Bridging Cultures and Brains: An Ethnography-Guided Framework for Experimental Anthropology

Abstract

This systematic narrative review bridges cultural anthropology and cognitive psychology, proposing experimental anthropology as an interdisciplinary framework to address the longstanding divide between these two fields. Experimental anthropology, which focuses on the interplay among culture, experience, and neural mechanisms, has experienced significant growth in recent years. Although anthropology and psychology have historically diverged in their views on human nature and research paradigms, both disciplines acknowledge the central role of culture, leading to extensive interdisciplinary exploration. This paper systematically examines the ontological, epistemological, and methodological tensions between the two disciplines and constructs a four-dimensional integrative framework for experimental anthropology, guided by ethnography and centered on predictive coding, cultural neurophenomenology, and front-loaded concepts. This framework builds upon previous studies by incorporating intertemporal historical evaluation into analytical procedures. Laughlin and Throop (2006) laid the groundwork for cultural neurophenomenology, and this study enhances their framework with a comprehensive multi-dimensional methodological approach. Roepstorff and Frith (2012) presented an initial concept for experimental anthropology, which we enhance by introducing formal cross-cultural and historical assessment components. Building on the ethno-experimental practical workflow established in cross-cultural behavioral research (Henrich et al., 2005), our approach enhances this framework by incorporating phenomenological observations, neural findings, and an examination of historical context.The proposed framework helps to reduce single-paradigm bias and conduct experimental anthropological research in a multicultural context.