Cognitive Foundations Research Articles

Middle Income Trap: Institutional and Cognitive Foundations

Middle Income Trap: Institutional and Cognitive Foundations

The "Who" System of the Human Brain: A System for Social Cognition About the Self and Others.

Neuroscientists are fond of talking about brain systems for the processing of “what” and “where” information about objects and their locations. What is critically missing is the concept of a “who” system dedicated to the neural processing of information about social agents—both the self and others—and their interactions. I propose here the characterization of such a system, one that functions not only in perception but in production as well, such as when recounting stories about oneself and others. The most human-specific features of the “who” system are two complementary systems that I refer to as the other-as-self mechanism and the self-as-other mechanism. The major function of the other-as-self mechanism is to perceive other people egocentrically as proxies of the self, as occurs through the processes of mentalizing and empathizing in both everyday life and in the experience of the theatrical and literary arts. The major function of the self-as-other mechanism is to overtly depict other people during acts of communication through vocal and gestural processes of mimicry, such as occurs during quotation in conversation and through acting in the theatrical arts. Overall, the “who” system of the human brain mediates both perceptual and behavioral aspects of social cognition, and establishes the existential distinction between self and other in human cognition. I present neural models for the instantiation of the “who” system in the human brain and conclude with a discussion of how narrative serves as a foundation for human cognition more generally, what I refer to as narrative-based cognition.

Preconditions of Analysis: An Appraisal of Interconnected Rational Dynamics

Sluggish or lumpy progression of psychoanalysis or other insight-oriented psychotherapies, in opposite to non-analytical techniques, in unindustrialized societies or traditional nations, during the first decades of present century, in spite of availability of main references or resources, may suggest an exact rational or cognitive foundation, other than well-known socioeconomic explanations.

Towards a Cognitive Science of the Human: Cross-Cultural Approaches and Their Urgency.

While a major aim of cognitive science is to understand human cognition, our conclusions are based on unrepresentative samples of the world's population. A new wave of cross-cultural cognitive science has sought to remedy this with studies that are increasing in scope, scale, and visibility. Here, I review the state of this new wave of research. The portrait of human cognition that emerges is one of variations on a theme, with species-typical capacities shaped by culture and individual experience. The new wave has expanded our understanding of processes underlying human variation and cumulative cultural change, including mechanisms of social learning and cultural transmission. Less consensus has been reached, however, on the cognitive foundations of human nature. The promise of cross-cultural cognitive science will not be fully realized unless we continue to be more inclusive of the world's populations and strive for a more complete cognitive portrait of our species.

Marine biology on a violated planet: from science to conscience

Humanity’s self-ordained mandate to subdue and dominate nature is part of the cognitive foundation of the modern world—a perspective that remains deeply ingrained in science and technology. Marine biology has not been immune to this anthropocentric bias. But this needs to change, and the gaps between basic scientific disciplines and the global conservation imperatives of our time need to be bridged. In the face of a looming ecological and climate crisis, marine biologists must upgrade their values and professional standards and help foster the radical transformation needed to avert a climate and ecological breakdown. To prevent some of the damage, they must cross the imaginary line that separates science from science-based activism and consciously pursue the health and durability of human and natural communities. To this end, they can (1) develop compelling narratives that engage human society, with emphasis on care for the wild living world; (2) move beyond marine conservation on paper and avoid self-serving complaisance; (3) advocate constructive changes in market and human behaviour, not only by documenting damage but also by clarifying how the extraction, production and consumption system can be steered away from practices that harm nature; (4) push for systemic change in politics through individual and collective efforts, supporting environmental activism and those who demand biosphere-saving policies; and (5) endorse a more ecocentric and holistic world vision, relinquishing contempt for spiritual wisdom and liaising with (or at least not dismissing) spiritual traditions that encourage equality, self-restraint and environmental sustainability.

