressed through accumulated human-made ideas as they are practiced in day to day activities - HUGE BREAKTHROUGH in the field of cultural psychology

authoritarian parenting

- high demands on children - strict rules - little open dialogue between parent and child *if child protests, low levels of warmth or responsiveness is provided by the parent - extremely common in non-European cultures (Asia, Middle East, Latin America, et cetera) - considered to "training" and increases family cohesion and success in non-European cultures, but is viewed as a toxic form of parenting in Western cultures - children universally hate this parenting style

between-groups manipulation

- different groups of participants receive different levels of the independent variable - dependent variables are called "conditions" ---> there are multiple different conditions - requires random assignment (each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to a random condition) - any differences in the responses or behaviors of participants that are observed must be caused by the independent variable - example: let's imagine we're interested in exploring whether people are more persuaded by fast-talking salespeople or by slow-talking salespeople. In this case, each participant would be randomly assigned to listen to either a fast-talking salesperson or a slow-talking one, and we would measure their persuasion and compare these across conditions

What is a psychological disorder?

- disorders are usually defined as behaviors that are extremely rare and cause some kind of impairment in the individual, although there are many exceptions to this general pattern *example: alcohol abuse is considered a disorder, but it might not seem like one if you attended a frat party - behaviors can be considered problematic in one culture, but not in others *example: dhat syndrome

ritualized displays

- display rules that are unique to cultures * apply to facial expressions as well ---> can create different facial expressions across cultures that represent the same emotion ---> examples of ritualized displayed emotional expressions of Americans/Indians when embarrassed: i. Americans: will look away, smile awkwardly ii. Indians: will bite their tongues

what cultures should we study?

- do not pick random cultures to study ---> PICK CULTURES THAT CORRELATE WITH YOUR RESEARCH ONLY *example: when testing to see if theory of mind is accessibility universal, it is best to pick two different cultures (in this case Western culture and the hunter-gatherer Baku culture) and compare them ---> found that theory of mind is indeed accessibility universal in case anybody was wondering

within-groups manipulation

- each participant receives more than one level of the independent variable - no random assignment (because all participants receive more than once level of the independent variable) - each participant is assigned to all conditions - example: (taking from the same fast-talking/slow-talking salespeople example) ---> with within-groups manipulation we would have one group of participants hear the fast-talking salesperson before the slow-talking one ---> all participants are exposed to all conditions

education as a form of socialization

- education doesn't just teach us facts, it shapes how we think about the world - people lacking education tend to have troubles reasoning beyond the practical and into the abstract * example: consider this syllogism---> in the far north all bears are white Novaya Zemyla is in the far north what color are the bears in Novaya Zemyla ---. uneducated peasants from Uzbekistan would typically answer something like, "You should ask the people that have been there and seen them." - education leads to improved contextual memory, spatial memory, serial memory, visual analysis, and sequential analysis ---> TL;DR schooling leads children to process information in a more efficient manner

adherents who are progressive

- emphasize the importance of human agency in understanding and formulating a moral code - reject the view that a transcendent authority reveals itself and its will to humans, and/or they believe that Humans play an integral role in the formulation of the moral code - believe that because the social circumstances change, the moral code must change along with them - relates more with ethic of autonomy (stressing individual rights) and ethic of community (stressing obligations towards others) - can be religious people too

culture shapes the many norms that govern our behavior

- example: distance ---> within a culture there is usually and implicitly understood "appropriate" conversation distance that people unconsciously adopt. If someone starts off a conversation from either too great or too small a distance, people will usually adjust where they are standing until they have reestablished the appropriate distance. These appropriate distances vary across cultures ---> for example, in Venezuela the typical conversation distance is 32 inches, in the US it is 35 inches, in Japan it is 40 inches ---> compared with Americans, Venezuelans prefer closer conversational distance, and Japanese prefer wider conversational distances ---> why? ---> SOCIALIZATION ---> the people in these cultures (from their early experiences with their environments) lead Venezuelans to prefer closer interpersonal distances, Japanese to prefer greater interpersonal distances, and Americans to prefer intermediate interpersonal distances - ultimately, from this example, we can come to two conclusions: i. universal predispositions become shaped in culturally specific ways ii. people's experiences, particularly when they are infants and children, come to influence the ways they think

how do people maintain a positive self-esteem?

- example: if you get a bad grade in a class, what are some ways a person might figure out to redeem a positive self-view of themselves? 1. downward social comparison 2. compensatory self-enhancement 3. discounting 4. external attribution 5. internal attribution 6. basking in the reflected glory - in sum, with all of these mental tools that are constantly being used, it is no wonder as to why more individualist cultures are able to maintain such a positive view of themselves *collectivist cultures utilize these cognitive tools as well, but to a lesser extent than individualist cultures, and East Asian cultures use these to a far lesser extent

manners

- example: like taking your shoes off before walking into someone's house - they differ across cultures because people are socialized to different sets of norms and customs - they are subject to change over time *examples: spitting (how much and when), where to place your fork (left or right side), whether it is ok to blow your nose into a handkerchief/ tissue, et cetera ---> behaviors considered polite a few centuries ago would not necessarily be considered appropriate today ---> the changing of manners is indicative that CULTURAL NORMS CHANGE OVER TIME---> proof of cultural variation

culture can change brain anatomy

- example: veteran New York cab drivers have spent years learning the fastest ways to get to their destinations---> they have created detailed mental maps to help them in their endeavors *the result is the posterior (back) part of their Hippocampus in their brain has actually grown larger than your average person that isn't a veteran cab driver *this is direct evidence that brain anatomy changes in response to our experiences ---> and how culture itself can change brain anatomy

despite cultural fluidity, cultures have an enduring tendency to persist over time

- examples: *Swedish people score highest on subjective well-being tests ("are you happy" test) ---> Americans of Swedish descent are the highest scorers among Americans immigrants on subjective well-being tests ---> this is evidence that despite cultural fluidity, cultures have an enduring tendency to persist over time *both Americans and Japanese play baseball, however both cultures play it very differently ---> Americans will practice for a couple hours a day and will focus more on individual success; Japanese will practice for 7 hours a day, run 10 miles after practice, and sacrifice team players via far more sacrificial bunts ---> both cultures play baseball with the same rules, however both cultures apply their own flavors and values on how to play the game

early conditions have a disproportionate influence on cultural evolution

- examples: *New York city was founded as a Dutch trading company ---> and is now arguably the trading hub center of finance in the US *Utah was founded as the Mormon homeland, and to this day the Mormons control virtually all aspects of Utah government

how ecology affects cultural variation

- examples: Hawaiians have no large animals around them, and so they developed no significant hunting traditions; whereas the !Kung of the Kalahari settled in an area surrounded by large animals, and so hunting became an important part of their day to day lives *examples: harsher environments with scarce resources tend to make cultures value masculinity more than others ---> on the South Pacific island of Truk their major source of food is found on dangerous deep-sea diving missions with high casualty rates, the people on Truk have become a warlike culture because they believe they need to be tough to survive; whereas the people living on Tahiti do not have to work hard for their food at all, and as a result the men there have adopted more androgynous gender roles and there is virtually no warfare/ feuding on Tahiti amongst the natives - ecology can affect variation through: i. proximal causes ii. distal causes

contemporary legends

- fictional stories that are told in modern societies as though they are true - most likely to spread when they evoke a shared emotional reaction among people ---> the more emotion stories elicit, the more likely people are to pass them on ---> is evidence more emotional ideas are likely to spread through culture than unemotional ones

noun bias

- first words young children learn are nouns - the preponderance of nouns relative to verbs and other relational words in young children's vocabulary - exists only in North American English ---> East Asians tend to have a verb bias....why is this? ---> when parents speak to their young children, East Asians will stress toys as a part of a social routine with actions, and the relationships between objects (example: "Here comes Daddy truck. He's saying hello to brother truck. Daddy truck loves older brother truck"); whereas Americans will stress objects as discrete and separate in such a way that they are directed to attend to only the objects themselves (example: "Look at this truck. It's a big, strong truck. It's a yellow truck. It has black wheels.")

