week 16

Biological, Social and Cultural Influences on Cognition

20 January 2016

16.01 Case Study on Biological Factors and Memory

This week you will investigate two people, HM and Clive Wearing, to learn how biological factors
had an impact on their memories. You will also review ethical considerations in conducting this
type of research.
This activity focuses on the following outcomes:

Discuss how and why particular research methods are used by cognitive
researchers.
Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the CLOA.
Explain how biological factors may affect one cognitive process
Read pp. 35-37 of the Course Companion eText.
Watch the videos: Life Without Memory: The Case of Clive Wearing, Part 1 (Links to
an external site.) and Clive Wearing, Part 2: Living Without Memory (Links to an
external site.)
Read p. 79 of your Course Companion eText.

pg. 35-37
case studies and ethics of case studies
videos: 1988
it is the first time
damage to left and right temporal lobes (destroyed hippocampus which controls memory
function) + damage to frontal lobe (repeating and showing highly emotional behavior)
life in the moment, no past or future
o information is perceived and encoded, but not stored
o moment to moment consciousness
o unconscious when he wrote what was already written
o strongest thing in his life is his love for Deborah
written entries: I love Deborah for ever + ever My first thought, I adore
Deborah for eternity
o not demented, perfectly lucid, robbed of knowledge of his own life
frustrated and angry
o can conduct, play, and sing as automatically as riding a bicycle
an ingrained skill hell never forget
after playing, he goes into a choking, belching fit because hes lost
himself
o hes showing raw, human passion
part 2:
1985 viral indefinidos- profound memory deficit

Barbara Wilson tests cognitive abilities

semantic and episodic impairments (explicit memory is lost)
o knows he worked for BBC, hes a conductor, is married to Deborah, has
children from a prior marriage (Semantic memories)
implicit memory is intact: procedural (music) and emotional (love)
o signs of implicit learning

knows things unconsciously, but says idk when asked about it

no longer verbatim conversations, like the first 7 years. follows train of
thought
MRIs in England 1991
Dr. Aaron Bigler examined and analyzed brain to correlate the MRI cognitive
abilities and deficits
part temporal lobe remains on right side
ventricular system enlarged
smaller corpus callosum and destroyed hippocampus and inferior frontal lobe
a stranger cant say, Hello, Clive. How are you?
has a sense of time passing
o slowly stopped asking urgent question: how long hed been out
o can have meaningful conversations
o used to his life, but doesnt consciously know
can get the tea from the cupboard, but cant say where the kitchen
is
o misses Deborah
Please come, darling.
knows she has a journey to get to him
o
o

pg. 79:
Clive Wearinghow brain damage affects memory processing
Clive Wearing unable to recall the past or learn anything new
o neurologist Oliver Sacks wrote about him in this article from the New Yorker
(2007)
o musician in his mid-forties
o the most devastating case of amnesia ever recorded.
both anterograde and retrograde amnesia
MRI scanning of Clive Wearings brain shows damage to the hippocampus and some of
the frontal regions.
Wearings episodic memory and some of his semantic memory are lost. He cannot
transfer new information into long-term memory either
conducting music and playing piano are implicit memories, which he is still able to do
The case study of HM
Milner and Scoville (1957)
head injury sustained at 9 years old, he suffered from epileptic seizures
surgery to prevent seizures in 1953
o They removed tissue from the temporal lobe, including the hippocampus.
Following the operation, HM could recall information acquired in early life, but
was unable to form new memories.
He can carry on a normal conversation, but he does not recognize people who visit him
regularly
studied 44 years before first MRI in 1997
o became clear exactly which areas were affected by the operation

16.02 ERQ Preparation: Social or Cultural Factors and the

Cognitive Process
Bartlett (1932) and Cole and Scribner (1974) from the Course Companion eText and Imbo and
LeFevre (2009) from the Pamoja Supplementary eText
learning outcome:
Discuss how social or cultural factors affect one cognitive process.

