Cognitive Schemas Research Articles

Interpersonal Victimization, Substance Use, and Mental Health Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: The Role of Self-concept Factors.

Reducing substance use and negative mental health outcomes of interpersonal victimization among sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) represents a critical public health priority. Victimized individuals often develop cognitive schemas, or organized knowledge structures consisting of traits, values, and memories about the self, such as self-concept factors, in response to interpersonal victimization. Prior studies demonstrate the role of self-concept factors (e.g., mastery, control, and self-esteem) in explaining the relationship between victimization and substance use and mental health. However, mastery, control, and self-esteem have not been explored as mediators of interpersonal victimization and health among SGMY. This study is among the first to apply cognitive schema models of trauma-related health symptoms using a large sample of SGMY to examine (a) whether interpersonal victimization is associated with substance use (i.e., alcohol use, cannabis use, and cigarette use) and mental health problems (i.e., depressive symptoms, self-perceived stress, self-rated health issues) and (b) whether diminished sense of mastery and control and lower self-esteem can partially explain elevated rates of substance use and mental health problems in this population. We used the U.S.-based 2017 LGBTQ National Teen Survey (n = 17,112; Mage = 15.57, SD = 1.27); 6,401 (37.4%) identified as gay or lesbian, 7,396 (43.2%) as cisgender women, and 10,245 (59.9%) as White. Substance use and mental health variables were positively associated with interpersonal victimization variables and negatively associated with self-concept factors. Self-concept factors partially mediated the relationship between interpersonal victimization and mental health. This model explained 74.2% of the variance in mental health and 28.4% of the variance in substance use. Cognitive coping may represent an important modifiable factor that can be targeted by trauma-focused interventions in efforts to improve victimized SGMY's mental health. Findings call for the development of identity-affirmative, evidence-based, and trauma-focused interventions for SGMY to improve this populations' overall health.

"It is those people": Religious Scripts and Organizing Compassion

The literature describes religious behavior as triggered by cognitive schemata, but we know little of how emotions and values influence organizational religious scripts. Drawing from an ethnographic and longitudinal qualitative case study in a faith-based institution, this paper analyzes how organizational religious scripts encode and enact compassionate activities. In this article, a process of acknowledging religious history, noticing pain, and living ethical spirituality is identified as forming compassionate behavior that enhances the script. The institutional context as well as the emotional experience of pain, suffering, and inequality can be a pervasive aspect of organizational spiritual life and frame organizational activities to reproduce and replicate organizational religious scripts and the moral engagement of reaching out to the sick and marginalized.

A Conversation on Business Models and Cognition

In this fourth annual panel symposium exploring new horizons in managerial and organizational cognition research, we propose a conversation at the cross-roads of business model and cognition research streams. Numerous studies of business models and business model innovation have accentuated the cognitive underpinnings of the construct or pointed to the role of cognitions in shaping business models and business model change. For example business models can be studied as a form of cognitive structure, mental map, or schema, of how the firm creates value. The question we ask is: In the emerging cognitive perspective of business models and business model innovation, what are the interesting conversations and findings? Join us as we explore.

Examining the Relationship Between Exercise-Related Cognitive Errors, Exercise Schema, and Implicit Associations.

To better understand exercise-related cognitive errors (ECEs) from a dual processing perspective, the purpose of this study was to examine their relationship to two automatic exercise processes. It was hypothesized that ECEs would account for more variance than automatic processes in predicting intentions, that ECEs would interact with automatic processes to predict intentions, and that exercise schema would distinguish between different levels of ECEs. Adults (N = 136, Mage = 29 years, 42.6% women) completed a cross-sectional study and responded to three survey measures (ECEs, exercise self-schema, and exercise intentions) and two computerized implicit tasks (the approach/avoid task and single-category Implicit Association Test). ECEs were not correlated with the two implicit measures; however, ECEs moderated the relationship between approach tendency toward exercise stimuli and exercise intentions. Exercise self-schema were differentiated by ECE level. This study expands our knowledge of ECEs by examining their relationship to different automatic and reflective processes.

The Microfoundations of Responsible Corporate Political Action: A Conceptual Framework

The concept of Responsible CPA is not well-defined despite the costs that CPA can impose on society. This is problematic for scholars investigating the political responsibilities of firms, as well as for practitioners interested in responsible conduct, and for citizens concerned with the political influence of corporations. A conceptual framework for exploring Responsible CPA based on the cognitive schemas of CPA practitioners is presented, building on work on related concepts by other scholars. This framework emphasises the microfoundations of Responsible CPA, thereby bringing the manager back in to explorations of the important topic.

