Psychology and behavorial sciences - Theme
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According to Richard Schweder, general psychology should use the CPU perspective to demonstrate the universal nature of human thinking. What is the CPU perspective and what does cultural psychology say about this?
Which four levels of universality in psychological processes are distinguishable? Give an explanation for each level?
CPU stands for central processing unit and describes the analogy of the human mind as an abstract unit that operates independently of the content. According to the supporters of the CPU perspective, cultural variation in human thinking does not exist, because variations in context and content lie outside the CPU. The CPU is therefore universally the same. Cultural psychologists oppose this; they state that the mind cannot operate independently of what it thinks about. According to them, thoughts, actions and feelings of people are immersed in culture, so they think that there can never be an independent CPU that is the same for everyone.
What is the difference between imitative learning and emulative learning?
Name an advantage and a disadvantage of emulative learning compared to imitative learning.
What is the social brain hypothesis about?
In imitative learning, the learner internalizes part of the goals and behavioral strategies of the model. In this way, what has been learned can be carried out in the same way as with the role model (the person performing the action). In emulative learning, the learner only pays attention to the events that happen around the role model rather than what the role model wants to achieve. The behavioral strategies that the role model uses are not included here. People who use emulative learning come up with a strategy themselves after having gained an idea through the model.
An advantage of emulative learning is that there is no over-imitation. The person himself thinks up the most effective way to put what he has learned into practice, while imitative learning also incorporates any ineffective or irrelevant behaviors if those are present. A disadvantage of emulative learning is that it does not allow an increase in cultural information. Because the method of learning is not the same, there is no reliable, solid transfer of information. In imitative learning, what has been learned is replicated very accurately, creating a basis from which new inventions can be made. Imitative learning, as opposed to emulative learning, offers the possibility to cumulative learning.
The social brain hypothesis states that the evolution to the large size of the brain of primates arose from the fact that social life requires high cognitive skills. The primates who were most successful in moving through the complex, extensive social network had the greatest chance of finding partners and safe sources and of protecting themselves and their offspring.
Give an example of both a direct and an indirect way in which the geographical environment can influence a culture.
In some cultures, for finding a partner, physical attractiveness is more important than in other cultures, where other traits (for example, having a sense of humor or a high intelligence) may be just as important or even more important. Is this variation in on the value of physical attractiveness an example of evoked or transmitted culture? Explain this.
What is pluralistic ignorance? How does this phenomenon maintain culture?
A direct way in which geography can influence a culture is, for example, through the type of food that is available. In places where many large mammals live, hunting is likely to be part of the culture and provide much of the food intake. In places where little or no large mammals live, people from the local culture will hardly or not hunt and will have to get their food in a different way. In an indirect way, the physical environment of a culture can also influence the structure and values of a society. If the environment is rough, and the way of collecting food is dangerous (for example when hunting large animals), more emphasis will be placed on masculinity in culture. If the environment is less dangerous and food is collected more easily and safely, there will be less stereotypical gender roles.
This is an example of evoked culture. The attachment of physical attractiveness to a partner is a psychological process that is present in all cultures, but is more important in cultures where people's health is generally more at risk. Physical attractiveness means good health, and in places where health is a major asset, more value is attached to this than in places where health is seen as more natural.
Pluralistic ignorance is the tendency of people to collectively misinterpret the thoughts that explain the behavior of others. In many situations people do not say what they really think, but what they think is desirable. So, it may be that a group holds a certain opinion together because everyone thinks that the majority agrees with this, while in reality this is not always true. Pluralistic ignorance is relevant to the preservation of culture, because people are more influenced by what they believe what other people think than by what others actually think.
A lot of (cross-cultural) psychological research is performed by students. This sometimes leads to problems with the 'power' of the research.
What is meant by 'power' and how can a sample consisting mainly of students influence this power?
Why are results from cross-cultural research with students often useful?
Different response biases can occur when conducting surveys with people from different cultures. For example, two people of equal length may answer the question "are you tall?" differently, because they compare themselves with the people around them. What is the name of the response bias that occurs in this case?
Which three steps are needed to understand a cultural difference? Give an example with each step.
What is the difference between within-group manipulation and between-group manipulation, and what ensures that you can draw well-founded conclusions from the results for both types?
What is the advantage of within-groups manipulation compared to between-groups manipulation?
Power refers to the ability of a study to observe an effect in the population that is actually present. Students from different cultures are more similar than non-students from different cultures. This increases the chance that an effect that does exist in the general population will not be found if the sample consists mainly of students, because they are not always representative of the general population.