culture and gender equality major findings

- following samplings of the Sex Role Ideology scale in 14 countries, they found that: *top 3 scorers (meaning these countries favored more equality for women): 1. Netherlands 2. Finland 3. Germany *bottom 3 scorers (meaning these countries favored less equality for women and more traditional sexist genders roles) 12. India 13. Pakistan 14. Nigeria *regardless of where the data was collected men and women tended to share fairly similar views about gender equality ---> example: women in India, Pakistan, and Nigeria are way more accepting of traditional sexist gender roles than women in the Netherlands, Finland, and Germany *in every case (except for two: Malaysia and Pakistan), males had significantly more sexist traditional views than females -likely because men tend to benefit more than women with traditional sexist gender roles- *northern hemisphere countries that practice Protestant Christianity tended to be more in favor of egalitarian gender roles, whereas southern hemisphere countries that practice Islam tended to be more in favor of sexist traditional gender roles

communal sharing

- groups members emphasize their common identity rather than their idiosyncrasies (differences) - *in communal sharing every person is treated the same; each has identical rights and privileges as every other member of that group* - *the resources groups have tend to be pooled as belonging to the larger whole that transcends each of the individual members* - is stronger in more collectivist societies than more individualist societies - example: families *people in a family (usually) do not keep explicit track of what is taken and what is contributed by each member. All typically take what they need and contribute what they can, without any record keeping. Usually, we do not expect that an older sister would deserve a larger piece of pie than a younger brother, or that the older sister would get more of a say on where the family should have their summer vacation than the younger brother does. Rather, the ideal community sharing is equality among members of the group ---> "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"

cultural variation in subjective well-being and happiness

- happiness is a universal trait that all cultures to some extent try and achieve - most cultures in the world include "good luck" in their definitions of happiness (the US doesn't but we did until 1961)

arranged marriages

- has historically been the most common form of marriage - while very common throughout the world, is becoming far less common and being replaced gradually across cultures with love marriages - the likelihood that a culture favors arranged over love marriages is not determined randomly ---> is related to the dominant family structure in a culture ---> as extended family ties become weaker in a culture, the prevalence of arranged marriages go down and love marriages (and nuclear family structures) go up - the more individualist societies become, the more love marriages become common - *arranged marriages tend to have equal or more satisfaction over time than love marriages* ---> *love marriages start out with much more satisfaction then arranged marriages, but over time arranged marriages have much more satisfaction than love marriages* - collectivist children tend to prefer arranged marriages over love marriages

symbolic coding

- having a set of signals, icons, and words that refer to something else that most members of that culture recognize - only Humans have this, no other animals have this

cultural worlds

- humans are a cultural species that exist within worlds consisting of cultural information that has accumulated over history *example: our society with our government, our market economy, the Internet, memes ---> all the things we are constantly learning and being influenced by

the five moral intuitions that guide peoples moral reasoning

- identified by Shweder - two separate moral intuitions constituted the ethic of autonomy: 1. avoid harm (liberals and conservatives value this) *these people are sensitive to behaviors that cause others harm 2. protect fairness (liberals and conservatives value this) *these people attend closely to whether resources or rights are distributed in a fair way - two separate moral intuitions constituted the ethic of community: 1. people are motivated to be loyal to their groups (valued more by conservatives) *identifying with them *making sacrifices for them *trusting them 2. respect hierarchy (valued more by conservatives) *people tend to admire their superiors and believe that subordinates need to act in accordance with the wishes of authority figures - one moral intuition constituted the ethic of divinity: 1. achieve purity (valued more by conservatives) *these people are disgusted at behaviors ruled by the carnal passions (such as gluttony) or by behaviors that suggest contamination of any kind - these five moral intuitions are perceived to be universal concerns for all Humans; however, some cultures and some people differ in terms of which of these concerns they emphasize

unpackaging cultural findings

- identifying the underlying variable(s) that give rise to the cultural difference *example: Japanese scored higher than Americans on measures of embarrassability---> Why? ---> the key to advancing our understanding would be to discover which cultural experiences are relevant ---> after doing tons of hypothesizing, a theory is brought up ---> Japanese people have a more interdependent mindset than Americans ---> studies are done showing that interdependent mindsets in both Japanese and American cultures are correlated with having more embarrassability ---> bingo! embarrassability has been successfully unpackaged, the variable causing it is the interdependent mindset - helps us to identify the psychological phenomena that influences culture

autokinetic effect

- illusion, caused by very slight movements of the eye, that a stationary point of light in a dark room is moving - just know that cultures form all sorts of microcultures---> these microcultures change the way we see reality (whether for the right of the wrong)

methodological equivalence

- in cross-cultural research, the concern with making sure participants from different cultures understand the research questions or situations in equivalent ways *creates successful research - can be a challenging endeavor ---> therefore, when conducting research, different procedures may have to be used in order to produce accurate and useable results

cultural variations in intensity of emotional experiences

- individualist cultures tend to be more emotionally expressive and feel more emotion then collectivist cultures *collectivist cultures will find strategies to suppress their anger quickly, whereas individualist cultures tend to let it build up unless they find a way to viscerally express it ---> this constant forced suppression and build up of anger among individualist cultures is another reason why they have a higher incidence of heart disease

differences between individualist and collectivist cultures in success and self-esteem motivation

- individualist cultures tend to remember their successes more (because they think about them more), and collectivistic cultures tend to remember their failures more (because they think about them more) - after experiencing failure, collectivist cultures (in this case, Asian Canadians) were three times more likely to seek upward social comparison targets than downward ones, whereas more individualist cultures (in this case, European Americans) sought about as many upward and downward comparison targets - after failing a task, individualist cultures (in this case, North Americans) tend to discount the importance of the task, whereas more collectivist cultures (in this case, the Japanese) tend to view the task as even more important - North Americans tend to make more external attributions for their failures, and Japanese people tend to make more external attributions for their successes - Americans are more likely to bask in the reflected glory of their sports teams, Japanese sports teams are more likely to be more critical of their sports teams than the opposition - ultimately, East Asians do not have as strong of a desire as Westerners to view themselves positively - East Asian parents tend to raise their children through discipline and telling them where they need to focus in order to improve - European American parents tend to believe that it is important to instill self-esteem in children and see it as a positive quality that must be instilled into their children

making choices

- individualistic cultures tend to value choice, and let individuals make choices *example: "What kind of job should I get?" I don't know, whatever kind of job you want *Americans see choice influencers (people that attempt to tell them what to do) as probably evil and selfish ---> only respects choices that they themselves make - collectivistic cultures tend to prefer authority figures (like parents) make the choices for people *example: "What kind of job should I get?" You'll take over the family business *Indians see choice influencers (people that attempt to tell them what to do) as possibly altruistic ---> makes choices decided by ingroup members validated and motivates the people in these cultures to respect the choice made ---> if choices are decided by outgroup members, or by themselves, there is not much motivation to respect the choice

cultural boundaries are not distinct

- individuals can be exposed to cultural ideas from distinct locations *examples: immigrant parents, experiences people have while traveling, advertisements from multicultural firms, ideas from foreign movies - many sub-cultures can exist within larger cultures * example: within American culture, there also exists Jewish culture, urban culture, LGBTQ+ culture, Gen Z culture, Leftist chad culture, right-wing incel culture, et cetera - what separates cultures? i. their members exist within a shared context ii. its members regularly communicate with each other iii. they have some norms that distinguish them from other groups - cultures change over time *cultural info can disappear over time as new habits replace the old ---> cultures are not static entities but are dynamic and forever changing - individuals inherit distinct temperaments (they are born with predispositions toward having certain personality traits, abilities, and attitudes) ---> these individual differences paired with their environment create unique experiences that lead some people to reflexively embrace certain cultural messages, staunchly react against other cultural messages, and largely ignore some other cultural messages

pluralistic ignorance

the tendency for people to collectively misinterpret the thoughts that underlie other people's behaviors

multicultural approach

- instead of pretending that ethnic differences do not exist, people that subscribe to this approach stress that we need to attend to and respect ethnic differences - the idea is that members really do identify strongly with their groups and that we should be inclusive to these minority groups rather than creating an environment where they feel as if they would need to abandon their beloved group identities in order to fit in - proven by science to be the better approach *most people (majority and minority groups) are happier with this approach *best approach in decreasing discrimination and prejudice

self-awareness

- involves two different vantage points: 1. *subjective self-awareness* *the "I" that observes and interacts with the world ---> in this state, our concerns are with the world outside of ourselves, we are largely unaware of ourselves ---> our attention is directed away from ourselves ---> example: we are an audience member directing our attention towards the stage **Individualist cultures* have more subject self-awareness, and they are more likely to not care too much about others think ---> they tend to remember their memories in first-person view (how they saw the event) *tends to view reality LESS accurately ---> example: individualistic children were able to less accurately predict how much candy they would donate than collectivistic children 2. *objective self-awareness* *the "me" that is observed and interacted with by others ---> in this state our concerns are directed specifically at ourselves, from the outside in ---> we are conscious of how we are being seen and evaluated by others **Collectivist cultures* are more likely to care about what others think, and to let those perceived opinions affect how they think about themselves ---> will be more influenced by information about themselves if they believe this information is possessed by others ---> they tend to remember their memories in third-person view (how others around them saw the event) *tends to view reality MORE accurately ---> example: collectivistic children were able to more accurately predict how much candy they would donate than individualistic children

