Deck 1: What Is Cultural Psychology

Question 1

People from all cultures use umbrellas,but in some cultures umbrellas are used only to block rainwater,whereas in other cultures umbrellas are used only to block the sun.The use of umbrellas across cultures would thus be classified as a(n)

A)statistical universal.
B)nonuniversal.
C)accessibility universal.
D)existential universal.
E)functional universal.

Answer 1

existential universal.

Question 2

You review all of the studies that you've done in your career and realize that they all use WEIRD samples.Based on this characteristic of your samples,which of the following challenges is the most applicable to your work?

A)determining universality
B)countering ethnocentrism
C)getting jerungdu
D)overcoming the Müller-Lyer illusion
E)defining culture

Answer 2

determining universality

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

boys become men by acquiring semen from older boys and men.

Question 4

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 piano.
E)A child learns to raise her hand in class to get the teacher's attention.

Question 5

Assume that the act of giving gifts to neighbors has been documented in every culture that exists in the world.Which of the following is definitely true about the act of gift giving?

A)It does not lead to evidence for cultural differences.
B)It serves the same purpose across all cultures.
C)It happens more in some cultures than in others.
D)It solves the same evolutionary problem in all cultures.
E)It is not a nonuniversal.

Question 6

You grew up learning that nodding your head means "yes," and most people you know do the same;however,you recently learned that people in some cultures nod their heads when they mean to say "no." Nodding your head would thus be characterized as a(n)

A)existential universal.
B)functional universal.
C)nonuniversal.
D)accessibility universal.
E)statistical universal.

Question 7

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.

Question 8

You want to raise your child so that she will not be susceptible to the Müller-Lyer illusion.Based on what the textbook discusses as being the reason for why some people are more susceptible to this illusion than others,what should you do to make your child less susceptible to it?

A)Train her and drill her on it as soon as she can talk.
B)Remove her from North America.
C)Raise her in an environment without corners.
D)Find a place with a high point of subjective equality,and make sure to raise her somewhere else.
E)This cultural difference is genetically inherited,so little can be done to make one less susceptible.

Question 9

Jarad wants to make sure that he does not raise children who are susceptible to the Müller-Lyer illusion.As such,he should

A)first establish whether that susceptibility is an existential universal.
B)adopt the perspective of a general psychologist.
C)make sure his children are low on ethnocentrism.
D)raise his children in places where corners are uncommon.
E)put his children through the Russian cultural-historical school of psychology.

Question 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.

Question 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

Question 12

Your research team found evidence that people in multiple cultures walk with their shoes on their heads,but this "shoe-on-head" way of walking is activated for different reasons across cultures.This would be evidence of a(n)

A)nonuniversal.
B)existential universal.
C)functional universal.
D)accessibility universal.
E)conditional universal.

Question 13

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.

Question 14

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.

Question 15

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.

Question 16

All cultures congratulate their members' achievements to make them feel good about themselves,but some cultures are much more willing to do this than others.According to Norenzayan and Heine,what is this an example of?

A)existential universal
B)accessibility universal
C)functional universal
D)nonuniversal
E)conditional universal

Question 17

Celebrating birthdays is a functional universal.This means that in two cultures,the purpose of birthdays is _____________ across the cultures and how important birthdays are is _____________ across the cultures.

A)different;the same
B)different;different
C)the same;the same
D)the same;different
E)There is not enough information to answer this question.

Question 18

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.

Question 19

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.

Question 20

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 during 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.

Question 21

Which of the following is an example of ethnocentrism?

A)"I grew up eating fish raw,but people from Culture X like to eat fish cooked.Different countries just have different food preferences."
B)"I do not understand.How come we keep dogs as pets,but people from Culture X keep llamas as pets?"
C)"Those people from Culture X are weird.Rather than using forks to eat like we do,like people are supposed to,they like to pick things up using sticks to eat."
D)"We should be more tolerant of different ethnicities,and make that the key goal of the company."
E)"Some cultures are better than others-that is a fact."

Question 22

Who is credited with laying out the theoretical foundations for cultural psychology?

A)Wilhelm Wundt
B)Jerome Bruner
C)Lev Vygotsky
D)Solomon Asch
E)Richard Shweder

Question 23

Your friend subscribes to the notion that people interact with their environments through the human-made ideas that have been passed down to them over time.Your friend is most likely to be associated with which of the following?

