Testing Universality with Cognitive Psychology

This chapter is remixed from Psychology 2e: 8.1 How Memory Functions by OpenStax, licensed under Creative Commons CC BY.

Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem solving, in addition to other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychologists strive to determine and measure different types of intelligence, why some people are better at problem solving than others, and how emotional intelligence affects success in the workplace, among countless other topics. They also sometimes focus on how we organize thoughts and information gathered from our environments into meaningful categories of thought, which will be discussed later.

For the purposes of our cross-cultural understanding and investigation, we will focus on memory and intelligence broadly. First, we will review memory to determine whether commonly studied memory constructs, such as working memory and long-term memory, operate in the same way across cultures.

Memory: Understanding the Basics with the Information Processing Model

We will be understanding memory through an Information Processing Model (fig 1).

Stimuli from the environment are processed first in sensory memory: storage of brief sensory events, such as sights, sounds, and tastes. It is very brief storage—up to a couple of seconds. We are constantly bombarded with sensory information. We cannot absorb all of it, or even most of it. And most of it has no impact on our lives. For example, what was your professor wearing the last class period? As long as the professor was dressed appropriately, it does not really matter what she was wearing. Sensory information about sights, sounds, smells, and even textures, which we do not view as valuable information, we discard. The unconscious process whereby we decide what information moves further into our system is called attention. We choose what stimuli in our environment to attend to based on prior knowledge about what is important. For example, you know that paying attention to the course material (lecture slides, your notes, etc.) is more important than paying attention to your professor’s wardrobe. Whatever you choose to pay attention to becomes conscious in your mind, other sensations are not noticed (that is, they do not “pass” the sensory memory stage).

Next, we begin to attach meaning to the stimuli on which we’re attending – this process is called perception. Perception is based on what you already know and your prior experiences. Think about a time when a professor has said something you disagreed with. How did you receive the information they were sharing? If you found yourself skeptical (a perception), there is a good chance it did not enter your working memory in the way your professor intended.

Working memory (sometimes called short-term memory) is a place for temporary storage and processing of information. Your working memory is conscious (you have to actively focus on the information) and has limited capacity. When you are actively learning new information, that information will reach your working memory – where you are actively thinking about the information – and then must be encoded into your long-term memory as knowledge. In order to encode – or learn – new information, you can apply three strategies:

1. Rehearsal: repetition.
2. Elaboration: link the new information to something you already know.
3. Organization: create order and connections between the new pieces of information.

Generally, elaboration and organization are more meaningful learning processes because they require the learner to take information and manipulate it in a way that it makes sense to them. If you’ve ever had a teacher ask you to create a concept map or write a definition in your own words, you have engaged in elaboration and organization. Rehearsal is good for recalling previously-learned information as a “refresher” but is less effective than elaboration and organization when it comes to new information. That is, creating a concept map and writing out your own examples of concepts is much more effective than flashcards when you first learn new material – the flashcards work best once you have more deeply understood the concepts.

Long-term memory (LTM) is the continuous storage of information. Unlike short-term memory, long-term memory storage capacity is believed to be unlimited. It encompasses all the things you can remember that happened more than just a few minutes ago. One cannot really consider long-term memory without thinking about the way it is organized. Really quickly, what is the first word that comes to mind when you hear “peanut butter”? Did you think of jelly? If you did, you probably have associated peanut butter and jelly in your mind. It is generally accepted that memories are organized in semantic (or associative) networks (Collins & Loftus, 1975). A semantic network consists of concepts, and as you may recall from what you’ve learned about memory, concepts are categories or groupings of linguistic information, images, ideas, or memories, such as life experiences. Although individual experiences and expertise can affect concept arrangement, concepts are believed to be arranged hierarchically in the mind (Anderson & Reder, 1999; Johnson & Mervis, 1997, 1998; Palmer, Jones, Hennessy, Unze, & Pick, 1989; Rosch, Mervis, Gray, Johnson, & Boyes-Braem, 1976; Tanaka & Taylor, 1991). Related concepts are linked, and the strength of the link depends on how often two concepts have been associated.

