Differences In Cognitive Style Research Articles

Intergroup Reconciliation between Flemings and Walloons: The Predictive Value of Cognitive Style, Authoritarian Ideology, and Intergroup Emotions.

Testifying to the gap in fundamental research on positive intergroup outcomes, we investigated reconciliation attitudes in a non-violent intergroup context (i.e., the linguistic conflict in Belgium). By incorporating both important predictors of negative outgroup attitudes (i.e., individual differences in rigid cognitive styles and authoritarian ideologies), and important predictors of reconciliation (i.e., intergroup emotions), we aimed to contribute to a more comprehensive theoretical framework for the analysis of intergroup relations. We recruited one Flemish (N = 310) and one Walloon (N = 365) undergraduate students sample to test the proposed model. Structural equation analyses with maximum likelihood estimation were conducted using the Lavaan package. In both samples, similar patterns were found. More in particular, the need for cognitive closure appeared to be the basic predictor of right-wing attitudes (i.e., right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation) and essentialist thinking, which were then associated with less outgroup empathy and trust, and more outgroup anger. Furthermore, outgroup trust and empathy were positively related to reconciliation. Interestingly, some differences between the Flemish and Walloon sample were found, such as the direct effects of need for closure and social dominance orientation in the first sample, and the non-significant effects of essentialism in the latter sample. Considering the ongoing public and political debate about the linguistic conflict in Belgium, these findings shed a new light on how individual differences relate to specific outgroup emotions, and how these are associated with important intergroup outcomes in the face of intergroup conflict.

Gender Difference In Cognitive Style And Career Decision Making Difficulties Of College Students

Career decision making difficulties are one of the pivotal concerns of the students as well as the educational counsellors. Decision making is effected by the cognitive styles. The present study aimed to investigate the gender difference in cognitive style and career decision making difficulties of college students. For this purpose, students (N=541) including both female (N=236) and male (N=305) from twelve different colleges of Rawalpindi and Islamabad were approached, and they filled the Cognitive Style Indicator (Cools & Van den Broeck, 2007) and Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (Gati & Saka, 2001). The results of present study revealed that male students scored significantly high as compared to female students on Planning, subscale of cognitive style. Moreover, female students scored significantly high as compared to male students on Readiness, sub-scale of career decision-making difficulties questionnaire and male students scored significantly high as compared to female students on Inconsistent information, sub-scale of career decision-making difficulties questionnaire. This indicates that female students have significantly less difficulties as compared to male students on inconsistent information, this finding is unique in Pakistani context, as previous researches conducted in Pakistan reports that male students have less career decision making difficulties as compared to female students.

Impressions of Brazil

According to Witkin, sex differences in cognitive style vary with the type of culture and the role women play in that culture. One goal of our research was to explore whether in a highly sex-role differentiated society like Mexican society, boys have a more field independent cognitive style than girls. The second goal of this study was to explore the relationship between child-rearing practices for Mexican boys and girls, their daily experiences, and their cognitive styles. The Children’s Embedded Figure Test and the Draw-a-Person test along with a child-rearing and daily experience ques­tionnaire were administered to 87 Mexican children. Mexican boys were found to be more field independent than Mexican girls, and American girls were also more field independent than Mexican girls. There was a relation­ship between the child-rearing methods used and field independence for boys but for girls, daily experience was more highly related to field independence.

