Li Chun Ho IB Psychology Higher Using one or more examples, explain emic and etic concepts.

Emic and etic concepts are adopted by researchers as different approaches to study culture in different countries. They were introduced by Pike (1967). The emic approach emphasizes on the differences between cultures. Behaviors that are cultural specific are studied. These observations and findings are taken from the country being studied itself in order to seek an inside perspective. Because of this, they select their subject matter and instruments for analysis once the research is in progress. They only begin to collect data when they have a sound knowledge with the local culture. Their research work is often collaborated with indigenous researchers aided with local knowledge. When the findings are recorded, they are only applied to the field where the data was gathered. Emic approaches have challenged psychologists to re-examine their concept of truth in terms of culture, as they may be relative based on culture. It is important these cultural variations are recognized to understand members of other cultural groups. An example of an emic research study is Cole & Scribner (1974). Their aim was to observe the development of memory of tribal people in rural Liberia. Through a lab experiment, they studied Liberian children, both who didnt go to school and those who did. The procedure involved a free recall task where participants are shown four sets of words at a time, then asked to recall them in any order. The results found that participants remember roughly 10 items on the first trial that was only improved by 2 more items after 15 trials. The Liberian student participants learned faster. As a result, Liberian children did not show regular increase in memory performance in middle childhood unless they went to school. These conclusions were compared with American children, showing that Liberian children who went to school can memorize and recall as fast as the American children. On the other hand, the etic approach compares behavior between cultures to find universal behavior that can be applied to every culture. Behavior is compared across specific cultures to find similarities. Therefore, etic researchers decided on what to study and how to analyze it before arriving in the field. The begin gather data as soon as they arrive in the field. They analyze behavior using established theories and data collection methods brought from the outside. Their findings are applied and compared globally. An example of etic research is Paul Ekman (1982) who aimed to investigate whether certain emotions are innate. This was done through observation, with participants who were members of the Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea, who had an isolated culture. The different facial expressions of the tribe members were observed and photographs taken of their expression. Ekman compared universal facial expressions with those of the tribes. The finding suggested that everyone in the world have similar facial expression for each emotion, suggesting they are innate.