, CHAPTER 1 What Is Cultural Psychology?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
1.1. Explain two ways in which culture can be conceptualized
1.2. Compare general psychology to cultural psychology
1.3. Discuss evidence supporting cultural psychology’s assertion that the mind and culture make each other up
1.4. Define the four degrees of psychological universality
1.5. Understand how WEIRD samples impact the generalizability of results from psychological research
1.6. Contrast how the color-blind approach affects people differently than the multicultural approach
1.7. Explain how ethnocentrism affects our understanding of other groups’ cultures
1.8. Describe the historical development of cultural psychology
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. A cat teaches another cat in the same alley to hold a mouse a certain way so that the mouse can be more easily eaten. Based on
the definitions of culture used in the textbook, can this example be said to be “culture”?
a) Yes, because the information was passed on by social learning between cats.
b) Yes, because a habit or practice can be said to be “culture.”
c) Yes, because the cats belong to a group of cats from the same alley.
d) No, because the information was passed on in isolation.
e) More than one of the choices is true.
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Culture?
OBJ: 1.1 MSC: Evaluating
2. In an African Studies research paper that you are writing for publication, you use the word “culture” to refer to a South African
people. Which of the following is NOT a challenge to using this definition of culture to indicate “South Africans”?
a) Some South Africans have likely been exposed to ideas from many other countries, such as the United States and China.
b) Present-day South Africans are likely very different from South Africans in the early twentieth century.
c) All South Africans share the same political and environmental contexts, leading them to have very similar experiences.
d) There is too much variability within the South African population to warrant a single “South African” category.
e) South Africa is economically very similar to its neighbor, Botswana.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Culture?
OBJ: 1.1 MSC: Evaluating
3. According to the definition offered in the textbook, which of the following would NOT be a good example of “culture”?
a) A child mimics her brother by using a tablet computer to watch a movie.
b) A child learns how to tie her shoes from her mother.
c) A child improves on her friend’s tool by tying a rock to one end.
, d) A child figures out a novel solution to a new puzzle she has never seen before, all the while listening to her sister play the pi-
ano.
e) A child learns to raise her hand in class to get the teacher’s attention.
ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Culture?
OBJ: 1.1 MSC: Applying
4. A chimpanzee learns from his human zookeeper to wash carrots in the artificial river in his habitat before eating them. Based on
the definitions of culture used in the textbook, can this example be said to be “culture”?
a) Yes, the information was passed on by social learning.
b) Yes, because a habit or practice can be said to be “culture.”
c) Yes, because the chimpanzee belongs to a group of chimpanzees kept in zoos.
d) No, because he learned the practice from a member of a different species.
e) No, because he is the only member of his group to adopt this habit.
ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Culture?
OBJ: 1.1 MSC: Evaluating
5. A key difference between “cultural” psychologists and “general” psychologists is that
a) general psychologists study people whose culture has been statistically controlled for.
b) cultural psychologists study people from different cultures, whereas general psychologists study people from one culture.
c) cultural psychologists believe that the mind is interdependent with context and content, whereas general psychologists believe
that the mind is independent from context and content.
d) general psychologists believe that people everywhere are born with similar brains, whereas cultural psychologists believe that
people are born with different kinds of brains in different cultures.
e) general psychologists believe that experiences shape the mind, whereas cultural psychologists believe that experiences do not
shape the mind.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Is the Mind Independent from, or Intertwined with, Culture? OBJ: 1.2
MSC: Analyzing
6. Your friend is doing a series of visual tasks. In one task, she had to track an object sliding across the screen (slide task). In another
task, she had to track an object that popped up on the screen and then disappeared (pop task). According to a brain scan taken dur-
ing the tasks, her left inferior parietal lobule and right precentral gyrus showed greater activation during the slide task than during
the pop task. What does this mean?
a) Your friend found the slide task easier than the pop task.
b) Your friend found the slide task more difficult than the pop task.
c) Your friend was better at the slide task than at the pop task.
d) Your friend was worse at the slide task than at the pop task.
e) Your friend was more confused during the slide task than during the pop task.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Is the Mind Independent from, or Intertwined with, Culture? OBJ: 1.3
MSC: Applying
7. A key belief of the Sambia is that
a) people are born homosexual and become heterosexual with experience.
b) there are no differences between women and men, so both women and men engage in warfare.
