Experiential Thinking Research Articles

Thinking about smoking: A novel approach to describing cognitive style profiles

Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory (CEST) emphasizes the dual roles of rational and experiential thinking, with individuals having varying preferences for each style. This study explored the relationship between these constructs, illustrating the value of the derived model in addictive behavior, as illustrated by smoking. Data were extracted from a study of the predictors of men’s health behavior. Participants comprised 212 Australian men (aged 25–65years) who completed a self-report questionnaire which assessed thinking styles and recorded smoking status. Rational and experiential data were subjected to cluster analysis and median splits to identify logical subgroups based on participants’ dual responses. The four derived clusters were more representative of smoking status than groups defined by median splits. In general, both smokers and ex-smokers preferred experiential thinking and non-smokers preferred rational thinking. There was a strong tendency for smokers to report both low rational and high experiential thinking. The use of cluster analysis advanced the evaluation of the interactive nature of rational and experiential thinking by allowing an empirical test of their potential relationship. The thinking profiles reported represent an advance in the assessment of CEST which may provide a useful model for applications in fields both related to, and beyond, addiction.

Experiential thinking in creationism--a textual analysis.

Creationism is a religiously motivated worldview in denial of biological evolution that has been very resistant to change. We performed a textual analysis by examining creationist and pro-evolutionary texts for aspects of “experiential thinking”, a cognitive process different from scientific thought. We observed characteristics of experiential thinking as follows: testimonials (present in 100% of sampled creationist texts), such as quotations, were a major form of proof. Confirmation bias (100% of sampled texts) was represented by ignoring or dismissing information that would contradict the creationist hypothesis. Scientifically irrelevant or flawed information was re-interpreted as relevant for the falsification of evolution (75–90% of sampled texts). Evolutionary theory was associated to moral issues by demonizing scientists and linking evolutionary theory to atrocities (63–93% of sampled texts). Pro-evolutionary rebuttals of creationist claims also contained testimonials (93% of sampled texts) and referred to moral implications (80% of sampled texts) but displayed lower prevalences of stereotypical thinking (47% of sampled texts), confirmation bias (27% of sampled texts) and pseudodiagnostics (7% of sampled texts). The aspects of experiential thinking could also be interpreted as argumentative fallacies. Testimonials lead, for instance, to ad hominem and appeals to authorities. Confirmation bias and simplification of data give rise to hasty generalizations and false dilemmas. Moral issues lead to guilt by association and appeals to consequences. Experiential thinking and fallacies can contribute to false beliefs and the persistence of the claims. We propose that science educators would benefit from the systematic analysis of experiential thinking patterns and fallacies in creationist texts and pro-evolutionary rebuttals in order to concentrate on scientific misconceptions instead of the scientifically irrelevant aspects of the creationist—evolutionist debate.

Religious orientations as a predictor of rational thinking among secondary school students

Cognitive experiential self-theory (CEST) postulates that past experiences develop implicit beliefs in human cognitive system. These beliefs modify and generate schemas attaching meanings to self, others and relations between self and others. Allport's religious orientations are explanations of people religious beliefs focusing the reasons of their religiousness. We, in the current study investigated the contribution of secondary school students’ religious affiliations (fellowship with Hinduism, Christianity or Islam) as well as religious orientations (intrinsic, extrinsic personal and extrinsic social) in developing their cognitive experiential thinking systems. The Hindu (N=1050), Christian (N=1073), and Muslim (N=1394) secondary school students participated in the study. Age universal I–E (intrinsic–extrinsic religiosity) scale and rational experiential inventory for adolescents (REI-A) were adapted to collect the required information. We conclude that the students’ religious affiliations and orientations have significant impacts on their cognitive systems, specifically on rational thinking rather than on experiential thinking. The religious orientations moderately explain the variances in rational thinking of Hindu and Muslim students, while their impact on the rational choices of the Christian students is very small. In general, both an intrinsic orientation to religion and an external personal orientation are positively associated with rational thinking, while an external social orientation is negatively associated. Religious affiliations and orientations have very little effect on experiential thinking.

Using qualitative data, people's perceptions, and the science of decision making to inform policy and improve hepatitis C care for people who use drugs

Using qualitative data, people's perceptions, and the science of decision making to inform policy and improve hepatitis C care for people who use drugs

Brief report: The association between adolescents' characteristics and engagement in sexting

The potential emotional and legal consequences of adolescents' engagement in sending sexually explicit pictures through the internet or the mobile phone (i.e., sexting) have caused significant concern about the behavior among practitioners and academics. The present study compares the characteristics of students who engage in sexting to those who do not. A survey among 1028 adolescents of 11 secondary schools in Belgium was administered. Logistic regression analyses suggest that sexting is significantly linked with sensation seeking, experiential thinking styles and depression, while controlling for gender, age, family status and students' response to economic stress. The results are of importance to practitioners who could adapt their prevention and intervention campaigns to better reach this complex youth. Differences with the findings of previous studies highlight the importance of continuing research on sexting and the need to pay attention to the specific context in which adolescent sexting takes place.