Review pp. 80-81 from the Course Companion eText and pp. 20-21 from
the Pamoja Supplementary eText.

pg. 80-81
Cultural factors in cognition
need to learn how to organize information in your memory, and how to retrieve the
appropriate knowledge from your memory when you need it.
there was a western bias in the test and it was therefore not valid when applied in
another culture.
necessary to have an insight into the language and culture of the group.
Cole and Scribner (1974) wanted to investigate memory strategies in different cultures.
local college-educated people who spoke the language and acted as experimenters.
o words were familiar to the participants
ability to remember is universal, strategies for remembering are not universal
problem that many traditional memory studies are associated with formal schooling.
o specialized information-processing tasks
organizing large amounts of information in memory
learning to use logic and abstract symbols in problem solving
The conclusion is that people learn to remember in ways that are relevant for their
everyday lives, and these do not always mirror the activities that cognitive psychologists
use to investigate mental processes.
explicit/declarative information in long term memory
o semantic (general knowledge/facts, knowing what) vs. episodic memories
(memory of events, when)
pg. 20-21
D. Social and cultural factors and memory
Imbo and LeFevre (2009)
o 40 Belgian-educated adults who answered in their first language (Dutch), 40 Chinese-educated adults
who answered in their first language (Chinese), and 40 Chinese-educated adults who answered in
their second language (English)
o

interpreted in terms of the encoding complex model, whereas the

explanation for the adaptivity results is based on cultural differences in
educational history.

tested the effects of working-memory load on solving maths problems in 3

different cultures living in Canada: Flemish-speaking Belgians, English-speaking
Canadians, and Chinese-speaking Chinese.
Participants solved complex addition problems (e.g., 58 + 76) in no-load and
working-memory load conditions, in which either the central executive or the
phonological loop was loaded.
Chinese participants were faster than the Belgians, who were faster and more
accurate than the Canadians
Chinese also required fewer working-memory resources than did the Belgians
and Canadians
Chinese chose less adaptively from the available strategies than did the Belgians
and Canadians.
cultural differences in maths problem-solving are probably the result of
different instructional approaches during elementary school
differences in the number language
informal cultural norms and standards

o
o
o
o

Level of Analysis

Investigator/s

Date

CLOA

Cole and Scribner (pg. 81)

1974

Description (Aim, Type of study, Participants, Procedures, Findings, Conclusions):

The aim of this correlational cross-cultural experiment was to compare the memories
and recall of words from 4 different topics among participants in the US and Liberia.
Different age groups of Kpelle were asked to recall 20 words from lists of utensils,
clothes, tools, and vegetables, topics that were examined to be relevant to their
everyday life. It was found that students over the age of 10 who had not attended
school did not improve their free-recall performance. At first, remembering 10 items
and only improving by an additional 2 after 15 trials. However, children who attended
school used strategies, such as in the US, which allowed them to remember the words
more rapidly. It was concluded that the illiterate children did not use chunking or
rehearsal, based on categorical similarity of the objects, because they did not present the
words in any particular order. When the procedure changed to present the information
as a cultural narrative, the uneducated children did use chunking and recalled more
information. However, Westernized American students recalled better overall. The
activities used to investigate the cognitive processes may not have been relevant to
the everyday lives of the Kpelle people, supporting the idea that learning memory
strategies, efficient ways to remember information at the encoding stage, are not
universal, meaning they are dependent on schooling. Even though cognitive abilities
are universal, the skills depend on the environment. Results showed that education,
which is both a social and cultural factor impacts cognitive processes. In order to
increase recalling process, the material must be retrieved in a familiar form.

Evaluation
Methodology Considerations

Ethical Considerations

Gender/Cultural
Considerations

The words used in each cultural

study were considered for
relevancy and language. The
word lists must be familiar to the
participants. Cultural and social
factors cannot be separated.
Establishes an unclear causeand-effect relationship between
social and cultural factors of
education and memory recall.

There were no ethical issues,

as only the participants
memories were being tested.
No deception was used or
harm was caused to the
participants, who gave their
informed consent, could
withdraw at anytime, and
were debriefed. All private
information was also kept
confidential.

There is a western bias on

research using memory
tests. Kpelle people of
Liberia do not necessarily
have the same schooling
and memory strategies as
in the US.

Level of Analysis

Investigator/s

Date

CLOA

Imbo and LeFevre

2009

Description (Aim, Type of study, Participants, Procedures, Findings, Conclusions):

The aim of this questionnaire lab experiment was to investigate three different cultures in
Canada and the effects of the working-memory load while solving math problems. Participants
included 40 Fleming-speaking Belgians, 40 English-speaking Chinese, and 40 Chinesespeaking Chinese. The procedure included loading either the central executive or
phonological loop of participants by having them solve addition questions in no-load and
working-memory load conditions. Results showed that the first language Chinese
participants were faster, more accurate, and required less working-memory resources than the
Belgians, who were faster than the Canadians. In conclusion, the Chinese chose less
adaptively from available strategies, yet were more efficient than the students from the other
Canadian cultures in this problem solving. These results were analyzed in terms of the
encoding complex model of understanding information. The explanation of adaptively results
was based on cultural educational differences in the student's history of classes.