Contemporary psychological perspectives of personality disorders.

The aim of this study was to review the recent literature on contemporary psychological perspectives of personality disorders, including novel psychotherapeutic interventions aimed at these vulnerable individuals. Among the various psychological theories and models of personality disorders, still the most popular and researched are psychodynamic, cognitive and interpersonal perspectives. More specifically, object relations theory, cognitive schema conceptualization and interpersonal circumplex model have produced the most empirical investigations of personality disorders in recent years. Latest work has suggested that all three perspectives have contributed to and are compatible with the dimensional personality disorders framework in DSM-5-AMPD and ICD-11 (including level of personality functioning and personality traits). These models have yielded specific psychological treatments of personality disorders; although most psychotherapies have been constructed for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), there is an increasing number of treatment modalities aimed at individuals with other forms of personality disorder, such as those with narcissistic or antisocial traits/disorders. More research into their effectiveness and long-term benefits is necessary. Novel research keeps updating our knowledge on the cause, manifestations and psychological treatments of personality disorders, particularly from psychodynamic, cognitive and interpersonal perspectives.

Deficient semantic knowledge of the life course-Examining the cultural life script in Alzheimer's disease.

Cultural life scripts are culturally transmitted semantic knowledge of the expected order and timing of major transitional events in a prototypical life course. This cognitive schema has been shown to serve as an important mnemonic template that guides retrieval from autobiographical memory, especially for positive and important life events. Autobiographical memory deficits are one of the earliest and most prominent symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, no studies have examined cultural life scripts in patients with AD, despite semantic memory impairments being reported even in the early stages of the disease. The aim of the present work was to assess life-script knowledge in older adults diagnosed with AD, particularly in terms of knowledge for the content of life-script events and the timing and temporal order of these events. Twenty-one older adults diagnosed with AD and 22 healthy age-matched controls completed the standard life-script task (Berntsen & Rubin, 2004, Memory & Cognition, 32[3], 427-442). We found that while AD patients produced significantly fewer life-script events, the content of the generated events were quite consistent with those of the controls and the cultural norms. AD patients were particular impaired with regard to the normative timing and order of life-script events, suggesting that these components of the cultural life script are more vulnerable to cognitive decline. The findings are discussed in relation to impaired script knowledge and semantic memory deficits in AD.

A Research on the Cognitive and Behavioral Foundations of Strategic Management: 1995-2020

This study analyzes the theories and research topics which address the cognitive and behavioral foundations of strategic management. In the research, the citation analysis as a bibliometric technique and qualitative content analysis as a qualitative research method were used. In 1995-2007 and 2008-2020 periods, the biggest contribution was made by a behavioral theory of the firm and by social psychology/cognitive theories. When 1995-2007 and 2008-2020 periods above were evaluated together, it was deduced that the topics such as managerial cognition, cognitive schemata, sense-making, managerial human/social capital, strategic decision-making, entrepreneurship, managerial attention and emotions guided the way for research studies that conducted at individual level of analysis. The dynamic capabilities came to the forefront at organizational level of analysis whereas the competitive dynamic and behavioral strategy themes came forward in strategic phenomena. Again, when 1995-2007 and 2008-2020 periods are evaluated together, the effect of inter-organizational and contextual analysis levels between 1995-2007 is quite limited. However, between 2008-2020, social networks at the interorganizational level and the environment, institutions and market phenomena at the contextual level came to the fore.

Antecedents and Consequences of Schema Modes among Adults

Personality disorders (PDs) have a long history of understanding the causes and consequences of PDs. The Schema Theory explained a series of psychological processes that led to the genesis of PDs, rather than the antecedents-consequences dichotomy. Bad childhood events, according to Young's Schema Theory, contribute to the formation of childhood negative cognitive schemas, some of which (schemas) survive into adulthood and transform into PDs. The same theoretically proposed strategy was tested in this investigation. Mediating role of schema modes between emotional maltreatment and PDs in adults was investigated. The study was conducted with 1000 adults by using cross-sectional survey design. Mediation analysis explained that schema modes mediated between emotional maltreatments and PDs of adults. Thus, the Schema Theory gained support from the empirical data. Schema modes mediated for all personality clusters including cluster-A, B and C. In line with these empirical insights, the maladaptive personality traits also mediated between emotional maltreatments and PDs of adults

