Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Introduction: What Is Memory?241CULTURE AND HUMAN BEHAVIORCulture’s Effects on Early MemoriesFor most adults, earliest memories are for events that occurredbetween the ages of 2 and 4. These early memories mark thebeginning of autobiographical memory, which provides thebasis for the development of an enduring sense of self (Howe,2003). Do cultural differences in the sense of self influence thecontent of our earliest memories?Comparing the earliest memories of European American collegestudents and Taiwanese and Chinese college students,developmental psychologist Qi (pronounced “chee”) Wang(2001, 2006) found a number of significant differences. First, theaverage age for earliest memory was much earlier for theU.S.-born students than for the Taiwanese and Chinese students.Wang also found that the Americans’ memories were morelikely to be discrete, one-point-in-time events reflecting individualexperiences or feelings, such as “I remember getting stungby a bee when I was 3 years old. I was scared and started crying.”In contrast, the earliest memories of both the Chinese andTaiwanese students were of general, routine activities with family,schoolmates, or community members, such as playing in thepark or eating with family members.For Americans, Wang notes, the past is like a drama in whichthe self plays the lead role. Themes of self-awareness and individualautonomy were more common in the American students’memories, which tended to focus on their own experiences,emotions, and thoughts.In contrast, Chinese students were more likely to include otherpeople in their memories. Rather than focusing exclusively ontheir own behavior and thoughts, their earliest memorieswere typically brief accounts that centered on collective activities.For the Chinese students, the self is not easily separated from itssocial context.Wang (2007, 2008) believes that cultural differences in autobiographicalmemory are formed in very early childhood,Culture and Earliest Memories Psychologist Qi Wang (2001, 2006)found that the earliest memories of Chinese and Taiwanese adultstended to focus on routine activities that they shared with othermembers of their family or social group rather than individualevents. Perhaps years from now, these children will rememberwalking with their preschool friends to play in the park.through interaction with family members. For example, sharedreminiscing—the way that mothers talk to their children abouttheir past experiences—differs in Eastern and Western cultures(Fivush & Nelson, 2004). When Asian mothers reminisce withtheir children, they tend to talk about group settings or situations,and to de-emphasize emotions, such as anger, that mightseparate the child from the group. In comparison, Westernmothers tend to focus more on the child’s individual activities,accomplishments, and emotional reactions. As Katherine Nelsonand Robyn Fivush (2004) observe, such conversations about thepersonal past “provide children with information about how tobe a ‘self’ in their culture.”What are these subsystems? One basic distinction that has been made is betweenexplicit memory versus implicit memory. Explicit memory is memory with awareness—informationor knowledge that can be consciously recollected, includingepisodic and semantic information. Thus, remembering what you did last NewYear’s Day or the topics discussed in your last psychology class are both examples ofexplicit memory. Explicit memories are also called declarative memories, because, ifasked, you can “declare” the information.In contrast, implicit memory is memory without awareness. Implicit memoriescannot be consciously recollected, but they still affect your behavior, knowledge,or performance of some task. For example, let’s assume that you are a pretty goodtypist. Imagine that we asked you to type the following phrase with your eyesclosed: “most zebras cannot be extravagant.” Easy, right? Now, without lookingat a typewriter or computer keyboard, try reciting, from left to right, the sevenletters of the alphabet that appear on the bottom row of a keyboard. Can youdo it? Your authors are both expert typists, and neither one of us could dothis. Chances are, you can’t either. (In case you’re wondering, the letters areZXCVBNM.)explicit memoryInformation or knowledge that can be consciouslyrecollected; also called declarativememory.implicit memoryInformation or knowledge that affectsbehavior or task performance but cannotbe consciously recollected; also called nondeclarativememory.