Cultural Differences Effects on Complex Cognition

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Cultural Differences Effects onComplex Cognition
Operations 22 October 007Innovative
Organizations and Complex SystemsOttawa, Canada
Rik Warren, PhD Human Effectiveness
Directorate Air Force Research Laboratory
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Overview

• Some example incidents
• Fundamental differences
• Complex cognition culture in general
• Complexity in data
• Complexity in theory modeling
• Complexity in methodology
• Dimensions Multiplicity complexity in
• Cultural dimensions
• Perceptual cognitive dimensions
• Implications more complexity and some simplicity

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National Culture

• Culture
• Acquired
• Values, attitudes, influences behavior
• Values
• Basic convictions what is right wrong, good
  bad, important unimportant
• Relatively stable not subject to sudden shifts
  or impulses of the moment
• Standard for judging behavior

KNOWN
ROSETTA PROJECT
UNKNOWN
Surface behaviors influenced by
beneath-the-surface values and assumptions. By
knowing peoples values and beliefs, you can come
to expect and predict their behavior.
INTERACTION
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Incidents

• This is Wing Commander Jones
• Right away, Sir!
• This is Group Captain Jones
• Please hold ...
• This is Dean Smith ...
• Triandis in Individualism and collectivism
• American manager in Greece
• Why should we do his work!

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Example of Culturally Based Behaviour

• From a German officer
• In my country, you speak up only if you have
  something important to add silence is okay. In
  the U.S., however, people seem to feel its bad
  to be silent, and they will speak up, in a
  meeting for example, just to let others know that
  they are there.

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Example of Culturally Based Behaviour

• From a German officer
• In my country, you speak up only if you have
  something important to add silence is okay. In
  the U.S., however, people seem to feel its bad
  to be silent, and they will speak up, in a
  meeting for example, just to let others know that
  they are there. Many of us interpret this
  behavior of the Americans as either stupidity or
  arrogance

• From a British officer
• Why dont the Americans down the hall just come
  and talk to me! They often leave me a voicemail
  instead of walking 10 seconds to my desk or
  calling to speak to me directly, even when they
  know that Im hereThis seems very cold and
  impersonal to me.

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Example of Culturally Based Behaviour

• From a German officer
• In my country, you speak up only if you have
  something important to add silence is okay. In
  the U.S., however, people seem to feel its bad
  to be silent, and they will speak up, in a
  meeting for example, just to let others know that
  they are there. Many of us interpret this
  behavior of the Americans as either stupidity or
  arrogance

• From a British officer
• Why dont the Americans down the hall just come
  and talk to me! They often leave me a voicemail
  instead of walking 10 seconds to my desk or
  calling to speak to me directly, even when they
  know that Im hereThis seems very cold and
  impersonal to me.

• From the American officer
• I know Ive been accused by my colleagues of
  leaving them too many voicemails, but from my
  perspective its simply a way of not interrupting
  them and giving them a message that they can
  listen to when they have time to deal with it.

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Country Profiles
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Situations Correct Action - 1

• Ethics 101 Boat in trouble Who to cast
  overboard?
• Parents or children?
• Why?
• Why your answer is wrong.

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Situations Correct Action - 2

• Parable (Matt. 21) Father asks sons to work in
  field
• One says yes, but doesnt go
• Other says no, but does go
• ? Who did the will of the father?
• Collectivist cultures harmony
• Hofstede (1997, p. 58 re missionaries in
  Indonesia)
• Action of secondary importance
• Saying No caused father to loose face
• Yes doesnt always mean yes in some cultures
• Importance of saving own others face
• Duties of co-pilots

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Culture Decision Making Air Accident Rates by
Region
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1 World Many Cultures

• Different cultures view the world differently
• Different cultures (re-)act differently to same
  information
• Military Distributed Operations, multinational
  coalitions

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Challenges

• Appreciate utility of understanding culture
• Others ourselves
• Magnitude of effects
• Learn cultural etiquette practices
• Use of left hand, etc.
• Understand Cultural Dimensions
• Perceptual, cognitive, decisional
• Predict potential cooperation conflicts
• Computable models of cultural interaction

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Analytic v. Holistic Reasoning
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Perceptual Cognitive Dimensions

• Attribution
• Situational vs. Dispositional
• Locus of Control
• Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivation
• Field /Object Orientation
• Analytic vs. Holistic Reasoning
• 1 fish, 2 fish, red fish,
• Dialectical Reasoning
• Counterfactual Thinking
• Categorization - similarity and rules

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Methodological Complexity

• Previous slide Apparent main effect of country
• BUT CAUTION Different countries use rating
  scales differently
• Mediterranean Middle East Important to appear
  honest
• If you are asked a question, surely you know your
  own mind
• Therefore, use extreme ends of a rating scale
• East Asia Important to appear modest
• If asked a question, surely you dont know
  everything especially since everything is related
  to everything else
• Therefore, use middle of a rating scale

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Simplicity vs. Complexity

• If you look at things from the right angle ...

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Cultural Factors vs. Interaction

• How devise prediction equations? Predict what?
• Lists of factors Not predict interactions
• But interaction what we really want to know!
• Naïve 50 factors -gt 2,500 interaction terms
• Better directly observe interacting people
• Tasks decision making resource allocation
• Finesse 50x50 interaction terms factors
• Key data chosen for analyses
• Focus on predicting cooperation v conflict
• Develop models of the interactions
• Develop data collection tools method

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Mathematics of Marriage

• Gottman et al. (2002)?
• Couple discusses problem
• Data positivity, negativity of each spouse
• If youd keep your trap shut and let me finish
• Predict Divorce, married-happy, -unhappy
• Dynamic nonlinear (process) model
• Discover explanatory parameters
• Improve marriage therapy by targeting key
  parameters

Malcolm Gladwell - Blink
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Mathematics of Marriage
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Complexity Introduced by Culture can Affect

• Information Exchange
• Coordination
• Assigning Roles Responsibilities
• Support (error-checking)?

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Analytic vs Holistic Fish