PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE EXAM
TEST WITH QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWRS
cultural psychology - examines the cultural foundations of psychological processes and
human behavior; how psychological processes are influenced by the cultural milieu, and
vice versa; their theories and methodologies explicitly includes the role of culture as an
influence on psychological process
cross-cultural research - tests the cultural parameters of psychological knowledge by
comparing psychological processes between two or more cultures
similarities between cultural psychology and cross-cultural research - use the scientific
method and heavily dependent on inferential statistics
differences between cultural psychology and cross-cultural research - for cultural
psychology, culture is a main feature in their theoretical perspectives; for cross-cultural
research, more of a focus on testing universality and look for variance in the world
culture - used to describe or explain a broad range of features of a group of individuals:
general characteristics of a society, heritage or tradition, rules or norms, ways of
learning or problem solving, the organization of a group, and the origins of a group
book's working definition of culture - "Unique meaning and information system, shared
by a group and transmitted across generations, that allows the group to meet basic
needs for survival, pursue happiness and well being, and derive meaning from life"
meaning and information systems include norms, attitudes, values, symbols, etc. Is not
static, it can evolve. Besides survival, it has a purpose: the well being of its members
where culture comes from - the need of a group life; the environment; resources; and
the evolving human mind
the need of a group life - increase chances for survival; division of labor; minimization of
social conflict
environment - accommodate the ecology of the space: climate, geographical location,
population density, disease prone environments, and previous cultures and contact with
other cultures
resources - availability of natural resources (water and arable land and available seeds
and animal stock); money (affluence as human created resource and allows to obtain
,resources beyond the limits of the group); and time (life expectancy has increased
dramatically in the second half of the 20th century)
the evolving human mind - basic human needs and motives: universal needs (physical
needs- eat, drink, sleep, reproduce and safety and security needs- hygiene, shelter,
warmth); social motives (forming social and work groups, negotiating status hierarchy,
battling nature/fighting for food, and attracting mates/raise children); and The Universal
Psychological Toolkit
universal psychological toolkit - language (distinctly human, symbolize physical and
internal worlds, eventually provide a lasting record); cognitive abilities (social cognition-
see others as agents with intentions [shared intentionality], memory, hypothetical
reasoning, problem solving, and planning); continuous improvement (a good creation is
transmitted and improved by the next generation [ratchet effect]; emotions (ability to
have and perceive emotions, emotions that cue to react in answer to events); and
personality traits (individual variability in patterns of behavior- described in personality
dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and
conscientiousness)
shared intentionality - see others as agents with intentions
ratchet effect - a good creation is transmitted and improved by the next generation
functional understanding of culture - adaptation of groups to their environment produces
behaviors, ways of living, thinking, and being [this is a metaphor for these ways]; group
living requires social coordination for efficient survival (shared intentionality) [groups
create rules for living that define this]; and provides guidelines for what to do, how to
think, and what to feel [guidelines are passed along generations-sometimes with
improvements- ratchet theory]
animal culture - have clear social networks and hierarchies, invent and use tools, and
communicate with each other and pass information on to the next generation
how human culture differs from those of animals - complexity [animals make tools,
humans make tools to make tools; animals communicate, humans have language],
differentiation [humans may be part of different social networks], and institutionalization
[humans "automatize" group processes, i.e. schools]
society - a system of interrelationships among people; are complex; same individual has
multiple relations with multiple groups
difference between society and culture - society is a system of interrelationships among
people, but culture refers to the meanings and information associated with those social
networks (ex: every society has families, but human cultures give concept of family its
own unique meaning [different human cultures assign different meanings to family]
, groups that have culture - nationality/country; language; ethnicity; gender; sexual
orientation; disability; and socio-economic status
groups that don't have culture - race; personality; and popular culture
countries - have their own culture; have their own ecology, resources, sociocultural
history, language(s), history, etc. within there are sub-cultures: sometimes formally
defined, historically defined, or geographically defined; SES also produces sub-cultures
within these
language - different groups of these tend to have different cultures; reflects ways to
interact among speakers of this [polite way to address people or show hierarchical
distance] however groups with the same this can have different culture values [ex: US
vs UK]
ethnicity - usually denotes individuals with common nationality, geographic origin,
language, religion, history, culture, a continuity in time and a future projection; difficult to
distinguish culture dimensions from these dimensions; more multidimensional definition:
by cultural norms and values; by strength, saliency, and meaning of this identity; and by
experiences and attitudes associated with minority status
gender - refers to behavior or patterns of activities that a society or culture deems
appropriate for men and women; these differences are therefore cultural differences
gender role - refers to the degree a person adopts the gender specific and appropriate
behaviors ascribed by his/her culture
sexual orientation - individuals with alternative these may share a psychological outlook
unique to their orientation
disability - some researchers have found common socio-psychological characteristics
shared by this group of people
socio-economic status - anthropologists and sociologists recognize that affluence
produces different cultures; in societies with large inequality of income the difference is
quite noticeable
race - more of a social construction than a biological essence; culture provides it its
meaning and has substantial within-group variability [category boundaries are
ambiguous and varies across different cultures]
personality - unique constellation of traits, attributes qualities, and characteristics; vastly
different within a culture whereas culture is stable across individuals
popular culture - trends in music, art, and other expressions that are popular among
people, but does not involve sharing a wide range of psychological attributes across
