Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-01T14:33:29.159Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 13 - Integration of Culture in the Teaching of Memory

from Cognition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2018

By
Qi Wang
Edited by
Kenneth D. Keith
Kenneth D. Keith
Affiliation:
University of San Diego
Get access

Summary

The cultural dynamic theory has been used as an explanatory framework to understand cultural influences on various aspects or components of memory, including memory content, structure, valence, subjectivity, accessibility, and functional usage. For the purpose of illustrating the integration of culture in the teaching of memory, I focus here on memory content – the extent to which memory information concerns rememberers themselves versus others and social interactions (i.e., self-focus vs. other focus) and memory valence – the extent to which memory information concerns positive versus negative past experiences. I present data from Western, particularly European American, and East Asian samples that have been frequently studied in cross-cultural research. I also provide suggested teaching activities designed to integrate the role of culture in students' understanding of memory.
Type
Chapter
Information
Culture across the Curriculum
A Psychology Teacher's Handbook
 , pp. 283 - 300
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alea, N., & Wang, Q. (2015). Going global: The functions of autobiographical memory in cultural context. Memory, 23(1), 1–10. doi:10.1080/09658211.2014.972416CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartlett, F. C. (1932). Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Conway, M., & Pleydell-Pearce, C. W. (2000). The construction of autobiographical memories in the self-memory system. Psychological Review, 107(2), 261–288. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.107.2.261Google Scholar
Devos, T. (2006). Implicit bicultural identity among Mexican American and Asian American college students. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12, 381–402. doi:10.1037/1099-9809.12.3.381CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Endo, Y., & Meijer, Z. (2004) Autobiographical memory of success and failure experiences. In Kashima, Y., Endo, Y., Kashima, E. S., Leung, C., & McClure, J. (Eds.), Progress in Asian Social Psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 67–84). Seoul, Korea: Kyoyook-Kwahak-Sa.Google Scholar
Han, J. J., Leichtman, M. D., & Wang, Q. (1998). Autobiographical memory in Korean, Chinese, and American children. Developmental Psychology, 34(4), 701–713. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.34.4.701CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heine, S. J., & Hamamura, T. (2007). In search of East Asian self-enhancement. Personality & Social Psychology Review, 11, 4–27. doi:10.1177/1088868306294587Google Scholar
Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard? Psychological Review, 106, 766–794. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.4.766Google Scholar
Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., Matsumoto, H., & Norasakkunkit, V. (1997). Individual and collective processes in the construction of the self: Self-enhancement in the United States and self-criticism in Japan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1245–1267. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.72.6.1245CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kulkofsky, S., Wang, Q., & Koh, J. B. K. (2009). Functions of memory sharing and mother-child reminiscing behaviors: Individual and cultural variations. Journal of Cognition and Development, 10, 92–114. doi:10.1080/15248370903041231CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, P. J., Wiley, A. R., Fung, H., & Liang, C. H. (1997). Personal storytelling as a medium of socialization in Chinese and American families. Child Development, 68, 557–568. doi:10.2307/1131678Google Scholar
Mullen, M. K., & Yi, S. (1995). The cultural context of talk about the past: Implications for the development of autobiographical memory. Cognitive Development, 10, 407–419. doi:10.1016/0885-2014(95)90004-7Google Scholar
Ochs, E., Smith, R., & Taylor, C. (1989). Detective stories at dinnertime: Problem solving through co-narration. Cultural Dynamics, 2, 238–257. doi:10.1177/092137408900200206Google Scholar
Oishi, S. (2002). The experiencing and remembering of well-being: A cross-cultural analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1398–1406. doi:10.1177/014616702236871Google Scholar
Peterson, C., Wang, Q., & Hou, Y. (2009). “When I was little”: Childhood recollections in Chinese and European Canadian grade school children. Child Development, 80(2), 506–518. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01275.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ross, M., Heine, S. J., Wilson, A. E., & Sugimori, S. (2005). Cross-cultural discrepancies in self-appraisals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1175–1188. doi:10.1177/0146167204274080Google Scholar
Ross, M., & Wang, Q. (2010). Why we remember and what we remember: Culture and autobiographical memory. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(4), 401–409. doi:10.1177/1745691610375555Google Scholar
Ryder, A. G., Alden, L. E., & Paulhus, D. L. (2000). Is acculturation unidimensional or bidimensional? A head-to-head comparison in the prediction of personality, self-identity, and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 49–65. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.1.49Google Scholar
Sahin-Acar, B., & Leichtman, M. D. (2015). Mother-child memory conversations and self-construal in Eastern Turkey, Western Turkey and the USA. Memory, 23(1), 69–82. doi:10.1080/09658211.2014.935437CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trafimow, D., Triandis, H. C., & Goto, S. G. (1991). Some tests of the distinction between the private self and the collective self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(5), 649–655. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.60.5.649Google Scholar
Wang, Q. (2001a). Culture effects on adults’ earliest childhood recollection and self-description: Implications for the relation between memory and the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(2), 220–233. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.81.2.220Google Scholar
Wang, Q. (2001b). ‘Did you have fun?’ American and Chinese mother-child conversations about shared emotional experiences. Cognitive Development, 16, 693–715. doi:10.1016/S0885-2014(01)00055-7Google Scholar
Wang, Q. (2004). The emergence of cultural self-constructs: Autobiographical memory and self-description in European American and Chinese children. Developmental Psychology, 40(1), 3–15. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.40.1.3Google Scholar
Wang, Q. (2006). Earliest recollections of self and others in European American and Taiwanese young adults. Psychological Science, 17, 708–714. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00432.xGoogle Scholar
Wang, Q. (2007). ‘Remember when you got the big, big bulldozer?’ Mother-child reminiscing over time and across cultures. Social Cognition, 25, 455–471. doi:10.1521/soco.2007.25.4.455CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Q. (2008). Being American, being Asian: The bicultural self and autobiographical memory in Asian Americans. Cognition, 107, 743–751. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2007.08.005Google Scholar
Wang, Q. (2013). The autobiographical self in time and culture. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199737833.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Q. (2016a). Why should we all be cultural psychologists? Lessons from the study of social cognition. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(5), 583–596. doi:10.1177/1745691616645552CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Q. (2016b). Remembering the self in cultural contexts: A cultural dynamic theory of autobiographical memory. [Special issue: Memory and connection: Remembering the past and imagining the future in individuals, groups, and cultures]. Memory Studies, 9, 295–304. doi:10.1177/1750698016645238Google Scholar
Wang, Q., & Conway, M. A. (2004). The stories we keep: Autobiographical memory in American and Chinese middle-aged adults. Journal of Personality, 72, 5, 911–938. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00285.xGoogle Scholar
Wang, Q., Leichtman, M. D., & Davies, K. I. (2000). Sharing memories and telling stories: American and Chinese mothers and their 3-year-olds. Memory, 8, 159–178. doi:10.1080/096582100387588Google Scholar
Wang, Q., & Ross, M. (2005). What we remember and what we tell: The effects of culture and self-priming on memory representations and narratives. Memory, 13, 594–606. doi:10.1080/09658210444000223Google Scholar
Wang, Q., Shao, Y., & Li, Y. J. (2010). “My way or Mom’s way?” The bilingual and bicultural self in Hong Kong Chinese children and adolescents. Child Development, 81, 555–567. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01415.xGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×