schizophrenia

- is a universal syndrome - to receive a diagnosis, one must have two or more of the following symptoms, each present for a significant amount of time during a one moth period: a. delusions b. hallucinations c. disorganized speech d. grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior e. negative symptoms (flattening of mood and/or loss of speech) - 1% of people develop Schizophrenia *is genetic (examples: if a cousin has it then chances of you getting it raise to 2%, those with a schizophrenic sibling have a 9% chance, and those with a schizophrenic twin have a 48% chance of developing schizophrenia) - prevalence is almost identical across cultures (example: the same percentage of people in Japan, Russia, China, Lesotho, Argentina, the US, et cetera have schizophrenia) - there is SOME cultural variability in how this disorder manifests, but the symptoms are mostly the same *examples: a. paranoid schizophrenia (characterized by delusional visions) is much more common in UK than India (75% in UK; 15% in India) b. catatonic schizophrenia (characterized by near absence of motor activity and and an insensitivity to external stimuli) is more common in India than the UK (20% in India; 1-3% in the UK) *WEIRD nations experience less hallucinations - long-term health outcomes are less positive in WEIRD countries *hallucinations may be seen as religious experiences in less industrialized economies (and so their is less stigma) *less industrialized countries are less likely to abandon family members than WEIRD cultures

love

- is an extremely important from an evolutionary perspective because: i. *parental love* ---> is essential because children take lots of time and energy, without parental love, less time and energy (if any) would be spent on children ---> the offspring of the parents lacking parental love died out, and those with it survived and passed on their genes ---> is a human universal ii. *romantic love* ---> is a human universal

amok

- is found in a number of Southeast Asian cultures - *is identified as "an acute outburst of unrestrained violence , associated with (indiscriminate) homicidal attacks, preceded by a period of brooding and ending with exhaustion and amnesia* - *'running amok'* is primarily seen in males - is thought to be caused by stress, a lack of sleep, and alcohol consumption - these people shows symptoms of schizophrenia, endogenous depression, and epilepsy - *is a culture-bound syndrome*

analytic thinking

- is like the *taxonomic categorization strategy* - *characterized by a focus on objects and their attributes* *objects are perceived as existing independently from their contexts *the attributes that makeup objects are used as a basis for categorizing them *is most common in Western cultures and individualistic cultures

holistic thinking

- is like the *thematic categorization strategy* - *characterized by an orientation to the context as a whole* *represents an associative way of thinking, which gives attention to the relations among objects and the surrounding context *objects are understood in how they relate to the rest of the context, and their behavior is predicted and explained on the basis of those relationships *emphasizes knowledge gained through experience rather than the application of fixed abstract rules *most common in East Asian cultures and collectivistic cultures

ethnocentrism

- judging people from other cultures by the standards of one's own culture *example: Nazis viewed non "Aryan" cultures as inferior and barbaric

language facilitates cultural learning

- language is enormously important in conveying cultural information *through language people can question, clarify, persuade, describe, direct, and explain ---> Humans can manipulate the thoughts in other's minds - only Humans have language, some other species have features of language *examples: velvet monkeys will make verbal calls to other velvet monkeys to alert them of danger; gorillas and chimps have been taught sign language, but do not use it as us Humans do

hysteria

- sometimes referred to as the "great neurosis" - one of the most common psychological disorders that was diagnosed in the mid 19th century - *women exhibited symptoms such as fainting, insomnia, sudden paralysis, temporary blindness, loss of appetite for food and sex, and a general "tendency to cause trouble"* - no longer exists as a psychiatric disorder ---> *is possibly a culture-bound syndrome* ---> there is some controversy in that classification however because others think that hysteria dissapeared as a diagnosis because it was a reflection of changing classifications in the systems of psychiatry *two explanations as to why: i. patients with hysteria-like symptoms are being diagnosed with other disorders such as: a. somatoform disorders b. dissociation disorders c. schizophrenia ii. hysteria's prevalence in the 19th century was a response to the repressive social norms of Victorian-era Europe *the great amount of attention it received at the time led people to express their distress via symptoms they were familiar with

social transmission (also known as "cultural learning")

- learned information/behaviors that are culturally transmitted from one generation to another *examples: macaque monkeys off the coast of Japan taught each other how to clean sweet potatoes so that they taste better ---> this process started with one of the macaques named Imo eventually taught her children and many others how to cleanse sweet potatoes; chimps teaching each other how to use twigs as tools to eat more termites in Tanzania unlike Sengalese chimps who use bark to fish out termites - this definition of culture is seen not only in many primate species but also in dolphins and whales *example: bottlenose dolphins use marine sponges as foraging tools to prevent themselves from getting hurt by their environment and also to hide behind to hunt fish; and killer whales have been found speaking different dialects that change over time (like Human dialects do) - all sorts of different animals partake in social transmission *however, Humans are much more efficient in learning cultural information than other animals are

emulative learning (type of cultural learning)

- learning is focused on the environmental events/objects that are involved ---> how the use of one object could potentially affect changes in the state of the environment *example: you see someone use a rake bring some bananas to themselves ---> they are using the rake teeth straight down to scrape the banana over to them ---> you instead use the rake teeth straight up to efficiently carry the banana over to you - chimps only understand learning in this way *they tend to copy only the relevant actions while ignoring the irrelevant actions - better than imitative learning except it doesnt not allow cultural information to accumulate

gemeinschaft

- loosely translates to "community" from German - *social relations between individuals, based on close personal and family ties* - relationships bind people together --> these relationships are viewed as real, organic, and ends in themselves *relationships are not thought of in instrumental terms, they are not often evaluated or negotiated - these relationships are central to an individual's identity, and they reflect an understanding of the self that is consistent with an *interdependent* self *these relationships are seen as full moral obligations - the interpersonal obligations that bind individuals together are not objective or impartial enough to be governed by a system of justice and contracts *example: the nuclear family

gender and essentialism

- male gender identity is more essentialized than female gender identity *example: most Americans do not seem to find it disturbing or unusual for women to present themselves like men (such as wearing pants, getting their hair cut short, and wearing less facial makeup) or to participate in stereotypically male behaviors (such as girls playing with a truck, girl playing ice hockey, et cetera) ---> this suggests that Americans do not essentialize female gender identity to a great degree. In contrast, many American do find it disturbing or unusual for men to present themselves as women (such as wearing dresses, high-heeled shoes, and lipstick) or to participate in stereotypically female behaviors (such as boys playing with dolls/ taking ballet lessons) ---> this suggests that Americans view male identity to be LESS changeable and thus MORE essentialized - in general, the gender that is associated with more power in a culture is the one that is more likely to be essentialized

sacred couple

- married couples should be given their own space for emotional intimacy and sexual privacy - is common in Western cultures, much more rare in collectivist cultures

EEG (electroencephalogram)

- measures brain activity at certain electrodes placed along the scalp - measures the electrical patterns that follow the presentation of specific events ---> identifies temporal patterns of activation to those events, and measures the divergences of people's reactions to those events across cultures - advantage: provides the most accurate assessment of the time course of brain activity when affected by the cognitive task

negative consequences of acculturation

- migrants may adopt the negative aspects of the host culture they move to *the longer the migrant is in the host country, the more they acculturate, the more likely they become to adopt some negative consequences of being a part of the host culture ---> example: 22% of native-born US Americans are obese; 8% of Mexican migrants that move to the US and live their for one year are obese, after 15 years 19% of Mexican migrants living in the US were obese

collectivistic cultures

- more likely to attend to interdependent aspects of their self-concepts, such as their close relationships and group-memberships *examples: children typically co-sleep with their parents, education is primarily a matter decided on by families, and where marriages are arranged by parents - most of the planet's nations have collectivistic mindsets

simpatico

- most *common in Latin American cultures* - *when people place an emphasis on maintaining harmonious relationships, and on making expressive displays of graciousness, hospitality, and personal harmony* ---> characterized in personality traits described as easygoing, respectful, courteous, and agreeable ---> attempts are made to maximize positive social behaviors, and minimize negative social behaviors - Latin Americans are rated as the best people to interact with because of simpatico

koro

- most prevalent in South and East Asia (particularly in Southern China) - in Malay, translates to "head of a turtle" - *is most common among men, in whom it manifests as a morbid fear that one's penis is shrinking into one's body* *this event is believed to have harmful consequences, including death, and causes tremendous anxiety and terror among those afflicted *it is far less common among women in whom it tends to manifest as a similar fear that one's nipples are shrinking into one's body - *is a culture-bound syndrome*

the preconventional level

- stage 01 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development - individuals understand the cultural labels of what is "good" and "bad" but interpret these labels in terms of either the physical or hedonistic consequences of their actions - people interpret morality based on a calculation of how much better or worse off they would be for acting a certain way - what determines whether an action is good or bad is whether it satisfies one's own needs, and occasionally the needs of others - morality at this level is about trying to behave in a way that provides the best overall return

difficult developmental transitions

there are two major stages in life where children go through growing pains as they reach a new level of maturity: 1. the terrible twos 2. adolescence - individualistic cultures are heavily associated with more difficult developmental transitions, whereas collectivistic cultures tend to have much less stressful, antisocial, and even violent adolescent transtions

the five factor model of personality (the big five)

