Differences In Information Processing Styles Research Articles

The inverse relation between risks and benefits: The impact of individual differences in information processing style.

Existing research shows that evaluations of the risks and benefits of various hazards (i.e., technologies and activities) are inversely related. The affect heuristic explains the negative relation between risks and benefits, as based on the strength of positive or negative affect associated with a hazard. Research on the affect heuristic previously investigated under which conditions people judge risk and benefits independently, focusing on expertise as a factor that might exempt from inversely related judgements of risk and benefits. Measurements within Dual Process Theories have been found to be associated with rational, analytical decision making and accurate judgments. In this paper we investigated the extent to which rational information processing styles can predict the risk-benefit relation of technologies in a medical and food applications and whether the attitudes influence the strength or direction of the relationship. Using the Need for Cognition Scale (NFC), a psychometric-based risk scale and an explicit measure of attitude, in a representative sample of 3228 Swedes, we found that the high NFC group judged the risks and benefits of technologies to be inversely related. In contrast, the low NFC group judged the risks and benefits to be positively related. These results were confirmed across all studied technologies by applying moderation analysis. We discuss the results in light of recent research on cognitive processing and polarization over technologies’ risks.

Are Individual Differences in Information-Processing Styles Related to Transformational Leadership? A Test of the Cognitive Experiential Leadership Model.

The recently proposed Cognitive Experiential Leadership Model (CELM) states that leaders’ preference for rational thinking and behavioral coping will be related to their level of transformational leadership. The CELM was based on research that principally used cross-sectional self-report methods. Study 1 compared both self-ratings and follower-ratings of leadership styles with leaders’ self-rated thinking styles in 160 leader-follower dyads. Study 2 compared both self-ratings and coworker-ratings of leadership styles with leaders’ self-rated thinking styles for 74 leaders rated by 607 coworkers. In both Studies, leaders’ rational thinking, imaginative thinking, and behavioral coping correlated positively with their self-rated transformational leadership. However, only behavioral coping, but not rational thinking, was correlated with follower-rated (FR) transformational leadership in Study 1, and thinking styles were unrelated to other-rated transformational leadership in Study 2. These results partly support and partly challenge the CELM. Practically, this study suggests that leadership may be improved by leaders developing their capacity for behavioral coping.

Determinants of judgment and decision making quality: the interplay between information processing style and situational factors.

A framework is presented to better characterize the role of individual differences in information processing style and their interplay with contextual factors in determining decision making quality. In Experiment 1, we show that individual differences in information processing style are flexible and can be modified by situational factors. Specifically, a situational manipulation that induced an analytical mode of thought improved decision quality. In Experiment 2, we show that this improvement in decision quality is highly contingent on the compatibility between the dominant thinking mode and the nature of the task. That is, encouraging an intuitive mode of thought led to better performance on an intuitive task but hampered performance on an analytical task. The reverse pattern was obtained when an analytical mode of thought was encouraged. We discuss the implications of these results for the assessment of decision making competence, and suggest practical directions to help individuals better adjust their information processing style to the situation at hand and make optimal decisions.

Why do highly visible people appear more important?: Affect mediates visual fluency effects in impression formation

People who are highly visible may be perceived as also more important and influential. Can good or bad moods influence the extent to which people rely on such irrelevant visual fluency cues when forming impressions? Based on recent work on affect and cognition, two experiments predicted and found that positive affect increased, and negative affect eliminated the effects of visual fluency on impressions. In Experiment 1, after an autobiographical mood induction participants read about two people whose visual fluency was factorially manipulated by changing the size and color of their photos. Both mood and visual fluency influenced impressions, and there was a significant mood by visibility interaction such that positive affect increased, and negative affect eliminated the effects of visual fluency. Experiment 2 replicated these results with a different mood induction, and also found that mood-induced differences in information processing style mediated these effects. The relevance of these findings for impression formation in everyday situations is considered, and their implications for recent affect–cognition theories are discussed.

Gender differences in the interpretation of web atmospherics: A selectivity hypothesis approach

This paper sets out to explore the role of gender as a moderator of the relationship between web atmospheric cues and virtual visitor's attitudes. In a laboratory experiment, the web atmospherics of a museum website – conceived as high and low task relevant cues – are manipulated so as to assess their impact on attitude toward the website and attitude toward the brand. The findings indicate that low task relevant cues are associated not only with higher attitude toward the website but with more positive evaluations of the brand as well. Gender has a moderating effect on both relationships of interest: In the absence of low task relevant cues, males develop less favorable attitudes toward the site and the brand, while females' attitude remains consistent across both experimental conditions. The findings are interpreted from a Selectivity Hypothesis viewpoint, which attributes gender differences in cognitive evaluations, to differences in information processing style. The study underscores the value of web atmospherics for service branding, elucidating the benefits for webpage design. It also supports the relevance of the Selectivity Model in the Internet context and highlights its significance in the sphere of online attitude development.

Cognitive Bias Modification Using Mental Imagery for Depression: Developing a Novel Computerized Intervention to Change Negative Thinking Styles.

