Culture, autobiographical memory and self. Formal schooling as a sociocultural activity 1

1. Culture, autobiographical memory and self. Formal schooling as a sociocultural activity1 De la Mata, Manuel L.1 Santamaría, Andrés1 Tia G.B. Hansen 2 Lucía Ruíz 3 Ruiz, Marcia 3 1. Universidad de Sevilla (Spain). 2. Aalborg Universitet (Denmark) 3. Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas (Mexico) II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

2. Abstract Formal education is a fundamental setting for socialization, transmission and recreation of social values. This social practice is related to the development of a notion of individual and selfhood that is characteristic of modern societies. This notion includes: - The acquisition and use of “rational” or “formal” ways of thinking and remembering. - The development of a set of values as autonomy and self-reflection (characteristic of the modern citizen). Recent data from cross-cultural psychology have shown differences in the construal of self characteristics of different cultures. So, for instance, Anglo-American and Northern and Central European cultures may focus on individual, demonstrating an independent self-construal. This independent self is considered as a separate and autonomous entity, defined by a unique repertoire of traits, capacities, thoughts and feelings. Asian cultures, in contrast, tend to emphasize a collective or interdependent self, experienced as a part of a social web. These differences in the emphasis on independence vs. interdependence are evidenced in diverse aspect of the self (emotions, cognitive processes, attributions and moral reasoning and achievement motivation, among others) (Markus & Kitayama). It is generally assumed a global trend to an increasing model of autonomy (although not necessarily associated to separatedness, as Kağitçibaşi claims). Formal schooling seems to be an important factor that promotes the cultural model of autonomy to a great extent. Autobiographical memory is defined as memory for the facts and events of personal meaningful past. Autobiographical memory is related to the self, and to the experience of personhood, that is, to the experience of enduring as an individual, in a culture, over time. Research in the last years has evidenced cultural differences in autobiographical memory. These differences are consistent with differences observed in self construal between cultures. Observed differences are concerned with aspects like the age of the first memories, the length and the elaboration (including emotions), the content (in relation to autonomy and connectedness) and the characters (self and other) involved. Starting from this theoretical perspective, we analyze and discuss the data from two studies developed in our groups: - A cross-cultural study about autobiographical memory, self and culture in Denmark, Spain and Mexico. - A study about the relationship between formal schooling and autobiographical memory. The analysis of the data showed that formal schooling experience seemed to promote forms of remembering autobiographical experiences/events that are similar to those that characterise the “cultures of autonomy” (age of the earliest memory, focus on autonomy, the self as the protagonist of the memories, emotional content). These results are discussed in terms of the relationship between socio-cultural activities and autobiographical remembering and self.

3. AM & Self • Autobiographical Memory is memory for information related to self. • When the individuals tell their personal life stories, they are speaking about their selves (self-concepts, identities). • Or, conversely, when the individuals speak about their selves, they seem to refer to their life stories. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

4. AM & Narrative • AM as a narrative about own’s life. • Self as central protagonist and story teller (dialogical view). • As any narrative, AM is mediated by semiotic tools that the individuals appropriates along their life. • The appropriation of these tools is related to participation in different socio-cultural settings and activities (specially, schooling practices). II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

5. AM & Narrative (II) • Self-Narratives and memories of personal events emerge from social interactions. • Self-making as a narrative art (Bruner, 2003). • Narratives are rooted in implicit cultural models about what a person should be. • These models provide guidelines for the construction of self identity. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

6. AM: A Socio-Cultural Developmental View (Nelson & Fivush, 2004) • Autobiographical memory (AM) emerges across the preschool years and contributes to the emergence of a new concept of self. It is related to changes that occur in different spheres of social, personality and cognitive development. • The emergence and development of this form of memory is related, according to Nelson, with the development of language, a cultural tool that plays a fundamental role in this development • Individual AM is shaped by social experiences and cultural values • There are cultural, gender and individual differences in AM and its development. • Narratives and memories of personal experiences emerge from social interactions. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

7. Mechanisms of Cultural Influence(Leitchman, Wang & Pillemer, 2003) - Narrative environment - Self-construal - Emotion situation knowledge - Beliefs about personal past II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

