Cognitive Tendencies Research Articles

Post-Supernatural Cultures: There and Back Again

The abandonment of supernatural religious beliefs and rituals seems to occur quite easily in some contexts, but post-supernaturalist cultures require a specific set of conditions that are difficult to produce and sustain on a large scale and thus are historically rare. Despite the worldwide resurgence of supernaturalist religion, some subcultures reliably produce people who deny the existence of supernatural entities. This social phenomenon has evoked competing explanations, many of which enjoy empirical support. We synthesize six of the most influential social-science explanations, demonstrating that they provide complementary perspectives on a complex causal architecture. We incorporate this theoretical synthesis into a computer simulation, identifying conditions under which the predominant attitude toward supernaturalism in a population shifts from acceptance to rejection (and vice versa). The model suggests that the conditions for producing widespread rejection of supernatural worldviews are highly specific and difficult to produce and sustain. When those conditions combine, which is historically rare, a stable social equilibrium emerges within which post-supernaturalist worldviews are widespread; however, this equilibrium is easier to disrupt than equilibria whose cohesion is stabilized by supernatural religion due to persistent cognitive tendencies toward supernaturalism in evolved human minds.

Data, Communication, and Human Cognition: Challenges and Best Practices

Organizations of various sizes and fields have experienced an influx of data-related challenges due to rapid technological advancement in the fields of information and communications technology which impacts every facet of operation. Consequently, the currency of this modern world is no longer only in terms of products, services and dollars, but most importantly in data and the capability to leverage it for the organization’s strategic advantage. Big data has impacted all sectors of the industry, although not fully realized in healthcare as noted by the McKinsey Global Institute in its 2016 report. Meanwhile it is projected to continue to drive innovation in Healthcare especially in transforming clinical care and providing personalized medicine. Hence, this presentation takes this impact as a point of departure to argue that managing data will be a continuing challenge for organization. It shall also argue that communication of data within the organization and among stakeholders shall be a critical skill that must be maintained and developed as it is a hinge pin for success in realizing the objectives associated with managing data. In addition it shall also argue that effective communication can happen when human cognitive tendencies are understood in the communication process leading to exploration and survey of practical techniques of presenting data visually in a more engaging, effective and compelling ways.

The COVID-19 Conundrum

The COVID-19 Conundrum

Non-Liability of “Foreignness”: Theorizing Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the Practice of Bricolage

Applying Bourdieu’s theory of practice, we theorize the non- traditional resource mobilization of immigrant entrepreneurs within the adversarial social and institutional context of their country of residence. Through a rigorous analysis of eight cases of immigrant entrepreneurs and their South African-based enterprises, our findings suggest that the habitus of immigrant entrepreneurs is a unique resource in that it represents an internalization of both cognitive and adaptive dispositions. Cognitive dispositions refer to their home-based frameworks through which their cognitive disposition is formed to interpret existing resources in novel ways. Adaptive dispositions refer to their ability to adjust and be responsive to the pressures of a new environment due to biases that perceive foreigners to be a liability. We posit that the habitus of immigrant entrepreneurship is that which embodies and applies both dispositions within even discriminatory environments in order to mobilize or construct resources via non-traditional means through local social capital. We conceptually extend this formulation to depict the practice of bricolage by immigrant entrepreneurs in an adversarial host country social field.

Cognitive Barriers to Reducing Income Inequality

As economic inequality grows, more people stand to benefit from wealth redistribution. Yet in many countries, increasing inequality has not produced growing support for redistribution, and people often appear to vote against their economic interest. Here we suggest that two cognitive tendencies contribute to these paradoxical voting patterns. First, people gauge their income through social comparison, and those comparisons are usually made to similar others. Second, people are insensitive to large numbers, which leads them to underestimate the gap between themselves and the very wealthy. These two tendencies can help explain why subjective income is normally distributed (therefore most people think they are middle class) and partly explain why many people who would benefit from redistribution oppose it. We support our model’s assumptions using survey data, a controlled experiment, and agent-based modeling. Our model sheds light on the cognitive barriers to reducing inequality.