- most widely accepted approach by psychologists to measure different personality traits - factor analysis was used to reduce the vast number of personality traits that exist to a much more manageable number *factor analysis is a technique that simplifies a long list of items into a much shorter list by investigating the patterns of correlations among the various items - there are only 5 underlying personality traits (*OCEAN*): 1. *openness to experience* *reflects a persons intelligence and curiosity about the world 2. *conscientiousness* *indicates how responsible and dependable an individual is 3. *extroversion* *indicates how much an individual is active or dormat 4. *agreeableness* *the extent to which a person is warm or pleasant 5. *neuroticism* *the degree to which a person is seen as emotionally unstable and unpredictable - all personality traits largely reflect some combinations of these five core traits. That is, all personality traits should show significant correlations with at least one, if not more, of these core traits - a questionnaire that measures OCEAN called "the Revised Neuroticism, Extroversion, and Openness Personality Inventory" (which goes by the catchy acronym of "NEO-PI-R") found that: *people around the world think of themselves and others in terms of the Big Five *people around the world tend to become more agreeable, more conscientious, and less neurotic as they age - is not a perfect measure *does not seem to provide an exhaustive list of personality traits in other cultures ---> when indigenous groups (non-WEIRD) groups form their own tests, some additional dimensions tend to emerge (example: the Chinese and "interpersonal relatedness")

imitative learning (type of cultural learning)

- new behaviors are acquired via imitation *the imitator internalizes the model's goals and behavioral strategies ---> what the model intends to accomplish *example: you see someone use a rake bring some bananas to themselves ---> they are using the rake teeth straight down to scrape the banana over to them ---> you imitate that in the same way to bring the banana over to you - Humans tend to learn this way, and will imitate irrelevant actions for no reason other than the model did it this way (like using the rake teeth down to scrape the banana over to them)

nonexperimental research

- no independent variable is manipulated - only a dependent variable is measured

biological evolution

- occurs when certain genes become more common in populations than they were in the past - occurs through natural selection

permissive parenting

- parents are very involved with their children - parents express parental warmth and responsiveness - place few limits on the children's behaviors - but can be viewed as the parent not caring enough about the child in Eastern cultures

authoritative parenting

- parents hold high expectations of the maturity of their children - try to understand their child's feelings *teaches their child how to regulate their feelings - encourages the child to be independent while maintaining limits and controls on their behavior - parents show warmth, responsiveness, and democratic reasoning to their children - considered to lead to the "most desirable outcomes" in parental warmth, acceptance, academic achievement, autonomy, and self-reliance in Western cultures, but can be viewed as the parent not caring enough about the child in Eastern cultures

high-context culture

- people are deeply involved with each-other *this involvement leads them to have much-shared information that guides their behavior - there are clear and appropriate ways of behaving in each situation *this information is widely shared and understood and does not need to be explicitly communicated - much of what is to be communicated can be inferred because people have a great deal of information in common that they can rely on, and thus they can be less explicit in what they say - communication is more non-verbal ---> pay more attention to tone and nonverbal feedback - *Eastern cultures* are good examples of high-context cultures

authority ranking

- people are linearly ordered along a *hierarchical* social dimension *people with higher ranking have prestige and privileges that those with lower rankings do not; however, subordinates are often entitled to receive protection and care from those above - is more common in hierarchical-classed based societies than egalitarian ones - examples: i. the mother's opinion of what kinds of television programs a child should be able to watch usually trump the child's own opinions ii. in the military, rank determines benefits, power, duties, prestige, and obligations. The lower ranked members earn less money, are allowed fewer privileges, and are obligated to follow the orders of those above

Western Culture

- people participating in cultures from Northwestern/central Europe and the societies of British descent (France, UK, Germany, Netherlands, USA, Canada, Australia, et cetera)

dynamic social impact theory

- people tend to be more influenced by the ideas of those that with whom they regularly interact ---> leads to clusters of like-minded people who are separated by geography (leads to cultures) - our behaviors have an influence on others because each of us is connected to those around us through a web of relationships *example: I plan on voting in the primary, me telling my friends that I'm voting increases the likelihood of them voting, and then telling their friends that they're voting and so on *another example: people living in dorms are participating in dorm culture, but several micro-cultures will form on each floor, and within certain parts of each floor as the people in the closest proximity to each other will influence each other more than those farther way from them

pluralistic ignorance is a force of cultural persistence

- people will mislead others by making socially desirable behaviors/ statements that make people think better of us in order to maintain a positive impression *example: society thought Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920's US was popular ---> people thought this because it was unpopular to say that alcohol should be legal for consumption, and so because nobody would ever hear someone advocate against Prohibition, everyone thought that Prohibition must be popular ---> once opinion polling was conducted showing Prohibition was actually unpopular, scientists realized that pluralistic ignorance is the real reason Prohibition had occurred - pluralistic ignorance is relevant to cultural persistence because people are influenced by what THEY BELIEVE other believe feel rather than what other people ACTUALLY feel ---> this creates an environment where people will partake in actions that uphold/support institutions that they do not actually believe in (like Prohibition)

parenting styles

three major types: 1. authoritarian parenting 2. authoritative parenting 3. permissive parenting

cultural variations in the kinds of emotional experiences

- people with independent selves (individualist cultures) will interpret emotional situations differently from interdependent selves (collectivist cultures) *people with independent selves focus more intently on how events affect themselves, and how they might provide opportunities to distinguish themselves from others *people with interdependent selves concern themselves with maintaining a sense of personal harmony by being more aware of how the event will affect themselves and persons around them, as well as their relationships with others ---> example: American and Japanese athletes when describing their reactions to winning differ---> Japanese athletes are more likely than their American counterparts to discuss relationships when describing emotions, Japanese participants inferred more emotions when the athlete mentioned relationships, whereas American participants inferred more emotions when the athletes focused only on themselves - what makes people feel good varies across cultures: *collectivist cultures feel especially good when they've focused on how their emotional experiences lead them to connect with others *individualist cultures feel especially good when they've been dwelling on those emotional experiences that distinguish themselves from others

individualism and relationships

- people with more independent views of self perceive the self as fundamentally disconnected from others, and the only reason that such people would form relationships is because they make the conscious choice to do so. Relationships form between two people with independent self-concepts when the people involved decide that it is to their advantage to form a relationship; otherwise such people would remain in the default state of relations between independent individuals, which is a null relationship. ---> *no relationship for individualists develops unless independent individuals see a benefit to themselves* (examples: "it would be fun"; "I'm attracted to them"; "the other person might have valuable information"; "a relationship might create future opportunities")

social brain hypothesis

- primates live in complex social groups, the primates that could best navigate those social groups (as well as the conflicts, power struggles, and opportunities that come with them) were the most likely to survive, attract mates, secure resources for themselves and their offspring, and pass on their genes ---> proven true via neocortex ratio ---> living in large social groups is directly coordinated with having larger brains ---> this is a contribution to why Humans evolved to be so intelligent, Humans would average living among 150 members which is very large for animal populations

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

- produces a high-resolution of the brain by tracking changes in the blood's oxygen levels throughout the brain. By comparing fMRI images across different cognitive tasks and across cultural groups, researchers are able to identify cultural differences in the particular regions of the brain that are most activated when people are engaged in a variety of cognitive tasks - advantage: provides the most accurate assessment of the specific localization of brain regions affected by the cognitive task

protection of individual rights versus the collective

- protecting individual rights is more important in individualist societies - protecting the collective group is more important in collectivist societies - example: a group of bigots had one of their own murdered by an ethnic minority. They will kill a bunch of innocent ethnic minority members unless the cops can produce the killer. The cops do not know the culprit, and so they present an innocent ethnic minority member in order to save the many in the group *collectivist cultures would be disgusted, but view this as an "acceptable" outcome ---> it is better for one innocent to be punished than for many innocents to die *individualist cultures would be disgusted, and view this as a bad outcome ---> it is not OK to punish and innocent person, even if many innocents will die

problems with translation (a challenge with using surveys when conducting cross-cultural survey research)

- research participants and researchers often speak different languages - collaborators that speak English may be too westernized ---> can corrupt the findings - bilingual respondents tend to change their mindsets to that of a Western culture when speaking English ---> when conducting surveys, SURVEY MUST BE TRANSLATED INTO RESPONDENTS NATIVE LANGUAGE - translating languages can be difficult ---> many languages have words that English doesn't have words for *example: there is no direct translation of the English word "self-esteem" into any Chinese dialect *solution: ALWAYS HAVE A BI-LINGUAL COLLABORATOR WHEN CONDUCTING CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH; IF NO BI-LINGUAL COLLABORATOR IS PRESENT USE THE BACK-TRANSLATION METHOD

acquiescence bias can be avoided by

- reverse scoring items *example: typically, half of the items in measures are designed to be reverse-scored---that is, they are written so that agreeing with them indicates an opinion opposite to that measured in the construct ---> e.g "I have many great talents strongly agree" = 7; "I feel like a failure" strongly agree = 1

conducting cross-cultural research with surveys (surveys are a nonexperimental method of research)

- several challenges: i. problems with translation ii. various types of response biases iii. reference-group effects iv. deprivation effects