Influence of consumers' cognitive style on results from projective mapping

Projective mapping (PM), one of the most holistic product profiling methods in approach, is increasingly being used to uncover consumers' perception of products and packages. Assessors rely on a process of synthesis for evaluating product information, which would determine the relative importance of the perceived characteristics they use for mapping them. Individual differences are expected, as participants are not instructed on the characteristics to consider for evaluating the degree of difference among samples, generating different perceptual spaces. Individual differences in cognitive style can affect synthesis processes and thus their perception of similarities and differences among samples. In this study, the influence of the cognitive style in the results of PM was explored. Two consumer studies were performed, one aimed at describing intrinsic sensory characteristics of chocolate flavoured milk and the other one looking into extrinsic (package only) of blueberry yogurts. Consumers completed the wholistic-analytic module of the extended Verbal Imagery Cognitive Styles Test & Extended Cognitive Style Analysis-Wholistic Analytic Test, to characterize their cognitive style. Differences between wholistic and analytic consumers in how they evaluated samples using projective mapping were found in both studies. Analytics separated the samples more in the PM perceptual space than wholistic consumers, showing more discriminating abilities. This may come from a deeper analysis of the samples, both from intrinsic and extrinsic point of views. From a sensory perspective (intrinsic), analytic consumers relied on more sensory characteristics, while wholistic mainly discriminated samples according to sweetness and bitterness/chocolate flavour. In the extrinsic study however, even if analytic consumers discriminated more between packs, they described the products using similar words in the descriptive step.One important recommendation coming from this study is the need to consider higher dimensions in the interpretation of projective mapping tasks, as the first dimensions could underestimate the complexity of the perceptual space; currently, most applications of PM consider two dimensions only, which may not uncover the perception of specific groups of consumers.

Verbalizing, visualizing, and navigating: The effect of strategies on encoding a large-scale virtual environment.

Using novel virtual cities, we investigated the influence of verbal and visual strategies on the encoding of navigation-relevant information in a large-scale virtual environment. In 2 experiments, participants watched videos of routes through 4 virtual cities and were subsequently tested on their memory for observed landmarks and their ability to make judgments regarding the relative directions of the different landmarks along the route. In the first experiment, self-report questionnaires measuring visual and verbal cognitive styles were administered to examine correlations between cognitive styles, landmark recognition, and judgments of relative direction. Results demonstrate a tradeoff in which the verbal cognitive style is more beneficial for recognizing individual landmarks than for judging relative directions between them, whereas the visual cognitive style is more beneficial for judging relative directions than for landmark recognition. In a second experiment, we manipulated the use of verbal and visual strategies by varying task instructions given to separate groups of participants. Results confirm that a verbal strategy benefits landmark memory, whereas a visual strategy benefits judgments of relative direction. The manipulation of strategy by altering task instructions appears to trump individual differences in cognitive style. Taken together, we find that processing different details during route encoding, whether due to individual proclivities (Experiment 1) or task instructions (Experiment 2), results in benefits for different components of navigation-relevant information. These findings also highlight the value of considering multiple sources of individual differences as part of spatial cognition investigations. (PsycINFO Database Record

Generating HFLTS possibility distribution with an embedded assessing attitude

Possibility distribution provides an alternative explanation of linguistic terms in an hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS). It is generated from a given HFLTS based on the assumption that all linguistic terms in an HFLTS follow a uniform distribution. In decision making contexts, linguistic terms in each HFLTS are assumed to exhibit the same possibility to represent the decision-maker(DM)’s assessment rating. However, DMs may give ratings based on different assessing attitudes because of individual differences in cognitive styles. In practice, comparative linguistic expressions are generally converted into HFLTSs through the transformation process as DMs usually use comparative linguistic expressions instead of HFLTSs when giving ratings. The transformed HFLTSs likewise exclude the DMs’ assessing attitudes. To enhance the interpretability of generated possibility distributions, this paper relaxes the original assumption of uniform distribution and incorporates an attitudinal dimension into the transformation process that converts comparative linguistic expressions to HFLTSs. With these modified conditions for possibility distribution generation, an assessing attitude-driven approach is proposed based on probability density functions (PDFs) to generate HFLTS possibility distributions. The proposed PDF-based HFLTS possibility distributions personalize individual semantics and further facilitate the process of computing with words to obtain assessing attitude-embedded accurate linguistic results that are easy for individuals to interpret and understand.

The Enlightenment of Cognitive Style Differences between Field Dependent and Field Independent Mode on College English Teaching

The Enlightenment of Cognitive Style Differences between Field Dependent and Field Independent Mode on College English Teaching

Are neoliberals more susceptible to bullshit?