Image complexity analysis with scanpath identification using remote gaze estimation model.

Analysis of gaze points has been a vital tool for understanding varied human behavioral pattern and underlying psychological processing. Gaze points are analyzed generally in terms of two events of fixations and saccades that are collectively termed as scanpath. Scanpath could potentially establish correlation between visual scenery and human cognitive tendencies. Scanpath has been analyzed for different domains that include visual perception, usability, memory, visual search or low level attributes like color, illumination and edges in an image. Visual search is one prominent area that examines scanpath of subjects while a target object is searched in a given set of images. Visual search explores behavioral tendencies of subjects with respect to image complexity. Complexity of an image is governed by spatial, frequency and color information present in the image. Scanpath based image complexity analysis determines human visual behavior that could lead to development of interactive and intelligent systems. There are several sophisticated eye tracking devices and associated algorithms for recording and classification of scanpath. However, in the present scenario when the chances of viral infections (COVID-19) from known and unknown sources are high, it is very important that the contact less methods and models be designed. In addition, even though the devices acquire and process eye movement data with fair accuracy but are intrusive and costly. The objective of current research work is to establish the complexity of the given set of images while target objects are searched and to present analysis of gaze search pattern. To achieve these objectives a remote gaze estimation and analysis model has been proposed for scanpath identification and analysis. The model is an alternate option for gaze point tracking and scanpath analysis that is non intrusive and low cost. The gaze points are tracked remotely as against sophisticated wearable eye tracking devices available in the market. The model employs easily available softwares and hardware devices. In the current work, complexity is derived on the basis of analysis of fixation and saccade gaze points. Based on the results generated by the proposed model, influence on subjects due to external stimuli is studied. The set of images chosen, act as external stimuli for the subjects during visual search. In order to statistically analyze scanpath for different subjects, certain scanpath parameters have been identified. The model maps and classifies eye movement gaze points into fixations and saccades and generates data for identified parameters. For eye detection and subsequent iris detection voila jones and circular hough transform (CHT) algorithms have been used. Identification by dispersion threshold (I-DT) is implemented for scanpath identification. The algorithms are customized for better iris and scanpath detection. Algorithms are developed for gaze screen mapping and classification of fixations and saccades. The experimentation has been carried on different subjects. Variations during visual search have been observed and analyzed. The present model requires no contact of human subject with any equipment including eye tracking devices, screen or computing devices.

The role of epistemic beliefs in predicting citizen interest and engagement with science and technology

ABSTRACT Epistemic beliefs – one’s beliefs about the nature of knowledge – have been recognized as important predictors of learning outcomes. This study focuses on the role of epistemic beliefs in predicting citizen engagement with science and technology. In accordance with theories of learning and domain knowledge acquisition, the findings highlight the potential importance of epistemic beliefs in motivating individuals to be interested in and to consume informative media content related to science and technology. The analyses confirm that certain cognitive dispositions and epistemic beliefs substantially increase the ability to explain variation in citizens’ interest in science and technology and consumption of related news content. If the relationships we observe represent causal effects, enhancing epistemic motivations might be an effective strategy in achieving science communication’s goal of cultivating interest and promoting citizen engagement with science and technology.

The MAD Model of Moral Contagion: The Role of Motivation, Attention, and Design in the Spread of Moralized Content Online

With more than 3 billion users, online social networks represent an important venue for moral and political discourse and have been used to organize political revolutions, influence elections, and raise awareness of social issues. These examples rely on a common process to be effective: the ability to engage users and spread moralized content through online networks. Here, we review evidence that expressions of moral emotion play an important role in the spread of moralized content (a phenomenon we call moral contagion). Next, we propose a psychological model called the motivation, attention, and design (MAD) model to explain moral contagion. The MAD model posits that people have group-identity-based motivations to share moral-emotional content, that such content is especially likely to capture our attention, and that the design of social-media platforms amplifies our natural motivational and cognitive tendencies to spread such content. We review each component of the model (as well as interactions between components) and raise several novel, testable hypotheses that can spark progress on the scientific investigation of civic engagement and activism, political polarization, propaganda and disinformation, and other moralized behaviors in the digital age.

