Critical Thinking in Cross-Cultural
Psychology
The Evaluative Bias of Language
• No clear distinction between objective description and
subjective evaluation
– Words we choose reflect our value system
– More so with objects than people
– Values both shape and are shaped by our use of language.
– Examples of differences in perspective
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Old or Mature
Obsessed or Committed
Reckless or Brave
Narcissistic or High Self-Esteem
Dependent or Loyal
Differentiating Dichotomous Variables
and Continuous Variables
• Dichotomous Variables- when phenomena in the
world can be divided into two mutually exclusive
categories (Heads or tails, Pregnant not pregnant)
– Very Black and White
• Continuous Variables-phenomena that consist of
an infinite number of points between two polar
opposites. (Individualism or Collectivism,
Conservative or Liberal, Introverted or
extroverted)
– Shades of grey
• Most phenomena related to people are
continuous variables
Similarity Uniqueness Paradox
• Determining the similarities and differences
between any set of events is dependent on
the perspectives from which you choose to
view them.
• Always compare and contrast to understand
why you are looking from the perspective you
choose to view
The Barnum Effect
• Barnum Statement- a personality description
of a particular individual or group that is true
of practically all human beings
• The Barnum Effect- refers to people’s
willingness to accept the validity of such
overly inclusive and generic appraisals
• “There is a sucker born every minute”
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z11DeKK1
3vM&feature=related
The Assimilation Bias
• In general we do not make appropriate use of
Assimilation and Accommodation strategies as
defined by Piaget.
• Usually go the assimilation route more than
the accommodation route.
– We like to make data fit our schema
– Generates bias
The Representativeness Bias
• We often times need to make quick decisions about the
world we live in
• Use heuristics to do so (Tversky and Kahneman, 1974)
• Trade off results in greater speed in decision making, but
less accurate decisions
– Representative Heuristics
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Most basic
Involves judging the likelihood that something belongs to a particular category
Leads to stereotyping
Can produce systematic errors called representative bias
Still produce more right answers than wrong ones, which is why we use them.
Most dangerous when prototype categories exist with regards to particular
groups of people.
» A class divided
The Availability Bias
• Most powerful impressions come from events
that are particularly vivid
– Availability Heuristic (Tversky and Kahneman,
1973)
• The easier to retrieve, the more likely we are to think it
occurs frequently
• Can result in systematic errors in making judgments
called availability bias
Fundamental Attribution Error
• What causes people’s behavior?
– Dispositional Attributions-Internal
– Situational Attributions-External
• We are prone to attribute behavior to internal factors more
than external factors
– Called Fundamental Attribution Error
• What causes this?
– Cognitive Biases-derive from our limited capacity to process information
– Motivational Biases-derive from our desire to satisfy our own personal needs
» Very common in western culture because of our belief that we are in
control
• We have great difficulty accepting fairness and injustice in life
(Lerner, 1970)
• Ex (rape victims act seductively, homosexuals brought aids on
themselves)
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Perceiver’s assumptions about a person can
cause a person to meet those assumptions
• Rosenthal and Jacobson 1968- Teachers told
students expected to be intellectual bloomers
by test/Students actually bloom
• Always remember that we are effected by
others as well.
Correlation
• Statement about the relationship and association between two
variables
• Does not imply causation
– Unidirectional Causation
• Does A cause B?
• Does B cause A?
– Bidirectional Causation
• Do A and B cause each other?
• Does C cause A and B?
– Multidirectional Causation
• Could there be a combination of these causal relationships?
• Post hoc error (assuming that because B follows A, A caused B)
often occurs because of parataxic reasoning (assuming events are
causally linked because they happen in a close time frame
The Naturalistic Fallacy
• Equating our description of what IS with what OUGHT
to be
• Confusing an objective description with Subjective
Value Judgment
• Four Variant of the Fallacy
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Common=Good
Uncommon=Bad
Common=Bad
Uncommon=Good
• Just because something is true of nature, that does not
make it right
– Evolutionary Psychology
The Belief Perseverance Effect
• Clinging to beliefs in spite of evidence to the
contrary