Culture and its surroundings influence the way people’s brain see and react to their worlds. Do you see unique advantages for the workplace when these differences come to the surface? Or do problems slow down progress when cultures rise and clash?
Denise Park of the University of Illinois tracked brains in action as people observed complex scenes such as an airplane flying over a city. Differences appeared striking as reported by the University News Bureau.
The study found that our culture changes how we see things around us. The study concluded … for instance … that Asian and American see things from very different perspectives.
Researchers analyzed the eye movements of East Asians and Westerners viewing identical images.
They found that culture genuinely sculpts the brain! Westerners were more attentive to central, or dominant, objects, for instance, while East Asians paid more attention to the background, or scene.
Check out novel perceptual differences that exist across cultures between age groups too. Does that also help to explain why lectures or talks tend to work again the human brain.
How could Park’s findings help your workplace to look for differences as a way to expand a product, start a new line or reorganize a department for higher productivity? Would the study trigger any new ideas where you work?
Hi, Ellen. Makes sense since they were comparing what the cross-culturalists call high-context and low-context cultures.
I wonder what if any effect Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions have on the brain. Would be interesting research. Maybe it has already been done?
Posted by: Stephanie West Allen | August 2, 2007 6:39 PM | Permalink to Comment