Heritability of Preferred Thinking Styles and a Genetic Link to Working Memory Capacity

Genetic and environmental contributions to preferences for rational and experiential thinking were examined in 100 pairs of monozygotic and 73 pairs of same-sex dizygotic Australian twins. Univariate analyses for experiential thinking and working memory capacity (WMC) revealed genetic effects accounted for 44% and 39% of the variability respectively, with non-shared environmental effects accounting for the balance. For rational thinking, the univariate models produced ambiguous results about the relative roles of heritability and shared environment, but a subsequent Cholesky analysis suggested genetic effects accounted for 34%, with the balance, 66%, explained by the non-shared environment. The Cholesky analysis revealed that shared genetic effects accounted for 60%, and non-shared environment accounted for 40% of the relationship between preference for rational thinking and WMC.

Validation de la version française d’un questionnaire évaluant les pensées répétitives constructives et non constructives.

Abstract This article presents the adaptation and the validation of a shortself-report questionnaire assessing repetitive thinking, the MiniCambridge-Exeter Repetitive Thought Scale (Mini-CERTS). This16 item scale evaluates two dimensions of repetitive thinking:“concrete, experiential thinking” (CET) and “abstract, analyticalthinking” (AAT) that may have constructive and unconstructiveconsequences. A large sample of adult volunteers ( n ! 247) filledin the Mini-CERTS. Subsamples also responded to depression,anxiety and general symptomatology questionnaires as well as to aconcurrent measure, the Ruminative Response Scale. Confirma-tory factor analysis ascertained the two-dimension structure of thequestionnaire. Correlational analyses evidenced differentiated pat-terns of relation between CET and AAT and anxiety, depressionand general symptomatology scales. AAT was correlated to thebrooding scale of the RRS but there was no relation between CETand both scales of the RRS. Preliminary data suggest that theMini-CERTS is sensitive to clinical status and treatment.

Individual differences in religiosity as a function of cognitive ability and cognitive style

The current study examines the degree to which individual differences in cognitive ability and cognitive style (rational thinking vs. experiential thinking) uniquely and jointly account for differences in religiosity. Using an array of measures of religiosity, results show that cognitive ability has a medium to large negative effect on various aspects of religiosity. Though also negatively related to religiosity, rational thinking style did not add significant unique effects, nor did it convey a significant indirect effect from cognitive ability. Experiential thinking was generally unrelated to ability but was positively related to some aspects of religiosity. Overall the results confirm that those with higher cognitive ability are less likely to accept religious doctrine or engage in religious behaviors and those with lower ability are more likely to accept religious doctrine and exhibit higher levels of fundamentalism. Cognitive style appears to play a lesser role in explaining individual differences in religiosity than cognitive ability.

COMORBIDITY

# P38 MEDIATING ROLE OF ALCOHOL IN THE RELATION BETWEEN SOCIAL ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND CANNABIS AMONG ADOLESCENTS {#article-title-2} Cannabis use is frequently related to social anxiety and depression among adolescents. Moreover, this substance use is commonly associated with alcohol consumption. A two-year follow-up study was initiated to examine the relationship between cannabis use and social anxiety and depression in adolescents, and to identify potential mediating variables, such as alcohol. Three measures were planned with a year apart. Subjects were 1343 secondary school students aged 15 to 16 years at the baseline examination. The self-administered questionnaire included a set of scales designed to collect socio-demographic data and to assess several variables such as frequency of cannabis use, problems associated with cannabis use, expectations related to cannabis use, alcohol use, trait anxiety, social anxiety, depressive symptoms and social rank. This set of validated scale was administered in the same way in the two subsequent measures. Analyses focused on the data of the first measurement time: (1) epidemiologic data concerning substance use, (2) the relationship between alcohol use and social anxiety (p = .0004; R2 = -.1114), depression (p = .000; R2 = .1474) and other variables, (3) the mediating role of alcohol use in the relation between cannabis use and social anxiety (Z = -3.4048; p = .0007) and depression (Z = 4.5321; p = .000). These results show that the more adolescents express social anxiety, the less they consume alcohol. Inversely, there is a significant positive correlation between alcohol use and depression. In addition, alcohol mediates a part of the relationship between cannabis use and social anxiety/depression. This study will hopefully aid in developing strategies for prevention and early intervention in adolescents. # P39 FUNCTIONAL AND DYSFUNCTIONAL RUMINATION IN ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE {#article-title-3} Previous findings have shown that rumination predicts alcohol abuse independently of depression. However, the literature does not inform about the relationships between alcohol dependence and functional and dysfunctional rumination. It has indeed been suggested that there exist a functional form of rumination, which refers to a concrete, experiential thinking and a dysfunctional form of rumination, which refers to an abstract, analytical thinking. These two forms have been associated with different outcomes in terms of emotional vulnerability, mood, problem solving. In this study, our aim is to evaluate if alcohol dependence is similarly associated with functional/constructive rumination and dysfunctional/ unconstructive rumination. Forty participants (twenty alcohol abusers and twenty healthy subjects) have completed a validated and reliable questionnaire of rumination (the Cambridge Exeter Repetitive Thought Scale) as well as a questionnaire of depression (Beck Depression Inventory). The results have revealed that alcohol abusers have similar levels of functional rumination than healthy participants but report greater tendency for dysfunctional rumination. This effect stays significant after controlling for depression. This study thus supports that rumination is a main feature of alcohol dependence and suggests that it is the dysfunctional rumination that is problematic in alcohol dependence. At a theoretical level, these findings support that there exist two dimensions of rumination. At a clinical level, this study suggests that one should focus on rumination in the treatment of alcohol dependence.

