Perception: Perceptual Development - Cross-cultural studies Flashcards
Name 2 studies which support Cross Cultural differences in Perceptual Development
> Segall et al.
> Hudson
Describe Segall et al.’s study
Segall et al. used the Muller-Lyer illusion to test cultural differences in perception. He tested 2000 ppts from non-western cultures and western cultures.
What did Segall et al. find?
Segall found that ppts from Western societies were more susceptible to the illusion than the ppts from non-western societies. This is because Westerners live in carpentered societies, which is full of straight lines and angles, whreas those who live in non-carpentered environments live around few straight lines and more round huts etc. and are less experienced interpreting straight angles and lines.
What do Segall et al.’s findings show?
This shows that there is a difference between cultures in terms of perception development, and supports the idea that perceptual development is not innate, as if it were, there would be no difference between cultures, which suggest social factors have an impact (e.g. environment, upbringing etc.)
Describe Hudson’s study
Hudson showed individuals from various African cultures pictures of hunting scenes containing pictorial depth cues such as superimposition and relative size. Ppts were asked to name the objects in the scene and describe the relationship between them e.g. “which is closer to the man?”.
What did Hudson find?
Hudson found that both children and adult ppts from non-western cultures found it difficult to percieve depth in the pictures and gave incorrect responses.
What do Hudson’s findings show?
This also suggests that experience does affect perceptual abilities, such as the environment and other social factors in upbringing.
What did Kingsley find?
Hudson’s pictures relative size and superimposition depth cues. When the pictures were redrawn to include grass, so therefore showing texture gradient Zambian children were able to give 3D ‘correct’ answers.
What do Kingsley’s findings show about the cross cultural studies into perceptual development?
This shows that Hudson’s pictures might have been biased, as they did not test both Depth perception and Visual constancy and thus render’s his results unreliable and biased.
What did Deregowski find?
Deregowski found that when a non-western ppt would look at the picture of a human head in 2D the object was not immediately obvious to them. The non-western ppts in fact believed it the picture was an object, rather than it being a 2D representation of a 3D object - she didn’t infer depth in the picture. .
What do Deregowski’s findings show about the cross cultural studies into perceptual development?
This shows that due to the inexperience with 2D images this shows an imposed etic, using western ideas of perception and testing someone who is from a non-western culture with them cannot be compared due to differences in culture and being in non-carpentered environments.
AID: Nature vs. Nurture
The findings from cross cultural studies support the Nurture side of the debate, as the findings suggest that since it is not innate across all cultures, that social background, culture and ethnicity. This also suggests that Nurture has an important influence of our perceptual development.
AID: A Biological Approach
Since perception is a physical process it might be assumed to be the same across cultures. However, the pigmentation of the retina has been found to vary with skin colour and is linked to difficulties in perceiving edges of objects. High pigmentation found in African people, could explain why they are less likely to ‘see’ certain visual illusions. Some evidence has supported this retinal pigmentation hypothesis (Berry 1971) but overall environmental explanations have been preferred.