Good Decisions or Bad Outcomes? A Model for Group Deliberation on Value-Laden Topics

ABSTRACT Agent-based models present an ideal tool for interrogating the dynamics of communication and exchange. Such models allow individual aspects of human interaction to be isolated and controlled in a way that sheds new insight into complex behavioral phenomena. This approach is particularly valuable in settings beset by confounding factors and mixed empirical evidence. The political communication setting of deliberation is one such salient setting: in business, politics, and everyday life, individuals with varying opinions, experience, and information attempt to collaborate and make decisions. Empirical evidence suggests that such collaborative reasoning can lead to good decisions, yet there are numerous deliberative failures which may frequently cause groups to reach bad outcomes. Using the substantive setting of deliberation, this paper presents an agent-based model aimed at disambiguating the individual factors which influence decision-making conversations. We model this communicative process as a deliberative game of “giving and asking for reasons.” Agents share beliefs around possible policy initiatives and attempt to enact “good” policies through a process of mutual exchange and consideration. The model considers an interconnected policy landscape in which implementing or not implementing a policy mediates the value of other policies. Within this framework, the paper considers the impacts of three canonical failures of deliberation: limited cognitive capacity, group factions, and tendencies to make poor judgments when accepting or rejecting others’ views. We find that cognitive capacity can significantly decrease the ability of a group to reach a good decision. However, this effect appears to be mitigated for groups of opposing factions. Indeed, polarized groups do surprisingly well at identifying optimal policy solutions, suggesting that heterogeneous agents can achieve good outcomes if they are willing to talk and learn from each other.

Collaboration between East and West: influence of consumer dialectical self on attitude towards co-brand personality traits

PurposeWith rising globalization, Western and Eastern brands are increasingly collaborating and co-branding. Drawing on the theory of dialectical self that captures the degree of cognitive tendency to tolerate conflicts, inconsistencies and ambiguities in self-concept, this paper investigates the effect of consumer dialectical self on co-branding that encompasses Western and East Asian cultural brand personality traits.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies were conducted using Chinese participants to examine the effects of the dialectical self on co-brand evaluation under single-and dual-personality conditions and to explore the mediating role of ideal social self-congruence and the moderating role of product type (high vs low conspicuous).FindingsThe findings suggest that counterintuitive to the received wisdom, the dialectical self negatively influences one's attitude towards a co-brand in the dual-personality condition only. Further, ideal social self-congruence mediates the relationship between the dialectical self and dual-personality co-brand evaluation in the high conspicuous product condition only.Practical implicationsImportant implications are offered to international marketing managers for managing the dialectical self that lead to positive co-brand evaluations. Moreover, managers should highlight ideal social self-congruence for co-branding success for particular product types.Originality/valueThis paper examines co-branding from a novel perspective of consumer dialectical self and shows the pivotal role it plays when brands carry varying cultural traits engage in co-branding. By identifying the role of the dialectical self and the important mediator and moderator, the paper fulfils an important gap in co-branding literature and offers key implications.