Occam's Razor

- simpler explanations are more likely to be true than complex ones - any theory should make as few assumptions as possible - is the reason why researchers should use as many different research methods as possible when conducting any research *example: if a researcher conducts four research studies on a topic, each using a different method, and these results all converge with his predictions, the researcher's own account would be more compelling than an account that offered four separate alternative explanations for each of his individual studies

emotion and language

- some cultures have all sorts of different emotions, whereas other mash all sorts of emotions together into one word and do not differentiate between the emotions mashed into the single word *examples: ---> the Gidjingali aborigines of Australia use one word (gurukadj) to express both shame and fear ---> Samoans use one word (alofa) to express both love an pity ---> the Utku Eskimoes do no distinguish between feelings of kindness and gratitude ---> the Ifaluk of Micronesia do not even have a word for "emotion" but instead lump all internal states together

cultural variation

- the differences between many cultures vary, often tremendously, in their practices, social structures, diets, economic systems, technologies, religious beliefs, and in their psychology - heavily influenced by: i. ecological variation ii. geographical variation

the conventional level

- stage 02 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development - people are able to identify themselves with a particular group and social order, and they show loyalty to this group *the social order of this group is actively maintained, supported, and justified by individual's efforts to live up to the group's standards - these people view their actions as moral as long as they help maintain and facilitate the social order *actions are seen as morally wrong if they involve violating any rules or laws that the social order has maintained, regardless of what those rules or laws are about - this level dictates that morality is about following rules, and individuals should not question where those rules come from

the postconventional level

- stage 03 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development - moral values and principles are seen to exist separately from the authority of the social groups that hold them *these moral values are based on the consideration of abstract ethical principles on what is right and wrong, and moral decisions are reached based on the logical extensions of those principles *whether others agree with you or whether there are rules that contradict you are independent of whether the action is viewed as moral - good behavior is seen as that which is consistent with a set of universal ethical principles that emphasize justice and individual rights

minimally counterintuitive ideas

- statements that are surprising and unusual in the sense that they violate our expectations but are not too outlandish example: Bible is mostly rather ordinary events, interspersed with occasional "counterintuitive" events, such as a talking bush, a virgin birth, or miracles such as water turned into wine ---> -mostly ordinary, intuitive events sprinkled with the occasional counterintuitive idea- are the most likely to persist in our memories and survive many retellings *the secret to a good story that will get passed on thus appears to be one that, for the most part, is a tale of every day expected events, with the occasional unexpected element

back-translation method

- step 1: hire a translator to have your survey materials translated into the language of the culture you are researching - step 2: hire a different translator to have the survey materials translated back into English - step 3: compare the two different English versions of your survey material (the original one and the back-translated one) - step 4: discuss the problematic places of translation with the two different translators to fix any problems and to produce an accurately translated survey - is very time consuming and costly, but in the long run can produce good data

response biases (a challenge with using surveys when conducting cross-cultural survey research)

- surveys are conducted to create an accurate representation of how a person really feels ---> however, it often isn't this simple because in many ways, what people are thinking and how they answer a survey question might not be exactly the same because of the existence of response biases - response biases are factors that distort the accuracy of a person's response to surveys, and can ultimately ruin any sort of accuracy in data - different types of response biases: i. socially desirable responding ii. moderacy and extremity bias iii. acquiescence bias

moderacy and extremity biases can be avoided by

- taking out the middle option *example: instead of a 1-7 scale, use a Yes/No scale ----> however, using this strategy might not provide you with sensitive enough measure to detect nuanced differences in opinion across individuals - standardizing your data *each participant's scores are averaged (called "z scores") ---> however, using this strategy can alter the data set and corrupt any possible findings on the differences between cultures ---> only useful when wanting to compare the pattern of responses and not when we want to compare the average level of responses across cultures

mental health treatment

- tends to be different in Western societies when compared to most non-Western societies *Westerners tend to partake in traditional forms of psychotherapy in which clients seek out professional help when they have concerns ( they tend to reflect upon themselves as individuals, explore their inner selves, and verbally disclose their private feelings and emotions to a therapist whom they have likely just met) *for many non-Westerners, their may be a stigma associated with acknowledging the existence of mental disorders that can be potentially harmful both to oneself and one's family - *culture affects the success of treatment* *example: social support is extremely important in having and maintaining good mental health; European Americans are far more likely to seek social support (reaching out to friends and family when times get tough) than Asian Americans and East Asians ---> Westerners tend to rely more on explicit social support (actively seeking other's help), Easterners tend to rely more on implicit social support (not going to others, but instead reminding themselves of the close relationships that they have) (this is why they are less likely to seek psychotherapy and mental medical help than Westerners) ---> Easterners prefer unsolicited (not-asked for) social support (they prefer not to bother others); Westerners are equally OK with solicited and unsolicited social support ---> Westerners are more likely to offer emotional support (like offering encouragement or comforting words); non-Westerners are more likely to offer problem-focused support (like providing specific advice)

differences in speech among cultures

- the *amount* a person speaks: ---> Westerners value speaking as an act of self-expression and inextricably bound to thought ---> if people do not speak much, then it is popularly viewed that something is wrong with them ---> *Westerners talk more* ---> Easterners put less of an emphasis on talking....if not outright suspicion if too much talking takes place ---> Lao Tzu wrote, "He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know." ---> *Easterners talk less* ---> rely on nonverbal communication more ---> expressing thoughts out loud interferes with thinking ---> speech interferes with the performance of holistic thought (trying to view the whole picture), speech is seen as a distraction because it is focusing on a sequential task that focuses on one thing after another

case study: the culture of honor in the southern united states

- the South historically has had more violent tendencies than the Northern US *examples: more pro-war, more pro-gun, more support of capital punishment, more support in beating children, more support of slavery, higher rates of violence, et cetera ----> why is this? - an explanation offered is that the South is a "culture of honor" *the South being a herding culture fomented this increase in violence ---> why? ---> because livestock can be easily stolen, if a family's whole wealth and well-being is invested in their livestock, then by definition you would need to do whatever it takes to protect your livestock ---> generations of this struggle developed a culture that valued aggressiveness as a means of survival

sleeping arrangements Indian culture

- the different sleeping arrangements that were preferred between the two cultures tell us much about the underlying values of the culture - guided by four moral principles in deciding which sleeping arrangements were appropriate (the most important principle for this culture is first, second most is second, third most important is third, and so on): 1. incest avoidance 2. protection of the vulnerable 3. female chastity anxiety 4. respect for hierarchy - Indians prefer to keep their young children and postpubescent daughters from being alone and try to offer older boys the deference of not having to sleep with their parents or younger siblings *example: in a three-bedroom house with 5 kids ---> Dad sleeps in room with youngest son, Mom sleeps in a room with daughters, two oldest boys get their own room

sleeping arrangements US American culture

- the different sleeping arrangements that were preferred between the two cultures tell us much about the underlying values of the culture - guided by three moral principles in deciding which sleeping arrangements were appropriate (the most important principle for this culture is first, second most is second, third most important is third, and so on): 1. incest avoidance 2. sacred couple 3. autonomy ideal - Americans strive to protect the privacy of the married couple and encourage the development of independence among their children *example: in a three-bedroom house with 5 kids ---> parents get their own room, girls get their room, boys get their own room

natural selection

- the evolutionary process that occurs over time when three conditions are present: 1. individual variability exists among members of a species on certain traits *example: some antelopes can run faster than other antelopes 2. those traits are associated with different reproductive rates *example: faster antelopes are better able to outrun predators than slower antelopes and are thus more likely to produce surviving offspring 3. those traits have a hereditary basis *example: the offspring of faster antelopes tend to be faster than the offspring of slower antelopes *with each new generation the proportion of faster antelopes in the population will increase, and ultimately the species will change over time

migration problems (discrimination and prejudice)

- the experience of moving to a new culture, or of having ancestors that moved to your host culture can lead to active issues of the host countries people committing discrimination, systematic disenfranchisement, unjust treatment, mocking and humiliation, violence, and threats to the lives of the ethnic minority - specific situations include: i. identity denial ii. stereotype threat

conducting cross-cultural research with experiments

- the experimental method is the most common method of experimentation in cross-cultural psychological research - there are two major types of experimental methods employed in cross-cultural research: i. between-groups manipulation ii. within-groups manipulation

factors that cause ideas to spread

- the factors that determines which ideas will be popular and which won't 1. communicable ideas spread *passed on through language *effective via dynamic social impact theory 2. useful ideas spread *people like to be useful, it makes them feel good and fosters better relationships with others 3. emotional ideas spread *can be spread through contemporary legends 4. minimally counterintuitive ideas

