TERRE HAUTE — Culture and memory
People in different cultures vary in what memory tasks they are good at. A culture refers to a group of people who share beliefs and habits of communication. The workplace is made up of different cultures, management, skilled workers and unskilled workers. Each family has its own culture. Everyone belongs to one or more cultures.
Different cultures approach life’s challenges differently. Consequently, it is not surprising that cultures differ in how they make use of memory. This column will explain how memory performance differs according to a culture’s expectations that its members be independent people, its reliance on modern technologies, and the complexity of its language.
Independence versus Interdependence
Cultures differ in how much they expect their members to be independent individuals. America emphasizes independence. Our people are expected to strive to be special and unique. In contrast, other cultures, such as Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, stress interdependence. People in these cultures feel that they should help others and that they should feel free to ask others for help when needed. Members of these cultures seek harmonious relationships with one another.
A culture’s beliefs about independence and interdependence affect how the people of that culture acquire and remember stories. For example, people in cultures that stress independence tell stories about themselves more often and in more detail than the people in cultures that stress interdependence. These stories foster independence because they define us, both to ourselves and to others. In cultures that emphasize interdependence — such as in Asian countries like Korea — people make an effort to retain memories for events that they share with other people, especially family members and friends. These stories help the participants bond with each other.
Now you may say to yourself that you don’t tell stories about yourself. But let’s reflect on this. Everyone in America tells stories about themselves sometimes. Even if you are not talkative, even if you hardly ever say a word, I bet you have at least some stories about yourself. Do you not sometimes find yourself saying something like: “Well, I told him … ”
Another example of the influence of independence on memory has to do with a person’s first autobiographical mem-ory. Generally most adults have difficulty remembering their first few years of life. Freud called the failure to remember one’s first years “childhood amnesia.” If people say they remember an event from their first year, the memory they possess was probably picked up from their parent’s stories. For example, parents tell their children stories such as: “When you were 2, you said xxxxxx to your grandma.” Or, “You wouldn’t believe what you used for artwork on the wall next to your crib.”
Some people propose that childhood amnesia is due to the fact that the brain is still developing for a number of years after birth. However, the age of a person’s first memories cannot be explained by brain development alone. The typical age of the first memories of people also varies with culture.
Generally, the first memory of Americans is usually for events that occurred when a person was about age 31/2. In contrast, the first memory of Asians is usually for events that occurred later. For example, the first memory of Koreans was found in one study to be when a person was around age 4. This difference in the age of first memory can be attributed, as discussed above, to differences in independence expected of the members of the two cultures. Americans apparently remember memories from an earlier age than do Asians because Americans emphasize the importance of autobiographical memories more than Asians do.
Modern cultures vs. pre-modern cultures
Some cultures are based on modern technology whereas other cultures make little use of technology. The differences between modern and pre-modern cultures affect a person’s memory primarily in the following way. Technologically based cultures teach their children how to learn and remember because these cultures generally provide their children with more formal schooling than cultures not based on technology. Formal schooling teaches a child how to organize material in order to learn efficiently. It also imparts memory skills of rehearsal and how to search memory. As a result, people from technologically based cultures tend to have better memory performance than people from cultures not based on technology.
Some people believe that the children of modern cultures have good memory performance because the children in pre-modern cultures are supposedly not as smart as the children in modern cultures. Children in pre-modern cultures are sometimes regarded as not smart because their parents were not smart enough to learn how to use various technologies. However, smartness is not the issue. Research shows that children from pre-modern cultures who have received good nutrition and formal schooling can learn as well as children from modern cultures.
Aspects of language
Anthropologists hold that groups of people who speak different languages are members of different cultures. A person’s language has been shown to affect memory. To begin with, a person’s language affects short-term memory performance. People who speak languages that use predominantly long words, such as the Welsh language, tend to be able to retain more items in short-term memory than people whose language makes use primarily of short words. Apparently, the practice that a person has with using long words increases his or her short-term memory span.
Additionally, different languages involve somewhat different vocabularies because different cultures exist in different parts of the world. For example, Eskimos are known to have more than 40 words for snow. As a result, Eskimos were able to remember a snow scene and describe it in greater detail than people from other cultures.
A Sharper Mind
March 14, 2007
A Sharper Mind: Memory performs up to cultural expectations
- A Sharper Mind
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- Drake sweeps ISU softball Friday, but Saturday's game called off Indiana State’s softball team played 19 games before ever stepping foot on the Price Field diamond Friday for a doubleheader against Drake. The homecoming wasn’t a happy one — Drake swept ISU with 5-1 and 6-2 victories — but the long-term concern is on the mound, where star pitcher Darcy Wood is battling a shoulder injury.
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