Cultural Perceptions
— Watch this TED talk in which artist Ben Bogart discusses several aspects of how we perceive the world and how that is informed by our culture and experience. His talk touches on a variety of topics addressed by this class, but try to focus on the examples that illustrate how our perceptions are influenced by our culture and experiences (For example, the relationship he notes regarding television viewing and dreaming).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Further research demonstrating fundamental difference in perceptions based upon cultures is one study in which Japanese and US students were shown an animated underwater scene with one large fish swimming among smaller fishes and other aquatic life. When asked to describe the scene, Americans tended to report the large fish and ignored other small objects. On the other hand, Japanese people described about aspects of the background environment and relationships between animate and inanimate objects much more than Americans did. This showed the visual focuses of the two cultures are very different.
Consider this research, as well as insights Ben Bogart makes about what is culturally normal, as you answer the questions that follow.
Write 2-3 paragraphs discussing the following:
- How might our perceptions differ from those of someone with a different cultural background or perspective?
- What kind of experiences would lead to differences in cultural perspectives? Provide a specific example of how two people may behave differently in the same situation based on cultural experiences or differing perceptions.
- Would different perceptions resulting from cultural differences be a result of bottom-up or top-down processing? Explain your answer.
- How would acknowledging different cultural perspectives be useful in your personal or work life?
Submit your response in 500-600 word double-spaced APA format. You are not required to use sources, but if you do reference any research, you should cite your sources. Your assignment will be graded based on the Written Assignment Rubric.
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Cultural Perceptions
There are many factors that affect our perceptions. Perceptions in this case, refer to the different ways in which we regard, understand or interpret something. Ben, however, points out that there is a complete difference between what our eyes see and the world we perceive (TED, 2014).
(677 words)