Individual differences in logical intuitions on reasoning problems presented under two-response paradigm

ABSTRACT Studies on individual differences in susceptibility to cognitive biases have identified several cognitive dispositions which were thought to predict reasoning by contributing to the efficiency of analytic thought. However, hybrid models suggest that differences between reasoners may arise already in the intuitive stages of the reasoning process. To address this possibility, we examined standard individual difference measures, mindware instantiation, and conflict detection efficiency as predictors of the accuracy on conflict problems presented under a two-response paradigm. We found that almost half of conflict reasoning problems were solved correctly already at the initial response stage and that the individual differences in initial reasoning performance were predicted by participants’ cognitive reflection, mindware instantiation, and detection efficiency. The findings advance the specification of hybrid dual-process models and provide corroborating evidence that a part of the link between bias susceptibility and cognitive dispositions is due to differences in intuitive processing.

해석 작용의 양상과 의미 특성 - 담화 층위를 중심으로 -

This paper explores aspects and semantic properties of construal operations at the discourse level. Findings are as follows: First, construal refers to the choice of conceptualizers that grasp a situation in an alternative way and express it in a language. Second, linguistic construals are part of the cognition process and are similar to the conceptualization of visual perception. Third, construal operations at the discourse level are activated in aspects, such as ‘salience’, ‘roundaboutness’, ‘efficiency’, ‘viewpoint’, and ‘consideration’. Fourth, ‘salience’ refers to a speaker’s cognitive tendency and subjectivity. ‘Roundaboutness’ is a strategy that considers speakers and listeners for the situation. ‘Efficiency’ refers to the economical efficiency of the description of a situation and is related to the maxim of quantity. ‘Viewpoint’ refers to the speaker’s perspective of a situation and is divided into a multiple viewpoint and an opposite viewpoint. ‘Consideration’ is a strategy that develops the situation from the speaker’s viewing arrangement. Fifth, construal operations at the discourse level are more abundant and dynamic than those at the lexical and sentential levels. And ‘language’, ‘meaning’, and ‘construal’ are closely connected.

Predictors of positive and negative post-traumatic psychological outcomes in a sample of Iranian cancer survivors.

Objectives This study aimed to identify predictors of positive and negative post-traumatic psychological outcomes within a sample of Iranian cancer survivors. Methods In this cross-sectional research, 300 (167 females; age M=53.00, SD=27.57) cancer survivors (breast cancer, leukaemia, colorectal cancer) were recruited from oncology outpatient clinics in Iran. Participants completed measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), post-traumatic growth (PTG), cognitive processing, attentional biases, and autobiographical memory specificity. Results Using partial least square structural equation modelling, it was found that the proposed model was capable of predicting PTSD and PTG. Negative attentional biases were significantly associated with PTSD symptoms, but were not significantly associated with PTG. In contrast, memory specificity and positive attentional biases tended to be associated with PTG, but were not significantly associated with PTSD symptoms. Second, negative cognitive processing was significantly associated with PTSD symptoms, while positive cognitive processing was significantly associated with PTG. Finally, there was support for indirect pathways between positive cognitive tendencies and PTG through positive cognitive processing, while there were indirect pathways between negative habitual cognitive tendencies and PTSD symptoms through negative cognitive processing. Conclusions Our findings support growing evidence for differential trajectories to PTG and PTSD symptoms in cancer. Such cognitive factors may be important therapeutic targets in psycho-oncology interventions. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? The diagnosis of cancer and its subsequent treatment can result in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Positive changes and psychosocial growth (post-traumatic growth; PTG) are also common as a result of patients' experience of cancer. What does this study add? This study identified predictors of positive (PTG) and negative trauma (PTSD) outcomes within a sample of Iranian cancer survivors (N=300). General habitual cognitive tendencies (memory specificity, attentional biases) were associated with cognitive processing, which in turn contributed to psycho-traumatic adaption. There was support for indirect pathways between positive cognitive tendencies and PTG through positive cognitive processing, while there were indirect pathways between negative habitual cognitive tendencies and PTSD symptoms through negative cognitive processing.