So you have worked hard to encode and store some important information for your upcoming final exam. How do you get that information back out of storage when you need it? The act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness (i.e., back into your working memory) is known as retrieval. This would be similar to finding and opening a paper you had previously saved on your computer’s hard drive. Now it’s back on your desktop, and you can work with it again. Our ability to retrieve information from long-term memory is vital to our everyday functioning. You must be able to retrieve information from memory in order to do everything from knowing how to brush your hair and teeth, to driving to work, to knowing how to perform your job once you get there.

Are Memory and Learning Processes Universal?

Now that we have an overview of how making memories – also know as learning – occurs, we need to explore whether these processes are universal across cultures. We will focus on working memory, long-term memory and the processes in-between, since these are the most common components of learning. Therefore, in order to understand current and past debates around cultural differences in intelligence, we need to understand cultural differences in learning and memory.

Is Working Memory Universal?

Working memory is responsible for moving information into long-term memory, or knowledge. It is also responsible for problem solving, reasoning, and reading skills: this is where new information and old information “meet” to produce new ideas or solutions. Ismatullina and colleagues (2014) administered a working memory task to adolescents from two different countries: Russia and Kyrgyzstan. They found no differences between the adolescents by country, suggesting that working memory differences may not be attributable to culture.

Are Encoding Strategies Universal?

Three encoding/learning strategies were described above: rehearsal, elaboration, and organization. Gutchess and colleagues (2005) studied whether adults from different countries used organization strategies for learning at different rates.

1. 1. Working Memory (Ismatullina et al., 2014)
   2. Processes to move information from WM to LTM are called learning
      1. One strategy often emphasized is organization by category – is this universal? Gutchess et al (2005); Norenzayan et al (2002)
   3. Longterm memory

Intelligence: Definition and Measurement

What exactly is intelligence? The way that researchers have defined the concept of intelligence has been modified many times since the birth of psychology. British psychologist Charles Spearman believed intelligence consisted of one general factor, called g, which could be measured and compared among individuals. Spearman focused on the commonalities among various intellectual abilities and de-emphasized what made each unique. Long before modern psychology developed, however, ancient philosophers, such as Aristotle, held a similar view (Cianciolo & Sternberg, 2004).

Theories and Definitions of Intelligence

Others psychologists believe that instead of a single factor, intelligence is a collection of distinct abilities. In the 1940s, Raymond Cattell proposed a theory of intelligence that divided general intelligence into two components: crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence (Cattell, 1963). Crystallized intelligence is characterized as acquired knowledge and the ability to retrieve it. When you learn, remember, and recall information, you are using crystallized intelligence. You use crystallized intelligence all the time in your coursework by demonstrating that you have mastered the information covered in the course. Fluid intelligence encompasses the ability to see complex relationships and solve problems. Navigating your way home after being detoured onto an unfamiliar route because of road construction would draw upon your fluid intelligence. Fluid intelligence helps you tackle complex, abstract challenges in your daily life, whereas crystallized intelligence helps you overcome concrete, straightforward problems (Cattell, 1963).

Other theorists and psychologists believe that intelligence should be defined in more practical terms. For example, what types of behaviors help you get ahead in life? Which skills promote success? Think about this for a moment. Being able to recite all 45 presidents of the United States in order is an excellent party trick, but will knowing this make you a better person?

Robert Sternberg developed another theory of intelligence, which he titled the triarchic theory of intelligence because it sees intelligence as comprised of three parts (Sternberg, 1988): practical, creative, and analytical intelligence. 

Practical intelligence, as proposed by Sternberg, is sometimes compared to “street smarts.” Being practical means you find solutions that work in your everyday life by applying knowledge based on your experiences. This type of intelligence appears to be separate from traditional understanding of IQ; individuals who score high in practical intelligence may or may not have comparable scores in creative and analytical intelligence (Sternberg, 1988).

