I thought I’d share this interesting profile of a burgeoning area of research on cognition and culture in psychology. It raises interesting questions about cultural difference and about what could be called the “American mind.”
Does any of this illuminate the kinds of experiences this class has been dealing with? Do you see any problems with how the research is framed?
This is so interesting! This article reminds me of yet another example of how cultural differences can affect cognition: there is a tribe in the Amazon that does arithmetic logarithmically. Ask Americans to find the midway point between 1 and 9, and they will say, “5”–since 5 is just as far from 1 as it is from 9. Ask Amazonians to find the midway point between 1 and 9, and they will say, “3”–since 1 times 3 is 3, and 3 times 3 is 9. They think of halving in terms of square roots rather than in terms of division by two! This makes our idea of halving suddenly seem quite arbitrary–what makes a division by 2 a better half than a square root? (And as a matter of fact, babies naturally, innately count logarithmically!) Another interesting example of the effect of culture on cognition is an indigenous Australian tribe that keeps very careful track of compass directions. Ask anyone from the tribe which direction they are heading in, and they will give you a very precise answer, like “South by Southeast.” In fact, the literal translation of “Hello” in their language is “In which direction are you going?”–and the answer is simply the direction. Their brains are no different from Western brains, yet they possess a very curious “superpower.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the Amazonians should listen to the WNYC Radiolab show on Numbers (http://www.radiolab.org/story/91698-innate-numbers/) and anyone curious about the aborigines should check out the WNYC Radiolab show called “Lost&Found” (http://www.radiolab.org/story/110193-birds-eye-view/).
This is pretty interesting. Just goes to show how much of a mystery the human mind can be. I also read about the test of the two arrows, and how Americans say one is longer, whereas others from Indonesia would say that the two lines are equal. It seems like our cultural way of development alters the way we inherently think (evidence of groupthink?). I think this also highlights how and why people from different cultures think in different ways. It’s been said that scientists and engineers from abroad tend to solve problems through a different lens than those born in America, sometimes seeing solutions that others completely missed.
It is true that some nationalities have unique qualities that make them very distinct from other nationalities. However, if someone lives in several countries, his/her character would be shaped according to a unique mix of all these cultures. Here is a link to a very interesting article on a man (originally from Ireland) who lived in 23 different countries!
http://www.fluentin3months.com/strange-habits/
I found the list of “strange” habits to be fascinating and somewhat funny. It is true when they say that the cultural environment changes one’s habits.