Intellectual Abilities of Cognitive USA Grown Men and Women - Research Paper Example

Cognitive Thinking Abilities of both Adult Males and Females in the US Shanaye L. Mcfarlane PSYC 4600 Topic Selection Capella July, Introduction Cognitive thinking is the ability of a person to use his mental capacity to perceive, judge, and remember information. In other words, cognitive ability is the mental capacity of a person to absorb information from the environment. Research indicates that culture has significant impact or influence on the cognitive thinking ability of individuals whether they are males or females (Choudhury, Blakemore, & Charman, 2006). Cognitive thinking develops in a young age over a period development of a child. It has been argued by Oyeserman & Lee (2008) that it is strongly influenced by many factors that mostly constitute interactions amongst adults and elders within the community. In addition, Oyeserman& Lee (2008) argues that it is a culture that may either inspire or restrain individuals to experience uncertainties in their lives, which further contributes to their overall cognitive development. It is also important to state that men and women react differently to cultural influences, and their communication styles are diverse which may have an impact on their cognitive development. This impact can be either positive or negative depending on the nature of the situation. Research Problem and Research Question The research problem for this study research relates to the impact of an individual’s cognitive thinking arising from an underlying cultural influence, backed by the society. Though, there is a societal influence on an individual’s cognitive thinking but in terms of psychology, it is seen that the differences emerge due to the difference in opinions of both males and females. Thus, in return it raises a question that why males and females are tempted to do things in a different manner. In order to understand the context, the research question for this study will be – “How culture has been influencing the thinking abilities of males and females differently? Correspondingly, to answer this question in a comprehensive manner, the research has been narrowed to the US society but shall contain the literature review from other societies to have a profound understanding of the subject. Significance of Topic The topic is significant because majority of the research is already conducted on the issue raised, but there have been very limited emphasis on understanding how males and females perceive cultural implications. Hence, this study would provide an analysis of cognitive thinking on the basis on gender differences. It is also expected that this understanding will assist in redefining a key reason for the gender differences persisting in the society currently. In this regard, it is important to state that Oyeserman& Lee (2008) has the view that societal influence is majorly responsible to determine the way individuals attempt procuring relevant knowledge about the society and physical world. Apparently, the article by the author justifies the influence of culture on cognitive thinking of individuals, it possesses a gap to address the differences it causes within the males and the females. Moreover, Arce (1999) based his study on quantitative analyses and according to him, influence of culture on individual defines their determinate role and their behaviors, and these aspects cannot be ignored. This in turn indicates that the culture may have difference levels of influences for males and females as the two behave dissimilar at often instances and possess different cognitive thinking abilities. The difference in cognitive thinking gives rise to the difference in behavioral traits and building relations in society this is proved by the author, John Gray (2003) in his novel “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus.” Research Methodology Emphasizing the stated issue, this research study will be conducted on the basis of a quantitative method through hypothesis testing, using the statistical tool of correlation regression analysis. In this particular research, data required will be collected from both primary and secondary methods. The primary data extracted from quantitative research methodology contains information that is collected through close ended questions. In this research, primary research will be collected through self-administered questionnaire survey with 200 males and females belonging to the US, as the sample size. Additionally, scholarly articles and peer-reviewed journals will be considered as the secondary sources for this study. Psychological Theory on Topic Psychological theories provide analysis of the question raised by the researcher as they relate to the behavioral traits and examine the influence coming from the culture on an individual’s cognitive thinking ability. For example, Jean Piaget’s proposed the theory of Cognitive Development, in order to identify the ways knowledge grows in individuals. Piaget has cited that there are four cognitive stages in the life of individuals with respect to their ages, which includes sensorimotor, pre-operations, concrete operations and formal operations. This theory is beneficial as it provides examination of a person’s ability to adapt to his living environment, thus providing answers to the stated issue (Ojose, 2008). Lev Vygotsky (2007) proposed that when people are born, they are naturally attention seekers and absorb information from environment easily which plays an effective role in forming their thinking and behavioral traits that relate to their cognitive ability. Hence, it can be said that community and society plays a vital role in building, modifying and developing a person’s values and perceptions. Lev Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development is concentrated of cultural influences in the improvement of mental functions, such as perceptions and intellectual capacity of the children. In short one can say that this theory is also relevant to the topic as it focuses on understanding the socio-cultural perspectives that emphasize on factors coming from society that stimulate cognitive development in males and females(Simply Psychology: Lev Vygotsky, 2007). Literature summary Arce, P. P. (1999). The influence of culture on cognition. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. 14(7), 581-592. Barac, R. (2012). Bilingual Effects on Cognitive and Linguistic Development: Role of Language, Cultural Background, and Education. Child Dev. 83(2), pp. 413–422. Chiao, J. Y. et al. (2009). Dynamic Cultural Influences on Neural Representations of the Self. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 22(1), pp. 1–11. Diener, E. (2003). Personality, Culture, and Subjective Well-Being: Emotional and Cognitive Evaluations of Life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, pp. 403–425. Ojose, B. (2008). Applying Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to mathematics instruction. The Mathematics Educator.18(1), 26-30. In order to conduct research the scholarly articles are extracted using an extensive range of key words. The following key words are being used. - ‘Cultural influence on cognitive thinking’- - Cognitive thinking abilities of males and females’, ‘Cultural influence on cognitive thinking of adolescents’ and ‘psychological theories on cognitive thinking’ among others. Assumptions and Limitations in the study This study is being conducted using quantitative research approach, by means of a survey questionnaire as the primary source. In this regard, it is assumed that it would not take as much time to carry out this research practice and this approach is less expensive as compared to other research methods like interviews and focus groups. Moreover, the findings would give a numerical figure from a large sample size of 200 participants who would be precise, accurate and would give answers to the empirical question raised. Moreover, the following hypotheses are assumed to answer the research problem raised by the researcher. H1: Culture has a positive relationship with the cognitive ability of a man and woman H2: Man’s thinking ability has a negative relationship women’s cognitive thinking ability relating to culture. In order to prove the above mentioned Hypothesis, the findings from the survey questionnaire would be compared with the Literature Review, the research carried out by previous scholars. However, there can be some limitations in this research; for instance, due to time constraints interview questions are not being used. A survey questionnaire for the research would not include emotions, feelings of stress, excitement or other behaviors that can be known through open-ended questions like interviews. Thus, if there was more time to extend the study it would have been feasible to extend the study by using more resources and qualitative research tool to conduct the study. There can be another limitation in the study when the respondents are giving a very biased opinions based on their perceptions as men and women thinking are based on certain assumptions that may not be true in the literal sense. In this regard, it is important that respondents give true and relevant answers to the questions raised in the questionnaire. Moreover, another limitation can be seen if there are unavoidable errors that may invalidate the results of the research. Expected Outcomes/ Findings Culture constitutes of personality which is inherited as well as learned traits of the individuals and then in broader perspective culture in a group they are learned values, perceptions and behaviors derived from certain traditions. The learned traits are the cultural values that get embedded in individuals as get influenced by many external factors of the environment and through collective programming that is sought through personal experiences taking place. In this regard, it can be said that suggested findings can indicate that males may perceive cultural values different as compared to females. As it is indicated by Amy and Cuddy(2010), men are more independent than women so they rated having more positive influence of cultural and social values on cognitive thinking as compared to the females, and this may have given rise to various stereotypes on gender differences. Moreover, as indicated by John Gray (2003) in his book, “Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, “males thinking ability is totally different from a female. In social and cultural context, there are more expectations coming from males than from females though the intellectual levels of each gender are approximately the same. These suggested findings are assumed based on the previous research carried out by scholars. Reference List Arce, P. P. (1999). The influence of culture on cognition. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 14(7), 581-592. Choudhury, S., Blakemore, S. J., & Charman, T. (2006). Social cognitive development during adolescence. Social Cognitive Affect Neuroscience, 1(3), 165-174. Cuddy, A. J., Crotty, S., Chong, J., & I., N. M. (2010). Men as Cultural Ideals: How Culture Shapes Gender Stereotypes. Harvard: Harvard Business School. Gray, J. (2003). Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: The Definitive Guide to Relationships. New York: Element. Ojose, B. (2008). Applying Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to mathematics instruction. The Mathematics Education, 18(1), 26-30. Oyeserman, D., & S., L. S. (2008). Does culture influence what and how we think? Effects of priming individualism and collectivism. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 311-342. Simply Psychology: Lev Vygotsky. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html Read More