1. We often carefully evaluate the information presented to us about other people. However, when we do not have sufficient time or cognitive resources to do that, we may use mental shortcuts. For example, our preconceptions may cause us to notice some stimuli and ignore others. This process is called confirmation bias.

2. Heuristics are guidelines or rules-of-thumb that we use to process information more rapidly (Tversky & Kahneman examples).

A. Availability heuristic
B. Representativeness heuristic
C. Anchoring heuristic

3. Additional biases may occur when we are determining the causes of behavior (i.e., attribution).

A. Fundamental attribution error (correspondence bias)

Our tendency to play down the role of situational influences and exaggerate the role of personal qualities when explaining behavior.

B. Actor-observer difference

We are less likely to commit the fundamental attribution error when we explain our own behavior. As actors, we tend to explain our own actions as being due to the situation. When we observe others, we tend to use dispositional (i.e., personality) explanations.

C. Self-serving bias

Explaining our own behavior is further complicated by the self-serving bias, in which we tend to attribute our successes to dispostions and our failures to situational factors.

4. Chua et al. (2005): Culture and diverging views of social events (discussion)

Findings (Choose 4A or 4B)

A. The results of the study indicate that when the Taiwanese students were tested in their native language they cited more emotion words in their description of events in the narratives (although not significantly). Could it be that responding in Mandarin rather than English triggered increased self-awareness resulting in them responding in ways that may be more consistent with their cultural background (i.e., with more emotional words)? Why or why not?

B. Differences between individualist and collectivist cultures drive the differences in focus on main character, intentionality, and emotion seen between Americans and East Asians in their study. To what extent might this be cyclical? For example, a collectivist orientation may lead a person focus more on context, situational influences, and emotion. However, wouldn't this focus also lead a person to develop behavioral/cognitive norms consistent with a collectivist culture?

Implications (Choose 4C or 4D. Choose 4E or 4F.)

C. Chua et al. found that Asians perceived more emotions than Americans. They suggest this may affect the way emotions are expressed within the two cultures as well. How could these differences in emotional perception/expression cause misunderstandings between individuals in the separate cultures?

D. Given these two articles and the mass media topics we covered last week, what differences would one expect to find between Americans' reactions to "sexual" ads and those of an Eastern culture?

E. Clearly Western Cultures (Americans in particular) have a need for more control over a situation and are also more likely to focus on central or main characters in a situation. Do you think this has resulted in a culture that is more aggressive and violent? What I am thinking about here is the disparate crime rates between Americans and Eastern Cultures and also the types of crimes that are committed. Have we created a society that is more likely to accept aggression and be violent?

F. What are the implications of the Chua et al. article for psychotherapy?

5. Anderson (1999): Cross-cultural differences in attributional style, depression, and loneliness (discussion)

Findings (Answer 5A. Choose 5B or 5C.)

A. It seems as if the attributional pattern for successes and failures of collectivist cultures violates the first of the two primary motivations that underlie much of social behavior: people have a general desire to view themselves in a positive light. How can we reconcile the results of Anderson's study with this primary motivation of human behavior?

B. Why is the hypothesized relationship from attributional style to depression and loneliness, and not the other way around? Although the pattern of results suggests dysfunction in China, is it appropriate to use terms such as "maladaptive" which clearly implies the observed difference belies a short-coming in China? Would they suffer to the same degree as someone in the USA with the same score?

C. Research has suggested that "presenting symptoms" for many psychological disorders, including depression, differ between ethnic groups. Thus, is an objective measure of depression such as the BDI-II (Beck Depression Inventory) which has been normed on the "American" cultural presentation of depression, an appropriate tool to use to accurately measure depression in the Chinese sample?

Implications (Choose one among 5D, 5E, and 5F.)

D. Given that the study has shown that cultures seem to utilize different attribution styles based on whether they are more independent or interdependent, what kind of problem do you think this would cause international students? I am thinking about this primarily in terms of students from cultures that focus on interdependence who then transfer to the U.S. and find themselves in a culture that very much stresses personal success.

E. How do the results impact treatment of depression across cultures? For example, what are the clinical implications of his finding that attributional style is a mediating variable in depression and loneliness in the Chinese sample?

F. How would the results from both the articles differ if various ethnicities of the American population were represented? In other words, do you think the results from looking at European-American participants are generalizable to all Americans of different ethnicities (i.e., Asian-Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans)?

6. Discussion topic: By many accounts, George W. Bush and John Kerry came to strongly dislike one another during the 2004 presidential election. What social cognition errors and biases might have produced their exaggerated reactions toward each other?