Memory Specificity Across Cultures

这个项目研究的是记忆中的跨文化差异。在六个整合了行为和神经成像(FMRI)方法的实验中，这种方法分析了人们对视觉图像的细节记忆如何在不同的文化中有所不同。文化的镜头可以将首选的加工模式和/或注意力引导到环境的特定特征，这将影响人们记忆的内容。在东亚、土耳其和西方(即美国)文化的比较中，布兰迪斯大学的安吉拉·古切斯将研究人们记忆中的文化差异。预计美国人会记住更具体的细节，因为他们更注重特征。相比之下，这两组人在一般记忆上会很匹配，这并不依赖于对特征的关注。记忆中预测的文化差异应该反映出有意策略的使用，引导人们注意特定的、相关的特征应该减少跨文化记忆的差异。此外，衰老降低了外显记忆中部署策略和加工细节的认知能力，应该会减少记忆专一性的跨文化差异。相比之下，对于内隐记忆，具体细节记忆的文化差异将继续被观察到，因为内隐记忆的发展被认为不依赖于认知能力。功能神经成像方法将为不同文化在记忆特异性方面的差异提供一致的证据，识别神经区域将有助于PI区分不同理论解释为什么来自不同文化的人记忆不同。该提议的智力价值包括考察外显记忆和内隐记忆之间的文化差异，这两个记忆被认为是可分离的记忆系统。到目前为止，大多数关于记忆的研究结果都是基于西方人群的，这意味着记忆理论可能在很大程度上是西方人的特征，可能不会推广到其他人群。对文化差异的研究将带来一个更具包容性的心理学领域，更好地理解哪些记忆原则是共性的，哪些是文化依赖的。这项拟议的工作将通过采用包括神经成像在内的敏感记忆测量的多方法方法，在理解跨文化记忆特异性差异的机制方面取得实质性进展。通过研究多元文化世界中的记忆，建议的研究可能有助于更好地跨文化理解和更好地科学理解。很少有人研究东西方二分法之外的文化。如果不同文化的记忆形成的性质不同，这可以帮助人们更好地理解为什么来自东西方文化的人看待世界的方式经常不同，因为我们的记忆强烈地塑造了我们的信念。例如，在法律环境中，对犯罪情况记得更多细节的人可能会认为犯罪者的责任比那些只关注(并不成比例地记住)犯罪者的行为的人要少。通过国际合作和非西方人参与拟议的研究，不同人群也将被纳入这项研究。这将为国际各地的年轻科学家提供一个培训场所，并提高他们对文化对心理过程影响的认识。最后，这项工作将通过参加国际会议和科学推广计划得到广泛传播。

This project investigates cross-cultural differences in memory. In six experiments that integrate behavioral and neuroimaging (fMRI) methods, this approach analyzes how the details people remember for visual images differ across cultures. The lens of culture can direct preferred modes of processing and/or attention to particular features of the environment, and this will affect what is remembered. In a comparison of East Asian, Turkish, and Western (i.e., American) cultures, Angela Gutchess of Brandeis University will examine cultural differences in exactly what people remember. Americans are predicted to remember more specific details due to their preferential attention to features. In contrast, the groups will be well-matched on general memory, which is not dependent upon attention to features. Predicted cultural differences in memory should reflect the use of intentional strategies, and directing people's attention to specific, relevant features should reduce cross-cultural differences in memory. Furthermore, aging, which reduces the availability of cognitive capacities to deploy strategies and process details in explicit memory, should reduce cross-cultural differences in memory specificity. In contrast, for implicit memory, cultural differences in memory for specific details will continue to be observed because the development of implicit memories is not thought to depend on cognitive capacity. Functional neuroimaging methods will provide converging evidence for cultural differences in memory specificity, and identifying neural regions will help the PI to distinguish between different theoretical accounts for why people from different cultures remember things differently. The intellectual merits of the proposal include examining cultural differences across both explicit and implicit memory, which are thought to be separable memory systems. To date, the majority of research findings on memory are based on Western populations, meaning that theories of memory may largely characterize Westerners and may not generalize to other populations. The study of cultural differences will lead to a more inclusive field of psychology, with a better understanding of which memory principles are universals vs. are culture-dependent. The proposed work will make substantial advances in understanding the mechanisms of cross-cultural differences in memory specificity by employing a multimethod approach using sensitive memory measures, including neuroimaging. By studying memory in a multicultural world, the proposed studies may contribute to better cross-cultural understanding as well as better scientific understanding. Little work has investigated cultures outside of the East/West dichotomy. If the nature of memory formation differs across cultures, this could help people better understand why people from Eastern and Western cultures often view the world differently because what we remember powerfully shapes what we believe. In legal settings, for example, people who remember more details of the situation in which a crime was committed may hold a perpetrator less responsible than people who focus solely on (and disproportionately remember) the perpetrator's actions. Diverse populations will also be included in this research through international collaboration and participation of non-Westerners in the proposed research. This will provide a training ground for young scientists across international sites and heightening their awareness of the impact of culture on psychological processes. Finally, the work will be broadly disseminated through participation in international conferences as well as science outreach programs.