PSYC 3350-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY
STUDY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
General Psychology - ANSWER-Richard Shweder's term for the overarching perspective of the
field of psychology of assuming that the mind operates under a set of natural and universal laws
that exist independently of the context that the individual is in and of the content of what they
are thinking about
Nonuniversal - ANSWER-The fourth, and lowest, level of universality, which states that a given
cognitive tool does not exist in all cultures and can be considered a cultural invention
Existential Universal - ANSWER-The third level of universality, which states that a given cognitive
tool exists across cultures, although the tool is not necessarily used to solve the same problems
across cultures, nor is it equally accessible across cultures
Functional Universal - ANSWER-The second level of universality, which states that a given
cognitive tool exists across cultures and is used to solve the same problem across cultures, but
is more accessible to people from some cultures than others
Accessibility Universal - ANSWER-The first and highest level of universality, which states that a
given cognitive tool exists across cultures, is used to solve the same problem across cultures,
and is accessible to the same degree across cultures
WEIRD Societies - ANSWER-Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic societies- a
shorthand for the kinds of societies that the psychological database is largely based on
Muller-Lyer Illusion - ANSWER-A visual illusion in which a line with ends that angle away from
the line appears longer than a line with ends that angle toward the line
Colour-blind Approach - ANSWER-Looking beyond individuals' ethnicities or race in an effort to
focus on their common human nature
Multicultural Approach - ANSWER-Attending to and respecting the distinctive aspects of
different cultural groups
Ethnocentrism - ANSWER-The tendency to judge people from other cultures by comparing them
to the standards of one's own culture
, Russian Cultural-Historical School - ANSWER-A school of thought which argued that people
interact with their environment through the "tools" or human-made ideas that have been
passed down to them through history
Prestige Bias - ANSWER-A tendency to imitate prestigious others more than less-prestigious
others-that is, those who have the respect and attention of others
Theory of Mind - ANSWER-A human ability to understand that others have minds that are
different from one's own, and thus that other people have their own distinct perspectives and
intentions
Imitative Learning - ANSWER-A type of social learning in which the learner internalizes aspects
of the model's goals and behavioral strategies
Emulative Learning - ANSWER-A type of social learning focused on the environmental events
involved with a model's behaviour such as how the use of one object could potentially affect
changes in the sate of the environment
Ratchet Effect - ANSWER-The process by which cultural information becomes more complex and
often more useful over time because an initial idea can be learned from others and then
modified and improved by the learners
Cultural Worlds - ANSWER-Worlds that contain cultural ideas that have accumulated over time
Encephalization Quotient - ANSWER-The ratio of an animal's brain weight to the brain weight
predicted for a comparable animal of the same body size
Social Brain Hypothesis - ANSWER-The theory that cognitive demands inherent in social living
led to the evolution of large primate brains
Neocortex Ratio - ANSWER-The ratio of the volume of the neocortex to the volume of the rest
of the brain, which is used as a proxy measure of intelligence
Proximal causes - ANSWER-Causes that have direct and immediate relations with their effects
Distal Causes - ANSWER-Initial differences that lead to effects over long periods of time and
often through indirect relations
Evoked Culture - ANSWER-The notion that all people, regardless of where they are from, have
certain biologically encoded behavioural repertoires that are potentially accessible to them,and
that these repertoires are engaged when the appropriate situational conditions arise
Transmitted Culture - ANSWER-The notion that people learn about particular cultural practices
through social learning or by modelling the behaviour of others who live near them
STUDY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
General Psychology - ANSWER-Richard Shweder's term for the overarching perspective of the
field of psychology of assuming that the mind operates under a set of natural and universal laws
that exist independently of the context that the individual is in and of the content of what they
are thinking about
Nonuniversal - ANSWER-The fourth, and lowest, level of universality, which states that a given
cognitive tool does not exist in all cultures and can be considered a cultural invention
Existential Universal - ANSWER-The third level of universality, which states that a given cognitive
tool exists across cultures, although the tool is not necessarily used to solve the same problems
across cultures, nor is it equally accessible across cultures
Functional Universal - ANSWER-The second level of universality, which states that a given
cognitive tool exists across cultures and is used to solve the same problem across cultures, but
is more accessible to people from some cultures than others
Accessibility Universal - ANSWER-The first and highest level of universality, which states that a
given cognitive tool exists across cultures, is used to solve the same problem across cultures,
and is accessible to the same degree across cultures
WEIRD Societies - ANSWER-Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic societies- a
shorthand for the kinds of societies that the psychological database is largely based on
Muller-Lyer Illusion - ANSWER-A visual illusion in which a line with ends that angle away from
the line appears longer than a line with ends that angle toward the line
Colour-blind Approach - ANSWER-Looking beyond individuals' ethnicities or race in an effort to
focus on their common human nature
Multicultural Approach - ANSWER-Attending to and respecting the distinctive aspects of
different cultural groups
Ethnocentrism - ANSWER-The tendency to judge people from other cultures by comparing them
to the standards of one's own culture
, Russian Cultural-Historical School - ANSWER-A school of thought which argued that people
interact with their environment through the "tools" or human-made ideas that have been
passed down to them through history
Prestige Bias - ANSWER-A tendency to imitate prestigious others more than less-prestigious
others-that is, those who have the respect and attention of others
Theory of Mind - ANSWER-A human ability to understand that others have minds that are
different from one's own, and thus that other people have their own distinct perspectives and
intentions
Imitative Learning - ANSWER-A type of social learning in which the learner internalizes aspects
of the model's goals and behavioral strategies
Emulative Learning - ANSWER-A type of social learning focused on the environmental events
involved with a model's behaviour such as how the use of one object could potentially affect
changes in the sate of the environment
Ratchet Effect - ANSWER-The process by which cultural information becomes more complex and
often more useful over time because an initial idea can be learned from others and then
modified and improved by the learners
Cultural Worlds - ANSWER-Worlds that contain cultural ideas that have accumulated over time
Encephalization Quotient - ANSWER-The ratio of an animal's brain weight to the brain weight
predicted for a comparable animal of the same body size
Social Brain Hypothesis - ANSWER-The theory that cognitive demands inherent in social living
led to the evolution of large primate brains
Neocortex Ratio - ANSWER-The ratio of the volume of the neocortex to the volume of the rest
of the brain, which is used as a proxy measure of intelligence
Proximal causes - ANSWER-Causes that have direct and immediate relations with their effects
Distal Causes - ANSWER-Initial differences that lead to effects over long periods of time and
often through indirect relations
Evoked Culture - ANSWER-The notion that all people, regardless of where they are from, have
certain biologically encoded behavioural repertoires that are potentially accessible to them,and
that these repertoires are engaged when the appropriate situational conditions arise
Transmitted Culture - ANSWER-The notion that people learn about particular cultural practices
through social learning or by modelling the behaviour of others who live near them
