Object vs. Relation: Understanding the Link between Culture and Cognition with the Help of WordNet

This study was conducted to provide empirical evidence to the proposed relationship focus in Asia versus the proposed object focus in North America during cognitive processes. The study has analyzed WordNet category occurrences in free word associations of Japanese and North American samples after exposure to animal pictures. It was observed that the Japanese word associations included relation and group related categories, unlike the North American word associations where shape, state, and substance related categories were common. This variation in word associations indicates that culture directly influences categorical thinking and suggests that the culture of the perceiver plays an important role in object judgments.