This is a locations-based assignment. Notice that “locations” is plural! ( i recommend comparing between three cultures )This will be an assignment about cross-cultural psychology in multiple locations worldwide.
You will analyze and compare cross-cultural differences in ritual behavior. In Unit 1 we learned that “rituals are practiced daily by billions of people and have been a mainstay of culture over thousands of years of human history. Why do people spend time, resources and effort participating in behaviors like these? How do people think they work, and what is their function? Answering these questions requires uncovering the psychology of ritual.” (Legare & Nielsen, 2020, p.2).
Step 1
Select** ONE **of the following topics to focus your analysis on. Ritual behavior in the context of:
_ Human Bonding (Marriage)_
Step 2
Analyze, from a cross-cultural psychological perspective, your chosen ritual behavior in at least 2 (ideally 3-4) locations. Your analysis should consist of THREE sections:
Section I (~500 words) Describe the Ritual
Describe the similarities and differences between locations in ritual cognition and/or behavior
You can use the knowledge you have of your current location (UAE) (s), or locations you have lived in for a substantial period of time, to inform this section.
Important: do NOT rely only on your own personal experiences! Make sure to incorporate external resources when describing differences in ritual cognition and behavior across locations (i.e., scientific and popular literature).
When completing the first part of your assignment (i.e., describing cultural similarities and differences) you should imagine that your #audience includes people who live in each area you are describing. Would they find your description objectively-stated and accurate (e.g., not a judgmental stereotype)?
Section II (~500 words) Psychological Explanations for Similarities and Differences
Develop psychological hypotheses for why similarities and differences might exist between locations
When completing the second part of your assignment (i.e., developing hypotheses for why similarities and differences exist) you should imagine that your #audience includes academics with expertise in your chosen topic area. Would they find your hypotheses plausible and aligned with past work?
Note: this is an ideal place in your assignment to apply #CogSciExplanations.
CogSciExplanations= Describe the mechanism, development, evolution, and function of a behaviour, and how it relates to other explanation types
In other words, you can ask if rituals are similar and different in terms of what they look like (their form), their purpose (function), what causes them (their mechanisms), where they came from at the individual (development) and group levels (function or evolution). You do not need to do so for all types of explanations. But you should examine different types of explanations when developing your hypotheses.
In Parts 1 and 2 of your assignment, you will need to search (and refer to) the academic literature on rituals related to your chosen topic. However, you can also refer to and rely on other sources relevant to your chosen topic (e.g., scientific blogs, podcasts, videos). These non-peer-reviewed sources should be high quality (i.e., from trusted, reliable, and reputable sources).
Section III (~200 words) Future Research Ideas
Suggest data collection that could be used to evaluate the hypothesis or hypotheses you developed.
When completing the third part of your assignment (i.e., generating research ideas to test your hypothesis) you should imagine that your #audience includes academics with expertise in psychological science. Would they find your research project one that could be published in an academic journal?
Note: this is an ideal place in your assignment to apply #CogSciMethods and #CogSciLevels.
Methods= Design, interpret, and evaluate methods that rely on self report, behavioral, and physiological measures.
Cogscilevels= analyzing it through different levels, which are the Biological Level (Examines the brain’s physical components, from tiny neurons to larger brain areas or the hormones , heart rates ) ,Psychological Level (Studies the mind’s processes, both conscious and unconscious, focusing on decision-making.) , Individual Level
(Looks at how individuals interact in small groups, considering social influences on personal psychology) and Group Level (Explores the influence of larger groups, addressing issues like stereotypes and bias, and how group identity affects behavior.)
In other words, you should think carefully about your level of analysis, what #Methods you would use, and #ResearcherBestPractices when testing your ideas
#ResearcherBestPractices =Identify and explain how best practices in the field of psychology improve research and results
. You do not need to develop a highly detailed research proposal (as you did in Assignment 2). Rather you should provide a broad overview of how you could go about testing your ideas empirically.
To increase clarity and decrease word count, think about including a table if there are multiple features you want to describe for each location. If you plan to propose a survey with many questions, it is unlikely that all questions would fit in an assignment of this length: you can describe the survey very briefly with just example questions; it is allowable (but not expected!) to put a full survey in an appendix, which would not count towards the total words of the assignment (and would also not be closely evaluated as part of the assignment). And, remember, you would not conduct the survey, and are not allowed to do human subjects research for this assignment–you are just proposing data collection that could be done.
