An Introduction to Culture and Psychology

Chapter 1 An Introduction to Culture and Psychology

• In the context of psychology, which of the following is true of cross-cultural research?

a) It is topic-specific, and not a method.

b) It concludes that humans are inherently alike and what is true of one culture is

always true of another culture.

c) Traditionally, it incorporated knowledge contrasting human cultures versus

nonhuman animal cultures.

d) It involves participants of differing cultural backgrounds and allows for

comparisons of findings across those cultures.

ANS: d

A-head: Psychology with a Cultural Perspective

REF: 5

Feedback: Cross-cultural research is a research methodology that tests the cultural parameters of psychological knowledge. It involves participants of differing cultural backgrounds and allows for comparisons of findings across those cultures.

• Cross-cultural research helps us _____.
• demonstrate that there are no cultural differences in attributional styles among

different human cultures

• understand principles about human behaviors within a global perspective
• establish that the relationship between culture and behaviors is a one-way street
• exhibit the reactions of infants to music

ANS: b

A-head: Psychology with a Cultural Perspective

REF: 6

Feedback: Cross-cultural research is a way of understanding principles about human behaviors within a global perspective. Cross-cultural research not only tests whether people of different cultures are similar or different; it also tests possible limitations in our knowledge by examining whether psychological theories and principles are universal or culture-specific.

• A universal psychological process is one that is considered to be true for some people

of some cultures.

a) True

b) False

ANS: b

A-head: Psychology with a Cultural Perspective

REF: 6

Feedback: A universal psychological process is one that is found to be true or applicable for all people of all cultures. A culture-specific psychological process is one that is considered to be true for some people of some cultures but not for others.

• What distinguishes cultural psychology from mainstream psychology?

(Culture and Psychology, 6e David Matsumoto, Linda Juang) (Test Bank all Chapters) 1 / 4

a) The topic of study

b) The interest in a narrow range of phenomena related to human behavior

c) Topic-specific cross-cultural research methods

d) The interest in understanding cultural influences on behavior

ANS: d

A-head: Psychology with a Cultural Perspective

REF: 7

Feedback: What distinguishes cultural psychology from mainstream psychology is not the topic of study but the interest in understanding cultural influences on behavior, and the testing of limitations to knowledge using cross-cultural research methods. The impact of the growth of cultural psychology and cross-cultural research on mainstream psychology has been enormous.

• Population density influences culture, whereas climate does not.

a) True

b) False

ANS: b

A-head: What Is Culture?

REF: 9

Feedback: One aspect of ecology that influences cultures is climate. Another ecological factor that influences culture is population density.

• Which of the following statements regarding language is correct?

a) Nonhuman animals have the ability to symbolize their physical and metaphysical

world.

b) Some nonhuman animals can create sounds representing symbols (morphemes).

c) Some nonhuman animals can construct sentences.

d) Syntax and grammar are unique to humans.

ANS: d

A-head: What is Culture?

REF: 12

Feedback: Humans, unlike other animals, have the unique ability to symbolize their physical and metaphysical world, to create sounds representing those symbols (morphemes), to create rules connecting those symbols to meaning (syntax and grammar), and to put all these abilities together in sentences. Language is one of the tools in the toolkit of humans.

• One of the most important thinking abilities that humans have unlike other animals is

the ability to _____.

• believe that other people are intentional agents
• maintain social networks and hierarchies
• communicate with each other
• invent and use tools

ANS: a

A-head: What is Culture?

REF: 12 2 / 4

Feedback: One of the most important thinking abilities that humans have unlike other animals is the ability to believe that other people are intentional agents—that is, that they have wishes, desires, and intentions to act and behave. Humans have causal beliefs.

• Morality is a uniquely human product that apparently turns on in humans around nine

months of age.

a) True

b) False

ANS: a

A-head: What is Culture?

REF: 12

Feedback: Morality is a uniquely human product that apparently turns on in humans around nine months of age. This is a critical time of development of many cognitive abilities.

• _____ refers to knowledge about motivations concerning behaviors that are common

among people in a group.

a) Shared intentionality

b) Self-concept

c) Hypercognition

d) Collective identity

ANS: a

A-head: What is Culture?

REF: 12

Feedback: Shared intentionality refers to knowledge about motivations concerning behaviors that are common among people in a group. Shared intentionality may be at the heart of social coordination, which allows for the creation of human culture.

• Which of the following statements is true of the ratchet effect?

a) It refers to the idea that humans continually improve on improvements, that they

do not go backward or revert to a previous state.

b) It is a set of basic psychological skills and abilities that people can use to meet

their needs.

c) It is a psychological process that is found to be applicable for humans only after

the beginning of civilization.

d) It is the process of learning about and being indoctrinated into a culture.

ANS: a

A-head: What is Culture?

REF: 12

Feedback: The ratchet effect is the concept that humans continually improve on

improvements, that they do not go backward or revert to a previous state. Progress occurs because improvements move themselves upward, much like a ratchet.

• Which of the following statements is NOT true of animal culture?

a) Many animals are social; that is, they work and live in groups.

b) In animal societies, there are clear social networks and hierarchies. 3 / 4

c) Animals have the cognitive ability to share their intentions with others.

d) Many animals communicate with each other.

ANS: c

A-head: What is Culture?

REF: 12

Feedback: One thing that differentiates humans from other animals is the fact that we have the cognitive ability to share our intentions with others. One of the major functions of language, in fact, is to allow us to communicate a shared intentionality.

• Human culture is a unique meaning and information system, shared by a group and

transmitted across generations, that allows the group to meet basic needs of survival, pursue happiness and well-being, and derive meaning from life.

a) True

b) False

ANS: a

A-head: What is Culture?

REF: 15

Feedback: Human culture is a unique meaning and information system, shared by a

group and transmitted across generations, that allows the group to meet basic needs of survival, pursue happiness and well-being, and derive meaning from life. Human cultures exist first to enable us to meet basic needs of survival.

• Which of the following statements is true of animals?

a) All animals are solitary and do not live in groups.

b) In animal societies, there are no clear social networks and hierarchies.

c) Many animals communicate with each other.

d) Animals do not have the ability to invent and use tools.

ANS: c

A-head: What is Culture?

REF: 16

Feedback: Many animals communicate with each other. Bees communicate via a complex dance concerning the source of flowers.

• What are the three characteristics of human cultures that differentiate them from

animal cultures?

a) Social groups, family, and language

b) Complexity, differentiation, and institutionalization

c) Communication, groups, and institutionalization

d) Language, groups, and social needs

ANS: b

A-head: What Is Culture?

REF: 16

Feedback: Cumulative culture allows human cultures to differ from animal cultures on complexity, differentiation, and institutionalization. For example, not only do humans make tools, we make tools to make tools.

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