Richard Shweder

- the father of modern cultural psychology - argues that the field of psychology (what he calls "general psychology") inherently assumes that the mind operates under a set of natural and universal laws that are independent from context or content (that "people are the same wherever you go"/ that mind and culture are inseparable) * in many ways this is true---> examples: incest is universally seen as abhorrent, everyone smiles, we all use language * in many ways this is also false---> some cultures consider sexual relations with cousins incest whereas others do not, many cultures have different modes of emotional expression (like some ppl in some cultures will bite their tongue when they're embarrassed), and many languages are very different in structure (Chinese vs English) - he argues that general psychologists prefer human universality (we are all the same) and ignores cultural variability (there are differences in cultures)...and this is wrong because we cannot consider the mind separate from culture *example: when a woman goes to a coffee shop in Western culture she can be seen as she is waking up so she can study or that she is meeting someone she is attracted to; in some more non-Western cultures when a woman goes to a coffee shop she can be seen as sinful for going against her parents arranged marriage by choosing to meet a romantic partner of her own choice or a drug user because she is using stimulants (coffee)

Cultural Psychology

- the field that studies cultures profound implications for our thoughts and behaviors - people from different cultures also differ in their psychology ---> psychological processes are shaped by experiences * example: because people in different cultures have many different experiences, we find that there are differences in the many ways that they think ---> examples: cultures differ in what they find funny ---> USA loved Seinfeld, but Germany hated it; Adam Sandler is beloved in China

Wilhelm Wundt

- the first cultural psychologist - the father of psychology *opened first psychological laboratory in 1879 *wrote "Volkerpsycholgie" or translated as "Elements of Folk Psychology" in 1921

creativity

- the generation of ideas that are novel, useful, and appropriate *example: a hammer made out of Jell-O and ladybugs would certainly be novel, but wouldn't be useful in any meaningful sense. A useful hammer might be made with a steelhead attached to a wooden handle, but it wouldn't be novel if it was the same one as the one in your toolbox. A creative hammer would have to be useful but in a novel way - the generation of novel ideas appears to be facilitated by individualism (the greater motivation for uniqueness) *encourages breakthrough ideas - the generation of useful ideas appears to be facilitated by collectivism *more interested in solving social concerns *encourages incremental innovations - multicultural environments that blend individualistic and collectivistic ideas/cultures together create the most creative ideas (it's the best of both worlds)

acculturation strategies

- two issues are critical to the outcome of one's acculturation: 1. whether the migrant attempts to participate in the larger society of their host culture 2. whether the migrant is striving to maintain their own heritage culture and identify fellow members of their heritage culture (called "maintaining an ethnic identity") - these two issues lead to different strategies migrants may take to acculturate; these acculturation strategies include: i. integration strategy ii. marginalization strategy iii. assimilation strategy iv. separation strategy

distal causes

- the initial differences that lead to effects over LONG periods of time and often through indirect relations *example: 168 Spaniards were able to conquer the vast Incan Empire because Spanish civilization had access to unique species of plants (wheat, barley, peas, lentils) and livestock (sheep, goats, pigs, donkeys, cows) that allowed Spanish ancestors to settle down and focus on tools and technological advances (like steel, ships, and writing systems) rather than living nomadic lives like most Native American tribes constantly searching for food; all of this along with thousands of years of building immunity to diseases that originated in livestock (measles, tuberculosis, smallpox, influenza) from living in close proximity to those livestock and other Humans that contracted diseases from livestock is what gave the ability of 168 Spaniards (through guns, germs, and steel) to conquer a massive civilization within a single day ---> TL;DR small geographical differences gave Europeans the gift of thousands of years of technological and immunological advancements over the Inca

experimental method

- the manipulation of an independent variable and measurement of the influence that this manipulation has on the dependent variable *the independent variable causes change in the dependent variable - no response biases

Kohlberg's stages of moral development

- the most influential model of moral reasoning created in psychology -proves a cultural universal in moral reasoning - *cognitive abilities underlie moral reasoning and these abilities progress as individuals develop, mature, and are educated* ---> the ways people conceive of what is right and what is wrong hinge on the stage of moral development that they have reached - is a three-level model that could capture the developmental progression of moral reasoning in all cultures of the world: 1. the preconventional level 2. the conventional level 3. the postconventional level - some urban Westerners reason at the postconventional level, most Westerners and virtually all tribal/village-folk people reasoned as the conventional level; most children in all cultures show signs of the preconventional level of reasoning *there are two competing interpretations of the mild split between Western and third-world societies: 1. traditional societies do not provide the educational experiences necessary for their members to reason about justice and individual rights in postconventional terms *could be wrong explanation because Western scientists may be being ethnocentric in their reasoning 2. urban Western environments are one kind of environment and tribal environments are another kind of environment --> people develop a moral framework that best fits their environment

principle of equity

- the principle that resources should be distributed based on an individual's contributions ---> example: those that worked hardest in society should be given the money, whether or not they need it - most popular in more individualist societies

neocortex ratio

- the ratio of the volume of the neocortex to the volume of the rest of the brain - is used as a proxy measure of intelligence and problem-solving abilities

independent view of self

- the self is thought to derive it's identity from it's inner attributes *the inner essence of the individual is the basis of the individual's identity ---> this inner essence is viewed as stable across situations and across lifespans *perceived to be unique (in the sense that no other individual possesses the same configuration of attributes) *they are self-contained in that they are perceived to arise from the individual and not from the interactions with others *individual feels an obligation to publicly advertise themselves in ways consistent with these attributes - in sum, independent selves view themselves as *distinct, autonomous entities* whose identities are grounded in a variety of internal component features and who interact with similarly independent entities

interdependent view of self

- the self is viewed as a relational entity that is fundamentally connected to and sustained by a number of significant relationships *behavior is recognized as contingent upon perceptions of others' thoughts, feelings, and actions *considers how behavior will affect others ---> organizes psychological experience in response to what others are apparently thinking and doing *individuals are not perceived as separate, distinct entities but as participants in a larger social unit *their experience of identity is reflexive in that it is contingent on their position relative to others, and those relationships with others *identity is somewhat fluid in different situations - in sum, interdependent selves consists largely of nodes within networks of individuals tied together by specific relationships whose *identities are grounded in those relationships*

acquiescence bias

- the tendency to agree with most statements on questionnaires, regardless of the content - cultures differ in their tendency to agree with survey items *example: more holistic cultures (like East Asians) would be far more prone to agree with both of the following statements ---> "I am introverted." ---> "I am extroverted." ---> East Asian cultures tend to see everyone as interconnected and are more likely to find truth in everything, and therefore agree with it on surveys

dependent variable

- the variable that is measured in an experiment - can be measured after the manipulation of the independent variable

what is the evolutionary advantage of a large brain?

- theory 1: many primates eat fruit, fruit is difficult to find given that plant growth is seasonal ---> the primates that had the most complex brains to find the fruit and eat survived and passed on their genes ---> proven false via neocortex ratio - theory 2: many primates eat nuts, nuts can be difficult to open ---> the primates that had the most complex brains and that could find intricate ways to open nuts and eat survived and passed on their genes --- proven false via neocortex ratio - theory 3: social brain hypothesis ---> proven true via neocortex ratio

Theory of Mind (type of cultural learning)

- unique/ nearly unique to only Humans, and across all Human cultures - people understand that others have minds that are different from their own, and thus that other people have perspectives and intentions that are different from their own * example: a one-year-old child will point at a toy they want, indicating to their parent that that's the toy that they want ---> this also indicates that the one-year-old recognizes that their parent doesn't know what toy they want

cognitive dissonance

- theory developed by Leon Festinger - proposed that we have a powerful motivation to be consistent and that cognitive dissonance is *the distressing feeling we have when we observe ourselves acting inconsistently*. This distressing sense is disturbing enough that we feel a great need to rid ourselves of it ---> one way to rid ourselves of this distressing feeling is by acting more consistently, but that can be very difficult to do ---> a second way of ridding ourselves of this distressing feeling is by changing our attitudes so that they no longer appear inconsistent (this is called "dissonance reduction") - example: person has a choice between an Android and an Apple phone. The one they pick is worse, but they rationalize their decision by making excuses as to why they picked their phone (I was in a rush!) - Americans (representing individualist cultures) tend to rationalize decisions when it affects primarily themselves *example: Americans are more likely to comply with requests they were told THEY had complied to in the past - Polish people (representing collectivist cultures) tend to rationalize decisions when it affects primarily other people *example: Polish people are more likely to comply with requests they were told THEIR CLASSMATE had complied with in the past

cultural competence

- therapists who work with clients from multiple backgrounds should strive for this - can be achieved by: 1. therapists must recognize their own cultural influences, so that they can consciously deal with their own defenses, interpretations, and projections that will be relevant when they are interacting with clients from different cultural backgrounds 2. therapists should develop knowledge of the cultural background of their client, and the kinds of expectations that the client likely has for the counseling relationship, so that they can interact with their client in the most effective way 3. the therapist should develop the appropriate skills to be able to intervene in the therapy sessions in a way that is culturally sensitive and relevant 4. the therapist should not generalize the client's mainstream culture to the client, unless necessary ---> after all each person cannot be reduced to the typical member of their culture *example: many subcultures exist within the mainstream culture