8. AM & Cultural Self-Construal • Differences between Euro-American and East-Asian cultures in self-construal: • Individualism vs. collectivism(Triandis, 1989; Hofstede, 2003). • Independence vs. interdependent(Markus & Kitayama, 1991). • Autonomy vs. related self(Kagitçibasi, 200, 2008). • Differences in self-construal are related to differences in AM: • Age at the earliest memory. • Memory volume & Elaboration. • Emotionality. • Themes (e.g. agency vs. relation) • Specificity. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

9. AM & Cultural Self-Construal (II) a) Few studies about self-construal and autobiographical memories in other but East Asian and Euro American cultures. Generally considered a collectivistic culture (Hofstede, 1984, 2001; Oyserman, Coon & Kemmelmeier, 2002) (more interdependent self) b) No studies about the influence of specific cultural practices on earliest personal memories and narratives (e.g. schoolingpractices) II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

10. De la Mata et al. (2008) • Study of cultural and gender differences in AM and self-descriptions • Participants: college students from three countries: Denmark, Spain and Mexico. • Studies about self-construal in Denmark, Spain and Mexico show some differences between these countries in terms of individualism vs. collectivism: (Hofstede, 1984, 2001, 2003; Oyserman, Coon & Kemmelmeier, 2002) DenmarkSpainMexico Interdependent self Independent self Individualism Collectivism II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

11. De la Mata et al. (2008) • Method: Replication of Wang (2001, 2004): 1) Recall of the earliest memory. 2. Questions about accessibility and emotions. 3) Shortened version of the TST (10 sentences starting by “I am…” • Wang’s (2001, 2004) categories of analysis. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

12. Results: Cultural & Gender differences • Cultural differences in AM: • Age of the earliest memory (earlier in the Danish and Spanish students). • Emotions (more emotions in Mexicans and Spaniards than in Danes). • Culture x gender interactions in AM • Emotions (opposite trends in Danes and Mexicans). • Specificity (different trends in Danes compared to Spaniards and Mexicans).. • Gender differences in AM (higher in women) • Autonomous orientation. • Prior recollections.. • Cultural differences in self-descriptions: more positive in Mexicans, more negative in Spaniards and more neutral evaluation in Danes.. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

13. Independent self-construal, Formal schooling & Mind Formal schooling, literacy and citizenship: • Acquisition and development of “rational” or formal ways of thinking (categorization, problem solving, memory…). • Notion of individual and self characteristic of citizenship and modernity. • Relationship between formal schooling and independent self-construal(Kagitçibasi, 2005, 2007). II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

14. Formal schooling & mental processes (I) • Cross-cultural research comparing schooled and non-schooled people: • Categorization and concept formation. • Memory. • Reasoning and problem-solving. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

15. Formal schooling & mental processes (II) • Differences interpreted in terms of ways of thinking: • Theoretical vs. empirical argumentation (Scribner). • Propositional vs. narrative thinking (Bruner). • Academic vs. everyday concepts (Vygosky). II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

16. Literacy and the development of the literate mind (I)(Olson, 1994) Modern concept of mind: • Mind as an entity that contents ideas and mental states (thoughts, memories, beliefs….). • Autonomous individual, responsible of his/her mental states and actions. • Self-consciousness. • Self-consciousness emerges through autobiographical narrative, interpreted from the perspective of the narrative self (Bruner, 1990, 2002). II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

17. Literacy and the development of the literate mind (II)(Olson, 1994) Role of literacy and literate practices in the development of the modern concept of mind: • Separation things-representations: thinking as an “autonomous” activity about the world. • Thinking as an “epistemic” activity. • Mind as an object defined by mental states. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

18. The present study: Research questions 1) To analyse the relationship between schooling experience and earliest autobiographical memories and self-narratives in Mexican people. 2) To analyse some narrative aspects (i.e. the use of action & mental verbs and metacognitive evaluations) of the earliest memories. 3) To analyse gender differences in autobiographical memories and self-narratives. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

19. Method (1).Participants • 60 people coming from Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, México). • Gender: 30 males and 30 females. • Schooling experience: 20 (literacy level) 20 (basic level) 20 (university level) II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

20. Method (3).Instrument - Oral interviews about earliest personal memories - Transcriptions of personal memories II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

21. Analysis: Categories AM • Age at the earliest memory (months) • Memory content: - individual - social • Memory specificity: - specific - general • Emotional content Self • Autonomous orientation • Other-self ratio • Self description II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

