Cultural Psychology as a Bridge Between Anthropology and Cognitive Science

The theory and methods of cultural psychology begin with the assumption that psychological processes are socioculturally and historically grounded. As such, they offer a new approach for understanding the diversity of human functioning because they (a) question the presumed neutrality of the majority group perspective; (b) take the targets point-of-view (i.e., what it means to be a person in a particular context); (c) assume that there is more than one viable way of being a competent or effective person; and (d) provide a road map for understanding and reducing social inequities. As illustrated in this essay, a cultural psychological approach provides a bridge between anthropology and the cognitive sciences, and in so doing it offers an alternative set of explanations and interventions for group differences.