How where you're from affects memory: Americans recall objects better while East Asians are more likely to remember people

  • Culture affects memory by influencing what you perceive as important
  • Previous research claimed East Asians were better able to remember background details - but this study showed that’s not always the case
  • The results could help influence how children are taught in schools

By Ellie Zolfagharifard

Published: | Updated:

Think back to your last birthday. What do you remember? Was it the cake, the people there, or the presents you received?

The details you remember are largely down to where you grew up, according to a new U.S. study. 

For instance, Americans tend to focus on visual details, such as the colour of the decorations or the type of icing on a cake.

Scientists claim that your culture determines your memory. East Asians, for instance, are better able to remember interpersonal details, like who served the cake at a birthday party

Scientists claim that your culture determines your memory. East Asians, for instance, are better able to remember interpersonal details, like who served the cake at a birthday party

East Asians, meanwhile, are better able to remember interpersonal details, like who served the cake or who they danced with.

‘Your culture influences what you perceive to be important around you,’ said Angela Gutchess, an assistant professor of psychology at Brandeis University.

‘If your culture values social interactions, you will remember those interactions better than a culture that values individual perceptions. Culture really shapes your memory.’

Professor Gutchess and her team performed a range of memory tests on 65 students from the U.S. and East Asian countries, including China, Japan, and Korea.

Americans tend to focus on visual details, such as the colour of the decorations or the presents given

Americans tend to focus on visual details, such as the colour of the decorations or the presents given

They showed both groups of students a series of images - a chair, a light, a desk. The next day, scientists showed them another series of objects in which some photographs were repeated from the previous series and some were just similar.

The American students were better able to identify the duplicated pictures better than their East Asian counterparts.

In a second test, Professor Gutchess explored whether the two groups remembered more detailed scenes differently.

The participants were shown two series of photos of an office, a kitchen and the savannah and asked to identify same and similar images.

Again, Americans scored higher on identifying duplicated scenes and objects.

‘Previous studies had shown East Asians were better able to remember background and contextual details but this study showed that’s not always the case,’ said Professor Gutchess.

‘This may be because East Asian memory is more focused on emotional context and social detail than visual detail.’

Understanding how culture affects memory can improve interactions from diplomatic relations to classroom teaching styles, said Professor Gutchess.

She added that learning off by heart may work for some cultures while a more context-based approach to learning may work better for others.

‘If we can understand how we remember, we can begin to really understand one another better,’ Professor Gutchess said.

UK RESEARCHERS CLAIM NOSTALGIA IS GOOD FOR YOU

Understanding how culture affects memory can improve interactions from diplomatic relations to classroom teaching styles, said Professor Gutchess

Far from being self-indulgent, wallowing in the past can leave you feeling happier about the future.

Individuals who are nostalgic about their earlier lives also have a more positive outlook over the years to come, a study has found.

The findings suggest that recalling happy memories improves your sense of wellbeing.

‘Nostalgia raises self-esteem, which in turn heightens optimism,’ said study co-author Dr Tim Wildschut, from the University of Southampton.

‘Memories of the past can help to maintain current feelings of self-worth and can contribute to a brighter outlook on the future.'

In a recent study, published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, participants were asked to recall a nostalgic event and write about it. A second group were asked to record an ordinary event from their past.

The team found that the number of optimistic words included in the nostalgic narratives were significantly higher than in the ordinary stories.

In a second experiment, participants were played either a nostalgic or ‘neutral’ song. Those listening to the former reported higher levels of optimism than the other group.


 

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