Cultural differences in perception
- Culture refers to the products of socialisation within a specific society which may be centred around:
- National
- Ethnic
- Religious
- Geographical characteristics
- Culture is manifest in two ways:
- Outwardly e.g. through food, song, dance, rituals, traditions etc.
- Inwardly e.g. through beliefs, attitudes, superstitions etc.
- Cross-cultural research into perception is designed to investigate whether perception is innate
- In which case it will be experienced in the same way regardless of where someone lives/their cultural group
- Or whether perception is learned
- In which case perception will show differences across cultures
- The visual cues present in a person’s physical environment may determine how they perceive the world around them e.g. if I grow up surrounded by open fields will I still see the world in the same way as someone who has grown up in a crowded city?
- Hudson (1960) conducted a study into the effects of culture on perception as follows:
- A diverse range of participants from South Africa were used:
- some of the participants were educated, and some were not (the educated participants were used to seeing 2-D images in books)
- The participants were shown a range of hunting images in 2-D
- The images depicted a hunter aiming a spear with an elephant and an antelope also present in the image
- In each image the hunter and animals were placed slightly differently, with changing backgrounds (see below)
- Hudson found that the participants who had been educated (exposed to images in books) had depth perception and were able to use monocular depth cues (e.g. height in plane) to determine which animal the hunter was pointing the spear at and who was nearer in the image
- Hudson concluded that culture affects perception (access to education and a specifically Westernised style of education is likely to lead to the development of specific depth cues)
- A diverse range of participants from South Africa were used:
Culture on Perception Diagram
Hudson’s (1960) images were used to test cultural differences in perception.
- Another cultural difference in perception is the carpentered-world hypothesis which suggests that people from industrialised countries (Westerners) are so used to living in built-up environments consisting of straight lines and angles that illusions such as the Ponzo trick them but do not trick people who have grown up in highly open, rural environments (Brislin, 1993)
Exam Tip
Hudson’s (1960) study is NOT a named study on the spec but it is a good one to use to demonstrate your understanding of the effect of culture on perception.
Exam Tip
You are probably more likely to be given an exam question which uses a visual source for this part of the specification as the topic of perception relies heavily on imagery. If this happens make sure that you link your answer to the given image (the stem). A significant number of responses are not contextualised by students in exams every year which means that they fail to gain full credit for their answer - make sure that this isn’t you!
Evaluation of the effect of culture on perception
Strengths
- Research such as Hudson (1960) goes some way towards demonstrating that culture plays a key role in how perception develops i.e. it is not a universal phenomenon experienced in the same way regardless of the environment
- Culture has been found to affect other cognitive processes such as memory (see the effect of cultural schemas in Bartlett’s ‘War of the Ghosts’ study) which gives the theory validity
Weaknesses
- One of the issues in conducting cross-cultural research is that the task given by the researchers may not be equally applicable to all cultures e.g. the instructions provided may be overly confusing or mis-translated
- Hudson’s study was published in 1960 which means that it may lack relevance for a modern population due to the effects of globalisation and access to social media
Worked example
Here are some examples of questions you might be asked on this topic - for AO1 and AO3.
AO1: You need to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key concepts, ideas, theories and research.
AO2: You need to apply your knowledge and understanding, usually referring to the ‘stem’ in order to do so (the stem is the example given before the question)
AO3: You need to analyse and evaluate key concepts, ideas, theories and research.
After each featured question there is a ‘model’ answer i.e. one which would achieve top marks in the exam.
AO1:
Question: Outline how culture can affect perception. [3]
Model answer:
- An individual’s culture influences their upbringing, their experiences and how they make sense of the world around them.
- Gregory’s constructivist theory of perception says we use our stored knowledge and experiences when we perceive objects/people/vistas.
- This set of schemas leads people to have cultural expectations which shape the way they perceive the world around them.
AO3:
Question: Outline one limitation of a study into the effect of culture on perception. [2]
Model answer: (remember that you only need to use one limitation - we have presented you with a choice of several possibilities here):
- The study was published in 1960 which means that it may lack validity.
- This is because the effect of technology and living in a more globalised world may mean that people share more aspects of perception today than they did over 50 years ago.
OR
- The study used a limited range of images in 2-D which means that it may lack validity.
- This is because it did not test the full scope of the participant’s perception.
OR
- The study may perpetuate stereotypical differences between urban and rural people.
- Specifically it could contribute to a stigma surrounding people who lack a formal education.
