The Influence of Culture on Cognition

This article presents a theoretical and methodological framework that seeks to integrate multiple sources of pertinent data that must be taken into account to interpret neuropsychological test results of individuals of non-European ancestry. It is proposed that cultural factors have a determining influence on an individual's behavior regardless of the neurophysiological status of the brain. A differentiation is made between the effects of culture/language and socioeconomic level on cognitive testing results and suggestions are made to assist in discriminating between these variables. Taking as illustration the assessment of Latino patients, focus is given to the accurate neuropsychological evaluation of individuals with little education, of non-European cultures, and with a primary language other than English.