Culture and the Individual

Cognition: The Anthropological Approach

Focus on In-Context, Everyday Cognition

Focus is on mental processes and structures in context

That means everyday cognition, rather than cognition that attempts to be “best” or “correct” as in intelligence or epistemological tests

Heuristics

Derived from linguistics

Emic vs Etic

Feature Analysis and Componential Analysis

Features that distinguish one meaning from another

Meanings have more than one feature

Structure of meanings

Paradigm Serial Symbolic Processing

Taxonomy Connectionist Model

Heuristics

A heuristic is a cognitive/mental short cut

Satisficing – Finding an option that meets certain criteria, but is not necessarily the “best option” possible EG. Choosing a tree to make a canoe

Elimination by aspects – Using criteria one by one in sequence to eliminate options that are not desirable EG. Buying a used car

Frame Elicitation Interviewing

• A technique for eliciting an emic version of how someone conceptualizes a particular concept/topic.

• Tell me about?

• What kinds of ___________ are there?

• What is the difference between ___ and ___?

EG. Race Interview

Similarity Judgments

• Give participants three terms/concepts and ask them to select the one that is most different

• Elicits feature analysis from informants• Allows researcher to test predictions about

features of terms/categories

EG. Sedan – SUV – Truck

Paradigms

A structure made up of mutually exclusive categories

American Kinship Categories

Three features for kinship categories: Generation, Collaterality, Gender

TaxonomiesA structure made up of categories where

some categories are kinds of others

Kinds of Pets

Folk taxonomies rarely exceed five levels, probably because of short term memory.

Major Components of Feature Analysis

• Domain – an area of conceptualization• Attribute – a feature of meaning• Dimension – a set of contrasting features• Polysemy – multiple senses of meaning for a single

term/concept• Conjunctivity – features that jointly define a concept/term• Chunking – grouping like things together into a new

single category• Analogy – matching concept relationships• Semantic Networks - structures of meaning that are

linked together by patterned relationships

Schema• Schema = a complex cognitive structure that

consists of an abstract plan for organizing human experience

• Synonyms in cognitive science– Frame– Scene– Scenario– Script

•Two functions

Representations of environmental regularities

Processing mechanisms

Abstract Representation

• EG. Entertaining: American Dinner PartyPeople – multiple individualsRoles – one or more hosts, one or more guestsObjects – table, chairs, dishes, glasses,

silverware, table covering, a variety of foods and drinks, etc.

Location – a home with a dining room, plus other rooms in which people can relax before and after the dining experience.

Behavior Patterns – greeting, conversation, dining, etc.

Processing Mechanism

• Recognizing features

• Recognizing the configuration (pattern of relationship) of features

• Constructing an event to fit the configuration of features that make up the abstract schema that already exists

Types of Schema

• Image SchemaHouse

• Event SchemaEntertaining

• Orientation SchemaInside

• Narrative SchemasFairy tale narrative

• Metaphoric Schemas“Britain is taking small steps”

Image Schema

Which one fits your image of a house?

Schema Model

Serial Symbolic Processing Model

Serial symbolic processing works well for math and logic problems. Functions as rigid rules that govern outcomes

In this model, X occurs when a and b are activated; Y occurred when c and d are activated.

There is no partial activation or aggregated activation potential.

Connectionist Model

Serial and Connectionist Models

• Serial structures are quickly learned and easily changed

• Serial structures are defined by rules that can be verbalized

• Connectionist structures are built up over time through many experiences

• Connectionist structures are not easily changed • Connectionist structures are usually not

conscious or verbal – much more difficult to explain

Cultural Models

Cultural models are schema that are extracted by the investigator from the thinking and behavior of informants. Informants do/can not describe them explicitly.

• Carolina Islands Navigation system• Folk Schema for “the Mind”• The American Model of Marriage

Carolina Islands Navigation

Major components of the Model• Star Tracks• Placement of the Sun• Reference Island• Etaks• Stationary Canoe,

Moving EnvironmentLearned formally with instruction

Folk Schema for the Mind

• Conscious, perceived and perceiving self• Real life event• Perception• Thought – to feeling or wish• Feeling – Reflexive Expressive Act• Wish – to thought or intention• Intention• ActLearned informally; no instruction

American Model for the Mind

Eight Characteristics of Marriage• Sharedness• Lastingness• Mutual Benefit• Compatibility• Difficulty• Effort• Success or Failure• RiskLearned informally; no instruction

Cultural Theories

Cultural Theories are schema consisting of an interrelated set of proposition that describe the nature of something. Are verbalized explicitly by informants.

• The Theory of Conventionality

• The Theory of Essences

Conventionality

• Conventionality – rules that are arbitrary, relative and alterable

• Morality – rules that are rational, universal and unalterable

Question: Does every culture have a theory of conventionality?

Essences

• Are there natural kinds that remain intact despite changes in many of the distinctive features that define them?

• Still under investigation.

Schemas and Perception

• How people label things can affect how the things are perceived

• This effect only occurs if the names or labels are salient at the time of perception

• Language (labels) only affects perception weakly

Schema and Memory• An event that has a short, reliable and agreed-upon label will be

more easily remembered than one that does not• An event that is coded in a schema will be more easily remembered

than one that is not.• People are biased toward remembering things together when they

associate them together in schemas• The more typical an event, the less accurately it will be remembered• People will remember typical events by filling in typical details• Memory can be biased by verbal stereotypes as well as typical

event schemas• Memories recalled by people without well-formed schemas will be

less accurate • Memories recalled by people without well-formed schemas when

aggregated across individual will be more complete and accurate than memories recalled by people with well-formed schemas

Schemas and Reasoning

Reasoning is making inferences on the basis of the form of the argument alone

• Reasoning allows us to create schemas• Schemas allow us to reason• Resoning appears to be a human universal• People can use logic correctly when they have

been trained with familiar content• “People are smart because someone taught

them the right models.”

Socially Distributed Cognition

• Individuals are dependent on good cultural models for intelligence and ability

• Cultural models are held by a group and are taught by members of the group

• The individual is only a part of the general process by which models are developed, elaborated, taught, replaced and forgotten.

Confirmation Bias in Distributed Cognition

• The larger the decision making group, the less optimal the decision will be

• New information discovered by individuals will be ignored by the group in favor of what is already known

• This is called “confirmation bias”• Confirmation bias is overcome by

– Having a large number of individuals independently making a decision

– Having a set of agreed upon rules for making decisions or drawing conclusions

Cognitive Artifacts

• To improve distributed cognition– Overcome confirmation bias– Use of cognitive artifacts

• Pencil and paper• Symbolic systems like algebra and calculus• The scientific method• Computer• Calculator• Navigational instruments• Etc.