Analytical intelligence is closely aligned with academic problem solving and computations. Sternberg says that analytical intelligence is demonstrated by an ability to analyze, evaluate, judge, compare, and contrast. When reading a classic novel for literature class, for example, it is usually necessary to compare the motives of the main characters of the book or analyze the historical context of the story. In a science course such as anatomy, you must study the processes by which the body uses various minerals in different human systems. In developing an understanding of this topic, you are using analytical intelligence. When solving a challenging math problem, you would apply analytical intelligence to analyze different aspects of the problem and then solve it section by section.

Creative intelligence is marked by inventing or imagining a solution to a problem or situation. Creativity in this realm can include finding a novel solution to an unexpected problem or producing a beautiful work of art or a well-developed short story. Imagine for a moment that you are camping in the woods with some friends and realize that you’ve forgotten your camp coffee pot. The person in your group who figures out a way to successfully brew coffee for everyone would be credited as having higher creative intelligence.

The most comprehensive theory of intelligence to date is the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities (Schneider & McGrew, 2018). In this theory, abilities are related and arranged in a hierarchy with general abilities at the top, broad abilities in the middle, and narrow (specific) abilities at the bottom. The narrow abilities are the only ones that can be directly measured; however, they are integrated within the other abilities. At the general level is general intelligence. Next, the broad level consists of general abilities such as fluid reasoning, short-term memory, and processing speed. Finally, as the hierarchy continues, the narrow level includes specific forms of cognitive abilities. For example, short-term memory would further break down into memory span and working memory capacity.

Intelligence can also have different meanings and values in different cultures. If you live on a small island, where most people get their food by fishing from boats, it would be important to know how to fish and how to repair a boat. If you were an exceptional angler, your peers would probably consider you intelligent. If you were also skilled at repairing boats, your intelligence might be known across the whole island. Think about your own family’s culture. What values are important for Latinx families? Italian families? In Irish families, hospitality and telling an entertaining story are marks of the culture. If you are a skilled storyteller, other members of Irish culture are likely to consider you intelligent.

Some cultures place a high value on working together as a collective. In these cultures, the importance of the group supersedes the importance of individual achievement. When you visit such a culture, how well you relate to the values of that culture exemplifies your cultural intelligence, sometimes referred to as cultural competence.

Measurement of Intelligence and its Racist History: A Review of Franklin’s (2007) article

Review the Franklin (2007) article and consider the following guided reading questions.

1. • What was Franklin’s goal in reviewing the history of responses to intelligence tests?
   • Were you aware that Black social scientists had been publishing studies on race and challenging these intelligence assumptions? Why or why not?
   • How were IQ tests used to justify segregation?
   • What was the Journal of Negro Education’s goal when it was first developed?
   • On page 222, Franklin summarizes findings in the 1930’s that the rapport between a test administrator and the child being assessed was important and played a role in the child’s intelligence score. Based on our discussion of construct and measurement bias, what concept does this remind you of?
   • Toward the end of the article, Franklin discusses Sternberg’s (2007) article, that concluded IQ tests are culturally biased toward White, middle-class students. What was missing from Sternberg’s reference list? What are the implications of this?

References

Franklin, V. P. (2007). The tests are written for the dogs: The Journal of Negro Education, African American children, and the intelligence testing movement in historical perspective. The Journal of Negro Education, 76(3), 216-229.

Gutchess, A. H., Yoon, C., Luo, T., Feinberg, F., Hedden, T., Jing, Q., Nisbett, R. E., & Park, D. C. (2006). Categorical organization in free recall across culture and age. Gerontology, 52(5), 314-323.

Ismatullina, V., Voronin, I., Shelemetieva, A., & Malykh, S. (2014). Cross-cultural study on working memory in adolescents. Social and Behavioral Sciences, 146, 353-357.

Norenzayan, A., Smith, E. E., Kim, B. J., & Nisbett, R. E. (2002). Cultural preferences for formal versus intuitive reasoning. Cognitive Science, 26, 653-684.