Chapter 7: Culture, Cognition, Reasoning
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Language doesn’t only consist of the words you use with the literal meaning (___________). As
we discussed in the Triangle of Meaning, language is symbolic and carries with it interpretive
meaning (___________)—even images carry meaning.
In Nisbett’s famous fish aquarium experiment, he found that East Asians and Westerners
identify different orientations when viewing objects. Western orientation is toward
__________ and Eastern orientation to the _________. This demonstrates the collective nature
of Asians and the individualistic nature of Westerners.
Personal agency is important in the differences between Western and Eastern thought.
Personal agency is defined as: the extent to which individuals believe that they can control
events that affect them and their destiny. Western personal agency always includes:
In our discussion of Nisbett’s research on differences in thought between Eastern and Western
cultures, his main hypothesis was:
Perception—the way you think about or understand someone or something (your impression
or image of something). Perceptions of one’s reality are more important to us than reality.
We create mental maps—the process that we use to select, evaluate, and organize information.
We disagree with or feel uncomfortable with that which violates our cultural norms.