cultural acquisition

- there is a sensitive period for cultural acquisition that begins to close around the age of 15-years-old - if a second culture is attempted to be adopted over 15-years-old, there is always an echo of emotional repertoire for their host (first) culture - universal across cultures - example: Hong Kong residents that emigrated to Vancouver, Canada found that after 15 years of age, they had trouble identifying with their new Canadian culture

the four elementary forms of relationships

- there is a tremendous variation across cultures with respect to relationships, however, there are some underlying structures that are common to ALL forms of relationships in the world: 1. *communal sharing* 2. *authority ranking* 3. *equality matching* 4. *market pricing*

low-context culture

- there is relatively less involvement among individuals ---> therefore there is less shared information to guide behavior *as a result, it is necessary for people to communicate in more explicit detail, as others are less able to fill in the gaps of what is not said - communication is extremely verbal ---> pay more attention to words and their meanings - *Western cultures* are good examples of low-context cultures

self-enhancement

- this is how are many Western (individualist) cultures are motivated - the strong motivation (need) to view oneself positively *two mental apparatuses define self-enhancement: 1. self-esteem 2. self-serving biases - much research has revealed that the important reason people have such biased views of themselves is that they are motivated to view themselves positively

situation sampling

- this is the best way how researchers can see how people respond to situations that are regularly experienced by people in another culture - involves a two-step process: i. Step 01 *participants from at least two different cultures are asked to describe a number of situations they have experienced in which something specific has happened *example: in one study Japanese and American participants were asked to list situation in which their self-esteem had either increased or decreased ii. Step 02 *a different group of participants are asked to participate in the study ---> this second set of participants is provided with a list of the situations that have been created by the first set of participants ---> the second set of participants are then asked how they would have felt had they been in those situations themselves *example: in the Japanese/American study the second set of participants were asked to indicate how much they thought their self-esteem would have increased or decreased had they been in those specific situations *Important to note that in the second stage, participants are provided with situations created by BOTH of the comparison cultures ---> this type of research method is how researchers found out that situations that cause failure to increase self-esteem in Japanese people, and decrease self-esteem in Americans; and how success can increase self-esteem in Americans and decreased self-esteem in Japanese people

enemies

- those who are wishing for your downfall or are trying to sabotage your progress - 26% of Americans claimed that they had enemies ---> *enemies are usually seen as members outside of their perceived in-groups (other races, classes, et cetera) (this applies to individualist cultures)* - 71% of Ghanaians claimed that they had enemies ---> *enemies are usually seen as members of their perceived in-group (neighbors, friends, and relatives) (this applies to collectivist cultures)*

gesellschaft

- translated from German as "association" or "society" - *social relations based on impersonal ties, as duty to a society or organization* - more common in *individualist* societies *usually treats relationships as imaginary, instrumental, and a means to an end - groups come up with their own sets of rules, norms, and laws, by which individuals need to behave, and these rules usually arise out of public consensus - these groups tend to be perceived as relatively impersonal and somewhat contractual, which leads to the necessity of justice obligations to govern disputes between individuals/parties *individuals cannot always be expected to behave in prosocial ways towards others, because they don't have any strong obligations towards them --> therefore formalized rules are necessary to keep people in line - example: a state government with laws on what one can/cannot do

non-industrialized, non-Western mental health treatment

- usually involves: i. family *families share the problems with the individuals and were the key source of guidance, especially from elders in the family ---> families were often viewed as suffering from whatever stigma may be associated with the mental illness --> example: in Saudi Arabia, there is much perceived stigma and shame attached to mental illnesses, so families may shelter a disturbed individual from the outside world until the problem becomes unmanageable, at which point they may seek help from the extended family and from the community ii. spiritualism and religion *mental illnesses are often perceived as being rooted in an underlying spiritual problem, and treatment is often left to traditional healers, such as shamans and sorcerers

Western mental health treatment

- usually involves: i. psychotherapy *usually include cognitive behavioral therapy ---> when therapists attempt to restructure a patient's thoughts by helping the patient to identify their dysfunctional cognitive biases and/or the patient's negative reactions to certain situations are alleviated through controlled exposures ii. psychiatry *biological modes used to explain and treat mental disorders

why should be learn about cultural psychology?

- we live in a world with increasing globalization, and with that comes multi-ethnic societies - cultural psychology will be indispensable in creating a more fair, stable, and just society of tomorrow - also, an increased understanding and appreciation of cultural differences can lead people of different cultural backgrounds to get along better, to be more engaged in their work, and be able to detect discrimination where it exists

considerations for conducting research across cultures

- we must be careful when studying other cultures because they could have norms that we do not understand *example: surveying the Zinacantecan people was difficult because their culture saw it as rude to ask them the same question (slightly different than the one before) over and over again without giving a conversational response - the best way to avoid problems such as the one above is to do background research, different strategies include: i. reading existing texts/ ethnographies about the culture ii. finding local collaborators to assists you in the research study about the culture iii. immersing yourself in the culture to learn about it firsthand iv. all of the above combined *once all is considered, methodological equivalent research can be achieved

origins of cultural differences in self-enhancement

- western drive for self-enhancement comes from i. Christianity: *in the 12th century CE, the Christian concept of Last Judgement changed from being an issue of the salvation of collectives to the salvation of individual souls *in the 16th century CE, the Protestant Reformation occurred ---> Protestant sects maintained a belief in "predestination" ---> which group a person was assigned to by god (to go to Heaven or Hell) was a distinction that obviously mattered a great deal to members of these Protestant sects. Because no one had access to God's ledger to determine whether he or she was on the right list, people had to rely on cues to discern their fates. The primary cue that a person was part of the few elect was that they possessed absolute certainty about this fact. Any doubt regarding whether an individual was was of the elect was to be seen as proof that the person was not, so individuals became highly motivated to interpret events in their lives as signs that God was viewing them favorably. The distinction between spending an eternity in Heaven or Hell was a sufficient motivator to lead people to make great efforts to interpret their situation in a favorable light. ---> this is the argument for the origins of Western self-enhancement ii. increasements in individualist culture *as a culture become more individualistic, the idea of "I'm all that I got" becomes more popular ---> makes it cognitively more efficient to view oneself favorably in that type of environment iii. income inequality *people are motivated to think of themselves as better than others there are pronounced differences in economic opportunities

nonuniversal

- when a particular cognitive tool can be said to NOT EXIST IN ALL CULTURES - an absence of universality * example: some Middle Easterners use Abacus as a calculation tool ---> this is only used by their group and no others - it is purely a cultural invention - the cognitive tool: *variation in function across cultures *variation in accessibility across cultures

accessibility universal

- when a particular cognitive tool can be said to: *exists in all cultures *is used to solve the same problems across cultures *accessible to the same degree across cultures *example: social facilitation (the tendency for individuals to do better at well-learned tasks, and worse at poorly learned ones in the presence of others) exists in all cultures in the same way - the cognitive tool: *no variation in function across cultures *no variation in accessibility across cultures

moral obligations individualists vs collectivists

- when interpersonal and justice obligations conflict, Indians tend to prefer protecting interpersonal obligations , whereas Americans tend to prefer protecting justice obligations *example: you are going to be late to a wedding (you have the rings, if you don't show up then the wedding will be canceled, and your friends sad). You will be late to the wedding because somebody stole your wallet (your train ticket being in it). A well dressed man (that looks like he can buy another ticket) forgot his ticket on his seat when he got up to leave. What do you do? Return the ticket to the well dressed man and miss the wedding (justice obligation), or take the ticket and make your friends at the wedding happy (interpersonal obligation). Most Westerners choose to take the ticket back the well-dressed man and miss the wedding, whereas most Indians choose to take the ticket and make their friends happy. - the more extreme the situation, the greater the percentage of Westerners will pick the justice obligations; the more extreme the situation, the greater the percentage of Indians will pick the interpersonal obligation - Americans derive more pleasure from fulfilling personal choices over moral obligations *example: Americans will feel less positive after helping strangers than Indians will - Indians derive more pleasure from fulling moral obligations over personal choices *example: Indians will feel more positive after helping strangers than Americans will

ehtnocentrism

- when people assume that their own culture's way of life is in some way more natural than that of others

transmitted culture

- when people come to learn about particular cultural practices through social learning or by modeling others who live near them * example: you notice your neighbor has a more efficient way of planting wheat seeds, and so you take on their way of doing it - can bring their ideas (culture) with them beyond their geographical area - can enshrine evoked culture even when it is not needed * example: cultures that were historically plagued by parasites and that evoked a culture where physical attractiveness is extremely important, may continue that practice even when parasites are no longer a threat to their community and continue to pass that practice on to their offspring and to other geographical areas - MORE IMPORTANT IN SHAPING CULTURE THAN EVOKED CULTURE *cultural learning (the behavioral responses that have been transmitted from generations before us) shape who we are more than our environment does ---> example: if you are marooned on an island, you will probably die because you would not know how to live on that island, however if your ancestors had been living on that island for generations that you would probably survive because their knowledge on how to survive has been transmitted to you