, c) the primary purpose of sexual activity is for pleasure, so they try to maximize the amount of pleasure for each person.
d) heterosexual intercourse and pregnancy are not related.
e) boys become men by acquiring semen from older boys and men.
ANS: E DIF: Easy REF: Case Study: The Sambia
OBJ: 1.3 MSC: Remembering
8. In the Sambian context, the cultural emphasis on boys to go through rituals such as piercing their noses and thrashing them with
sticks suggest that, for the Sambia,
a) men must work hard to maintain their innate maleness.
b) women need to work toward obtaining a femaleness essence.
c) pain is not associated with masculinity.
d) masculinity is something that boys gain from certain behaviors.
e) there is also a strong emphasis on sexuality being rigid and unchangeable.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: Case Study: The Sambia OBJ: 1.3 MSC: Remembering
9. According to the Sambia,
a) men can get jerungdu from certain trees.
b) femaleness is acquired.
c) men can produce semen, while boys must acquire it.
d) heterosexuality is a positive part of life.
e) maleness is innate.
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: Case Study: The Sambia
OBJ: 1.3 MSC: Remembering
10. After an exhaustive study, you find no cultural variation across all samples explored in terms of sleeping in a tree at night. This
finding would best be labeled as a(n)
a) nonuniversal.
b) existential universal.
c) functional universal.
d) accessibility universal.
e) conditional universal.
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Psychological Universals and Levels of Analysis OBJ: 1.4
MSC: Understanding
11. Which of the following levels of psychological universals was NOT proposed by Norenzayan and Heine?
a) statistical universal
b) nonuniversal
c) accessibility universal
d) existential universal
e) functional universal
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Psychological Universals and Levels of Analysis OBJ: 1.4
MSC: Remembering
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
1.1. Explain two ways in which culture can be conceptualized
1.2. Compare general psychology to cultural psychology
1.3. Discuss evidence supporting cultural psychology’s assertion that the mind and culture make each other up
1.4. Define the four degrees of psychological universality
1.5. Understand how WEIRD samples impact the generalizability of results from psychological research
1.6. Contrast how the color-blind approach affects people differently than the multicultural approach
1.7. Explain how ethnocentrism affects our understanding of other groups’ cultures
1.8. Describe the historical development of cultural psychology
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. A cat teaches another cat in the same alley to hold a mouse a certain way so that the mouse can be more easily eaten. Based on
the definitions of culture used in the textbook, can this example be said to be “culture”?
a) Yes, because the information was passed on by social learning between cats.
b) Yes, because a habit or practice can be said to be “culture.”
c) Yes, because the cats belong to a group of cats from the same alley.
d) No, because the information was passed on in isolation.
e) More than one of the choices is true.
ANS: E DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Culture?
OBJ: 1.1 MSC: Evaluating
2. In an African Studies research paper that you are writing for publication, you use the word “culture” to refer to a South African
people. Which of the following is NOT a challenge to using this definition of culture to indicate “South Africans”?
a) Some South Africans have likely been exposed to ideas from many other countries, such as the United States and China.
b) Present-day South Africans are likely very different from South Africans in the early twentieth century.
c) All South Africans share the same political and environmental contexts, leading them to have very similar experiences.
d) There is too much variability within the South African population to warrant a single “South African” category.
e) South Africa is economically very similar to its neighbor, Botswana.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: What Is Culture?
OBJ: 1.1 MSC: Evaluating
3. According to the definition offered in the textbook, which of the following would NOT be a good example of “culture”?
a) A child mimics her brother by using a tablet computer to watch a movie.
b) A child learns how to tie her shoes from her mother.
c) A child improves on her friend’s tool by tying a rock to one end.