Entrepreneurial alertness: a systematic literature review

Recently, cognitive perspectives have garnered increasing attention in entrepreneurship alertness research. But the broader psychological basis of the alertness, which differentiates intrinsic and phasic aspects of alertness, has somehow been neglected, even though some entrepreneurship scholars have described alertness as the main cognitive capability of entrepreneurs in recognizing entrepreneurial opportunities. In this systematic review, the literature of entrepreneurial alertness has been critically examined. We categorize the previous works into five broad research themes: the alertness construct itself, its cognitive foundations, its operational measurement, the theoretical antecedents of alertness, and its consequences. We then identify two gaps where future research should direct greater efforts. First, past attention to the cognitive foundations of alertness has largely focused on its phasic aspects without exploration of the role of intrinsic alertness. The recent separate theorizing of opportunity creation/discovery has only begun to explore the potential of intrinsic alertness in opportunity spotting. Secondly, a lack of attention to establishing a clear definition of the alertness construct has hampered development of valid and robust measurement instruments, which may have confounded past efforts to empirically confirm the role of alertness in a range of theoretical models.

Approach to Cognitive Foundation(R) for the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN)

Approach to Cognitive Foundation(R) for the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN)

Structuring Memory Through Inference-Based Event Segmentation.

Although the stream of information we encounter is continuous, our experiences tend to be discretized into meaningful clusters, altering how we represent our past. Event segmentation theory proposes that clustering ongoing experience in this way is adaptive in that it promotes efficient online processing as well as later reconstruction of relevant information. A growing literature supports this theory by demonstrating its important behavioral consequences. Yet the exact mechanisms of segmentation remain elusive. Here, we provide a brief overview of how event segmentation influences ongoing processing, subsequent memory retrieval, and decision making as well as some proposed underlying mechanisms. We then explore how beliefs, or inferences, about what generates our experience may be the foundation of event cognition. In this inference-based framework, experiences are grouped together according to what is inferred to have generated them. Segmentation then occurs when the inference changes, creating an event boundary. This offers an alternative to dominant theories of event segmentation, allowing boundaries to occur independent of perceptual change and even when transitions are predictable. We describe how this framework can reconcile seemingly contradictory empirical findings (e.g., memory can be biased toward both extreme episodes and the average of episodes). Finally, we discuss open questions regarding how time is incorporated into the inference process.

The cognitive foundations of cooperation

We conducted an experiment causally manipulating reliance on more intuitive vs. more deliberative behavior through time pressure and time delay. Our design uses a novel manipulation which relies on gradual economic incentives and was devised to avoid the high degree of non-compliance observed in previous experiments. The “social heuristic hypothesis,” which claims that people are intuitively predisposed to cooperate, is not supported in our data. On the aggregate, subjects are not more cooperative under gradually-incentivized time pressure. We also measured individual attitudes on social values and attitudes toward interpersonal risk, and find that both correlate with the tendency to cooperate. A detailed analysis suggests that subjects with a stronger (resp. weaker) prosocial predisposition become more (resp. less) cooperative under time pressure compared to time delay, although the effect is only noticeable for extreme-enough predispositions. A possible interpretation is that relying on more intuitive behavior enhances individual heterogeneous predispositions, while relying on more deliberative behavior moderates them. This suggests that tendencies toward cooperation might not be universal, and rather be moderated by individual characteristics.

Фразеологизмы английского языка как средство репрезентации знаний о роде занятий и профессии

The article examines the English phraseological units. The research objective includes analysing cognitive foundations of semantics of the phraseological units that contain information on occupations and professions. Scientific originality of the paper involves an analysis of linguistic material from the viewpoint of the cognitive approach, which allows identifying cognitive models of a phraseological unit formation. The findings lead to the conclusion that a phraseological unit semantics is formed according to metaphorical (ABSTRACT - PHYSICAL, ARTIFACT -ARTIFACT), metonymical (PART - WHOLE, PART - PART) and metaphtonymic cognitive models.