In cross-cultural research, a sample consisting mainly of students is often used. If an effect is found between students from different cultures, this means that the effect in the overall population is likely to be even greater. After all, students are very similar, so if even a cultural variation is found among them, that variation will probably be even greater for non-students.
3. Reference group effect - Giving an answer based on comparison with people in your immediate environment is the result of reference group effects.
Firstly, an existing theory about possible mutual variables of the cultural difference must be researched and studied. Secondly, it must be proven that there is an underlying construct. Finally, the relationship between the cultural difference found and the underlying construct must be demonstrated. These steps are illustrated in the following example: a found difference between Americans and Japanese is that Japanese are ashamed faster. A leading theory states that the Japanese have a greater sense of interdependence than Americans (step 1). The scientists who investigated the difference in shame argued that interdependence led to a greater tendency toward shame. The second step was to prove that the Japanese indeed have a greater sense of interdependence. This turned out to be the case. Finally, it was demonstrated that there was a positive correlation between the degree of shame and the degree of interdependence among both the Japanese and the Americans.
In between-group manipulations, different, randomly assigned groups of test subjects receive different levels of the independent variable. Because the participants in all conditions are statistically equal at the start of the study (by means of random assignment), any difference in their responses or behaviors must be due to manipulations of the independent variable. After all, this is the only difference between the two conditions. With within-group manipulations, each subject receives more than one level of the independent variable. There is therefore no random assignment which means that all participants receive all the levels of the independent variable. Differences in responses can again only be attributed to the independent variable, because other factors are kept constant (controlled) and the independent variable is the only thing that changes.
Within group manipulation the advantage is that the different response bias no longer play a role. Every condition is applied to every test subject, and the test subject has the same possible response bias in each condition. With this form of manipulation, all factors (except the independent variable) are therefore guaranteed to be kept constant; the test subject is not only statistically similar in every condition, but also completely identical.
Research into agreements about children with regard to sleeping showed that most North Americans choose to let their children sleep separately from the parents from an early age on.
Which three principles guided them in this decision?
People from some other cultures often choose to let the children sleep with their parents. Name two principles that can lead to this choice.
What is the noun bias?
Is the noun bias a universal phenomenon? What does that mean?
Which three parenting styles were distinguished by Baumrind? Name them and provide a description of each.
They were guided by the following principles: avoidance of incest, the sexual and emotional privacy of the parents (the sacred couple) and the ideal of autonomy (children must be independent from a young age on).
They are guided, among other things, by the following principles: protection of the vulnerable (young children are not left alone at night) and female chastity anxiety (girls must not be allowed to undertake sexual activities).
The noun bias means that young children use relatively more nouns than verbs.
The noun bias is not a universal phenomenon, it does not occur in all cultures. For example, Chinese children make more use of verbs than of nouns.
What is the difference between the independent view and the interdependent view of the self?
In which cultures does the interdependent view of the self often occur?
Both people from collectivist cultures and people from individualistic cultures use rationalization to solve cognitive dissonance. However, there is a difference in the way they use this.
What is this difference?
If you want to use cognitive dissonance to get people to donate some money, with what argument would you probably persuade someone from a collectivist culture quickly?
What is the difference between the theory of the incremental and the theory of the entity self?
Which five factors are distinguished in the five-factor model of personality? Describe all five of the factors.
Within the independent view of the self, much emphasis is placed on the inner characteristics of a person as the basis of their identity. These identity characteristics are experienced as independent from interactions with others. Important aspects that define the self are clearly distinguished from relationships and take place within the individual himself. Within the interdependent view of the self, there is more emphasis on relationships and roles as the basis of identity. Behavior is seen as dependent on the thoughts, feelings and actions of others. Individuals are therefore not seen as separate and clear units, but as participants in a larger social unit.
The interdependent conception of the self mainly occurs in collectivist cultures.
People from individualistic cultures mainly rationalize their own decisions. People from collectivist cultures mainly rationalize the decisions they make for others. People from collectivist cultures are also inclined to rationalize decisions that they think others would take.
In that case it would be better to say that a friend of the person concerned has donated money. People from collectivist cultures are more likely to rationalize and make decisions that they think others made before.
People who have the theory of the incremental self believe that we, as humans, can easily change. We can always adjust and improve our self-concept. People who have the theory of the entity self believe that aspects of the self are largely resistant to change, and that traits are innate and remain stable over time.
The attitude of migrants about the new culture in which they settle often shows a pattern that exists of three phases. Name and explain each of these three phases.
Which four acculturation strategies are distinguished and what views does the migrant have with each strategy on their home culture and the new (host) culture?