, d) A child figures out a novel solution to a new puzzle she has never seen before, all the while listening to her sister play the pi-
ano.
e) A child learns to raise her hand in class to get the teacher’s attention.
ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Culture?
OBJ: 1.1 MSC: Applying
4. A chimpanzee learns from his human zookeeper to wash carrots in the artificial river in his habitat before eating them. Based on
the definitions of culture used in the textbook, can this example be said to be “culture”?
a) Yes, the information was passed on by social learning.
b) Yes, because a habit or practice can be said to be “culture.”
c) Yes, because the chimpanzee belongs to a group of chimpanzees kept in zoos.
d) No, because he learned the practice from a member of a different species.
e) No, because he is the only member of his group to adopt this habit.
ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: What Is Culture?
OBJ: 1.1 MSC: Evaluating
5. A key difference between “cultural” psychologists and “general” psychologists is that
a) general psychologists study people whose culture has been statistically controlled for.
b) cultural psychologists study people from different cultures, whereas general psychologists study people from one culture.
c) cultural psychologists believe that the mind is interdependent with context and content, whereas general psychologists believe
that the mind is independent from context and content.
d) general psychologists believe that people everywhere are born with similar brains, whereas cultural psychologists believe that
people are born with different kinds of brains in different cultures.
e) general psychologists believe that experiences shape the mind, whereas cultural psychologists believe that experiences do not
shape the mind.
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: Is the Mind Independent from, or Intertwined with, Culture? OBJ: 1.2
MSC: Analyzing
6. Your friend is doing a series of visual tasks. In one task, she had to track an object sliding across the screen (slide task). In another
task, she had to track an object that popped up on the screen and then disappeared (pop task). According to a brain scan taken dur-
ing the tasks, her left inferior parietal lobule and right precentral gyrus showed greater activation during the slide task than during
the pop task. What does this mean?
a) Your friend found the slide task easier than the pop task.
b) Your friend found the slide task more difficult than the pop task.
c) Your friend was better at the slide task than at the pop task.
d) Your friend was worse at the slide task than at the pop task.
e) Your friend was more confused during the slide task than during the pop task.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: Is the Mind Independent from, or Intertwined with, Culture? OBJ: 1.3
MSC: Applying
7. A key belief of the Sambia is that
a) people are born homosexual and become heterosexual with experience.
b) there are no differences between women and men, so both women and men engage in warfare.
, c) the primary purpose of sexual activity is for pleasure, so they try to maximize the amount of pleasure for each person.
d) heterosexual intercourse and pregnancy are not related.
e) boys become men by acquiring semen from older boys and men.
ANS: E DIF: Easy REF: Case Study: The Sambia
OBJ: 1.3 MSC: Remembering
8. In the Sambian context, the cultural emphasis on boys to go through rituals such as piercing their noses and thrashing them with
sticks suggest that, for the Sambia,
a) men must work hard to maintain their innate maleness.
b) women need to work toward obtaining a femaleness essence.
c) pain is not associated with masculinity.
d) masculinity is something that boys gain from certain behaviors.
e) there is also a strong emphasis on sexuality being rigid and unchangeable.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: Case Study: The Sambia OBJ: 1.3 MSC: Remembering
9. According to the Sambia,
a) men can get jerungdu from certain trees.
b) femaleness is acquired.
c) men can produce semen, while boys must acquire it.
d) heterosexuality is a positive part of life.
e) maleness is innate.
ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: Case Study: The Sambia
OBJ: 1.3 MSC: Remembering
10. After an exhaustive study, you find no cultural variation across all samples explored in terms of sleeping in a tree at night. This
finding would best be labeled as a(n)
a) nonuniversal.
b) existential universal.
c) functional universal.
d) accessibility universal.
e) conditional universal.
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: Psychological Universals and Levels of Analysis OBJ: 1.4
MSC: Understanding
11. Which of the following levels of psychological universals was NOT proposed by Norenzayan and Heine?
a) statistical universal
b) nonuniversal
c) accessibility universal
d) existential universal
e) functional universal
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: Psychological Universals and Levels of Analysis OBJ: 1.4
MSC: Remembering
