Cultural Factors of Memory

Kearins (1981)

100

AIM:

To see whether indigenous Australians might perform better on tests that took advantage of their ability to encode with 1.____ cues

 1. (Visual or auditory)

Visual

200

PROCEDURE:

Participants are made up of indigenous Australians and adolescent white Australians. 20 objects were placed on a board divided in 20 squares, and told to study it for 30 seconds then, the objects were moved to the middle of the table.

They were then asked to 1. _______

1. Put them back in their initial place or organize them by color. 

Put them back in their initial place.

300

RESULTS:

On all four tasks the indigenous Australians 1._____ placed more objects

1. Incorrectly or Correctly

Correctly

400

IMPLICATIONS:

This suggests that survival needs may shape and reward a particular way of encoding information in memory.

True or False

True

Cole & Scribner (1974)

100

AIM:

To see if _____ has an effect on how someone memorizes things

(hint: title of game)

Culture

200

PROCEDURE:

The study compared children in a small tribe in rural Liberia and compared them to children in the US. The kids were shown a list of objects and then were asked to remember what they were shown. They used a “free recall” which means they could recall the objects in 1._____

1. Any order or specific order

Any order

300

RESULTS:

The children who did attend school in Liberia and the US were able to remember much more than the children in Liberia who were not in school. 

In a later trial, the children who were not in school were asked to recall a story, and then they were able to remember much 1._____ when there was more important information rather than just a list.

1. More or less

1. More

400

IMPLICATIONS:

The conclusion was that the children who were in school were able to memorize a list better.

However, in the second trial, the children who were not in school were able to remember more of a detailed story. This shows that the children were able to remember information 1._____ when their imagination was used.

1. More/better or Less/worse

1. More/better 

Kulkofsky et al (2011)

100

AIM: 

The researchers studied to see if there was any difference in the rate of ______ memories in collectivistic and individualistic societies.

Flashbulb

200

PROCEDURE:

The particpants were asked to recall as many memories as they could of public events occurring in their lifetime. Then they were asked five questions about how they learned about the event. They also asked to answer questions about the importance of the event to them _______.

Personally/Emotionally

300

RESULTS:

The researchers found that in a 1. _________ culture like China, personal importance and intensity of emotion played less of a role in predicting flashbulb memory. Compared with more 2. _________ cultures that place greater emphasis on an individual's personal involvement and emotional experiences.

(individualistic or collectivistic)

1. collectivistic

2. individualistic

400

IMPLICATIONS:

Since focusing on the individual's own experiences is often de-emphasized in the Chinese, there would be 1._____ rehearsal of the triggering event compared with participants from other cultures 2._____ and thus a chance of developing an FBM.

1. More or Less

2. Lower or Higher

1. Less

2. Lower