CLO #8: Discuss how social or cultural factors affect one cognitive process

Culture & Memory  Human cognition is culturally dependent – ie. Cognitive abilities are influenced by the social and cultural context in which people live  Although the processes – memory, perception, language etc may be universal how they function may differ

War of the Ghosts Experiment (Bartlett, 1932)  AIM: To determine if memory is reproductive or reconstructive in nature.  To determine whether culture plays a role in memory.  To determine the role of existing schemas in memory.

War of the Ghosts Experiment (Bartlett, 1932) METHODS:  Asked participants to read a story twice called “War of the Ghosts”, a Native American legend.  After 15 minutes they were asked to reproduce the story from memory.  He also asked them to reproduce the story several days later.

FINDINGS  Overall, the story was difficult for Westerners to reproduce.  Specifically, the story became shorter (to about 180 words) after 6-7 reproductions  The story remained coherent no matter how distorted it was.  The story changed to reflect the cultural details familiar to the participant

More Findings  People reconstruct the past by fitting it in with existing schemas. Therefore memory is reconstructive not reproductive.  Schema processing is affected by culture. Therefore, our past experiences (influenced by our culture) and schemas affect our memory.

Memory Strategies Test (Cole & Scribner,1974) AIM: To investigate whether memory strategies are different in different cultures.

METHODS Children from the U.S. and the Kpelle People of Rural Liberia were tested in their recall of a series of words. Kpelle children were divided into two groups: 1. children who had attended school 2. children who had no schooling

How many can you recall? platecutlasscup potatotrousershammer onionsingletorange calabashhoeshirt potknife pan file bananahead tie coconuthat

METHODS The list created by researchers could be divided into 4 categories: Utensils, clothes, tools, vegetables.

FINDINGS  Schooled Kpelle children and U.S. children remembered the most words by using chunking. They also appeared to use the same strategy by categorizing similar items.  Nonschooled Kpelle children over age 10 only remembered 10 items and then two more items even after practicing 15 times. They did not use chunking or rehearsal.

FINDINGS  In a later trial researchers presented the items in the context of a narrative. Not only did the nonschooled children recall the items, but they chunked them according to their roles in the story.

Conclusion  Memory is universal, but memory strategies are not. They vary by culture and seem to be culturally relevant.

Supporting Research  Another study supports this. Mayan children could easily recall objects if they were related in a meaningful way to the scenery (Rogoff & Wadell, 1982).

Possible Bias in Memory Research  Researchers tend to be Western and thus have a western bias which may not take into account culturally relevant memory techniques.  Therefore: Western researchers must use caution and use cultural experts or insiders when evaluating cognitive processes and designing studies in nonWestern cultures.