moderacy and extremity bias

- when using scales, for example --> scales that run from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), there is a tendency for people in different cultures to: *express agreement in MODERATE fashions (choosing an item close to the midpoint of the scale e.g. a 4 or a 5 on the 1-7 scale) *express agreement in EXTREME fashions (choosing an item close to the very beginning/end of the scale e.g. a 1 or a 7 on the 1-7 scale) *example: Hispanics and Black Americans tend to pick more extreme responses than White Americans who tend to pick more moderate responses---> an impulsive Hispanic American might circle a 6/7 whereas a White American of the same impulsivity might circle a 4/5

most research studies vastly over-sample college students

- why? *college students the world over are easier to sample because they tend to be familiar with many of the kinds of procedures used in psychological studies *college students are easily accessible to university research studies - however, there are HUGE problems with over-sampling college students: *it's not always clear how well findings that emerge from college students generalize to nonstudent populations ---> we are less able to confidently generalize our results if we do not have much evidence from a diverse range of samples *problems with power

cultural differences in psychological processes emerge with age

- with age, people from different cultures diverge in their psychological experiences *example: in one study, Chinese and Canadian kids age 7, 9, and 11 were brought into a laboratory to study ---> the children read a number of scenarios a past state of affairs (e.g. a child who was always sad) and were asked to predict a future state of affairs (e.g. how the child would feel tomorrow) ---> results: the Chinese and Canadian 7-year-olds responded almost identically. However, in contrast, the Chinese 9-year-old children were more likely to expect a reversal of the trends, whereas the Canadian 9-year-olds expected (no matter what) that the child would feel better ---> furthermore, this cultural difference became even more pronounced in 11 year olds from both cultures ---> PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES CAUSED BY CULTURE INCREASE WITH AGE

individualism, collectivism, and gender

- women tend to score more traits associated with collectivism in comparison to men, this is because: *women tend to be more interdependent than men in respect to "relatedness" (their attention to other's feelings and concerns) ---> other than scores in "relatedness", women are no more "collectivistic" than men

twenty statements test

- write down twenty statements about yourself - reveals the extent of culture's influence on people - Americans (more individualist cultures) were most likely to describe themselves with personal characteristics (such as their traits, attitudes, and abilities) - non-westernized Kenyans (more collectivist cultures) were most likely to describe themselves with their social identity--- specifically their roles and memberships - effects brain activity vary per culture *Chinese culture (collectivist cultures) were more likely to think about other peoples' beliefs when they thought about their social roles when compared with the Danes (individualist cultures)

is culture unique to humans?

- yes if we define culture by symbolic coding - no if we define culture by social transmission (also known as "cultural learning")

principle of need

-*the principle that resources should be directed toward those who need them the most* ---> example: the money would be given to the patients that need it most - most popular in more collectivist societies (like India)

functional universal

-a cognitive tool that is found in all cultures that SERVES THE SAME FUNCTION but is NONACCESSIBLE to the same degrees in different cultures *example: punishment ---> all societies equally agree that punishment serves as a function to dealing with people partaking in unfair practices, however the level as to how much punishment varies (Bolivians average spending 28% of their earning to punish the unfair, whereas the Gusii of Kenya spend 90% of their earnings) - the cognitive tool: *NO variation in function across cultures *variation in accessibility across cultures

theories on emotion

1. James-Lange Theory of Emotions 2. Two Factor Theory of Emotions

there are two major conflicting perspectives about the best way for people from different cultures to deal with each other

1. color blind approach (also known as culture blind approach) 2. multicultural approach

how have cultures been changing in recent decades?

1. cultures are becoming increasingly interconnected *technology (like the Internet and cheaper travel) are facilitating interconnection, globalization, and cultural evolution 2. many cultures are becoming more individualistic *younger people around the world are trending to be more individualistic than their parents ---> this can be seen by young people giving their offspring more unique names than their parents generations *this appears to be occurring because of a combination of economic depression, increasing suburbanization of society, the increasing prevalence of electronics in households, and the lack of community 3. people in many cultures are becoming more intelligent *the youth have higher IQs than their parents ---> dubbed "the Flynn Effect" (IQ is increasing 5-25 points per generation!) *SAT scores testing for vocabulary are decreasing because younger people are reading less *IQs are rising because more people are needing an education in order to get better-paying jobs; and also the world is becoming a more complex place to live and so people are needing to become smarter in order to more effectively navigate and survive our increasingly complex societies ---> example: our tv shows and video games are more complex then they were in the past, forcing participants to problem-solve in order to continue to enjoy them

neuroscientific methods of research

1. fMRI 2. EEG 3. molecular genetic technologies

implicit theories regarding nature and the self

1. incremental theory of self 2. entity theory of self

the two aspects of emotions

1. objectively visible aspect (facial expressions) 2. subjectively experienced aspect (people's descriptions of their emotional experiences with words)

some ways that cultures differ in self-concept

1. self-consistency *cognitive dissonance 2. self-awareness

how did gender roles form?

1. shifting cultivation 2. plow cultivation

methods that are particularly employed when studying culture

1. situation sampling 2. cultural priming

female chastity anxiety (underlying value of Indian culture)

unmarried post-pubescent women should always be chaperoned to protect them from engaging in any sexual activity that would be viewed as shameful

socially desirable responding

when survey respondents are motivated to be evaluated positively by others, and as a result, they might disguise their true feelings to appear more socially desirable

generalizability

when the findings of a study generalize to populations other than the samples that were studied

(WEIRD) societies

Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic societies - very little is known about the extent to which many psychological processes are universal because most psychological studies have been conducted in WEIRD societies - furthermore, most 70% of psychological study participants are undergraduate college students - is problematic because the small sample size hinders cultural psychology and furthers the findings of general psychologists

the four elementary forms of relationships example in a single situation

within a family having dinner in the midwestern US, each person is allowed to eat until they're satisfied (*communal sharing*), the parents might occupy the heads of the table (*authority ranking*), for desert each person can claim an equal-slice of cupcake (*equality matching*), and a child might be paid $1.00 for each time she loads the dishwasher (*market pricing*)

protection of the vulnerable (underlying value of Indian culture)

young children who are needy and vulnerable should not be left alone at night

essentialism

a belief that is thought to reflect an underlying unchangeable essence

autonomy ideal

a belief that young children who are needy and vulnerable should learn to be self-reliant and take care of themselves

culture of honor

a culture were people (especially men) strive to protect their reputation through aggression

which of these three is least like the other two?

a dog, a carrot, a rabbit - Westerners usually say the carrot is least like the other two because they usually represent of field of thought called, *taxonomic categorization strategy* ---> this strategy is one in that stimuli are grouped together according to the perceived similarities of their attributes - Easterners usually say the dog is least like the other two because they usually represent a field of thought called, *thematic categorization strategy* ---> this strategy is one in that stimuli are grouped together according to the basis of causal, temporal, or spatial relationships among them - the difference in categorization strategies reflects an underlying difference in the ways that people see the world around them

calling

a unique God-given purpose to fulfill during his or her mortal existence

integrative complexity

a willingness and ability to acknowledge and consider different viewpoints on the same issue

molecular genetic technologies

assess how gene frequencies vary across populations and how particular genes are associated with particular ways of thinking across cultures

socially desirable responding can be avoided by

designing studies that assess the construct of interest (example: leadership) without asking people rather or not they have those abilities

why do individualists have less enemies than collectivists?

enemies are usually not a problem because individualists usually choose not to engage with people they do not like, people whose relations with might not be productive. No engagement means no relationship, means no enemyship would ever develop

how geography affects cultural variation

example: rice and wheat are two major crops grown in China ---> rice is tough to grow and requires a lot of support and cooperation from nearby farmers; wheat is easy to grow and can be grown by yourself ---> the results: Chinese people from rice growing families are more interdependent thinkers, view themselves in more of a network, and are more tolerant of nepotism, and engaged in more holistic reasoning than people from wheat-growing families - geography can affect cultural variation through: i. evoked culture ii. transmitted culture

factors that influence how people will adjust to their acculturation experiences

i. cultural distance ii. cultural fit

immigrants

migrants who intend to stay in a host country permanently

sojourners

migrants you intend to stay in a host country temporarily

respect for hierarchy (underlying value of Indian culture)

postpubescent boys are conferred social status by allowing them to not have to sleep with parents or young children

power

the capability of your study to detect an effect (a cross-cultural difference)

culture-shock

the feeling of being anxious, helpless, irritable, (and in general) homesick that a person will experience when migrating to a new culture

subjective well-being

the feeling of how satisfied one is with their life

relational mobility

the freedom to move between relationships

predestination

the idea that before people were born, it had already been determined whether they would be one of the fortunate "elect" who would spend eternity in "blessed" Heaven after passing or would be one of the wretched many who would be doomed to burn in Hell forever

accessibility

the likelihood of the person using the particular cognitive tool

general psychology (simplified)

the mind operates independently of content and context

neocortex

the outermost layer of the brain that is concerned with higher functions, such as sensory perception, motor control, and conscious thought