Memory Specificity Across Cultures

跨文化的记忆特异性

• 批准号: 1147707
• 负责人: Angela Gutchess
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Brandeis University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-04-01 至 2016-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1147707&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Memory; Specificity; Across; Cultures

This project investigates cross-cultural differences in memory. In six experiments that integrate behavioral and neuroimaging (fMRI) methods, this approach analyzes how the details people remember for visual images differ across cultures. The lens of culture can direct preferred modes of processing and/or attention to particular features of the environment, and this will affect what is remembered. In a comparison of East Asian, Turkish, and Western (i.e., American) cultures, Angela Gutchess of Brandeis University will examine cultural differences in exactly what people remember. Americans are predicted to remember more specific details due to their preferential attention to features. In contrast, the groups will be well-matched on general memory, which is not dependent upon attention to features. Predicted cultural differences in memory should reflect the use of intentional strategies, and directing people's attention to specific, relevant features should reduce cross-cultural differences in memory. Furthermore, aging, which reduces the availability of cognitive capacities to deploy strategies and process details in explicit memory, should reduce cross-cultural differences in memory specificity. In contrast, for implicit memory, cultural differences in memory for specific details will continue to be observed because the development of implicit memories is not thought to depend on cognitive capacity. Functional neuroimaging methods will provide converging evidence for cultural differences in memory specificity, and identifying neural regions will help the PI to distinguish between different theoretical accounts for why people from different cultures remember things differently. The intellectual merits of the proposal include examining cultural differences across both explicit and implicit memory, which are thought to be separable memory systems. To date, the majority of research findings on memory are based on Western populations, meaning that theories of memory may largely characterize Westerners and may not generalize to other populations. The study of cultural differences will lead to a more inclusive field of psychology, with a better understanding of which memory principles are universals vs. are culture-dependent. The proposed work will make substantial advances in understanding the mechanisms of cross-cultural differences in memory specificity by employing a multimethod approach using sensitive memory measures, including neuroimaging. By studying memory in a multicultural world, the proposed studies may contribute to better cross-cultural understanding as well as better scientific understanding. Little work has investigated cultures outside of the East/West dichotomy. If the nature of memory formation differs across cultures, this could help people better understand why people from Eastern and Western cultures often view the world differently because what we remember powerfully shapes what we believe. In legal settings, for example, people who remember more details of the situation in which a crime was committed may hold a perpetrator less responsible than people who focus solely on (and disproportionately remember) the perpetrator's actions. Diverse populations will also be included in this research through international collaboration and participation of non-Westerners in the proposed research. This will provide a training ground for young scientists across international sites and heightening their awareness of the impact of culture on psychological processes. Finally, the work will be broadly disseminated through participation in international conferences as well as science outreach programs.

该项目研究了记忆的跨文化差异。在整合行为和神经影像学（fMRI）方法的六个实验中，这种方法分析了人们记得的细节如何在各种文化中不同。文化的镜头可以将加工和/或关注的首选模式引向环境的特定特征，这将影响所记忆的内容。在比较东亚，土耳其语和西方（即美国）文化中，布兰代斯大学的安吉拉·恩奇斯（Angela Gutchess）将研究人们所记得的文化差异。预计美国人会因为对特征的优先关注而记住更多的特定细节。相比之下，这些组将在一般内存上匹配，这并不取决于对特征的关注。预测的记忆中的文化差异应反映出故意策略的使用，并将人们的注意力引导到特定的相关特征应减少记忆中的跨文化差异。此外，衰老降低了认知能力在明确记忆中部署策略和过程细节的可用性，应减少记忆特异性的跨文化差异。相反，对于隐式记忆，将继续观察到特定细节的记忆差异，因为隐含记忆的发展不取决于认知能力。 功能性神经影像学方法将为记忆特异性的文化差异提供融合的证据，并且识别神经区域将有助于PI区分不同的理论说明，说明为什么来自不同文化的人们以不同的方式记住事物。 该提案的智力优点包括检查明确和隐性记忆之间的文化差异，这些文化差异被认为是可分离的记忆系统。迄今为止，关于记忆的大多数研究结果都是基于西方人群的，这意味着记忆理论可能在很大程度上表征了西方人，并且可能不会推广到其他人群。对文化差异的研究将导致心理学的更具包容性领域，并更好地理解哪些记忆原则是普遍性与文化依赖性的。拟议的工作将通过使用敏感的记忆测量（包括神经影像学）采用多方法方法来理解记忆特异性的跨文化差异的机制。通过研究多元文化世界中的记忆，拟议的研究可能有助于更好地跨文化理解和更好的科学理解。东/西二分法以外的文化很少研究。如果记忆形成的本质在各种文化之间有所不同，这可以帮助人们更好地理解为什么来自东方和西方文化的人们通常会以不同的方式看待世界，因为我们记得的东西会塑造我们所相信的。例如，在法律环境中，比仅关注（不成比例地记住）犯罪者的行为的人要记住犯罪犯罪的情况的更多细节可能会使犯罪者负责。通过国际合作和非西方人参与拟议的研究，这项研究也将包括在这项研究中。 这将为各个国际地点的年轻科学家提供培训理由，并提高他们对文化对心理过程的影响的认识。最后，这项工作将通过参加国际会议以及科学外展计划来广泛传播。