Perceiving an Object and its Context in Different Cultures: A Cultural Look at New Look

Kitayama, Duffy, Kawamura

In 2 studies, a newly devised test (Framed Line Test) was used to examine the hypothesis that individuals engaging in Asian cultures are more capable of incorporating, but those engaging in North American cultures are more capable of ignoring, contextual information. Participants were presented with a square frame of varying size, within which was printed a vertical line of varying length. Participants were then shown another square frame of the same or different size and asked to draw a line that was identical to the first line in terms of either absolute length (absolute task) or proportion to the height of the pertinent frames (relative task). In support of the hypothesis, whereas Japanese were more accurate in the relative task. Americans were more accurate in the absolute task. Moreover, when engaging in another culture, individuals showed a cognitive characteristic that resembled the one common in the host culture.