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IB psych SAQ – enculturation
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IB psych SAQ on enculturation that helped me score a 7 throughout the psych HL course.
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Outline or Describe or Explain enculturation.Enculturation is the process where people learn the necessary and appropriate skills and norms
of their culture. Norms are sets of rules based on socially and culturally shared beliefs of how
individuals should behave. Norms regulate behavior within a group – if people deviate or break
from these norms, they may be punished, marginalized, or seen as creative depending on the
culture. In humans, the need to belong plays a strong role in the desire to conform to group
norms. One way in which society or culture pass on norms within the group is through social
learning theory (SLT), which theorizes that behavior can be learnt via observational learning.
Observational learning is the learning through observing models and imitating their behavior,
thus noticing the consequences it has on them and their environments. Components of
observational learning include:
1. Attention (influenced by how much the learner identifies with the model)
2. Retention (learner likely to retain and imitate the action if behavior is consistent)
3. Reproduction (self efficacy influences whether the learner will imitate the behavior of a
model in relation to fear of failure)
4. Motivation (outcome expectancies of imitating the behavior)
SLT evolved into the ‘social cognitive theory’ (SCT) with the addition that learning occurs in a
social context with triadic reciprocal determinism – a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the
person, environment, and behavior.
Odden and Rochat is a correlational experiment that investigated the role of observational
learning in the acquisition of cultural norms. Samoans were used because they are known to
have a non-interventionist approach towards raising their children, hence likely that they learn
through observation. 28 children from a Samoan village were observed for 25 months in
different contexts, in order to measure internalized social norms. Semi-structured interviews
were conducted with adults and children to look at the behavior of line fishing and conceptual
understanding of rank and hierarchy. Results showed that children would merely watch adults
fishing, but by age 12 would be skilled fishers. Societal hierarchy/cultural rituals were also never
taught, but children had a good understanding of the hierarchy system.
This study shows that observational learning plays a significant role in enculturation.
Observational learning was seen through attention and reproduction: children who paid attention
to the behaviors of adults were able to imitate their behaviors, as shown by their acquisition of
fishing skills. Retention was also seen through the children’s understanding of the concepts and
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