Which two factors, apart from the acculturation strategy that someone uses, influence the extent to which a migrant adapts successfully to a new culture?
What is meant with 'code change' within cultural psychology?
How does the degree of bicultural identity integration influence the use of code change?
Code exchange indicates the exchange of cultural framework in different cultural situations. For example, it is possible that an American with a Japanese background behaves in a "Japanese" way when he is with Japanese family or his cultural background is emphasized in another way, while behaving in an "American" way when he is with his American friends.
People with a high degree of bicultural identity integration will use code change more often, because they can identify with both cultures and see them as compatible. People with a low degree of bicultural identity integration will use code change less often because they see the two cultures as opposed.
What is the self-serving or self-enhancing bias?
What strategies are there to gain or maintain a positive self-image?
What is there to say about these strategies with regard to people with an interdependent self-concept?
Name and describe two ways in which we can influence our own lives. Give an example with each of them.
What differences are found with regard to making choices in:
The self-serving or self-enhancing bias is the tendency of people to rate themselves higher than average on personal traits such as loyalty, creativity or social skills.
The strategies for gaining or maintaining a positive self-image are mainly used by people with an independent view on the self. People who hold an interdependent view of the self are more likely to, when faced with failure, increase their motivation on the task, because they think that when they increase their effort, they can succeed. When they are successful, they attribute this to something outside of themselves.
What is the difference between analytical and holistic thinking?
How does the difference between analytical and holistic thinking express itself in terms of attention?
In which cultures is holistic thinking the most common form of thinking?
What is the fundamental attribution error?
Does the fundamental attribution error occur in all cultures? Explain this.
What is the difference between a high context culture and a low context culture and how is communication influenced by this?
In analytic thinking, the emphasis is on independent objects. The objects are defined in terms of their properties. A set of fixed, abstract rules is also used to understand and predict the behavior of the objects. Holistic thinking focuses more on the context as a whole. It is an associative way of thinking that pays close attention to the relationships between objects and between the objects and their environment. Objects are defined on the basis of their relationships with each other and with the environment and these relationships are used to predict and understand the behavior of the objects.
Analytical thinkers are more inclined to focus their attention on separate parts of a scene, namely those parts that represent interesting objects. Analytical thinkers show field independence; the ability to separate objects from their background. Holistic thinkers spread their attention more throughout the scene. They pay more attention to the relationships that can exist between different objects. Holistic thinkers show field dependence; they see objects as connected to the background. Research has shown that analytical thinkers perform better on tasks where it is important to focus attention on separate components, while holistic thinkers perform better on tasks where attention needs to be distributed throughout the scene. When analytical and holistic thinkers look at the same scene, they perceive this scene in a different way.
Holistic thinking is more common in East Asian cultures, as well as in Western cultures (where analytical thinking is most common).
The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to explain behavior on the basis of underlying dispositions, in which situational information is ignored.
The fundamental attribution error does not occur in all cultures. In some Asian cultures, such as the Indian one, the reverse attribution error occurs. On the contrary, people are inclined to explain behavior on the basis of situational information, in which underlying dispositions are ignored.
In a high context culture, people are very involved with each other, which ensures that there is a lot of shared information that guides behavior. There are clear rules of conduct for every situation. Because this information is generally shared and understood, it does not need to be stated explicitly. In a high context culture, communication is therefore less explicit, because much information can be derived from the source of shared information. In a low context culture, people are less involved with each other and there is less shared information. In a low context culture, communication is therefore more explicit and detailed, because people have a smaller source of shared information to interpret the situation.
What does the James-Lange theory of emotions state?
The two-factor theory of emotions arose as a criticism of the James Lange theory. What was this criticism based on and what does the two-factor theory of emotions entail?
What are the six basic emotions, according to Ekman and Friesen?
What is meant by subjective well-being?
Which two factors influence subjective well-being?
What difference occurs between collectivist and individualistic cultures when it comes to what people mean by subjective well-being?
The James-Lange theory of emotions states that our bodies respond to stimuli in the environment to make us respond in a way that help us to survive. Emotions are the changes in our body that give us directions for how to behave. Different emotions are associated with each emotion.
Schacter and Singer, who came up with the two-factor theory of emotions, did not find the James-Lange theory plausible because the autonomic nervous system would be too slow and awkward to trigger all the different emotions. The two-factor theory of emotions states that emotions are our interpretations of bodily sensations. Physical sensations can therefore be interpreted in different ways, and thus trigger different emotions depending on the situation.
The six basic emotions are anger, fear, joy, sadness, surprise and disgust.
Subjective well-being is the degree of satisfaction that people experience about their own lives.