22. Narrative Analysis (Units) Action Verbs units Mental verbs units: Cognitive Intentional Emotional Kappa = .933 (sentences) Kappa = .873 (Self/others) Metacognitive units Smorti, A. (2004). Narrative strategies among early adolescents involved in bully-victim relationships. Journal of School Violence, 4(1), 5-27 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

23. Metacognitive unit(initial evaluation) Passage 5 of 26 Section 0, Para 42, 191 chars. 42: En realidad no sabría cuál es el más viejito. Me vienen varios y a lo mejor me confundo. No es un recuerdo que yo lo recuerde, lo ubico por unas fotografías... 42. In fact I wouldn’t know which memory is the oldest. There are some of them coming to my mind and perhaps I’m wrong. It is not something I remember. I locate it in some photos… II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

24. Metacognitive unit(final evaluation) Passage 1 of 17 Section 0, Para 6, 77 chars. 6: ...es un recuerdo muy agradable. No sé, me provoca una sensación de tranquilidad, de placer. 6: …it’s a very pleasant memory. I don’t know, it makes me feel calmness and pleasure. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

25. Results:Autobiographical memory Schooling experience: F =17.68; df=2; p =.000**, η2=.424 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

26. Results: Autobiographical memory Schooling experience: F =3.038; df =2; p =.057, η2= .112 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

27. Results: Autobiographical memory Schooling experience: χ2=9.448; df =2; p =.009 ** II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

28. Results: Autobiographical memory Schooling experience: χ2=6.652; df =2; p =.036 * II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

29. Results: Self Gender & Autonomy: F = 4.389; df = 1; p = .041*, η2= .084 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

30. Results: Self Gender & Other/Self Ratio: F =6.895; df = 1; p = .012*, η2= .126 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

31. Results: Self Schooling Level & Self-Description: F =4.554; df =2; p =.015*, η2= .159 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

32. Results: Self Gender & Self-Description: F =16.564; df =2; p =.000**, η2= .257 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

33. Narrative analysis:Formal schooling Schooling Level: F = 6,184; df= 2; p = .004, η2 =.205 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

34. Narrative analysis:Formal schooling II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

35. Narrative analysis: Formal schooling Schooling Level: F = 7,975; df= 2; p = .001, η2 =.249 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

36. Narrative analysis: Formal schooling Schooling Level: F = 7,333; df= 2; p = .002, η2 =.234 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

37. Narrative analysis: Formal schooling Schooling Level: F = 3,583; df= 2; p = .035, η2 =.130 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

38. Narrative analysis: Formal schooling Schooling Level: F = 4,509; df= 2; p = .016, η2 =.158 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

39. Narrative analysis: Formal schooling Schooling Level: F = 3,305; df= 2; p = .045, η2 =.121 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

40. Narrative analysis: Gender Schooling Level: F = 4,486; df= 1; p = .039, η2 =.085 II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

41. Summary of results • Differences in four categories of AM between schooling levels. Only one category showed no significant differences: emotionality of the memories. • University participants memories were earlier, more personal/individual and more specific than the other participants’ memories. • Gender differences in autonomous and social self-orientation: men showed a higher index of autonomy and women a higher level of social orientation in their memories. • Differences in self-description related to schooling level and gender: University participants (men and women) showed a higher index of agentivity than the other participants; men showed more agentive self descriptions in their personal narratives. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

42. Summary of results (II) • Differences in the use of mental states (both cognitive and emotional) verbs and metacognitive units between schooling levels. Participants with higher levels of schooling used more mental verbs and metacognitive expressions in their earliest memories. • Differences in the proportion of units referred to the self between schooling levels: participants with higher levels of schooling used more sentences referred to the self. • Gender differences in the proportion of units referred to the self: higher in men than in women. II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

43. Some preliminary conclusions • Differences between schooling levels are similar to cultural differences associated to independent vs. interdependent self-construal. • Narrative analysis shows evidence of the relationship between schooling experience and the reference to mental states in autobiographical narratives • Need to deepen into the relationship between formal schooling, AM and self construal • Limitations due to sample size (data assessment and analysis not completed yet). II ISCAR Congress. San Diego

44. Thank you for your attention!! ¡Muchas gracias por su atención! Contact: mluis@us.es II ISCAR Congress. San Diego