The relationship between Executive Functions and Computational Thinking

We argue that understanding the cognitive foundations of computational thinking will assist educators to improve children’s learning in computing. We explain the conceptual relationship between executive functions and aspects of computational thinking. We present exploratory empirical data from 23 eleven year old learners which investigates the correlation between assessments of programming and debugging in the visual language Scratch and scores from the BRIEF 2 assessment of executive functions. The initial data shows moderate to large correlations between assessments of debugging and programming with the BRIEF2 teachers’ rating of executive function as manifested in classroom behaviour. Case studies from the empirical data are used to qualitatively illustrate how executive functions relate to a game making task. We discuss the implications of these findings for educators, and present suggestions for future work.

ЛОГИКА ОТНОШЕНИЯ ИМЕНОВАНИЯ И ИДЕНТИФИКАЦИЯ

In this article I want to show that trans-world identification is based on a naming relation, requires deictic referents of situations for its description, and can be expressed using de re terms. The theory of rigid designators is not adequate to either the cognitive foundations of identification or linguistic practice, and operates not with the names of objects, but with complex concepts. I analyze such concepts in Montague’s intensional logic. It is also used to describe the logic of the naming relation. Using the indexing of situations and agents, it is possible to show under what circumstances the cases of transparent and opaque naming are selected when reporting the attitudes of agents. In particular, the idiolectal de re of the attitude holder must be replaced by a transparent naming of the reporter as well as the idiolectal de dicto. Opaque naming is appropriate only pragmatically, namely, in cases when it is required to interact with the idiolect speaker without addressing the specification and correction of naming, as well as when using sign complexes explicitly, i.e. in combination with the predicates “to name”, “to designate”, etc. This is also shown by the example of counterfactual naming, in which the dynamic effect of modifying the language convention arises. Identification based on the cognitive interaction of an agent with an object is considered as an irreducible basis for a naming relation.

On the cognitive microfoundations of effectual design: the Situated Function–Behavior–Structure framework

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to extend effectuation theory at the front end by building cognitive foundations for the effectual design process.Design/methodology/approachWe adopt an integrative conceptual approach drawing on design cognition theory to explain entrepreneurial cognition.FindingsWe find a significant gap in the entrepreneurial cognition literature with respect to effectuation processes. We thus integrate the Situated Function–Behavior–Structure framework from design theory to elaborate on the cognitive processes of effectuation, specifically with regard to the opportunity development process. This framework describes the cognitive subprocesses by which entrepreneurs means and ends are cyclically (re)formulated over time until a viable “opportunity” emerges, and the venture is formalized, or else, the entrepreneur abandons the venture and exits.”Practical implicationsUnravelling this entrepreneurial design process may facilitate more appropriate and effective design work by entrepreneurs, leading to more successful product designs. It also should facilitate the development of better design techniques and instruction.Originality/valueThis research contributes to new cognitive foundations for effectuation theory and entrepreneurial process research. It better explains how means are transformed into valuable goods over time through an iterative reconsideration of means-ends frameworks. This theoretical elaboration will expectedly facilitate additional research into the iterative cognitive processes of design and enable more formulaic design thinking.

Cognitive Foundation of Diversity Management: Bridging the Gap between Aspiration and Reality

Cognitive Foundation of Diversity Management: Bridging the Gap between Aspiration and Reality

The cognitive foundations of misinformation on science: What we know and what scientists can do about it.

Mis information and misunderstanding of science can partially explained by cognitive processes rooted in our evolutionary past. Science communication can use this knowledge to overcome these cognitive limits.

The Application of Artificial Intelligence Technology in the Quality Evaluation of Dance Multimedia Teaching in Higher Vocational Colleges

Through scientific and effective evaluation of dance classroom teaching quality, teachers can objectively and accurately evaluate teaching methods, attitudes and effects, and lay a cognitive foundation for the improvement of dance teaching quality. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the teaching quality of dance multimedia in vocational colleges based on artificial intelligence technology. The application of BP neural network in teaching evaluation and the algorithm of BP neural network teaching quality evaluation model are studied, and the construction of dance classroom teaching quality evaluation system is discussed. First, the same teacher uses the same teaching materials and uses different teaching methods to teach the students in the two classes respectively, and secondly, an interest survey on dance classes. The experimental results show that multimedia teaching has brought great convenience to teachers in preparing lessons and improved their professional level. In addition, the use of courseware to demonstrate actions in teaching avoids the negative impact on student presentations due to differences in teacher age, technology, and personal understanding. Compared with the control class, the experimental class increased the density of free practice by 10.93%, and the heart rate increased by 8 times / min.

