Week 12 Essay Assignment - What methodological problems

DU Personal Theory On Cultural Cognition Conundrums Essay

Week 12 Essay Assignment

Each week you are required to respond to one essay question (25 points-20 points for content; 5 points for writing/APA citation format). Each essay must be 350-500 words in length and citations must be provided when necessary. Do NOT use a title page/abstract for your essays (those parts are only used on APA style manuscripts). Please submit your responses directly to me via email by 11:59 pm of the due date.

1. What methodological problems are encountered by cross-cultural researchers more than researchers who study memory or problem solving within a single culture?

2. What types of “cultures” do you think exist within the United States? Is there a different culture in the North vs. the South, or in rural areas as opposed to cities? Do any of these cultures affect cognition?

3. Someone tells you that there is a cross-cultural difference between American and Middle Eastern children on a particular cognitive task. Before you believe this conclusion, what questions might you ask about alternative explanations to “culture” in explaining the apparent difference?

 4. Several cross-cultural studies have pointed to the importance of formal schooling in determining how children and adults perform a cognitive task. As college students, do you think that your schooling has changed the way you approach certain tasks? How? (Do not just think about changes in your knowledge base; think about changes in the way you actually perform a skill or approach a problem.)

5. You may have heard that Chinese and Japanese students outperform American students in mathematical ability. Your textbook gives one explanation, that of the comparative complexity of each culture’s number-words. Can you think of other cultural (and non-cultural) explanations for the advantage that Chinese and Japanese students have?

6. What does it mean to assert that a particular cognitive capacity or skill is culturally relative or culturally universal? How do these assertions differ?