The role of cognitive schemas in the relationship between attachment style and emotional intelligence

The current study focuses on the idea that the relationship between attachment styles and emotional intelligence can be influenced by cognitive schemas. It is well known that the first interaction between the child and his mother lays the foundations of attachment. The extent to which it develops guides the individual throughout his life making him responsible for his own actions and decisions. In this way studying the three variables becomes the main objective of the study. The data were collected on an online form, using the snowball method by which subjects were able to share the questionnaire to acquaintances to gather a larger number of people. The study was attended by 281 people aged between 18 to 40 years, M = 21.98, SD = 4.10, of which, 52 were males (18.50%) and 229 females (81.50%), 134 were single (47.69%) and 147 were in a relationship (52.31%), 48 people come from single-parent families (17.08%) and 233 come from two-parent families (82.92%). The results were as expected, secure attachment constitutes a significant positive predictor of emotional intelligence while the anxious attachment was a significant negative predictor of emotional intelligence. The results also showed that avoidant attachment would be a significant positive predictor of emotional intelligence. Following the results it was observed that there is a mediation between cognitive schema and the relationship between attachment styles and emotional intelligence. The secure attachment style was significantly negatively associated with all three types of schemas as expected.

Cognitive-Behavioral-Related Prayer Types and Mental Health Relations among Muslim Samples

Psychological and subjective well-being depends on how an individual feels about his/her life and how he/she responds to life events. Individually, the person may unconsciously feel all external events occurring beyond his/her control in his cognitive schemas. Especially considering mental health, the influence of religious beliefs and practices on various components of mental well-being has emerged as one of the most studied topics in the psychology of religion in recent years. Most studies have focused on the role of religion in seeking answers about individuals' search for meaning and their reactions to life events. There is a prevalent finding that prayer plays a constructive role in the lives of individuals faced with life’s difficulties and exposed to stressors. Thus, for scientists over the past few decades, the possible application of the cognitive behavioral framework within the psychology of religion has become a key element of both subjective and psychological well-being. Using theoretical applications as to the relationship between religiosity and mental health, it was appeared that various prayer measures are predominantly derived from Christian religious norms and beliefs. However, non-Christian religions have been mostly disregarded in such inquiries. More specifically, the links between religiosity and mental health among Muslim individuals have been neglected even though there are several forms of religious behavior in Islam that are of great importance to the daily lives of believers. Therefore, the current research aims to investigate the link between different types of Islamic prayer and indicators of well-being using the cognitive-behavioral mechanism among Muslim individuals. An online link was used to recruit participants from many Islamic student communities and several worship places in different cities/regions of England in this study. The online questionnaire composed of six prayer types (obligatory, necessary, voluntarily, supererogatory, supplication, and invocation prayers), six psychological well-being domains (autonomy, environmental mastery, positive relations with others, personal growth, self-acceptance, and purpose in life), and two subjective well-being domains (life satisfaction, and positive and negative affects). The representative sample consisted of 214 participants (female= 145, male= 69), aged between 18 and 66 (M = 27.01, SD = 8.80). The results of the correlational analysis indicated that obligatory (fard) prayer, voluntarily (sunna) prayer, supplication (duʿāʾ) prayer and invocation (dhikr/remembrance of God) prayer have positive relationship with the well-being variables, while no correlation of necessary (wājib) prayer and supererogatory (nawāfil) prayer with any of the well-being variables is appeared. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that obligatory, voluntarily, and necessary prayers were not predictors of psychological or subjective well-being variables. Although only the type of supererogatory prayer was found to be predictive, the relationship was in the opposite direction. In addition, the supplication prayer accounted for the unique variance in predicting the psychological well-being scores, while the invocation prayer accounted for the unique variance in predicting subjective well-being. In light of James and Wells’ cognitive and behavioral models, the present study has identified only the types of supplication and invocation prayer as important factors that have a positive effect for individuals in providing psychological support for them. Therefore, the presented data suggest that people are more like to have better psychological and subjective well-being when their prayers take the form of a supplication prayer and invocation prayer in which they rely on God for guidance and support and refresh their thinking through feeling God’s presence. As can be seen from the present findings, it is important to consider the applicability of belief structures in specific community settings. Here, both the theoretical framework and practical direction can contribute to an understanding being held as to the relationship between Muslim prayer types and mental well-being and provides guidance for health practitioners regarding how different prayer models can lead individuals to have better well-being.