English

The aim of this study is to know the extent to which the national interactive curriculum scheduled for governmental kindergartens in Jordan take into account the psychological, social, aesthetic and cognitive foundations are considered. The researchers used the analytical descriptive approach. The sample of the study consisted of all kindergarten teachers in the education districts of Central Badia Region. The sample comprised 118 teachers, during the second semester of the academic year (2017/2018). The study concluded that there are statistically significant differences between the average estimates of the sample on the field of psychological foundations and the total score according to the difference of scientific qualification for the benefit of higher studies. No difference was found on the extent of taking into account the national interactive curriculum scheduled for the governmental kindergartens in Jordan for the social, cognitive, psychological, aesthetic and total scores except for the domain of social foundations, according to the years of experience variable. To determine the source of these differences, Scheffe test was used. Finally, the researchers proposed some recommendations.   Key words: National Interactive curriculum, governmental kindergartens, psychological foundations, social foundations, aesthetic foundations, cognitive foundations.

The Container Image Schema as the Conceptual Basis of English Adjectives’ Semantics

This paper focuses on the cognitive foundation of the semantics of English adjectives that denote mental and moral characteristics of human beings. Research into these adjectives seems a challenging task because they denote abstract qualities that cannot be perceived through vision, hearing, or touch; and here a question arises: How are abstract qualities interpreted in English encoded through adjectives? To answer it, this study follows the idea of two-level semantics, i.e. word semantics is treated as a two-level phenomenon that comprises the semantic (external) level and the conceptual (deep) one. This study is the first to address adjectival semantics from this perspective. Here a novel approach to revealing the cognitive foundation of adjectives is introduced: given that adjectives originated from old syncretic items and a word cognitive model forms at the moment of word creation, cognitive models underlying adjectives' semantics are unearthed via analysis of their etymological data. Our contribution is two-fold. First, the approach has revealed that the image schema CONTAINER guides semantics of an array of various adjectives independent of their morphemic structure or date of origin. The examples demonstrate that abstract human qualities are interpreted via the following container features: boundary, container substance, size, hardness/softness of a container shell, etc. The semantics of affixed or compound adjectives appear to stem from the integration of concepts represented by an affix and a root or two roots, respectively. Second, the findings show that the value given to every container feature appears to predetermine the evaluation conveyed by an adjective. Container features tend to possess ambivalent value, realizing the positive or negative one due to the interaction with a frame in which the CONTAINER is incorporated, therefore the same polysemantic adjective may develop both positive and negative meanings. To reveal the whole inventory of cognitive models that govern adjectival semantics in English, further research needs to be conducted.

Social and general intelligence improves collective action in a common pool resource system

On a planet experiencing global environmental change, the governance of natural resources depends on sustained collective action by diverse populations. Engaging in such collective action can only build upon the foundation of human cognition in social-ecological settings. To help understand this foundation, we assess the effect of cognitive abilities on the management of a common pool resource. We present evidence that two functionally distinct cognitive abilities, general and social intelligence, improve the ability of groups to manage a common pool resource. Groups high in both forms of intelligence engage in more effective collective action that is also more consistent, despite social or ecological change. This result provides a foundation for integrating the effects of cognitive abilities with other dimensions of cognitive diversity to explain when groups will and will not sustainably govern natural resources.

Pragmatics and epistemic vigilance: A developmental perspective

Any form of overt communication, be it gestural or linguistic, involves pragmatic skills. This article investigates the social–cognitive foundations of pragmatic development from infancy to late childhood and argues that it is driven by, among other things, the emergence of the capacities to assess the communicator's competence (e.g. perceptual access, epistemic states) and honesty. We discuss the implications of this proposal and show how it sheds new light on the developmental trajectory of a series of pragmatic phenomena, with a specific focus on the development of irony comprehension.