Cognition and Perception Psych 448C 11/10/08

Objectives  Basic cognitive and perceptual processes may not be universal.  Holistic reasoning (middle-class, Western) vs. analytical reasoning (middle-class, East Asian): –1. Attention to objects versus relationships –2. Categorization using abstract rules versus similarity information

Cultural Variations in Socio-Cognitive Processes （ Markus & Kitayama, Psychological Review, 1991 ） In East Asia, people tend to conceptualize “the self” as a relational and contextual existence ＝ Interdependent View of Self In North America, people tend to conceptualize “the self” as an entity detached from others and its context. ＝ Independent View of Self Self Concepts

Analytic Thought Origin: Greek Philosophy The dominant patterns are observed in Euro-American societies Determinants ： Relatively mild climates; economy does not require strong social ties; nature can be easily controlled. World View: Things exist by themselves and can be defined by their attributes (context independent, object-oriented).

Holistic Thought Origin: East Asian Philosophy (Taoism, Buddhism, East Asian Animism) The dominant patterns are observable in China, Japan, Korean cultures. Determinants: Frequently changing climate; Economy requires strong social ties. World view: Things are inter-related. Various factors are involved in an event (context dependent, context- sensitive).

Early Social Differences in Ancient Greece and China  Social Structure: –China: family, village, emperor –Greece: city-states, king  Harmony in China: relationships  Debate in Ancient Greece: arguments  Differences in social systems remain between East Asians and the West

Socio-Cognitive Processes Self Concept Causal Attribution Attitude Inference Attention The assumption of Cultural Psychology (1): Culture as a worldview shapes human socio-cognitive processes. Biological Factors The advanced assumption of Cultural Psychology (2): Culture as a worldview shapes even basic psychological processes, especially attention. General Assumption in Psychology: Cultural factors are superficial or simply treated as noise. Culture Ecological Factors Basic Processes

Cognitive Differences Follow from Social Differences:  Attention and Perception  Categorization and Reasoning

Attention and Perception

Attention and Memory: Masuda and Nisbett (2001)

Masuda and Nisbett (2001):  American Participants: –Object –Moving Objects  Japanese Participants: –Background –Inert Objects

Attention and Memory: Recognition Task   Phase 1- Judge how much you like the target animals.   Phase 2- Identify previously seen animals.

Masuda and Nisbett (2001):  American Participants: –Object –Moving Objects –Accurate recognition of fish when background is changed  Japanese Participants: –Background –Inert Objects –Less accurate recognition of fish when background is changed

Attention to Change:

Attention to Change: What has changed?

Change Blindness:

Number of detected changes USAJPN Contextual Information Focal Object Information (Masuda & Nisbett, under review; Nisbett & Masuda, PNAS, 2003) Change Blindness Results

A drawing produced by an American student The Scenery (Picture-Drawing) Task A drawing produced by an Asian student Picture produced by an AmericanPictures produced by a Japanese The Portrait (Picture-Taking) Task

Results of The Picture-Drawing Task American drawings East Asian drawings N M SD N M SD t p The ratio of the horizon to the frame The numbers of additional objects

The ratio of the face to the frame (%) Laboratory Sitting Model Laboratory Standing Model Americans East Asians Atrium Sitting Model Atrium Standing Model Results of The Picture-Taking Task

Culture and Attention ： The Rod & Frame Task Measuring the context dependency-The RFT (Witkin & Berry, 1977) (Ji, Peng, & Nisbett, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000) Task: Making the rod vertical while ignoring the angle of the frame.

(Ji, Peng, & Nisbett, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000) East Asians were sensitive to the contextual information (Frame). As a result, they made errors when the frame was angled. For North Americans: They focused on the rod by itself. As a result, they made fewer errors when the frame was angled.

Culture and Attention ： The Frame-Line Task （ Kitayama, Duffy, Kawamura, & Lersen, Psychological Science, 2003 ） Absolute Task Relative Task East Asians performed the relative task better than the absolute task. North Americans performed the absolute task better than the relative task.

North Americans East Asians FISHReport Main Fish Main Fish as well as Context ANIMALRecognition The Background effect was weak Influenced by the changes in background ChangeParadigm Find changes in Focal objects Find changes in Context Emotion Eye Movement Consistent Judgment Center 95% After 1 sec somewhat goes to the context Infuenced by the background Center 85% After 1sec>Goes to the Context Information EstheticsObject-Oriented (Western Perspectives, Portraits)Context-Oriented (East Asian Perspectives, Portraits with context) RFT Attending to the rod Attending to the frame FLT Absolute ＞ Relative Absolute ＜ Relative Cultural Variations in Attention: Summary

Reasoning

Object Categorization: (Ji & Nisbett, 2000; Choi, Nisbett & Smith, 1999)  Americans: –Categories:  Pig and Dog are both examples of animals  Chinese and Koreans: –Relationship:  Pig eats corn

Reasoning

Cognitive Styles: Analytic vs. Holistic Reasoning  Holistic: –Focus on field in which object is located –Relationship b/w object and field to predict and explain –Absence of universal laws  Analytic: –Focus on object and attributes –Use attributes to categorize –Use universal laws about categories to model