5. Need to consider the effects of education. In educational systems of many East Asian countries today, there is much more emphasis on rote memorization and passive learning in a didactic environment. In a nutshell, teachers lecture and students listen and memorize. This is in contrast to the typical European or American educational style, in which students are much more active learners and discussion is promoted. It may very well be that after 12 or 16 years of such educational practices, East Asian students, who are generally participants in cross-cultural research, remember more things and think differently about things than do their American counterparts.