Culture and Perception

Ronald Fischer

Social Psychology, PSYC 338

Overview

Perceptual sets and culture Types of perceptions Visual illusions and pictorial perceptions Perception of music Perception of time

Two fundamental perspectives

Nativism

Empiricism

Perceptual sets

Environment shapes our perception We create perceptual expectations Increase particular interpretations (speed &

efficiency) Culturally functional and adaptive (mostly)

Important Senses

Vision– Colour, depths

Hearing– Pitch, tone, mode, rhythm, etc.

Taste Smell Touch Time

The horizontal-vertical illusion

The Sander parallelogram illusion

What about if it was like this?

The perspective drawing illusion

Some early experiments

Optical illusions (Segall, Campbell & Herskovits, 1966)– Three samples from industrialised countries (US, South

Africa)– Five samples from tribes living in dense tropical forests

(Fang, Bete, Ijaw, Dahomea, Hanunoo)– Two samples from tribes living in open land, but in

circular houses (Zulu, Bushmen)– Some of these tribes (Ankole, Toro, Songe, Bete) were not

used to two-dimensional representations of three dimensional objects (e.g., photographs, drawings, murals, paintings)

Some explanations

Hypotheses about cultural differences– Carpentered world theory– Front-horizontal foreshortening theory– Symbolising three dimensions in two

Carpentered world theory

The Sander parallelogram illusion

Front-horizontal foreshortening theory

The perspective drawing illusion

Symbolising three dimensions in two

Challenges to this eco-cultural explanation

Effect of retinal pigmentation (Pollack, 1970)– Some support (e.g., Bornstein, 1973)

Other factors at play:– Sensitivity to different colours (colour naming)

– Exposure to ultraviolet rays

– Dietary differences

– Age

– Education

Implications

Design of instructions, manuals, safety signs, etc.

Education campaigns Use in educational settings

Perception of Music

Relatively neglected topic Western societies (incl. Psychologists) –

literate societies; technology (paintings, photography) = emphasis on visual stimuli

Many traditional /non-Western societies = oral traditions, music and rhythm

Task

Listen to the following excerpts Answer the following questions:

– What feelings and emotions does this music arouse in you? Use four adjectives to describe the music.

– Where do you think this music is coming from?– What is the likely function of this music? At

what occasions is it likely to be played? Make a guess!

Excerpts Excerpt 1:

• Java, Indonesia (Gending Pahargyan Penganten, Monggang)• Wedding ceremony, welcome and honor the family of the bride groom)

Excerpt 2: • Serbia, Ex-Yugoslavia (Kayah & Bregović, Sto lat młodej parze)• Wedding

Excerpt 3: • Salvador, Bahia, Brazil (Capoeira Angola, Iuna)• Capoeira, to show respect to the 2 experienced capoeiristas (Mestres)

currently fighting/playing Excerpt 4:

• Bamanan people, Mali (Rokia Traore, Yèrè Uolo)• Song in praise of a great warrior

Musical functions (Merriam, 1964)

Emotional expression Physical response Aesthetic enjoyment and entertainment Communication & Symbolic representation Enforcing conformity to social norms Validating social institutions and religious rituals Enables continuity and stability of culture Integration of society

Perceptions of time

Another little experiment….

Pace of life (Levine & Norenzayan, 1999)

Dimensions of time

Past, present and future (Klockhohn & Strodtbeck, 1961)

Polychronic versus monochronic (Hall)

Summary

Culture influences our perceptions of the environment we are living in through perceptual sets

Cultural, ecological, biological and physiological influences interact

Perception research = example of the influence of culture and Zeitgeist on research agendas