A)Wilhelm Wundt's Elements of Folk Psychology
B)the Russian cultural-historical school
C)culture and personality studies
D)early theories in social psychology
E)Jerome Bruner and the launching of the cognitive revolution

Question 24

Your new job in a culturally diverse company requires you to figure out how to deal with this cultural diversity in such a way that yields the most benefits for the company.Your two options are to take the color-blind approach or the multicultural approach.Choose one,and justify your response based on the research presented in the textbook.

Question 25

While chatting over coffee with your friend,you overhear someone say,"I don't understand how those Hindus let cattle wander around their cities and not eat them.Where I come from,cattle are raised,branded,and then turned into steak and burgers.What the Hindus do just isn't normal." Which of the following does this situation best demonstrate?

A)segregation
B)ethnocentrism
C)integrationism
D)discrimination
E)assimilationism

Question 26

As the incoming CEO of a company where people of different ethnicities work in the same workspace,you have been given the task of creating a positive and friendly work environment.This means that people of different ethnicities should have trust in the company and have positive emotions toward each other.To do so,you plan to give a speech.According to the textbook,which of the following is the ideal approach to take in that speech?

A)"There are no racial differences here-only one human race."
B)"Treat everyone the same-as a friend-to make this workplace a friendlier place."
C)"Everyone is special and brings his or her uniqueness to the table.We should treasure and treat everyone similarly."
D)"Company parties every Friday night!"
E)"Every race brings a different piece of the puzzle that,together,will help us accomplish great things."

Question 27

Which of the following statements about ethnocentrism is true?

A)It is necessary for clearer definitions of what constitutes a cultural group.
B)It is when a person can use multiple cultural standards by which to judge behaviors.
C)It means that behaviors that do not seem normal tend to be viewed as less desirable.
D)It suggests an understanding that what may be natural to one may not be natural to others.
E)It suggests an understanding that one takes a purely objective perspective when examining cultural differences.

Question 28

What did the cognitive revolution NOT entail?

A)rejection of behaviorism
B)a revival of cultural psychology
C)a focus on the mind
D)an emphasis on meanings that people drive from their surroundings
E)moving away from stimulus-response relations

Question 29

The Chinese abacus is a cultural invention that leads to the use of a hexadecimal numeral system (i.e. ,base 16,rather than the base 10 numeral system commonly used throughout the world).Therefore,the hexadecimal numeral system is a very unique cultural practice that few other cultures have.Choose the position of either a general psychologist or a cultural psychologist;then,as your chosen psychologist,generate an explanation for the capacity to use the hexadecimal numeral system.

Question 30

The boss of a company in the United States has instituted a new policy requiring all interactions between workers,who are predominantly white Americans,to take a culture-blind approach.This means that the

A)boss wants the workers to treat each other as individuals,with individual experiences and individual histories.
B)boss belongs to the Russian culture-historical school.
C)ethnic minority workers will be more engaged with their work than they were before the new policy was instituted.
D)boss wants the workers to focus on aspects of psychology that are considered nonuniversals.
E)white American workers will act in less prejudicial ways toward ethnic minority workers.

Question 31

Choose the position of either a general psychologist or a cultural psychologist;then,as your chosen psychologist,generate an explanation for cultural variability in susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer illusion.

Question 32

Most companies in multicultural societies such as Canada and Great Britain are staffed with people from different cultural backgrounds.The best approach in dealing with group differences in terms of fostering work engagement and trust toward the company is the _____________.

Question 33

The Russian cultural-historical school emphasized that

A)mind and culture are mutually constituted.
B)a culture is the sum of its members' individual personalities.
C)the mind has a universal layer and a culturally specific layer.
D)people interact with their environments via culturally acquired tools.
E)the psychological effects of cultural learning are best evident by contrasting people from different historical periods.

Question 34

Name each degree of universality based on Norenzayan and Heine's model.For each degree of universality,provide one example for each degree,and justify why your examples are relevant for each level.

Question 35

You decide to start a new research project investigating the universality of drinking alcohol.To do so,you investigate two different cultures from two different continents (the Netherlands and Canada).You find evidence that people in both countries drink beer to the same extent and for the same reasons.Which of the following conclusions can you make about drinking alcohol?

A)It is an accessibility universal.
B)It is a functional universal.
C)It is an existential universal.
D)It is a nonuniversal.
E)No definite conclusion can be made.