Activación y descarte de disposiciones de trabajadores del Polo Naval de Río Grande: cuerpos entre la fantasía y el fantasma

El artículo analiza las disposiciones activadas en los trabajadores de un gran emprendimiento industrial en el sur de Rio Grande do Sul, el Polo Naval de Río Grande, que funcionó a gran escala de 2005/6 a 2016. Desde un enfoque etnográfico, fueron entrevistados ex -trabajadores del Polo Naval, elaborando inicialmente hipótesis sobre la activación y descarte de disposiciones. Al principio, recurrimos al concepto de disposiciones trabajado en las obras de Bourdieu (como parte del concepto de habitus) y, principalmente de Lahire. También recurrimos, en un momento posterior, a la mirada de la sociología del cuerpo y de las emociones, con el objetivo de captar mejor los procesos subjetivos involucrados en un proceso de atracción y expulsión de trabajadores. Para ello, nos centramos en las perspectivas de Bourdieu, a través de Medeiros (2017), Wacquant (2014), y Scribano (2012). Además de una parte introductoria, el artículo aborda el llamado «proyecto de veinte años», de la activación de disposiciones económicas y cognitivas; de las señales negativas y del proceso acelerado de declive; del desaparecimiento de las disposiciones económicas y cognitivas, y realiza una re-lectura a partir de las contribuciones de la sociología del cuerpo y las emociones. Como reflexión principal, se argumenta que los trabajadores brasileños y latinoamericanos viven con el fantasma del desempleo y la precariedad (cuerpos que sufren) y que sólo de forma fugaz, en algún momento, han logrado disfrutar de alguna fantasía social (cuerpos ilusorios).

The cognitive biases of human mind in accepting and transmitting religious and theological beliefs: An analysis based on the cognitive science of religion

The cognitive science of religion (CSR) is an emerging field of cognitive science that gathers insights from different disciplines to explain how humans acquire and transmit religious beliefs. For the CSR scholars, the human mental tools have specific biases that make them susceptible to acceptance and transmission of religious beliefs. This article examines the characteristics of these biases and how they work, and shows that although our innate cognitive tendencies make our minds generally receptive to religion, they do not explain the emergence and endurance of specific religious beliefs in a particular culture. We will also show that although advocates of CSR study religion as a ‘natural’ phenomenon, and seek to discover the natural causes of the formation, acceptance, transmission and prevalence of religious beliefs, their efforts do not lead to decrease the validity of religious beliefs and rejection of ‘non-natural’ explanations of religious beliefs.

Changing Practices in European Foreign Policy

Taking the EU’s hybrid foreign policy administration, the European External Action Service (EEAS) as a laboratory for study, this article examines the changing structures and processes of communication and coordination as well as various patterns of cooperation and conflict within the organization. Whereas research frequently focuses on foreign policy making at the national level and actors at the political level, I here want to zoom in on emerging practices and the role understanding of administrators within the EEAS in order to identify the dynamics and the consequences of organizational reform. In short, the article explores the emerging European diplomatic practices. The argument starts from the assumption that new forms of transnational administrations provide the opportunity to re-combine diverse cultures stemming from different institutional origins, professional backgrounds, traditions, cognitive dispositions and behavioural logics, routines and ‘ways of doing things’. The emphasis is put on how such processes unfold, and why the adaptation of and the emergence of new patterns of behaviour contribute, at the same time, to institutional innovation and ambivalence. This line of investigation may benefit our understanding of increasing fluidity and blurring of boundaries between the fields of international relations and public policy. Empirically, the study draws on interview and survey data from EU foreign policy makers (Total N=232), and finds that despite institutional resilience and continuity, the confluence of and conflicts between diplomatic and organizational cultures leads to behavioural innovation as a result of the need to deal with ambiguities and to replace practices that have ‘gone out of use’. EU Foreign policy, EEAS, diplomacy, decision-making, organization, coordination, practices

A Method for Controlling Arrival Time to Prevent Late Arrival by Manipulating Vehicle Timetable Information

