Module 1 Culture is difficult to definea · Information we learn from other people o Language, norms, rituals, food, clothes, ways of thinking etc · Groups of people that share that information o It can be broad: "Western culture" And it can be narrow: "classroom culture" Challenge with studying culture · Cultural boundaries are vague o People are exposed to variety of cultural ideas o Nationality is typically used as indicator of culture · Cultures change over time · Consideration within-culture variation Culture runs deep and is everywhere · Culture profoundly influences our psychology ? Differences ranging from thinking to food, clothes . We often don't notice the influences that culture has on us since it is present virtually all of the time Culture is a part of human nature . No other species comes close to how good we are at it ? It can be difficult to find examples of animal culture But it is difficult to go any length of time without being exposed to human culture . It is what has allowed us to produce complciated artifacts o Called cumulative cultural evolution o We copy and improve earlier versions Where does culture come from? · Cultures are very different from each other · Differences don't seem to be due to genetic differences between populations ? Genes are too slow, cultural change is fast · Ecological and geographical differences have an impact o Eg dangerous environments lead to masculine men Transmitted and evoked culture
· Transmitted culture is learned through social/cultural learning o What we typically think of as culture · Evoked culture is when a context evokes a behavior in everyone o Eg., preference for physically attractive people is evoked from environments with parasites · Generally speaking, transmitted culture is more important than evoked culture Global culture · Many places are greatly inflenced by international companies, news, etc · A type of global culture can develop because of this influence Like similar movies, books, etc Cultures change, but they also persist · Like biological evolution, cultural evolution builds on the past · One factor that influences change is climate o When climate is relatively stable, cultural traditions still work, so they are more likely to persist o When temperature fluctuates more, it can affect agriculture, and old traditions can become less useful Studying Cultural Psychology · Cultural psychology is sometimes controversial · We are discussing differences between people . It is quite easy to get offended o We are socialized to view our norms as right And differences between culture might imply one way is better or worse · Cultural psychology sometimes discusses sensitive topics . Please try to be respectful of people and their beliefs in discussions forums What is Culture? 1. Information (in the broadest sense of the word) o Information acquired from other people through social learning o E.g., language, hair style, clothes, buildings, tools, food, customs 2. Groups of Individuals . People within a shared context o These people share cultural information