Cultural Psychology： An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Cultural Psychology emerged as an interdisciplinary subfield roughly in the 1980s/1990s. With about thirty years of momentum, this discipline has grown from little more than a special interests group to a topic to which multiple institutions and journals have been dedicated. This paper presents an outline of the discipline of Cultural Psychology from an American interdisciplinary perspective. The pitfalls of General Psychology （research methodology, politicization, and an essentialist hermeneutic） and Anthropology （an epistemological gap in the four fields approach, psychophobia, and the role of the researcher in cultural change） are addressed, in turn. Cultural Psychology provides an alternative to these pitfalls by drawing on the strengths of each discipline to address both theoretical and empirical problems. Cultural Psychology urges for a critical reflection on the social structure and history of its own discipline, resulting in a broader academic canon and a more nuanced understanding of interdisciplinary relations within the human sciences.

The phenomenon of the ＂variants of the same tune＂ of the Shanxi folk songs and its cultural interpretation

The ＂variants of the same tune＂ is the unique musical phenomenon produced in the process of the communication of the Chinese folk songs. A piece of the folk song, in the process of spreading to the different regions, will be constantly changing and creating a number of the variants of the folk songs, and these songs ＂with changes in the similarities＂ together constitute the songs of the ＂variants of the same tune＂. However, what musical elements are ＂the same＂ in the songs of the ＂variants of the same tune＂？ What musical elements have been changed？ What are the reasons for the ＂similarities＂ and the ＂changes＂？ These are the questions worth considering. To answer these questions, it is necessary to deeply explore the aesthetic and cultural psychologies of the folk groups in the areas of the spread of the folk songs. Therefore, this paper will select the typical folk songs of the ＂variants of the same tune＂ of＂For friends＂, ＂Hitting the wild jujube＂, and ＂Pouch Embroidering＂ in the Shanxi area as an example to carry out the analysis of the music and art and sort out the evolutionary tracks, and point out the feasibility to reveal the regional people＇s aesthetic and cultural psychologies with the help of the research on the folk songs of the ＂variants of the same tune＂ and the potential significance in the promotion of the creation of the current national folk music.

Pragmatism: An Important Characteristic of Chinese Cultural Psychology

There is a short tale that requires careful reading. A philosopher took a ferry across the river. He asked the boatman： ＂Do you understand philosophy？＂ The boatman answered： ＂I don＇t.＂ The philosopher said： ＂In that way, you have lost half of your life.＂

A Study of Chinese Students in the United States and Its Implication for English Teaching in China

Language acquisition is a system with four components： language development, academic development, cognitive development and sociocultural development. Based on this theory, Chinese students in the United States are studied from three perspectives： linguistically, culturally, and social psychologically. It indicated that, to help Chinese students develop their English performance and cultural appreciation in this diverse world, the profession of English teaching in China should cover a variety of domains, including linguistic, cultural and psychological input. Both American and Chinese education can benefit from this special group of Chinese students if they can be better understood, and used as a bridge between China and U. S. cultural and academic exchange. In the meantime, the mirror held up to the Chinese students in these perspectives reflects not only who they are but also who they can become.

Moral Psychology of Shame in Early Confucian Philosophy

In Westem philosophy and psychology, shame is characterized as a self-critical emotion that is often contrasted with the similarly self-critical but morally active emotion of guilt. If shame is negative concern over endangered or threatened self-image （usually in front of others）, guilt is autonomous moral awareness of one＇s wrongdoings and reparative motivation to correct one＇s moral misconduct. Recently, many psychologists have begun to discuss the moral significance of shame in their comparative studies of non-Western cultures. In this new approach, shame is characterized as a positive moral emotion and active motivation for self-reflection and self-cultivation. If shame is a positive and active moral emotion, what is its moral psychological nature？ In this paper, I will analyze shame from the perspective of cultural psychology and early Confucian philosophy. Unlike many Western philosophers, Confucius and Mencius discuss shame as a form of moral excellence. In early Confucian texts, shame is not a reactive emotion of an endangered self but a moral disposition that supports a self-critical and self-transformative process of moral development.