The Neural Mechanisms of Naturalistic Interactive Cultural Learning
Presented During:
Wednesday, June 26, 2024: 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM
COEX
Room:
ASEM Ballroom 202
Poster No:
817
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Siyuan Zhou1, Xinran Xu2, Xiangyu He2, Chunming Lu2
Institutions:
1Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, PR China, 2Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
In the era of globalization, people frequently encounter information from other cultures either directly through social interactions or indirectly through social media. In such cases, our cultural mindset is subtly shifted, a process known as cultural learning (Herrmann et al., 2007; Tomasello et al., 1993). Previous research has revealed that individuals can acquire the representations of other cultures, thereby aligning their neurocognitive process more closely with other cultures (Kitayama et al., 2017; Kitayama et al., 2011). However, few studies have investigated this issue in a direct social interaction context, leaving the cognitive process behind naturalistic culture learning and the underlying neural bases unknown.
Methods:
Thirty-one Chinese learners were paired with 31 American instructors to form the cultural learning group, while 35 Chinese learners were paired with 35 Chinese instructors to form the control group. All participants were proficient in Chinese and had limited intercultural experience. This study focuses exclusively on the Chinese learners in both groups.
The cultural mindset of instructors was assessed using the Analytical-Holistic Scale (AHS, Nisbett et al., 2005) before the experiment. The formal experiment was comprised of three phases (Fig. 1A). Firstly, each learner engaged in a 20-minute discussion on a culture-related topic and then rated the quality of communication. Secondly, all learners independently viewed a 7-minute ambiguous animated video in the Heider & Simmel style, which narrates through the movement of geometric shapes (Fig. 1B, Nguyen et al., 2019). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data were collected during this phase. Immediately after video viewing, all learners were asked to freely recall the video contents based on their understanding (Fig. 1C).
First, we estimated the hemodynamic response to the geometric video by calculating the inter-subject correlation (ISC) across learners in each group separately. Then, we examined the cultural learning effect by comparing the ISC between two groups. Third, to verify that the ISC change in the cultural learning group was derived from a shift in the learner's cultural mindset, we conducted an inter-subject representational similarity analysis (IS-RSA) on the hemodynamic response to the video and the recall text embedding using the Universal Sentence Embedding (USE) model (Fig. 2B). Finally, to explore whether the shift in the learner's cultural mindset was the result of interactive cultural learning, a modulation model on the instructor's cultural mindset (American AHS scores), the communication quality, and the cultural learning effect in the brain (learner's ISC) were built (Fig. 2D).
The cultural mindset of instructors was assessed using the Analytical-Holistic Scale (AHS, Nisbett et al., 2005) before the experiment. The formal experiment was comprised of three phases (Fig. 1A). Firstly, each learner engaged in a 20-minute discussion on a culture-related topic and then rated the quality of communication. Secondly, all learners independently viewed a 7-minute ambiguous animated video in the Heider & Simmel style, which narrates through the movement of geometric shapes (Fig. 1B, Nguyen et al., 2019). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data were collected during this phase. Immediately after video viewing, all learners were asked to freely recall the video contents based on their understanding (Fig. 1C).
First, we estimated the hemodynamic response to the geometric video by calculating the inter-subject correlation (ISC) across learners in each group separately. Then, we examined the cultural learning effect by comparing the ISC between two groups. Third, to verify that the ISC change in the cultural learning group was derived from a shift in the learner's cultural mindset, we conducted an inter-subject representational similarity analysis (IS-RSA) on the hemodynamic response to the video and the recall text embedding using the Universal Sentence Embedding (USE) model (Fig. 2B). Finally, to explore whether the shift in the learner's cultural mindset was the result of interactive cultural learning, a modulation model on the instructor's cultural mindset (American AHS scores), the communication quality, and the cultural learning effect in the brain (learner's ISC) were built (Fig. 2D).
·The setup of experiment.
Results:
As illustrated in Figure 2A, when viewing the geometric video, the ISC in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) of Chinese learners who interacted with American instructors was reduced compared to those who interacted with Chinese instructors. The IS-RSA results showed that a similar brain response pattern to videos in the pMTG was associated with a similar cognitive processing pattern, which suggested the reduced brain response in the pMTG of the cultural learning group was related to the shift of cultural mindset (Fig. 2C). Finally, the modulation analysis revealed that the transformation of cultural mindset from American instructors to Chinese learners was modulated by the learner's communication quality (Fig. 2E).
·The analysis and results.
Conclusions:
The current study provides novel evidence that the cultural mindset could be transformed through naturalistic social interaction whereby a cultural learning process occurs. Specifically, after social interaction with American instructors, Chinese learners exhibited a notable shift from the Chinese holistic mindset to the American analytical mindset, which was associated with a change in brain responses in left pMTG. Additionally, this shift in cultural mindset was modulated by the learner's communication quality.
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Social Cognition
Social Interaction 1
Learning and Memory:
Learning and Memory Other
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Multivariate Approaches
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
NIRS 2
Keywords:
Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy (NIRS)
Social Interactions
Other - Social Learning; Cultural Learning; Naturalistic Paradigm; Inter-subject Correlation(ISC); Natural Language Processing(NLP)
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Hasson, U.(2004). Intersubject synchronization of cortical activity during natural vision. Science, 303(5664), 1634–1640.
Herrmann, E.(2007). Humans Have Evolved Specialized Skills of Social Cognition: The Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis. Science, 317(5843), 1360–1366.
Kitayama, S.(2017). Culture embrained: Going beyond the nature-nurture dichotomy. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 841–854.
Kitayama, S.(2011). Culture, mind, and the brain: Current evidence and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 419–449.
Nguyen, M.(2019). Shared understanding of narratives is correlated with shared neural responses. NeuroImage, 184(August 2018), 161–170.
Nisbett, R. E.(2005). The influence of culture: Holistic versus analytic perception. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(10), 467–473.
Tomasello, M.(1993). Cultural learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 16(3), 495–552.