TEST WITH QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWRS
cultural psychology - examines the cultural foundations of psychological processes and
human behavior; how psychological processes are influenced by the cultural milieu, and
vice versa; their theories and methodologies explicitly includes the role of culture as an
influence on psychological process
cross-cultural research - tests the cultural parameters of psychological knowledge by
comparing psychological processes between two or more cultures
similarities between cultural psychology and cross-cultural research - use the scientific
method and heavily dependent on inferential statistics
differences between cultural psychology and cross-cultural research - for cultural
psychology, culture is a main feature in their theoretical perspectives; for cross-cultural
research, more of a focus on testing universality and look for variance in the world
culture - used to describe or explain a broad range of features of a group of individuals:
general characteristics of a society, heritage or tradition, rules or norms, ways of
learning or problem solving, the organization of a group, and the origins of a group
book's working definition of culture - "Unique meaning and information system, shared
by a group and transmitted across generations, that allows the group to meet basic
needs for survival, pursue happiness and well being, and derive meaning from life"
meaning and information systems include norms, attitudes, values, symbols, etc. Is not
static, it can evolve. Besides survival, it has a purpose: the well being of its members
where culture comes from - the need of a group life; the environment; resources; and
the evolving human mind
the need of a group life - increase chances for survival; division of labor; minimization of
social conflict
environment - accommodate the ecology of the space: climate, geographical location,
population density, disease prone environments, and previous cultures and contact with
other cultures
resources - availability of natural resources (water and arable land and available seeds
and animal stock); money (affluence as human created resource and allows to obtain
,resources beyond the limits of the group); and time (life expectancy has increased
dramatically in the second half of the 20th century)
the evolving human mind - basic human needs and motives: universal needs (physical
needs- eat, drink, sleep, reproduce and safety and security needs- hygiene, shelter,
warmth); social motives (forming social and work groups, negotiating status hierarchy,
battling nature/fighting for food, and attracting mates/raise children); and The Universal
Psychological Toolkit
universal psychological toolkit - language (distinctly human, symbolize physical and
internal worlds, eventually provide a lasting record); cognitive abilities (social cognition-
see others as agents with intentions [shared intentionality], memory, hypothetical
reasoning, problem solving, and planning); continuous improvement (a good creation is
transmitted and improved by the next generation [ratchet effect]; emotions (ability to
have and perceive emotions, emotions that cue to react in answer to events); and
personality traits (individual variability in patterns of behavior- described in personality
dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and
conscientiousness)
shared intentionality - see others as agents with intentions
ratchet effect - a good creation is transmitted and improved by the next generation
functional understanding of culture - adaptation of groups to their environment produces
behaviors, ways of living, thinking, and being [this is a metaphor for these ways]; group
living requires social coordination for efficient survival (shared intentionality) [groups
create rules for living that define this]; and provides guidelines for what to do, how to
think, and what to feel [guidelines are passed along generations-sometimes with
improvements- ratchet theory]
animal culture - have clear social networks and hierarchies, invent and use tools, and
communicate with each other and pass information on to the next generation
how human culture differs from those of animals - complexity [animals make tools,
humans make tools to make tools; animals communicate, humans have language],
differentiation [humans may be part of different social networks], and institutionalization
[humans "automatize" group processes, i.e. schools]
society - a system of interrelationships among people; are complex; same individual has
multiple relations with multiple groups
difference between society and culture - society is a system of interrelationships among
people, but culture refers to the meanings and information associated with those social
networks (ex: every society has families, but human cultures give concept of family its
own unique meaning [different human cultures assign different meanings to family]
, groups that have culture - nationality/country; language; ethnicity; gender; sexual
orientation; disability; and socio-economic status
groups that don't have culture - race; personality; and popular culture
countries - have their own culture; have their own ecology, resources, sociocultural
history, language(s), history, etc. within there are sub-cultures: sometimes formally
defined, historically defined, or geographically defined; SES also produces sub-cultures
within these
language - different groups of these tend to have different cultures; reflects ways to
interact among speakers of this [polite way to address people or show hierarchical
distance] however groups with the same this can have different culture values [ex: US
vs UK]
ethnicity - usually denotes individuals with common nationality, geographic origin,
language, religion, history, culture, a continuity in time and a future projection; difficult to
distinguish culture dimensions from these dimensions; more multidimensional definition:
by cultural norms and values; by strength, saliency, and meaning of this identity; and by
experiences and attitudes associated with minority status
gender - refers to behavior or patterns of activities that a society or culture deems
appropriate for men and women; these differences are therefore cultural differences
gender role - refers to the degree a person adopts the gender specific and appropriate
behaviors ascribed by his/her culture
sexual orientation - individuals with alternative these may share a psychological outlook
unique to their orientation
disability - some researchers have found common socio-psychological characteristics
shared by this group of people
socio-economic status - anthropologists and sociologists recognize that affluence
produces different cultures; in societies with large inequality of income the difference is
quite noticeable
race - more of a social construction than a biological essence; culture provides it its
meaning and has substantial within-group variability [category boundaries are
ambiguous and varies across different cultures]
personality - unique constellation of traits, attributes qualities, and characteristics; vastly
different within a culture whereas culture is stable across individuals
popular culture - trends in music, art, and other expressions that are popular among
people, but does not involve sharing a wide range of psychological attributes across
