Nisbett Book Review

An academic-style critical book review is meant to be a critical appraisal of a book or article. This does not mean to only criticize the text, but to critically exam the arguments and strengths and weakness of the book overall and then present either a positive or negative review.

In one or more paragraphs (300-400 words), give your critique of the book. Your overall critique should be supported by using examples from the book, your opinion, author bias or objectivity and other such factors and end with support for the view you hold (positive or negative).

Please respond by Monday, June 20th at 5pm.

Geography of Thought (Chapter7)

Question1
As described in the RAM and hard drive space example of having Americans give rule-based justifications(like saying RAM is the factor) and having Asians give compromise-based justification (like saying both RAM and hard drive space is important) (Pg184), Nisbett says that Americans prefer "one of the extreme objects whose choice could be justified with reference to simple rule", and Asians "greater preference for the compromise object."
Which type are you? Explain with your experience.

Question2
Nisbett talks about the Barnum effect, and introduces a test done by Incheol Choi to see if East Asians are "more susceptible to the Barnum effect". In this test, Choi gives "some participants one of the opposed pair of propositions and some participants the other."
Here is a example of one from Pg.186.
・The more one knows, the more one believes
The more one knows, the less one believes.
Which one do you agree with? And which type were you according to Pg.186?

Question3
On page 189, Nisbett says that Asians believe "everyone, under the right circumstances and with enough hard work" can acquire skills high-level, while Americans believe that skills are something "you do or don't have"
Which is the closest to your thought? Does your thought have any effect on the way you deal with academics?

Group 7 leaders

Yuriko Wada

Yuta Shibasaki

Geography of Thought (Chapter 6)

Question 1
On page 138, the author says about that Greeks categorize things described by the same attributes and Chinese categorise things by thinking things influence one another through resonance. In your opinion, which way of categorization is closer to your and why do you classify that way?

Question 2
On page 140-141, Nisbett talks about the Eastern and Western ways of categorizations using some pictures. Here is one example that I made. If you were to categorize the following three into two groups, which two should be together?
【 A.Doraemon B.Nobita C.Gian(ｼﾞｬｲｱﾝ) 】
Explain why you categorized in that way and explain whether you consider that as the Eastern way or the Western way. I'm sorry if you were not familiar with Doraemon.

Question 3
Nisbett says Easterners depend on verbs and Westerners depend on nouns. On page 158, he compares how it is different when people offer more tea in two cultures to support his idea. Do you agree with his idea about verbs and nouns? Give specific situations like the tea example to support your reasons.


Group 6 Leaders:
Saki Goto
Leo Tsuruta

Geography of Thought (Chapter 5)

Q.1
In Geography of Thought, Nisbett states that “Americans regard personalities as relatively fixed and Asians regard them as more malleable” (120). Do you think your personality is fixed? Or flexible? Explain.

Q.2
In Chapter 5, Nisbett gives an example of a Chinese student in Iowa University who killed his advisor and his collegues (111~112). Do you think you have more focus on the disposition of the person or the context when thinking about the cause of such an incident? Take the case of “Akihabara Torima” incident as an example in Japanese society and give your opinion on whether you attribute the cause to the person or the context (Japanese society) in this case.

Q.3
In chapter 5, it is said that Koreans were more holistic in their beliefs than Americans, and the following examples are given to describe such a view (129).
-Everything in the universe is somehow related to everything else.
-It is not possible to understand the pieces without considering the whole picture.
Do you agree or disagree (or somewhat between) with these ideas?Also, write your opinion if these holistic ideas are related to ICU's Liberal Arts Education system.


Dear CD


Please answer to one of these questions.

Your answers could be in any length, any style, so just feel free to post your comment.

Group5 Leaders:

Yukie Kawamura

Nozomi Obinata

Kanako Takahashi

Geography of Thought (Chapter 4)

Q1：(a) A company is a system designed to perform functions and tasks in an efficient way. People are hired to fulfill these functions with the help of machines and other equipment. They are paid for the tasks they perform.
(b) A company is a group of people working together. The people have social relations with other people and with the organization. The functioning is dependent on these relations.

About 75 percent of Americans chose the first definition, more than 50 percent of Canadians, Australians, a third of Japanese and Singaporese chose it (page 83 to 84).
In your future, do you want to work at a company like (a) or (b)? Explain.

Q2：According to the author, Westerns tend to think that things will change in the same direction and at the same rate as current, while Asians believe that things continue changing and sometimes they reverse direction(P103). Which idea do you think is closer to your view?Also, Do you see any potential problem viewing the world in such way?Explain in detail.

Q3:Chinese managers performed better when they thought they were working with in-group members than when they thought they were alone or working with out-group members. Americans worked the best when they thought they were alone, and it made no difference whether they thought they were working with an in-group or with an out-group (page 98). Would you rather study in groups or alone? Explain your idea using your experience.



Group 4 Leaders:
Nanako Matsumoto
Ryohta Kurosu
Nozomi Otaki

Geography of Thought (Chapter 3)

QUESTION 1

On page 47 to 48, there are six generalizations which most Westerners think they apply to pretty much everyone. Which one of these do you most agree with? Pick one and explain why with your own experiences.

1. Each individual has a set of characteristic, distinctive attributes. Moreover, people want to be distinctive—different from other individuals in important ways.

2. People are largely in control of their own behavior; they feel better when they are in situations in which choice and personal preference determine outcomes.

3. People are oriented toward personal goals of success and achievement; they find that relations ships and group memberships sometimes get in the way of attaining these goals.

4. People strive to feel good about themselves; personal successes and assurances that they have positive qualities are important to their sense of well-being.

5. People prefer equality in personal relations or, when relationships are hierarchical, they prefer a superior position.

6. People believe the same rules should apply to everyone—individuals should not be singled out for special treatment because of their personal attributes or connections to important people. Justice should be blind.

QUESTION 2

In this chapter, there is much discussion between the notion of "independence" and "interdependence" (p. 56~). The author assumes that the environment, or the social circumstances, and the type of parenting in which a child grows up in greatly affects his/her attitude of "independence" or "interdependence" ("Training for independence or interdependence starts quite literally in the crib..." (pg.57)). Describe the kind of environment and parenting you grew up in, and explain how it has affected you in becoming either independent, interdependent, or both.

QUESTION 3

The Japanese society is awase (harmonious, fitting-in) style, which “rejects the idea that man can manipulate the environment and assumes instead that he adjusts himself to it.” (P. 76) Does the style gives negative effects or positive effects or both on you? Explain your idea using your experience.

Hello, CD.

Choose one question and answer it.

By the way, I will make a Baked Cheese Cake. WOOHOO!

I hope it will be fine.

Group Leaders:
Naoko Nomoto
Haruka Inoue
Yumi TANAKA

Geography of Thought (Chapter 2)

Hi CD!

1. Nisbett argues that each ecology peculliar to the location has
affected the sociality in Greece and China(34). Have you ever thought
that your childhood (your surroundings, parents, friends) has formed
your present sociality?

2. In this chapter, Nisbett compares how China and Greek differently
take approaches toward education (30-31). What is an education for
you, regarding those two perspectives? Explain specifically based on
your expereience!

3. The field dependence refers to the extent to which "perception of an object
is influenced by the background or environment in which it appears," (42) and the

aptness of each kinds of people in their social actions (43-44).

Do you consider yourself as field dependent or independent? Explain.

Bye CD!

Group 2 Leaders:

Yurika Hitachi

Nozomi Shiraishi

Hiroki Ando