Evaluation
Methodology Considerations

Ethical Considerations

Gender/Cultural
Considerations

It is unknown if the
participants were timed while
answering these problems.
Also, what if the questions
were not as logical as these
simple addition pstroblems,
such as 58+76=?. The
participants should also have
included a range of ages.

There were no ethical issues

with this lab experiment, as all
rules were followed.

There were different

instructional approaches
taught whilst in elementary
school, number language,
and there are also informal
cultural norms and
standards for students. All
of the participants also lived
in Canada.

You should include a reference to Bruner and his argument that one of the most
important ways culture is transmitted is through formal schooling (see p. 80 of the
Course Companion eText).

According to the US psychologist Jerome Bruner, children of any culture learn

the basics of culture through schooling and daily interaction with members of the
culture in which they live. Parents, grandparents, friends, peers, siblings, and
teachers are among the most important in the transmission of knowledgebe it
informal or formal.
western bias on memory tests
insight of language and culture must be examined prior to procedure of
experiment
Cole and Scribner (1974) memory strategies
Imbo and LeFevre (2009) problem solving

how cultural factors affect a cognitive process.

cognitive processes: universals such as thinking, memory and working memory,
reasoning, attention, judgement, problem solving and decision making, comprehension
and production of language, knowledge, etc.
Schema theory has been used to explain memory processes. Cognitive psychologists
divide memory processes into three main stages:
encoding: transforming sensory information into a meaningful memory

 storage: creating a biological trace of the encoded information in memory, which is

either consolidated or lost
retrieval: using the stored information
schema is the system of understanding knowledge
learning, understanding, memorizing

16.03 Formative ERQ: Social or Cultural Factors and the

Cognitive Process

Write a draft essay of about 800-1000 words answering the following

ERQ:

To what extent do social or cultural factors affect one cognitive process?

To some extent, cultural factors affect the cognitive process. In 1974, Cole and Scribner
investigated the recall of the Kpelle people of rural Liberia and compared the results with
the free recall of Americans. In 2009, Imbo and LeFevre investigated the effects of the
working-memory load of three different cultural groups while solving math problems.
Cole and Scribner 1974 (cross-cultural experiment testing recall of Kpelle vs. Americans)
Imbo and LeFevre 2009 (cultural study investigating the effects of the working-memory
load while solving math problems)

Formative ERQ
Week 16
Natalie Cassello
26 January 2016
Helen Loughran
To what extent do social or cultural factors affect one cognitive process?

Cognitive processes have been proven to universals, such as thinking,

reasoning, attention, judgment, comprehension and production of language,
knowledge, memory and working memory, problem solving and decision
making, etc. The schema theory, or system of understanding knowledge, has
been used to explain these memory processes. The process is divided into
three stages, encoding, storage, and retrieval. During the first stage of
encoding, sensory information is transformed into a meaningful memory,
which can then be created as a biological trace to be stored or lost. The
consolidated information can then be recalled in the future. The human brain
continues a constant cycle of learning, understanding, and memorizing.
However, to some extent, cultural factors affect individual cognitive abilities,
such as memory and working memory. As stated by psychologist Jerome
Bruner, children of any culture learn the basics of culture through schooling
and daily interaction with members of the culture in which they live. Formal
schooling is one of the most important ways in which culture is transmitted.
In 1974, Cole and Scribner investigated the recall of the Kpelle people and
compared the results with the free recall of Americans. Similarly, in 2009,
Imbo and LeFevre investigated the effects of the working-memory load of
three different cultural groups while solving math problems.
Cole and Scribner conducted a cross-cultural laboratory experiment in
1974 to test the free recall of the Kpelle people of rural Liberia and compare