In poetry, if meter has to help memory, it takes its time

To test the idea that poetic meter emerged as a cognitive schema to aid verbal memory, we focused on classical Italian poetry and on three components of meter: rhyme, accent, and verse length. Meaningless poems were generated by introducing prosody-invariant non-words into passages from Dante’s Divina Commedia and Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. We then ablated rhymes, modified accent patterns, or altered the number of syllables. The resulting versions of each non-poem were presented to Italian native speakers, who were then asked to retrieve three target non-words. Surprisingly, we found that the integrity of Dante’s meter has no significant effect on memory performance. With Ariosto, instead, removing each component downgrades memory proportionally to its contribution to perceived metric plausibility. Counterintuitively, the fully metric versions required longer reaction times, implying that activating metric schemata involves a cognitive cost. Within schema theories, this finding provides evidence for high-level interactions between procedural and episodic memory.

Building adoctor, one skill at atime: Rethinking clinical training through anew skills-based feedback modality.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education milestones and entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are important assessment approaches but may lack specificity for learners seeking improvement through daily feedback. As in other professions, clinicians grow best when they engage in deliberate practice of well-defined skills in familiar contexts. This growth is augmented by specific, actionable coaching from supervisors. This article proposes a new feedback modality called microskills, which are derived from the psychology, negotiation, and business literature, and are unique in their ability to elicit targeted feedback for trainee development. These microskills are grounded in both clinical and situational contexts, thereby mirroring learners’ cognitive schemas and allowing for more natural skill selection and adoption. When taken as a whole, microskills are granular actions that map to larger milestones, competencies, and EPAs. This article outlines the theoretical justification for this new skills-based feedback modality, the methodology behind the creation of clinical microskills, and provides a worked example of microskills for a pediatric resident on a hospital medicine rotation. Ultimately, microskills have the potential to complement milestones and EPAs and inform feedback that is specific, actionable, and relevant to medical learners.Supplementary InformationThe online version of this article (10.1007/s40037-021-00666-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Depression and cognitive distortions in hemodialysis patients with end stage renal disease: A case-control study

Background and objectivesIdentifying cognitive distortions is essential for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that plays a key role in the treatment of depression. Depression seen in patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) has not been sufficiently diagnosed and treated. This study aimed to examine the cognitive distortions and schemas of patients diagnosed with ESRD. MethodsFifty-six patients undergoing hemodialysis and forty-seven controls were enrolled in the study. A sociodemographic and clinic data form, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS), Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) were applied to all participants. ResultsThe prevalence of the psychiatric disorder in the case group was significantly higher than the prevalence of the psychiatric disorder in the control group. Compared with the control group, the HADS depression subscale was significantly high in the patient group. There was a positive correlation between the duration of hemodialysis and total scores of DAS as well as the “dependency attitudes” factor among the case group. The “helplessness” subscale scores of the ATQ were significantly higher in the case group compared to the control group. ConclusionsThe duration of hemodialysis was related to dependency attitudes of cognitive distortions among patients with ESRD. Studies investigating cognitive modalities are needed to treat depression more successfully in this population. It will contribute to the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy of ESRD patients when these factors are taken into consideration.

"Transparency" of Textbook Activities as Perceived by Chinese Middle School English Teachers With Different Professional Experience.

Transparency of textbook activities, i.e., the degree of easiness for teachers to process and comprehend them, needs to be researched in terms of both materials design and materials use. This article reports on a study that investigates the impact of teachers’ professional experience and transparency of textbook activities (due to materials design) on teachers’ actual perception of the transparency of materials. The study adopted a mixed-methods design and collected quantitative data via a five-point scale survey from 115 secondary school teachers as well as interview data from 15 informants. Data analysis reveals that both teachers’ professional experience and transparency of textbook activities affect the degree of easiness teachers perceived as they understand and interpret the activities for pedagogical purposes. However, discrepancy exists between transparency in materials design and transparency in teachers’ perception. Lack of pedagogical knowledge about the relationship between teaching objectives, steps, and assessment and strong existing cognitive schemata developed from the stereotype of processing a familar set of teaching materials might hamper teachers’ perception of transparency.

