Observing, Conforming, and Internalizing: How Does Social Learning Occur Across Different Contexts and Cultures?

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Social learning, or learning from observing and interacting with other individuals, substantially facilitates knowledge acquisition (Heyes, 1994; Kendal et al., 2018). As individuals’ social learning depends on the potential informants around them, understanding how contextual factors impact social learning is crucial, especially in the early years. This symposium highlights four studies using Western and Eastern samples that contribute to understanding how contextual factors—specifically referring to the way in which children learn from the potential informants’ beliefs and behaviors—impact children’s social learning via their perceptions of other individuals and interactions with those around them.

Paper 1 examines how American children learn words by observing informants in contexts with and without direct interaction, finding that children can remember words more accurately without direct contact. Paper 2 examines how Chinese children and adults perceive conformity in contexts with and without emphasis on group consensus, finding that individuals appreciate conformity more highly when consensus is valued. Paper 3 examines familial factors, finding that parents who emphasize independence and assertiveness are less likely to encourage conformity for children across Western countries. Paper 4 inspects Chinese parents’ attentiveness to their children’s mental states, finding that mothers’ feedback on their children’s thought processes can help children learn to monitor and manage their own behaviors. Together, these studies suggest that people from both Western and Eastern cultures are attentive to contextual information from the early years, spontaneously observing and referencing the beliefs and behaviors of individuals around them to absorb and internalize information in the environment.

Sub Unit

• Social Cognition

Chairs

• Shaocong Ma, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

• Eva E. Chen, National Tsing Hua University

Individual Presentations

• Social Learning in School-Aged Children: The Effect of Social Contexts on Word Learning and Retention - Presenting Author: Anqi Hu, University of Delaware; Zhenghan Qi, Northeastern University

• Social Learning of Conformity: Children and Adults’ Evaluations of Conformists Versus Non-Conformists Across Different Contexts - Presenting Author: Shaocong Ma, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Eva E. Chen, National Tsing Hua University

• Adults’ Assessments of Social Learning: Examining Variation in WEIRD Expectations for Conformity and Intelligence - Presenting Author: Nicole Wen, Brunel University London; Jennifer Marie Clegg, Texas State University; Stephanie Estrera, The University of Texas at Austin; Ajna F. Kertesz, University of Texas at Austin; Frankie T. K. Fong, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; ALEJANDRO ERUT, University of Texas at Austin; Mark Gregory Nielsen, University of Queensland; Cristine H. Legare, University of Texas at Austin

• Social Learning in Families: Maternal Cognitive Mind-Mindedness and Maternal Time Predict Children’s Inhibitory Control - Presenting Author: Shuyang Dong, University of Hong Kong (HKU); Zhengyan Wang, Capital Normal University; Nanhua Cheng