SRS #10 - Sample Solution

Each SRS response is graded out of 1. If you responded intelligently to the prompt in a way that reflects engagement with the reading, you will receive a full point. If you did not complete the SRS by the deadline, or if your response did not demonstrate any engagement with the reading, you will receive no points.

Receiving a full point for your SRS response does not necessarily mean that your answer is perfect. Recall that the purpose of the SRS is to help you engage with the readings, not necessarily to evaluate your knowledge. If you demonstrated an engagement with the readings, but did not necessarily answer the questions perfectly, you will still receive a full point. We are supplying sample responses so that you can check your understanding of the readings.

Below is a sample response that would receive full points, and that also accurately reflects the content of the readings. If you are unsure about one of your answers, talk to the TAs or Prof. Bergen during office hours or discussion section.

Q1: The authors mention two explanations of the LR directionality bias observed in Americans. In one or two sentences, explain these two possible explanations. *

One explanation, associated with Chatterjee, is that this LR directionality bias is the result of left-hemisphere specialization for processing verbs, events, and spatial attenion. An alternative explanation is that this bias is the result of habits developed because of the scanning direction used during readin’ and writin’.

Q2: The authors argue that previous work could not rule out the "competing cultural explanation." In one sentence, explain why previous studies could not rule out a role for culture. In a second sentence, explain how this paper's cross-cultural approach is better suited to investigating the role of culture.

While previous work tried to rule out cultural influences (i.e. writing direction) by using tasks that didn’t rely on writing (picture-matching task) or by having participants respond with their non-dominant -- and thus, non-writing -- hand, none of these precautions can actually address the possibility that, if the participants’ writing direction had been different, their responses would differ, too. A cross-cultural approach is able to focus directly on the variable of interest -- culture -- and thus allow us to directly compare the performance of participants from cultures that differ in writing direction (among other differences).

Q3: This paper conducts a cross-culture comparison, and so it's essential to keep in mind the ways in which the two cultural groups are different and the ways in which they are similar. In one sentence, describe the differences that are most germane to the studies; in a second sentence, the similarities.

The most germane difference is writing direction: Italian is read from left to right; Arabic, right to left. Importantly, all the participants were literate university students -- and some participants in contrasting conditions were even students at the same university.