People in an independent culture feel happier faster if they behave in a way that is consistent with their inner desires. They base their sense of well-being on how many positive feelings they experience. Positive feelings are therefore seen as a good life in individualistic cultures. People in an interdependent culture feel good about their lives if they live by the standards of others to be a good person. Living according to cultural norms is therefore seen as the basis of a good life in collectivist cultures.
Name three characteristics of faces that are considered attractive worldwide. Provide an evolutionary explanation for each of these characteristics for why it is seen as attractive.
What is the mere exposure effect?
What is the difference between low and high relational mobility?
In which cultures is low relational mobility more common?
How does the level of mobility affect having enemies?
Which four basic relational models are distinguished by Fiske (1991)? Give an explanation and an example for each form.
The mere exposure effect points to the fact that people find things more attractive the more they are exposed to them. For example, we like certain people, fashion or music more if we have heard or seen them before.
People who live in a culture with high relational mobility only enter into relationships if both people benefit from it. In most cases, relationships are voluntary, self-chosen and can be avoided. People who live in a culture with low relational mobility are part of a fixed network with relationships that are often not self-chosen and cannot be avoided. The activities in daily life always take place in the same context, and this is how relationships are formed.
Low relational mobility is more common in interdependent cultures.
Because people in a culture with low relational mobility often have no ability to end or avoid unwanted relationships, and relationships often are not chosen freely, they are more likely to make enemies. In cultures with high relational mobility, people often choose their relationships themselves and unwanted relationships are avoided or terminated. People are less likely to have enemies in a culture with high relational mobility; if a relationship turns out to be undesirable or starts to become annoying, they can end the relationship without damaging their network (which is the case in cultures with low relational mobility).
What three levels of morality did Kohlberg distinguish? Give an explanation for each level.
What can you say about the way people pass through these levels (according to Kohlberg)?
Which three codes of ethics do Shweder and his colleagues distinguish?
What are the three ethics developed by Haidt and Graham? Also, give the instincts that are related to the ethics.
According to Kohlberg, the order in which people go through these levels is fixed, but the endpoint (that is, the level of morality someone ultimately achieves) and the speed with which the levels are completed vary.
Name three variables that can explain the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and life expectancy.
What is meant by the epidemiological paradox? Give a possible explanation for this phenomenon.
Give an example of how culture can influence a genotype.
How does relative deprivation relate to health?
The epidemiological paradox points to the phenomenon that, despite their lower SES and minority status, Latin American people do not run a higher health risk and even have lower mortality rates than Americans of European descent. Possible explanations for this phenomenon are the healthier lifestyles of many Latin Americans, and the fact that they often live in close-knit groups. The latter has a positive influence on health.
An example of how cultures can influence the genotype is the development of lactose tolerance in the West. Before the ancestral population of people left Africa, they were in a state of lactose intolerance (this means that people can no longer process lactose after childhood). Over time, a certain mutation resulted in a mutation that made an individual lactose tolerant. This is an example of how culture can influence natural selection, and therefore the genotype; lactose tolerance is more common in cultures where it was customary to keep cattle.
Relative deprivation is a predictive factor for poorer health; it is true that your life expectancy is not only influenced by having a low SES, but also by the feeling that you have a low SES.
Which two arguments are there that support the statement that bulimia nervosa is a culture-related syndrome?
Depression is a universal syndrome, but the symptoms manifest themselves differently in some non-Western cultures than in Western cultures. Explain the differences with regard to the symptoms.
Give three possible explanations for this difference.
Name two non-Western, culture-related syndromes and provide a short description of them.
What does cultural competence mean in the context of mental health care?
The symptoms of depression are often described in the West as psychological complaints (psychologization), while in China they are more often described as physical complaints (somatization). In the West, for example, depression is seen more as a mood disorder and in China as a headache and sleep disorder.
The symptoms of depression can also be experienced differently. In the East there is a less clear separation between body and mind than in the West, which can cause symptoms to be experienced differently in both cultures.
Cultural competence means that therapists recognize their own cultural influences, develop knowledge about the cultural background of the patient and develop the skills to achieve a culture-sensitive way of providing assistance.
What is the difference between social loafing and social striving?
What are predictors of corruption? Give an answer that explains how the predictor predicts corruption.
What are the two different types of working together and negotiation? What does each type of negotiation mean?
Social loafing is trying less hard when working in a group than when working individually. This is mostly found in the West. Social striving is trying to perform better when working in a group. This is seen in East Asia. The difference is the context in which the performance is at peak. In social loafing, it is when working individually, and for social striving, it is when working together in an ingroup.
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