Why do some people see their glass as half-empty rather than half-full or even imagine that the glass will be filled in the future? Experimental methods can illuminate how individual differences in information processing style can profoundly impact mood or even result in disorders such as depression. A computerized cognitive bias modification intervention targeting interpretation bias in depression via positive mental imagery (CBM-I) was evaluated by investigating its impact on mental health and cognitive bias compared with a control condition. Twenty-six depressed individuals completed either positive imagery-focussed CBM-I or a control condition daily at home over one week. Outcome measures were collected pre-treatment and post-treatment and at two-week follow-up. Individuals in the positive condition demonstrated significant improvements from pre-treatment to post-treatment in depressive symptoms, cognitive bias and intrusive symptoms compared with the control condition. Improvements in depressive symptoms at two-week follow-up were at trend level. The results of this first controlled comparison of positive imagery-focussed CBM-I for depression further support the clinical potential of CBM-I and the development of a novel computerized treatment that could help patients imagine a more positive future. Broader implications concern the modification of individual differences in personality variables via their interaction with key information processing targets. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cognitive control in media multitaskers

Chronic media multitasking is quickly becoming ubiquitous, although processing multiple incoming streams of information is considered a challenge for human cognition. A series of experiments addressed whether there are systematic differences in information processing styles between chronically heavy and light media multitaskers. A trait media multitasking index was developed to identify groups of heavy and light media multitaskers. These two groups were then compared along established cognitive control dimensions. Results showed that heavy media multitaskers are more susceptible to interference from irrelevant environmental stimuli and from irrelevant representations in memory. This led to the surprising result that heavy media multitaskers performed worse on a test of task-switching ability, likely due to reduced ability to filter out interference from the irrelevant task set. These results demonstrate that media multitasking, a rapidly growing societal trend, is associated with a distinct approach to fundamental information processing.

Psychological Type and Explanatory Style of Nursing Students and Clinical Faculty

Health care providers' collaboration and effective teamwork are essential to patient safety and quality care. Part of an ongoing project, this study focused on nursing faculty-student communication characteristics, specifically examining psychological type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) and explanatory style (Attributional Style Questionnaire) of participating first-year baccalaureate nursing students (n = 286) and clinical nursing faculty (n = 59) from both 2-year and 4-year nursing programs. Modal student psychological type was ESFJ, and modal faculty psychological type was ISTJ. The two groups demonstrated significant differences in information processing styles and in making decisions and judgments. Students demonstrated slightly more optimistic outlooks than did faculty. Psychological type and level of optimism did not appear to correlate. Data from this study provide an initial framework on which to base research to examine quality of teamwork among health care providers and, consequently, the quality of patient care.

Improving media campaigns promoting physical activity: the underutilized role of gender

Abstract As the obesity epidemic worsens in the United States and globally, resources are increasingly being allocated to address this public health threat. Media campaigns promoting physical activity are receiving funding from government and private sources, and some of these campaigns have achieved modest success. Still, more can be done to increase the effectiveness of these campaigns. Drawing on facets of consumer behavior, psychology, and public policy, this work represents a cross‐disciplinary theoretical analysis suggesting that the effectiveness of media‐based campaigns promoting physical activity could be enhanced by making use of gender‐specific advertising. Research is reviewed suggesting that gender differences in information processing styles and values lead to gender‐specific responses to media campaigns. Recommendations are made to help practitioners improve physical activity campaigns by crafting advertisements that specifically appeal to the unique preferences of each gender. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Personality Correlates of the Melbourne Conflict Decision-Making Styles: Contribution of Need for Cognition and Need for Closure

Can personality traits account for the handling of internal conflicts? In the present study, we explore how individual differences in information-processing style affect the coping patterns displayed prior to making tough decisions. More specifically, Need for Cognition and Need for Closure were linked to the major tendencies identified in the Conflict Theory of Decision-Making: vigilance, hypervigilance and defensive avoidance (buckpassing and procrastination). A sample of 1119 Belgian human resource professionals completed both the Melbourne Decision-Making Questionnaire, the 18-item short-form Need for Cognition Scale and the Dutch Need for Closure Inventory. Simultaneous linear regression analysis indicated a strong relationship between the constructs of Need for Cognition, Need for Closure, and Conflict Decision Styles. Finally, some significant effects of the demographics sex and age were found.

Gender differences in investment strategies: an information processing perspective

Refers to past research regarding gender differences in investment strategies which has pointed to two important differences: female investors appear both to be more risk averse and to have less confidence in their investment decisions than male investors in equivalent circumstances. Given the relative consistency of these findings, as well as the potential long‐term financial implications of these differing investment strategies, surprisingly little research has focused on the underlying reasons for these gender differences. Proposes that gender differences in information processing styles may account for the lower risk‐taking tendencies among female investors as well as the tendency toward lower confidence levels. Implications regarding marketing strategies for the financial services sector are discussed.

Aging, culture, and cognition.

There is evidence that East Asians are biased to process information in a holistic, contextual fashion, whereas Western Europeans process information in an analytic, feature-based style. We argue that these cultural differences in information-processing styles are so pervasive that they affect cognitive function at the most basic levels, including the mechanics of cognition. However, as individual age, it is not always the case that culture effects on cognitive processes magnify, despite many additional years of exposure to the culture. Neurobiological decline in cognitive function that occurs with age is a cognitive universal and can limit the strategies used in late adulthood, resulting in more similarity in cognitive function in late adulthood across cultures than is observed in young adulthood. We present a theoretical framework for understanding the impact of aging on cognitive function cross-culturally. The importance of developing culture-invariant measures of processing resources is emphasized and methodological issues associated with the cross-cultural study of aging are addressed.

Academic achievement and individual differences in the learning processes of Israeli high-school students

The Inventory of Learning Processes (ILP), originally developed by Schmeck et al. (1977), assesses individual differences in information processing styles of college level students. The inventory consists of four scales: Deep Processing (DP), Methodical Study (MS), Fact Retention (FR), and Elaborative Processing (EP). Three aspects of the ILP scales have been studied for 9th and 11th grade high-school students. First, the internal consistency reliabilities of the ILP scales, two of which DP and MS were satisfactory. Second, the factor structure obtained in this study included three out of the four original factors. FR was not reconstructed. Third, the relationship between academic achievement and information processing of high-school students have been analyzed. Deep Processing (DP) came out as the most prominent style in its relation to academic achievement, particularly among the younger students.