AbstractWe conducted additional analyses of Pennycook et al.’s (2015, Study 2) data to investigate the possibility that there would be ideological differences in “bullshit receptivity” that would be explained by individual differences in cognitive style and ability. As hypothesized, we observed that endorsement of neoliberal, free market ideology was significantly but modestly associated with bullshit receptivity. In addition, we observed a quadratic association, which indicated that ideological moderates were more susceptible to bullshit than ideological extremists. These relationships were explained, in part, by heuristic processing tendencies, faith in intuition, and lower verbal ability. Results are inconsistent with approaches suggesting that (a) there are no meaningful ideological differences in cognitive style or reasoning ability, (b) simplistic, certainty-oriented cognitive styles are generally associated with leftist (vs. rightist) economic preferences, or (c) simplistic, certainty-oriented cognitive styles are generally associated with extremist (vs. moderate) preferences. Theoretical and practical implications are briefly addressed.

The politics of insight.

Previous studies showed that liberals and conservatives differ in cognitive style. Liberals are more flexible, and tolerant of complexity and novelty, whereas conservatives are more rigid, are more resistant to change, and prefer clear answers. We administered a set of compound remote associate problems, a task extensively used to differentiate problem-solving styles (via insight or analysis). Using this task, several researches have proven that self-reports, which differentiate between insight and analytic problem-solving, are reliable and are associated with two different neural circuits. In our research we found that participants self-identifying with distinct political orientations demonstrated differences in problem-solving strategy. Liberals solved significantly more problems via insight instead of in a step-by-step analytic fashion. Our findings extend previous observations that self-identified political orientations reflect differences in cognitive styles. More specifically, we show that type of political orientation is associated with problem-solving strategy. The data converge with previous neurobehavioural and cognitive studies indicating a link between cognitive style and the psychological mechanisms that mediate political beliefs.

From Lab to Venture: Cognitive Factors Influencing Researchers' Decision to Start a Venture

Research in academic entrepreneurship has gained momentum in the last decades, mainly because of its contribution to technological innovations and national economies. However, little attention has been paid to the cognitive factors influencing the decision by researchers to create a venture. The purpose of this article is to draw on the tenets of entrepreneurial cognition and behavioural decision-making theories to explain why some researchers decide to become entrepreneurs. Our research analyses the difference in cognitive style and risk behaviour between academics that moved from research to spin-off ventures and academics that remain in the laboratory. Our results provide empirical evidence that higher self-efficacy and risk-taking behaviour are positively related to researchers' transition to academic spin-offs, while opportunity recognition skills were not observed to have significant effects. Taken together, these results emphasise the need for further research on cognitive and behavioural factors influencing the decision by researchers to start a venture.

Cultural Differences between East Asian and North American in Temporal Orientation

Based on East Asian and North American differences in holistic versus analytical cognitive processing style and the tendency to predict cyclical versus linear trends, this review proposes cultural differences in their temporal orientation. Building on prior research that has compared the cultural differences on past, present, and future orientation, this review hypothesizes that East Asians focus on the past and future more than North Americans, and North Americans focus on the present more than East Asians. It is suggested that in addition to a cultural difference in the focus on the 3 temporal domains, when moving from any past or future time point toward the present, North Americans’ focus on the temporal domain grows more than East Asians’ focus. I present evidence in three categories based on how temporal orientation is defined. Specially, I compare East Asians’ and North Americans’ focus on a temporal domain, their mental representation of a temporal domain and their subjective temporal distance to a temporal domain.

Male and female guppies differ in speed but not in accuracy in visual discrimination learning.

