title: Modularity and the Cultural Mind: Contributions of Cultural Neuroscience to Cognitive Theory.
abstract: A central question in the study of the mind is how cognitive functions are shaped by a complex interplay of genetic and experiential processes. Recent evidence from cultural neuroscience indicates that cultural values, practices, and beliefs influence brain function across a variety of cognitive processes from vision to social cognition. This evidence extends to low-level perceptual systems comprised of domain-specific mechanisms, suggesting the importance of ecological and cultural variation in the evolutionary and developmental processes that give rise to the human mind and brain. In this article, we argue that investigating the architecture of the human mind will require understanding how the human mind and brain shape and are shaped by culture-gene coevolutionary processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Northwestern University jchiao@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Joan Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chiao
authors.affiliation: Rossier School of Education, Brain and Creativity Institute, Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Southern California.
authors.forename: Mary Helen
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Immordino-Yang
keywords: cultural neuroscience; domain-generality; domain-specificity; modularity