The articles of this week were about culture and language. The first two articles provide a common perspective about how language is a product and the carrier of culture. The first article starts discussing the coevolution of culture and language and then moves on to the other aspects of language including perception and memory. The second article examines the same relationship but also delves into the emotion factor. After examining these factors dually and as a whole, the article provides aspects that can be useful in future research.
The studies given in the first article show various aspects of the effects of language. One of the studies that was interesting for me was about bilingual individuals (Chinese-English). When these individuals made responses in both Chinese and English, they showed different cultural features. It is interesting to me that one individual can show different characteristics just by speaking in a different language. I also believe this result shows concretely how every language reflects the culture they are a part of. Another interesting study in the article is about social distance. The results of this study showed that spoken language has an effect on social distance.
As I mentioned before, the second article discusses the topics of culture, language and emotion firstly in dual ways. The article discusses if the emotions are universal or cultural, emotional intensity in the mother and second language, and how language reflects the cultural norms it belongs to. I think this article was also a good preparation for next week’s subject, culture and emotions.
The third article delves into the effects of culture and language on visual perceptual processes and memory. Chinese and Korean languages are taken as a basis when conducting the research. The structural differences between Chinese and Koreans weren’t only taken into account, the study was also relying on these differences. Results show that the structure of the language can affect visual perception/attention but it does not directly influence the memory.
I think language on its own is a very interesting field to work in psychology. And it cannot be separated from the culture. Articles of this week show various possibilities for new research.
Culture and Language
Comments
One response to “Culture and Language”
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Hello Dehan! Thank you for such a comprehensive review of the articles. I like how your post has a good structure – it has introduction, conclusion, and separate paragraphs for each of the articles. I like how you summarized articles’ content in introduction part by pointing out similarities and differences among these articles. You gave a good summary of each article, but I felt like adding detailed description in some places would benefit the text. For example, you mentioned that Chinese and English showed different cultural features, but didn’t give detailed explanation to this point. I would also love to see your reflections about the implications of the findings – why do you find these particular points important. Thank you!
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