International Module/Global Socio Cultural 1

International Module/Global Socio Cultural 1
A Review

Gabriel Gualdron
PSY 2012.004
Professor Larson
October 25, 2013
International Module/Global Socio Cultural 2

International Module/Global Socio Cultural
A Review: In the recent years, researchers have found that cultural differences might dictate what people think and how they think (Dr. Nisbett, 2000, para.6) said: ''We used to think that everybody uses categories in the same way, that logic plays the same kind of role for everyone in the understanding of everyday life, that memory, perception, rule application and so on are the same,''. (Dr. Nisbett, 2000, para.6) ''But we're now arguing that cognitive processes themselves are just far more malleable than mainstream psychology assumed.'' This document will address a review, of how culture plays a role in the way individuals, from different cultures, think and behave.
. In a series of study conducted by Dr. Richard Nisbett, social psychologist at the University of Michigan, and his colleagues, found that people who have lived and grown up in different cultures, for example (Asians and European-Americans), tend to think differently. Nisbett (2005) conducted a study in which participants from China and America were matched on age and graduate fields of study. The experiment consisted in measuring, if there will be a difference in the fixation points and movements of the eye among the Chinese and the American participants. They were shown a total of 72 pictures, in which there were, objects, animals, nonliving things, and different background scenes. Half of these pictures were modified to create 36 pictures of single, focal, foreground objects. The participants also wore a 120-Hz head-mounted eye-movement tracker (ISCAN, Burlington, MA). Nisbett (2005) reported, Americans tend to fixate more on objects, while on the other hand, Chinese tend to fixate more on the backgrounds. Nisbett (2005) conluded that Chinese are more holistic, while Americans are more analytic.

Discussion The evidence supports the theory of how perception is influenced by culture. As a result, East Asians are most likely to perceive things in a different way Westerns do. Culture affects the way individuals behave or react in different situations. For example: if two people are arguing, East Asians might try to avoid to support any of the parties, On the other hand, Westerns are most likely to support either one