Although it is socially and ethically important not to be late for a specified arrival time, late arrivals sometimes happen to people using public transportation. Although many methods aim to smooth a user's movement by providing useful information, there are few approaches to prevent late arrivals due to psychological factors. In this research, to make a user's arrival time earlier and thus prevent late arrival, we propose a method that manipulates time allowance by presenting information based on a psychological and cognitive tendency. We apply this method to a vehicle timetable system for the purpose of preventing public transit users from arriving after a target vehicle's departure time. Our proposed timetable system manipulates the time intervals between a user's target vehicle and other vehicles by introducing fictional elements such as hidden vehicles and inserted fictional vehicles. This method uses the relationship between the time allowance and the departure time interval, and it can make a user desire and accept arriving at a station earlier. We implemented a prototype system and conducted four experiments. The evaluation results confirmed that our proposed method is effective for changing a user's time allowance and actual arrival time.

The Behavioral Economics of Pierre Bourdieu

This article builds the argument that Bourdieu’s dispositional theory of practice can help integrate the sociological tradition with three prominent strands of behavioral economics: bounded rationality, prospect theory, and time inconsistency. I make the case that the habitus provides an alternative framework to show how social and mental structure constitute one another, where cognitive tendencies toward irrationality can be either curtailed or amplified based on one’s position in the economic field and a person’s corresponding set of dispositions, ranging from more rational doxic dispositions to irrational allodoxic tendencies. Bridging economic sociology and behavioral economics, this work also bears on issues of persistent financial inequality reproduced through self-defeating patterns of economic behavior inculcated into individuals who occupy dominated positions in the social structure. Bourdieu’s thought, and in particular his conception of field+habitus, can usefully be applied to the empirical findings of behavioral economics to understand deviations from rational action as not only cognitive but also socially structured.

The analysis of the relationship between domestic visitors’ social tendencies and their attachment to the objects exhibited at the National museum of Iran

ABSTRACT The current study is based on the hypothesis of visitors’ social tendency towards visiting objects on display in the National Museum of Iran which, if proven, could contribute to and promote the position of museums in Iran. The data analysis adopted in this research includes correlation and descriptive statistical analysis. The social tendencies were recognized through interviews with museum professionals. Subsequently, the appropriate terms for each tendency were defined, using a questionnaire filled out by domestic visitors over 18 years old. The results illustrated a significant relationship between cognitive and identity tendencies of individuals. Nonetheless, the relationship between emotional tendencies was not evident. Therefore, the findings indicated that it is necessary to increase the focus of this museum on the cognitive aspects of the visit. Based on the visitors’ identity, the arrangement of the objects needs to be in an appropriate order so as to highlight the specific features of the Iranian identity such as language and geography.

An Examination of the Validity of the Differentiation-of-Self Hypothesis and Its Mechanism Related to Negative Life Event Aversion among Japanese University Students

This study examined the validity of the differentiation-of-self hypothesis for Japanese university students, and its mechanism in relation to negative life event aversion. Although the differentiation-of-self hypothesis is accepted as one of the basic hypotheses in the clinical field of family therapy in Japan, empirical studies on the subject are scarce. Further, there are few studies, internationally, on its mechanism. A questionnaire survey was conducted with university students (n = 250) to measure their differentiation of self, maladaptive states, and negative life event aversion. Compared to the better-differentiated group, the less-differentiated group had higher scores both for maladaptive states—somatic symptoms (t(223) = -2.70, p = 0.008), social dysfunction (t(211.00) = -3.30, p = 0.001), and severe depression (t(208.78) = -4.08, p 0.001)—and negative life event aversion—interpersonal domain (t(223) = -3.96, p 0.001) and achievement domain (t(223) = -3.83, p 0.001). The results supported the validity of the differentiation-of-self hypothesis for Japanese university students, and that cognitive tendencies toward negative life events may be part of the mechanism for less-differentiated individuals’ subsequent vulnerability. This suggests the effectiveness of cognitive interventions.