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Psychology 307: Cultural Psychology

Lecture 18

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Morality, Perception and Cognition

1. Do cultural groups vary in the extent to which they judge the morality of thoughts? (continued)

2. Does culture influence visual perception?

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1. discuss cultural variation in judgement of the morality of thoughts.

2. distinguish between sensation and perception.

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

3. explain cultural differences in susceptibility to the Mueller-Lyer illusion and horizontal-vertical illusion.

4. discuss cultural variation in depth perception.

5. review evidence supporting cultural differences in “object versus field.”

Do cultural groups vary in the extent to which they judge the morality of thoughts? (continued)

Example: Cohen and Rozin (2001) (continued)

Hypothesized that Protestants would judge the morality of thoughts to a greater extent than Jews due to their distinct religious doctrines:

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Hebrew Bible (Old Testament): The Ten Commandments emphasize behaviour. Examples:

You shall not take the name of the Lord in vainRemember the Sabbath day. On it, you shall do no work.You shall not murder.You shall not commit adultery.You shall not steal.You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

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Christian Bible (New Testament): Passages reference the morality of thoughts. Example:

Jesus stated “You have heard it said ‘you shall not commit adultery’: but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5: 27-28: New American Standard version).

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Presented Jews and Protestants with vignettes in which individuals were thinking about immoral behaviours:

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Mr. B is a 1992 graduate of the University. Since graduation, Mr. B. has worked at an entry-level job in a marketing firm. Mr. B. married his University sweetheart six months after they both had their graduation from University. Mr. B. and his wife do not have any children. One of Mr. B.’s colleagues at work is a very attractive woman. This woman sometimes flirts with Mr. B. and they both know that she would be willing to have a sexual affair with him. For an average of 20 minutes a day, Mr. B. consciously entertains thoughts about having a sexual affair with his colleague by thinking about where they would have an affair and what it would be like to have an affair with her.

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Mr. B. is a senior at the College of Arts and Sciences. One of his courses is a seminar in marketing strategy. Mr. B. asked his professor for permission to turn in his final paper late because of his heavy course load. But his professor did not give him permission, although it was within his right to do so. Mr. B. was not able to get his paper finished on time, and his grade on the paper was changed from an A− to a C. Mr. B. is angry at his professor because of this. Every day on the way to school, Mr. B. passes by this professor's house and sees the professor's dog in the yard. His professor has brought up his dog many times in class, and everyone knows that the professor loves the dog very much. One day Mr. B. realized that it would be easy to give the dog a treat with poison in it, and no one would ever know that he did it. Sometimes, Mr. B. consciously entertains thoughts about poisoning his professor's dog.

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Found that:

• The thoughts were viewed as more immoral by Protestants than Jews.

• The behaviours were viewed as comparably immoral by Protestants and Jews.

• Protestants were more likely than Jews to believe that individuals have control over their thoughts.

• Protestants were more likely than Jews to believe that thoughts lead to behaviours.

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Does culture influence visual perception?

● Perception: The process by which the brain selects, organizes, and interprets the sensory information that it receives from the sense organs; produces internal representations of external stimuli.

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● The internal representations produced through perception are not always accurate representations of

external stimuli.

In processing sensory information, the brain tends to reconstruct information or “fill in” missing information.

● The brain’s tendency to reconstruct information is illustrated by the following example:

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The Thatcher Effect (Thompson, 1980)

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● The internal representations produced through perception are largely influenced by prior experience:

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T E C T

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● Given the impact of prior experience on perception, theorists have reasoned that there should be cultural differences in perception.

● Consistent with this view, studies have found cultural differences in (a) susceptibility to optical illusions, (b) pictorial depth perception, and (c) the tendency to focus on “object versus field.”

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(a) Susceptibility to Optical Illusions

● The Mueller-Lyer Illusion

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● Research suggests that people from non-industrialized cultures are less susceptible to this illusion than

people from industrialized cultures.

E.g., Segall et al. (1963): Found that Americans were more susceptible to this illusion than people from 13 non-industrialized cultures.

● Explanation for this cultural difference: Carpentered world theory.

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● The Horizontal-Vertical Illusion

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● Research suggests that people who reside in enclosed environments are less susceptible to this illusion than people who reside in open environments.

E.g., Jones (1974): Found that people from rural areas were more susceptible to this illusion than people from urban areas.

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● Explanation for this cultural difference: Foreshortening theory.

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“And then he saw the buffalo, still grazing lazily several miles away, far down below. He turned to me and said, 'What insects are those?' At first I hardly understood, then I realized that in the forest vision is so limited that there is no great need to make an automatic allowance for distance when judging size. Out here in the plains, Kenge was looking for the first time over apparently unending miles of unfamiliar grasslands, with not a tree … to give him any basis for comparison .... When I told Kenge that the insects were buffalo, he roared with laughter and told me not to tell such stupid lies.” (Turnbull, 1963, p. 217)

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(b) Pictorial Depth Perception

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● Research suggests that people who have been exposed to Western educational systems interpret this figure differently than people who have not been

exposed to Western educational systems.

E.g., Hudson (1960): Found that Bantu tribes people who had not been educated in European schools perceived the hunter to be pursing the elephant.

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● Explanation for this cultural difference: Western educational systems teach children to perceive 2-

dimensional images as 3-dimensional spatial arrays.

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● Common depth cues in 2-dimensional images:

1. The relative size of objects.

2. Object superimposition.

4. A linear perspective.

5. A texture gradient.

3. Vertical position.

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35Munch: Evening on Karl Johan Street, 1892

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37Shama: Moghul Hunting Scene, Year Unknown

38Title Unknown

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● Research (e.g., Leach, 1975) has shown that educational programs designed to increase sensitivity to depth cues among African children can increase the ability to perceive 3-dimensional spatial arrays from 2-dimensional images.

● The sensitivity to depth cues that results from exposure to Western educational systems is well illustrated by the following image:

40The Two-Pronged Trident

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● People who have been exposed to Western educational systems have significantly more difficulty

interpreting this figure than people who have had little formal education.

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● Research (e.g., Masuda, Gonzales, et al., 2008) has demonstrated distinctions between Western and Eastern art in:

position of horizon.

size of focal object.

(c) Tendency to Focus on “Object versus Field”

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44Shama: Moghul Hunting Scene, Year Unknown

Da Vinci: Mona Lisa, 1503-151945

Manohar: Portrait of Jahangir Holding a Falcon,

1600-1610

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Comparisons of Museum Paintings (Masuda, Gonzales, et al., 2008) 47

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● Similar distinctions have been observed in:

drawings by laypersons in distinct cultures.

photos taken by laypersons in distinct cultures.

Drawing by a European American Female (Masuda, Gonzales, et al., 2008) 49

Drawing by an East Asian Female(Masuda, Gonzales, et al., 2008) 50

Comparisons of Student Drawings (Masuda, Gonzales, et al., 2008) 51

American Photos(Masuda, Gonzales, et al., 2008)

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East Asian Photos(Masuda, Gonzales, et al., 2008)

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Photo Comparisons (Masuda, Gonzales, et al., 2008) 54

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● These differences in art and photography appear to reflect cultural differences in the tendency to focus

on “object versus field.”

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● The Rod and Frame Task (RFT):

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● Research suggests that people from collectivistic cultures are more likely than people from individualistic cultures to perceive the rod as tilted.

E.g., Ji, Peng, and Nisbett (2000): Found that Chinese, Japanese and Korean participants made more “errors” on the RFT than American participants of European descent.

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Morality, Perception and Cognition

1. Do cultural groups vary in the extent to which they judge the morality of thoughts? (continued)

2. Does culture influence visual perception?