What does it mean for culture to 'shape' cognition?

Human culture and cognition vary widely across groups, but how exactly culture 'shapes' cognition remains underspecified. In this review, we outline four qualitatively different pathways by which culture can shape cognition. In this framework, culture can (i) privilege some cognitive processes, while leaving alternative processes intact; (ii) prune unused alternative processes, which are irretrievably lost; (iii) produce new cognitive processes; or (iv) have no effect on cognition at all. To illustrate the utility of this framework, we apply it to three debated effects of culture on cognitive processes, namely, visual illusions, large exact number abilities, and spatial-numerical associations. The distinctions we propose can serve to reframe long-standing debates, sharpen empirical predictions, and open new avenues of research in cognitive diversity.

Duke Scholars

Author Dorsa Amir Psychology & Neuroscience