Study sees differences in Asian, North American perceptions

The Seattle Times ^ | August 23, 2005 | RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

[neverdem]

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Asians and North Americans really do see the world differently.

Shown a photograph, North American students of European background paid more attention to the object in the foreground of a scene, while students from China spent more time studying the background, according to University of Michigan researchers.

The researchers, led by Hannah-Faye Chua and Richard Nisbett, tracked the eye movements of the students — 25 European Americans and 27 native Chinese — to determine where they were looking in a picture and how long they focused on a particular area.

"They literally are seeing the world differently," said Nisbett, who believes the differences are cultural.

The Americans looked at the object in the foreground sooner — a leopard in the jungle for example — and they looked at it longer. The Chinese had more eye movement, especially on the background and back and forth between the main object and the background, he said.

Reinforcing the belief that the differences are cultural, he said, when Asians raised in North America were studied, they were intermediate between native Asians and European Americans.

"Asians live in a more socially complicated world than we do," he said. "They have to pay more attention to others than we do. We are individualists. We can be bulls in a china shop, they can't afford it."

The findings are reported in today's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[cyborg]

Sample size is a little small. This one is right up there with the daydreaming causes alzheimers article!
http://www.3pounduniverse.com/

[cyborg]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1470013/posts
Here's the correct link.

[neverdem]

Autistic boy dies during controversial treatment

National Tracking System for Neonatal Herpes Is Urged

Obesity Rate Is Nearly 25 Percent, Group Says

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list. Anyone can post any unrelated link as they see fit.

[Khurkris]

"Asians live in a more socially complicated world than we do," he said. "They have to pay more attention to others than we do. We are individualists. We can be bulls in a china shop, they can't afford it."

Horse hockey!...These University students have obviously never spent anytime in Asia. The concept of waiting in line(que) at a counter is much more akin to a rugby scrum than an orderly 'Oh no, please, you go ahead' social situation. Forget the societal stereotypes about Asians, they are just as rude, pushy, spit on the street & fart in public, pick and flick as anywhere else...and much more public abut it.

As for their interest in scaning the background in the photo, they're probably just looking for a relative.

[Born Conservative]

Obesity Rate Is Nearly 25 Percent, Group Says

Thanks to Slick Willy's regime changing the criteria to allow many more people to be classified as obese...

[cyborg]

LOL!!

[r9etb]

If you squint, you can sorta see a correlation between your map and the Red/Blue map from 2000...

[r9etb]

Thanks to Slick Willy's regime changing the criteria to allow many more people to be classified as obese...

There are a helluva lot of fat people waddling around, BC.

[neverdem]

Cultural variation in eye movements during scene perception(abstract)

Sample size is small, but the results seem to correlate with cultural obsessions about family honor and homicide as well as saving face and suicide.

[hocndoc]

Will this change our definition of consciousness? Do they demonstrate the right kind of consciousness?

Semi-snide reference to my latest semi-vanity: " Prenatal Pain vs. "Nociception:" Psychological Construct?"