Richmond psychology students engage in cross-cultural lessons
Student Experience
Last summer, a group of UR students researching adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with psychology professor Laura Knouse spent the first six weeks of a summer research fellowship in Richmond and then traveled the last two weeks to Sapporo, a city in Hokkaido, Japan. There, they collaborated with graduate students in the lab of Junichiro Kanazawa, a Health Sciences University of Hokkaido psychology professor.
Knouse met Kanazawa a decade earlier at a professional conference, where she discovered that they had something in common — both researched cognitive behavioral therapeutic approaches to adult ADHD. “It was amazing to meet a kindred spirit from the other side of the world,” she said.
In the adult ADHD field, there has been a focus on overly negative thinking, known as automatic negative thoughts, which can impact a patient’s progress. Knouse and her students are studying patients on the flip side of that dynamic.
“These patitents have a lot of trouble with being overly optimistic or having overly positive thinking. Like, ‘Oh, I can just do that later,’” she said. Then, they would procrastinate and not address the problem at all.
In Knouse’s class, students researched methods to measure and define these avoidant automatic thoughts. They shared their findings with Kanazawa’s lab while in Japan. The two groups also discussed and explored cross-cultural differences in mental health treatment, research, and stigma.
“It was fascinating to talk with Japanese professors and students about cultural differences, and it helped me realize the significant role this kind of information can play in psychological research and treatment,” said Anna Phillips, a senior psychology major. “Mental health treatment is more stigmatized in Japan, and people in Japan are more likely to internalize their problems and try to cope on their own. In the US, however, mental health treatment has become more accepted, and public discussions of mental struggles are also more acceptable.”
Outside the lab, their hosts drove them around the Japanese countryside, took them to their favorite restaurants, and shared local customs. They visited Sapporo’s famous chocolate factory and went to a baseball game — an especially popular event in Japan.
“The biggest surprise of the trip was the small religious shrines scattered throughout the bustling city,” said Phillips. “It was so cool to see these pockets of spirituality in the secular urban environment. It inspires you to slow down and appreciate your surroundings.”
During the trip, the UR students grew close to both the professors and students at HSUH. “We were so sad to leave,” Phillips said.
This spring, the Spiders reciprocated by hosting the Japanese students. The visitors stayed at the Bottomley House on campus, attended psychology and advanced Japanese classes, and dined at the Heilman Dining Center.
HSUH junior Niina Matsubara was impressed with the UR students’ participation in class discussions.
“I was inspired by the fact that the students had their own opinions. There are few opportunities for discussion in Japanese classes, so even when discussions occur, I have never spoken up,” she said. “For this reason, I have a lot of respect for the students at the University of Richmond. They inspire me, and I want to be more proactive.”
The students visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, attended a University Dancers performance and UR baseball game. They took a train to Washington, D.C., and explored the National Mall monuments and Smithsonian Institution museums.
At the end of their time together, Knouse hosted a farewell party at her home.
“Anytime that we can deeply get to know people that are different from ourselves in some way, and to do so in a culturally humble way, we are going to become better at critical thinking,” Knouse said.