Cultural Differences Effects on Complex Cognition & Operations

22 October 007 Innovative Organizations and Complex Systems Ottawa, Canada

Rik Warren, PhD

Human Effectiveness Directorate Air Force Research Laboratory
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Overview
Some example incidents Fundamental differences

Complex cognition & culture in general

Complexity in data Complexity in theory & modeling

Complexity in methodology
Dimensions: Multiplicity & complexity in Cultural dimensions

Perceptual & cognitive dimensions

Implications: more complexity and some simplicity
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National Culture
Culture Acquired Values, attitudes, influences behavior Values ROSETTA PROJECT Basic convictions: what is right & wrong, good & bad, important & unimportant Relatively stable: not subject to sudden shifts or impulses of the moment Standard for judging behavior

KNOWN

UNKNOWN

Surface behaviors influenced by beneath-the-surface values and INTERACTION assumptions. By knowing peoples values and beliefs, you can come to expect and predict their behavior.

Incidents
This is Wing Commander Jones Right away, Sir! This is Group Captain Jones Please hold ... This is Dean Smith ... Triandis in Individualism and collectivism: American manager in Greece Why should we do his work!

Example of Culturally Based Behaviour

From a German officer In my country, you speak up only if you have something important to add; silence is okay. In the U.S., however, people seem to feel its bad to be silent, and they will speak up, in a meeting for example, just to let others know that they are there.

Example of Culturally Based Behaviour

From a German officer In my country, you speak up only if you have something important to add; silence is okay. In the U.S., however, people seem to feel its bad to be silent, and they will speak up, in a meeting for example, just to let others know that they are there. Many of us interpret this behavior of the Americans as either stupidity or arrogance From a British officer Why dont the Americans down the hall just come and talk to me! They often leave me a voicemail instead of walking 10 seconds to my desk or calling to speak to me directly, even when they know that Im hereThis seems very cold and impersonal to me.

Example of Culturally Based Behaviour

From a German officer In my country, you speak up only if you have something important to add; silence is okay. In the U.S., however, people seem to feel its bad to be silent, and they will speak up, in a meeting for example, just to let others know that they are there. Many of us interpret this behavior of the Americans as either stupidity or arrogance From a British officer Why dont the Americans down the hall just come and talk to me! They often leave me a voicemail instead of walking 10 seconds to my desk or calling to speak to me directly, even when they know that Im hereThis seems very cold and impersonal to me. From the American officer

I know Ive been accused by my colleagues of leaving them too many voicemails, but from my perspective its simply a way of not interrupting them and giving them a message that they can listen to when they have time to deal with it.

Country Profiles

Situations & Correct Action - 1

Ethics 101: Boat in trouble: Who to cast overboard? Parents or children? Why? Why your answer is wrong.

Situations & Correct Action - 2

Parable (Matt. 21): Father asks sons to work in field:

One says yes, but doesnt go

Other says no, but does go ? Who did the will of the father? Collectivist cultures & harmony Hofstede (1997, p. 58 re missionaries in Indonesia):
Action of secondary importance Saying No caused father to loose face

Yes doesnt always mean yes in some cultures

Importance of saving own & others face

Duties of co-pilots

Culture & Decision Making: Air Accident Rates by Region

Regional Perspective
Western-built transport hull loss accidents, cident bysite, ac 1991 through 0* 200
Europe 0.7 United States and Canada 0.4
1 C.I.S.

JAA - 0.5 Non JAA - 5.5

China 2.5 Asia(Excluding 2.6 China)

Middle East 2.3 Africa 10.2

Latin America and Caribbean 3.7

Accidents per milliondepartures

Oceania 0.5 World 1.3

1Insufficient

fleet experience to generate reliable te. ra

*Departure Data use d is Preliminary

1 World Many Cultures

Different cultures view the world differently

Different cultures (re-)act differently to same information

Military: Distributed Operations, multinational coalitions

Challenges
Appreciate utility of understanding culture
Others & ourselves Magnitude of effects

Learn cultural etiquette & practices

Use of left hand, etc.

Understand Cultural Dimensions: Perceptual, cognitive, decisional Predict potential cooperation & conflicts
Computable models of cultural interaction

Analytic v. Holistic Reasoning

Who:
World is made of :

Westerners
Discrete, independent objects

East Asians
Continuous & interacting elements

Perceptual:

Field independent Field dependent ignore background include back- & foreground Simple explanations involving few elements Complex explanations involving many factors

Cognitive causal attribution:

Perceptual & Cognitive Dimensions

Attribution: Situational vs. Dispositional

Locus of Control
Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivation Field /Object Orientation Analytic vs. Holistic Reasoning
1 fish, 2 fish, red fish,

Dialectical Reasoning Counterfactual Thinking Categorization - similarity and rules

Methodological Complexity
Previous slide: Apparent main effect of country BUT: CAUTION: Different countries use rating scales differently: Mediterranean & Middle East: Important to appear honest
If you are asked a question, surely you know your own mind
Therefore, use extreme ends of a rating scale

East Asia: Important to appear modest

If asked a question, surely you dont know everything especially since everything is related to everything else
Therefore, use middle of a rating scale

Simplicity vs. Complexity

If you look at things from the right angle ...

Cultural Factors vs. Interaction

How devise prediction equations? Predict what? Lists of factors: Not predict interactions But interaction what we really want to know!

Nave: 50 factors -> 2,500 interaction terms

Better: directly observe interacting people Tasks: decision making & resource allocation

Finesse 50x50 interaction terms & factors

Key: data chosen for analyses Focus on predicting cooperation v conflict

Develop models of the interactions

Develop data collection tools & method

Mathematics of Marriage
Gottman et al. (2002) Couple discusses problem
Data: positivity, negativity of each spouse
If youd keep your trap shut and let me finish

Predict: Divorce, married-happy, -unhappy

Dynamic nonlinear (process) model

Discover explanatory parameters Improve marriage therapy by targeting key parameters

Malcolm Gladwell - Blink

Mathematics of Marriage

Complexity Introduced by Culture can Affect:

Information Exchange
Coordination Assigning Roles & Responsibilities Support (error-checking)

Inability to Adapt
imperfect situation awareness

inaccurate situation assessment, and

flawed or delayed decision making

Analytic vs Holistic Fish