The Spill‐over Effect of Formal Bowing Motion on Subjective Facial Attractiveness1

AbstractBowing is an act, commonly used in Japan, involving lowering the head and bending the upper body towards another person as a greeting. Studies have shown that the bowing action increases the subjective attractiveness of the face. Specifically, the attractiveness rating of a bowing 3D computer graphics model was found to be higher than those of the bending‐backward or the standing‐still conditions. However, previous studies did not manipulate the duration of the bowing action. This study examined whether the effect of bowing on the facial impression increases as the duration of bowing actions (the bending motion, the bent posture, and the return motion) was prolonged. In Experiment 1, we compared two durations of the bent posture at the peak point under the bending‐forward condition (0 or 1.5 s). In Experiment 2, we also manipulated the effect of the bowing speed (0.5 or 1 s). The results indicated that the effect of bowing on the rating scores of subjective attractiveness increased as the duration of bowing actions was prolonged. Moreover, an identical pattern of results was obtained in judgments of politeness and submissiveness. These findings suggest that the bowing effect is closely related to the cognitive schema of politeness and submissiveness, and thus the formal bowing action produces a positive evaluation by further activating this schema.

Exploration and Analysis of the Aesthetic Cognitive Schema of Contemporary Western Urban Landscapes.

The multidimensional iterative composition of urban landscapes and the formation mechanism of the aesthetic perception dimension are elucidated. The cognitive schema theory aims to reveal the intrinsic mechanism of urban landscape aesthetic activities. Using London as an empirical case to explore the representation and structure of urban landscape aesthetic, a cognitive schema, the cognitive map of its urban landscape, was constructed based on the qualitative analysis of the texts derived from travel notes. Eight aspects of urban landscapes, together with 21 representative concepts of cognitive schema closely related to aesthetic perception, indicate the structures and approaches people perceive in urban landscapes. This article provides experience and reference for urban landscape enhancement and related practices in China by studying the contemporary Western urban landscape.

Grounding Business Models: Cognition, Boundary Objects, and Business Model Change

Business-model research has largely focused on business models as real entities, as cognitive and linguistic schema, and as formal representations. Although research within these themes has made im...

Illness Expectations Assessment in People with Asthma: A Tool for Explicit and Implicit Beliefs.

BackgroundIllness expectations are cognitive schemas, both explicit and implicit, describing how symptoms are expected to be in the future. They can be particularly relevant to disease in a mind/body framework. Asthma is a condition in which the psychological aspects can highly influence the body, but no study has directly explored these specific expectations, and no dedicated assessment tools are available.MethodsWe developed a questionnaire to assess the illness expectations, together with an ad hoc version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT). We tested its factorial structure, and the internal and test–retest validity, recruiting a sample of 183 asthmatic people. We also explored the convergent validity and the correlations with objective and subjective clinical assessments.ResultsData suggested a three-factorial structure of the questionnaire into expectations about future symptoms, change in current health status, and rigidity of these expectations. The questionnaire showed good psychometric properties and strong associations with the other considered outcomes, including implicit expectations. The implicit evaluation, however, lacked test–retest reliability.ConclusionThe questionnaire is a valid tool to assess illness expectations in people with asthma. The two expectation scales are highly related, and the implicit expectations are moderately associated with the explicit ones. The lack of stability related to IAT results may reflect a lack of stability of the implicit expectations. The implications for the mind/body framework still need to be fully explored.

When Reflection Hinders Creative Problem-Solving: a Test of Alternative Reflection Strategies

A growing body of evidence suggests that reflecting on performance is an important source of individual learning. Given the importance of creativity in contemporary business settings, reflection has also been cast as a useful strategy to facilitate creative problem-solving. Challenging this idea, we conducted a series of lab experiments to examine the effects of reflection on creative problem-solving. Drawing from theory in cognitive psychology on knowledge structures, we argue that reflection may sometimes debilitate rather than improve creative problem-solving, due to the reinforcement of existing cognitive schemas and the resulting cognitive entrenchment. To test our theoretical arguments, we developed two alternative reflection strategies, imaginative reflection and vicarious elaboration. In Study 1 (N = 101), we observed a detrimental effect of task reflection on creative problem-solving, which was offset by having participants engage in imaginative reflection. In Study 2 (N = 191), vicarious elaboration, elaborating on another’s creative experiences instead of reflecting on one’s own creative experiences, was introduced as a second strategy to counter cognitive entrenchment. In Study 3 (N = 235), we combined the reflection strategies, demonstrating that imaginative thinking was more effective when focused on one’s own experiences rather than on others’ experiences (i.e., vicarious imaginative elaboration). Together, these findings increase our understanding of the effects of different reflection strategies, but also call for further research to address an intriguing observation: none of the reflection strategies led to better outcomes as compared to a control condition without reflection, suggesting that individual reflection might not help creative problem-solving at all.