🧠 Culture and Its Influence on Behaviour and Cognition
📌 Key terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Culture | A system of shared beliefs, values, and practices that influence behavior and cognition within a group. |
| Enculturation | The process of learning cultural norms of one’s own culture. |
| Acculturation | Adapting or borrowing elements from another culture after prolonged exposure. |
| Cognition | The mental processes involved in acquiring, storing, and using knowledge (e.g., memory, perception, problem-solving). |
| Cultural cognition | How cultural values and social practices shape cognitive processes. |
| Cultural norms | Rules or expectations guiding behavior within a culture. |
| Individualistic cultures | Cultures that emphasize personal achievement, autonomy, and self-expression. |
| Collectivistic cultures | Cultures that emphasize group harmony, interdependence, and social relationships. |
📌 Notes
Culture provides a framework through which individuals interpret reality and make cognitive judgments.
It affects how we think, remember, perceive, and make decisions.
Psychologists study this interaction to understand:
- How cognition is shaped by cultural values, and
- How behavior reflects cultural expectations.
Cross-cultural studies reveal both universal cognitive mechanisms and culture-specific variations in memory, perception, and reasoning.
📌 Key Studies
1️⃣ Cole & Scribner (1974) – Memory and Culture
Aim:
To investigate how memory strategies differ between Liberian and U.S. schoolchildren.
Method:
- Compared free recall tasks using culturally relevant and irrelevant word lists.
- Liberian children either attended school or did not.
Findings:
- U.S. children and schooled Liberian children used categorization and chunking (strategic recall).
- Non-schooled Liberian children recalled items based on meaningful clustering (narrative themes).
Conclusion:
- Schooling and cultural context influence cognitive processes like memory organization.
Evaluation:
✅ Demonstrated cultural effects on cognition.
⚠️ Potential confound: education vs. culture.
✅ Highlighted ecological validity using culturally relevant stimuli.
2️⃣ Kearins (1981) – Visual Memory in Aboriginal Australians
Aim:
To compare visual memory performance between Indigenous Australian and White Australian children.
Method:
- Participants arranged 20 objects on a board. After removal, they were asked to reconstruct the layout.
Findings:
- Aboriginal children showed significantly higher spatial memory accuracy.
Conclusion:
- Environmental demands (e.g., navigation in the desert) shape cognitive abilities.
Evaluation:
✅ Cross-cultural relevance; minimized cultural bias.
⚠️ Task may still reflect testing bias.
✅ Supported the idea that culture molds cognitive development.
🔍Tok link
- Knowledge Question: “To what extent is memory culturally constructed?”
- Explores whether cognitive processes are universal or culture-specific.
- TOK connection: Cultural context as a lens of knowing — can knowledge be objective if cognition itself is culturally shaped?
🌐 Real-World Connection
Cross-cultural research informs education systems — culturally relevant teaching improves memory and learning.
Influences AI and cognitive modeling by revealing non-Western thinking patterns.
Helps design inclusive assessments avoiding cultural bias in testing.
❤️ CAS Link
- Conduct a cultural memory experiment using objects or words familiar to different groups.
- Engage in intercultural exchange programs and reflect on changes in cognition (e.g., problem-solving).
- Organize workshops promoting cultural understanding through psychology.
🧠 IA Guidance
Possible IA: “Does cultural familiarity of material affect recall?”
Independent variable: culturally relevant vs. neutral word list.
Dependent variable: number of words recalled.
Avoid sensitive cultural or ethnic labels.
🧠 Examiner Tips
- Use Cole & Scribner for memory and Kearins for spatial cognition.
- Avoid confusing culture with nation — cultural values matter more than geography.
- Strong essays compare collectivist vs. individualist reasoning styles.
- Always evaluate methodological challenges (translation, sampling bias).