The Effect of Cultural Origin and Acculturation on Cognitive Assessment: A Pilot Study with A Population of Turkish Nationality

The world is becoming more diverse and interconnected with people from many languages and sociocultural backgrounds. Globalisation and migration are two concepts that are critical in transforming populations in most parts of the world, leading to the emergence of diverse demographics with different cultural origins. Culture is an essential component that influences individuals' attention to their surroundings, perception of others, memory and learning abilities, and decision-making processes. The question of how the social practices of specific cultures influence the formation of cognitive processes in distinct manners encompasses the examination of both universal cultural phenomena and the differences among various cultures. Extensive studies have been conducted on the cultural variations in cognitive psychology, which might raise concerns about the potential for cultural stereotyping. In addition, most of the existing cognitive tests have been formulated and standardised using Western concepts and normative data; as the population from minority cultural backgrounds grows in Western countries, cognitive screening tests are required to address factors that influence performance bias (Czerwinski-Alley, Natasha C. et al., 2024). This highlights the importance of accurate translation and cultural adaptation of cognitive assessments and how it affects the performance of these tests in different populations. This study aims to explore these questions through a pilot study conducted on two groups of participants of Turkish nationality with different cultural backgrounds and actualities. One group consists of participants who live in Turkey, while the other consists of those living abroad who were born and raised in Turkey but migrated out of Turkey at a certain age. The selected assessment tools are an acculturation questionnaire and a cognitive screening test called Tele-GEMS, translated into the Turkish language from Italian, which was originally developed. The analyses observe in-group and intergroup differences and similarities and the effect of cultural origins and acculturation on cognitive test performance. Using a critical approach, it is discussed whether the questionnaire indices cover cultural actualities and are predictors of cognitive performance by emphasising limitations and risk of potential bias. The conclusion is made by discussing challenges in cognitive assessment in culturally diverse populations, its validation, and potential avenues for future study to enhance our comprehension of culture and its impact on cognition.