In many species, males and females have different reproductive roles and/or differ in their ecological niche. Since in these cases the two sexes often face different cognitive challenges, selection may promote some degree of cognitive differentiation, an issue that has received relatively little attention so far. We investigated the existence of sex differences in visual discrimination learning in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata, a fish species in which females show complex mate choice based on male colour pattern. We tested males and females for their ability to learn a discrimination between two different shapes (experiment 1) and between two identical figures with a different orientation (experiment 2). In experiment 3, guppies were required to select an object of the odd colour in a group of five objects. Colours changed daily, and therefore, the solution for this task was facilitated by concept learning. We found males' and females' accuracy practically overlapped in the three experiments, suggesting that the two sexes have similar discrimination learning abilities. Yet, males showed faster decision time than females without any evident speed-accuracy trade-off. This result indicates the existence of consistent between-sex differences in decision speed perhaps due to impulsivity rather than speed in information processing. Our results align with previous literature, indicating that sex differences in cognitive abilities are the exception rather than the rule, while sex differences in cognitive style, i.e. the way in which an individual faces a cognitive task, are much more common.

Towards systemic and individualized brain markers for learning difficulties

Towards systemic and individualized brain markers for learning difficulties

The interplay between cognitive styles and organisational change

JEEMS Journal of East European Management Studies , Seite 35 - 59

Motivated Strategies for Learning and Cognitive Styles Among a Sample of UAE High School Students

This study is aimed at exploring the motivated learning strategies and cognitive styles among a sample of UAE high school students. To achieve the objectives of the study, a sample consisted of 800 male and female students were chosen and the motivated learning strategies scale and the cognitive styles scale were validated and administered to the students. Results of the study showed that the task values motivated learning strategy ranked first followed by test-anxiety, self-efficacy, and self regulation strategies in order. Statistical significant differences in scores of test-anxiety and self-regulation motivated learning strategies based on gender was found and in favor of female students. Also, statistical differences in all motivated learning strategies were found based on various academic streams and in favor of scientific stream. No statistical significant differences in motivated learning strategies were found based on various school grades. Results also showed that students have a tendency to be field-independent. Statistical differences in field-independent cognitive style were found in favor of male students, science stream, and 10 th grade students. Also, statistical differences in field-dependent cognitive style were found in favor of female students, arts strea m, and 11 th grade

Multi-criteria group individual research output evaluation based on context-free grammar judgments with assessing attitude

Individual research output (IRO) evaluation is a multi-criteria problem often conducted in groups. In practice, it is necessary to concurrently apply both bibliometric measures and peer review when evaluating the IRO. During the peer review process, different evaluators may use different linguistic terms because of individual differences in cognitive styles, and therefore, they may give ratings based on different assessing attitudes. Further, the weights between bibliometric measures and peer subjective judgments are difficult to determine. Motivated by these difficulties, this paper proposes a quantitative context-free grammar judgment description with an embedded assessing attitude. The proposed method quantitatively handles the assessing attitude and increases the flexibility of the linguistic information. Accordingly, this paper develops a multi-criteria group IRO evaluation method with context-free grammar judgments which concurrently considers bibliometric measures and peer review opinions. To overcome the weighting difficulties and achieve the maximum consensus, this paper proposes a distance-based method to determine the evaluators' weights and a weighted averaging operator to compute the criteria weights. After that, a TOPSIS-based aggregation method is applied to aggregate the objective and subjective ratings. A practical case study is then used to test the feasibility of the methodology. Finally, we discuss the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Sex and sexual orientation differences in empathizing-systemizing cognitive styles in China

The present study examined sex and sexual orientation differences in empathizing–systemizing (E–S) in a Chinese sample of 239 heterosexual men, 266 heterosexual women, 492 gay men, and 430 lesbian women recruited via the Internet. Empathizing and systemizing were assessed using two different abbreviated 8-item scales derived from longer original scales. There was a significant sex difference in S, with heterosexual men scoring significantly higher on S than heterosexual women, but there was no significant sex difference in E. For men, there were significant sexual orientation differences in E and S. Heterosexual men scored significantly higher on S than gay men, and gay men scored significantly higher on E than heterosexual men. For women, there were no significant differences in E and S between heterosexual and lesbian women. The results indicate a cross-cultural consistency of sex differences in S, while suggesting that E is influenced by culture.

