Culture and Cognition
Enculturation and Acculturation
Culture Dimensions
Approaches to studying culture
100

How does Hofstede’s theory of individualistic vs collectivistic cultures explain Kulkofsky’s findings with regard to flashbulb memory?


A. Individualistic cultures tend to focus more on their role in events.

B. Individualist cultures have a sense of guilt that activates the amygdala more than in members of collectivistic cultures.

C. Collectivistic cultures are more modest so don't talk about their accomplishments.

D. Collectivistic cultures look more to the future than to the past.

Individualistic cultures tend to focus more on their role in events.

100

Which of the following is not one of the ways that we are enculturated?

A. Through observational learning

B. Through participatory learning

C. Through contact with other cultures - for example, over the Internet

D. Through direct instruction from gatekeepers - like teachers or parents

C. Through contact with other cultures - for example, over the Internet

This is a definition of acculturation - not enculturation.

100

What does it mean to say that Samoan society has a "very high power distance index?"


A. Samoans focus on the future and think that it is very important to save for potential problems.

B. Samoans put much more focus on the importance of leisure time than on work.

C. Samoans have a strong respect for authority and do not challenge people who are of a higher societal rank.

D. Samoan culture puts a high value on personal achievement. 

C. Samoans have a strong respect for authority and do not challenge people who are of a higher societal rank.

100

Which of the following is not characteristic of an etic approach to studying culture?

A. Spending a lot of time in the culture prior to carrying out research so that the researcher can get a deeper understanding of the culture.

B. Using a standardized list of words for a memory task that has been used since the first experiment of its kind was done in 1971.

C. A researcher wants to compare the scores on depression scales in South Africa, China, France, and the United States to see if there is a difference in the prevalence (rate) of depression in these countries.

D. A researcher goes to another country to test a theory that she has tested a lot in her own culture.

A.A. Spending a lot of time in the culture prior to carrying out research so that the researcher can get a deeper understanding of the culture.

200

Why could we consider Cole & Scribner’s study an emic approach?

A. They assume that memory strategies are universal.

B. They compared two very different cultures.

C. They adapted the list of words to reflect the culture of the participants.

D. They were able to generalize their findings to all African children. 

C. They adapted the list of words to reflect the culture of the participants


An emic approach takes culture into consideration when designing materials for a study. An etic approach uses materials designed in the culture of the psychologist.

200

What conclusion did Odden & Rochat make with regard to how children learn about fishing and the societal hierarchy in the Samoan culture?


A. Children are enculturated through both observation and participatory learning.

B. Children are enculturated through participatory learning.

C. Children are enculturated through observational learning.

D. Children are enculturated through gatekeepers - that is, their parents and teachers instruct them on the cultural norms.

A. Children are enculturated through both observation and participatory learning.

200

How does Hofstede’s theory of individualistic vs collectivistic cultures explain Kulkofsky’s findings with regard to flashbulb memory?

A. Individualistic cultures tend to focus more on their role in events.

B. Individualist cultures have a sense of guilt that activates the amygdala more than in members of collectivistic cultures.

C. Collectivistic cultures are more modest so don't talk about their accomplishments.

D. Collectivistic cultures look more to the future than to the past.

A. Individualistic cultures tend to focus more on their role in events.

200

Which of the following would most likely be an emic study of behavior?

A. A series of interviews to study how Koreans cope with bullying in their schools with the goal of developing strategies for Korean teachers to address bullying.

B. A replication of the Asch conformity study in Saudi Arabia to compare the rate of conformity in Arab and US cultures. 

C. A survey to study the level of xenophobia (negative attitudes toward foreigners) in Canada, Norway, Hungary, Turkey, and Australia.

D. Using MRI scans to look at the size of the hippocampus - the area of the brain responsible for memory consolidation - in victims of war around the world.  

A. A series of interviews to study how Koreans cope with bullying in their schools with the goal of developing strategies for Korean teachers to address bullying.


Emic studies tend to study a singular culture in depth with the goal of improving some aspect of the lives of individuals in that culture.  It does not have the goal of generalizing to the entire human population.  Also, emic researchers create 'tools" that are used with regard to the culture they are studying.  When the same test or survey is given to people regardless of culture, it is most likely an etic study.

300

What were Cole & Scribner’s findings regarding cognition?


A. Children with poor memory skills improved once they went to school. 

B. Rural Liberian children were less intelligent due to malnutrition caused by poverty.

C. Schooling affects the ways that we remember information.

D. Culture plays no role in how we learn.

C. Schooling affects the ways that we remember information.


The study examined the role of schooling in teaching students "chunking strategies."  Children who did not go to school did not learn the list of words by chunking (or categorizing) them in lists. This appears to be a skill that is learned

300

The term Berry used for when it is not possible to adopt the behaviours of a new culture because of discrimination or a lack of acceptance of individuals into the new culture.

A. Marginalization

B. Integration

C. Separation

D. Assimilation

A. Marginalization



400

Which of the following is an example of surface culture?


A. Believing that time is not so important and that it is not problematic to be late.

B. Traditional music that is used at initiation ceremonies to welcome young boys into manhood.

C. Attitudes toward the elderly in the community

B. Traditional music that is used at initiation ceremonies to welcome young boys into manhood.

400

According to Miranda and Matheny (2000), which of the following is not a protective factor against acculturative stress?

A. Good coping skills

B. Bilingualism or good language proficiency

C. Good relationships with family members.

D. Personal experience with travel or working in another country.

D. Personal experience with travel or working in another country.

500

The process by which someone comes into contact with another culture and begins to adopt the norms and behaviors of that culture is known as

A. Ethnocentrism

B. Acculturation

C. Enculturation

D. Globalization

B. Acculturation