the results with those of the United States. The aim of this correlational crosscultural experiment was to come the memories and recall of words among
participants in the U.S. and Liberia. Prior to the experiment, the Kpelle group
was observed and the four topics of 20 words each were decided upon, to
ensure the topics were relevant to the everyday lives of the participants. The
lists were made up of utensils, tools, clothes, and vegetables in their native
language. The procedure included 15 trials of recording the recall abilities of
the participants. Findings showed that participants who were over the age of
ten and had not attended school did not improve their free-recall
performance. On average, they only remember ten items and improved by an
additional one or two after the fifteen trials. It was concluded that
participants who were literate and had gone to school used memory
strategies based on categorical similarity of the objects, such as chunking
and rehearsing. These strategies, which were also used by American
participants, allowed them to remember the words more rapidly. However,
the illiterate participants seemed not to use these strategies, because they
did not present the words in any particular order, therefore they were not
able to memorize the lists as easily. However, when the procedure was
changed to present a cultural narrative instead of a list of random, yet
relevant words, the uneducated participants did seem to use the strategy of
chunking, as they were able to recall more information. Overall, the
Westernized participants in the United States recalled better. The results of
the experiment showed that cultural factors, such as education in this case,
do impact cognitive processes, relating to memory.
This study supports the idea that learning memory strategies are
efficient ways to remember information at the encoding stage of the schema
theory, but are not universally used, meaning they are dependent on formal
schooling, as predicted by Bruner. The environment affects the skills, rather
than the cognitive abilities. In order to increase recalling processes, the
material must be retrieved in a familiar form. The activities used to
investigate the cognitive processes may not have been relevant to the
everyday lives of the Kpelle people. However, storytelling seemed to be more
applicable, as they were able to remember more of the information by using
memory strategies. It was also important to consider the relevancy and
language of the word lists for the methodology. As social and cultural factors
could not be separate in this study, an unclear cause-and-effect relationship
was established between the factors of education and memory recall.
Another cultural consideration is the western bias on research using memory
tests. Kpelle people of Liberia do not necessarily have the same schooling
and memory strategies as in the U.S., which can be seen in this 1974 study of
Cole and Scribner.
Imbo and LeFevre studied the working-memory in relation to problem
solving across cultures. The aim of this questionnaire laboratory experiment
was to investigate the effects of the working-memory load of three different
cultural groups of Canadians while solving simple addition math problems.
Participants included 40 people from each of the three groups living in
Canada, including Flemish-speaking Belgians, English-speaking Chinese, and
Chinese-speaking Chinese. The procedure included loading either the central
executive or phonological loop of participants by having them solve addition
questions in no-load and working-memory load conditions. They were asked

to estimate answers to simple addition problems, such as 54+78=? According

to the results, the first language Chinese participants were faster, more
accurate, and required less working-memory resources than the Belgians,
who were faster and more accurate with their estimates than the Canadians.
In conclusion, the Chinese chose less adaptively from the available
strategies, yet were more efficient in problem solving than the other students
of the Canadian cultures. These findings were analyzed in terms of the
encoding complex model of understanding information. Also, the explanation
of adaptively results was based on not social, but cultural educational
differences.
Methodology considerations include the time limit given to the
students, the number of participants to be able to generalize the results, the
range of ages of participants, and that the participants were only asked to
problem solve simple, logical addition math questions. When considering the
culture, there were different instructional approaches used to teach whilst in
elementary school and the numbers were adjust to be relevant in the
language of the participants to make the questions understandable. In
addition, rather than the formal education of the three different culture
groups, there are informal cultural norms and standards of all students that
were not accounted for in this experiment.
Neither study seemed to have any ethical issues, as only the participants
memories and working-memories were being tested. No deception was used
or physical or mental harm was caused to the participants, who had all given
their informed consent, had the option to withdraw from the study at
anytime, and were debriefed as to what the intentions of the research was.
All private information was also kept confidential.
As proven by the studies of Cole and Scribner (1974) and Imbo and LeFevre
(2009), cultural factors do have an impact on the cognitive process of
memory and working-memory to some extent, based on the differences of
education. However, it is difficult to establish a defined cause-and-effect
relationship between culture and cognition, in regard the inability of
separating social and cultural factors. Other issues may also be faced, such
as the insight of language and culture being examined prior to the
experiment and the western bias on many memory tests. According to the
findings of the two studies, culture can drastically affect memory and
working-memory through recall using different learning strategies and
problem solving.

16.04 Psych Terms Wiki: Biological, Social and Cultural

Influences on Cognition