Thinking Styles and Regret in Physicians.

BackgroundDecision-making relies on both analytical and emotional thinking. Cognitive reasoning styles (e.g. maximizing and satisficing tendencies) heavily influence analytical processes, while affective processes are often dependent on regret. The relationship between regret and cognitive reasoning styles has not been well studied in physicians, and is the focus of this paper.MethodsA regret questionnaire and 6 scales measuring individual differences in cognitive styles (maximizing-satisficing tendencies; analytical vs. intuitive reasoning; need for cognition; intolerance toward ambiguity; objectivism; and cognitive reflection) were administered through a web-based survey to physicians of the University of South Florida. Bonferroni’s adjustment was applied to the overall correlation analysis. The correlation analysis was also performed without Bonferroni’s correction, given the strong theoretical rationale indicating the need for a separate hypothesis. We also conducted a multivariate regression analysis to identify the unique influence of predictors on regret.Results165 trainees and 56 attending physicians (age range 25 to 69) participated in the survey. After bivariate analysis we found that maximizing tendency positively correlated with regret with respect to both decision difficulty (r=0.673; p<0.001) and alternate search strategy (r=0.239; p=0.002). When Bonferroni’s correction was not applied, we also found a negative relationship between satisficing tendency and regret (r=-0.156; p=0.021). In trainees, but not faculty, regret negatively correlated with rational-analytical thinking (r=-0.422; p<0.001), need for cognition (r=-0.340; p<0.001), and objectivism (r=-0.309; p=0.003) and positively correlated with ambiguity intolerance (r=0.285; p=0.012). However, after conducting a multivariate regression analysis, we found that regret was positively associated with maximizing only with respect to decision difficulty (r=0.791; p<0.001), while it was negatively associated with satisficing (r=-0.257; p=0.020) and objectivism (r=-0.267; p=0.034). We found no statistically significant relationship between regret and overall accuracy on conditional inferential tasks.ConclusionRegret in physicians is strongly associated with their tendency to maximize; i.e. the tendency to consider more choices among abundant options leads to more regret. However, physicians who exhibit satisficing tendency – the inclination to accept a “good enough” solution – feel less regret. Our observation that objectivism is a negative predictor of regret indicates that the tendency to seek and use empirical data in decision-making leads to less regret. Therefore, promotion of evidence-based reasoning may lead to lower regret.

Individual Differences in Deductive Logic, Abductive Logic, and Cognitive Styles

Participants in this study completed the CAPSOL Style of Learning Assessment-Form B and the Logical Style Exercise. Compared with the 44 participants exhibiting an “Abduction 1” logical style that accounts for more facts, the 18 participants exhibiting an “Abduction 2” logical style that accounts for newly discovered facts were significantly more likely to exhibit a deductive logical style as well and were significantly more likely to exhibit a visual cognitive style. Discussion of both results focuses on the relationship between Abduction 2 (discovery) and deduction.

Neural correlates of cognitive style and flexible cognitive control

Human abilities of flexible cognitive control are associated with appropriately regulating the amount of cognitive control required in response to contextual demands. In the context of conflicting situations, for instance, the amount of cognitive control increases according to the level of previously experienced conflict, resulting in optimized performance. We explored whether the amount of cognitive control in conflict resolution was related to individual differences in cognitive style that were determined with the Object–Spatial–Verbal cognitive style questionnaire. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, a version of the color–word Stroop task, which evokes conflict between color and verbal components, was employed to explore whether individual preferences for distracting information were related to the increases in neural conflict adaptation in cognitive control network regions. The behavioral data revealed that the more the verbal style was preferred, the greater the conflict adaptation effect was observed, especially when the current trial type was congruent. Consistent with the behavioral data, the imaging results demonstrated increased neural conflict adaptation effects in task-relevant network regions, including the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left fusiform gyrus, and left precuneus, as the preference for verbal style increased. These results provide new evidence that flexible cognitive control is closely associated with individuals' preference of cognitive style.