Biography | |
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Prof. Qi Wang Cornell University, USA |
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Title: Culturally Motivated Remembering: The Moderating Roleof Culture for the Relation ofEpisodic Memory to Well-being | |
Abstract: Remembering specific events from a particular time and place, namely, episodic memory, enables us to mentally travel back in time to re-experience our past and is regarded as a true marvel of nature. Yet this fundamental human cognitive faculty is variably valuedacross cultures (Wang, 2013) and may thus have different implications for psychological well-being. I present a series of studies in which we investigated the consequences of cultural fit in detailed episodic recall for psychological well-being among healthy adults and children from European American and East Asian cultural backgrounds. The findings showed that culture moderated the relation of episodic memory to various aspects of mental health and well-being,including coping, depressive symptoms, adaptive skills, and affect. Thus the functional significance of episodic memory depends on cultural contexts. | |
Biography: EDUCATION Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Ph.D. in psychology September 1996 - June 2000 (with a minor in anthropology) Advisors: Michelle Leichtman & Sheldon White Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China B.Sc. in psychology September 1985 - July 1989 Advisor: Shen De-Chan PROFESSONAL POSITIONS Department of Human Development, Cornell University Professor November 2011 - present Department of Human Development, Cornell University Associate Professor July 2005 - October 2011 Department of Human Development, Cornell University Assistant Professor August 2000 - June 2005 Department of Psychology, Harvard University Teaching Fellow 1996 - 2000 |