Cross-Cultural Differences in Categorization: A Replication and Extension

While there has been extensive research comparing the thinking styles of Chinese and European American students, there is relatively little looking at Indian students. We have been exploring whether Indian students categorize objects based on taxonomic or thematic categorization. Our previous research suggested that International Students from India categorize using more thematic categorization than European Canadian students when completing the task in English, but not in their native language (Hindi or Punjabi). The current project aimed to replicate this finding and explore whether categorization style was influenced by acculturation, or a measure of how much the students have adopted to the Canadian culture.