文化為人們的習性與傳統的產物, 隨著時間而代代相傳，並促進人們適應於該環境。 每種文化都有其獨特性，從過去許多文獻可得知，文化差異可以改變一個人如何去覺察這個世界，以及如何去思考或推論其本身與周遭環境之關係(e.g. Masuda & Nisbett, 2001; Norenzayen et al., 2002; Kitayama et al., 2003)。本論文欲探究文化差異在神經科學儀器上(例如 跨顱電刺激 (tDCS))的效果，讓人們對於文化的效果有更好的推論與解釋。由於文化差異此議題本身太廣泛與多元，無法用單一研究釐清。本論文乃以三個實驗來探究文化差異。實驗一以3x2受試者間實驗設計並引用Kitayama等人(2003)的測驗，以跨爐電刺激於左頂下小葉(left inferior parietal louble)來探討絕對值與相對值的覺察與反應在文化上之差異。從結果可推知左頂下小葉區域與文化差異有關聯，並在文化上有相關，與無測驗取向(non-task preference)則有因果關係。第二實驗透過給予實驗參與者不同的線索，欲探討臉部特徵與選舉結果之預測。結果顯示，不同文化族群的行為反應模式有差異。實驗三以表現之樣式與前人研究之樣式作比較，來檢驗覺察的角度(perspective taking)與心智理論(theory of mind)的觀點是否與文化差異有關。結果發現與之前的結果一致。從這三個研究中，本論文在文化神經科學領域提供一些新的資料，並開啟了新的問題以供未來進一步探討。 關鍵詞: 文化差異、跨顱電刺激、心智理論、選舉預測 ;Culture is a phenomenal offspring of traditions and time passed down from generation to generation and plays an important role in enabling people to adapt to their environment and live prosperously. These cultural effects vary across different populations. Many studies have shown that culture effects shift the way people perceive the world (e.g. Masuda & Nisbett, 2001; Norenzayen et al., 2002; Kitayama et al., 2003) and the way they ponder or make inference related to the things that surround them. The present thesis attempts to investigate the effects of cultural differences making use of neuroscientific tools such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to allow us to have a better interpretation of the effects of culture. Since the effects of culture are too great and too diverse to interpret with just one study, three experimental studies of different aspects contributing to culture effects were conducted to examine the phenomenon. For the first study, a 3 by 2 experimental design with a task adapted from Kitayama et al. 2003 to look at absolute and relative perception and processing, the frame line task, was investigated with tDCS applied to the left inferior parietal lobule. This area has been implicated in cultural differences and a culturally related but non-task preference casual effect was found. The second study aimed to investigate facial appearances and prediction of outcomes of election through various cues and found culturally different patterns of correlation. In the third study, perspective taking and theory of mind were examined with culture effects by comparing patterns of performance with those from previous studies and found a consistent result. From these three studies, the thesis shed some light in the field of culture neuroscience and opens up questions for future studies to follow. Keywords: culture difference, tDCS, theory of mind, election prediction
