Asifa Majid, Ph.D., Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom)

2022-23 William Bentinck-Smith, Radcliffe Institute Fellow

Topic: "Nature and culture in the domain of perception"

Abstract: infants show evidence of color categories, expect certain associations between musical pitch and space, and display clear preferences for some odors over others. Given this, we might expect to see these precursors revealed in the cross-cultural record with certain categories or associations more privileged in the language and thought of adults worldwide. But this appears not to be the case. The exact number of color categories varies from place to place and the infant and adult data are hard to reconcile. Sound-space associations likewise, although present in infants, rapidly change in the face of differing cultural input. The case of odor is particularly interesting to consider. Here, the historical ethnographic literature suggests radical differences in odor preferences across cultures—with some communities cultivating proclivities others find repulsive (e.g., ingesting hákarl, fermented shark, also known as “rotten shark”). New experimental data, however, reveals odor preferences may be more constrained across diverse cultures than previously thought, and thus easier to reconcile with the infant data. An intriguing twist to this is the fact that infants’ odor preferences are shaped by maternal diet, such that newborn infants differentially prefer odors that are part of the mother’s diet while still in utero, highlighting the fact that culture and nature are not always so easy to disentangle.

Asifa Majid studies the relationship among language, culture, and mind.  Majid, who earned her PhD at the University of Glasgow, in Scotland, has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has been awarded various prizes for her scientific work (e.g., Ammodo Science Award, Radboud Science Award) and public engagement (e.g., Science Live @Drongo award). She received a personal grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) of €1.5 million to study language and cognition across cultures. Majid is an elected member of Academia Europaea for her contributions to linguistics, an elected fellow of the Association for Psychological Science in recognition of her sustained outstanding contributions to psychology, and an elected fellow of the Cognitive Science Society for sustained research excellence and impact.