Exploring the Factors Influencing the Intention to Use Self-Service Technologies: An Eastern European Perspective

Despite decades of research on self-service technology (SST), there are still only limited numbers of studies conducted in emerging markets (Ostrom et al., 2010). In order to help close this surprising gap in the literature, two studies were conducted in an emerging Eastern European country: an exploratory investigation with 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews and a quantitative survey research involving 139 respondents.The research outcomes reveal similarities, but also differences among the factors which influence SSTs usage by Eastern European and Western consumers, respectively. Antecedents such as complexity, previous experience with SSTs, perceived risk, relative advantage and technology readiness were found to be strongly related to the intention of using these devices, thus confirming previous findings. However, in contrast to previous discoveries, the attitude towards the past, individualism, masculinity, rational and experiential thinking, were found to have only weak connections with the behavioural intention. The research provides valuable theoretical contributions to the scarce literature available on SST usage in emerging markets. Classification-JEL: H12 Keywords: self-service technologies; emerging markets; Romania; online shopping; ATMs; SST use model.

Cognitive‐experiential self theory and conflict‐handling styles

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the rational and experiential systems according to the cognitive‐experiential self theory (CEST) are related to conflict‐handling styles.Design/methodology/approachUsing a correlational design, data were collected using an on‐line survey system examining CEST information‐processing systems and five conflict‐handling styles. A total of 426 undergraduate students, with paid jobs, complete the on‐line survey.FindingsResults showed that the rational system, experiential system and constructive thinking had significant positive relationships with both the integrating and compromising conflict‐handling styles. Additionally, the rational system had a positive relationship with the dominating conflict‐handling style and the experiential system and constructive thinking had a positive relationship with the obliging conflict‐handling style. The rational system and constructive thinking had a negative relationship with the avoiding conflict‐handling style.Research limitations/implicationsThe study established a positive connection between CEST information‐processing systems and conflict‐handling styles among undergraduate students, however the results of the study may not be as directly comparable with real and established leaders.Originality/valueBeing the first study to examine the connection between the CEST information‐processing systems and the five conflict‐handling styles, the paper offers interesting insights about how the choice of information‐processing systems can influence the choice of conflict‐handling styles across a wide range of situations.

Exploring the changes in young children's probabilistic thinking as they engage in guided experiential probabilistic thinking activities

Exploring the changes in young children's probabilistic thinking as they engage in guided experiential probabilistic thinking activities

The Police Sixth Sense: An Observation in Search of a Theory

Police officers are said to possess a “sixth sense,” defined in terms of suspicion, fear, intuition, and even common sense. Research and training on the sixth sense, however, lack theoretical guidance. To address this shortcoming, the author likens the sixth sense to an experiential thinking style, which not only explains why police officers presumably have it, but also makes it possible to know whether they even have a sixth sense at all.

Pensées répétitives constructives et non constructives chez les perfectionnistes inadaptés

Les perfectionnistes inadaptes (PI) rapportent plus de symptomatologie depressive que les non perfectionnistes. La rumination pourrait etre un mediateur de cette relation. Par ailleurs, des etudes recentes suggerent d’elargir les recherches a d’autres formes de pensees repetitives et d’en distinguer deux formes, l’une constructive et l’autre non constructive, en fonction des processus qui les sous-tendent et de leurs consequences. La presente etude evalue la symptomatologie depressive et les pensees repetitives constructives et non constructives chez 25 perfectionnistes inadaptes et 24 non perfectionnistes. En accord avec nos hypotheses, les perfectionnistes inadaptes rapportent plus de symptomatologie depressive, plus de pensees repetitives non constructives et moins de pensees repetitives constructives. La structure de covariation des donnees est compatible avec l’hypothese selon laquelle les pensees repetitives non constructives sont un mediateur de la relation entre perfectionnisme et symptomatologie depressive. En revanche, les pensees repetitives constructives ne semblent pas etre un mediateur potentiel. Ces resultats soulignent l’importance de developper des interventions psychologiques qui ciblent les pensees repetitives dans la prise en charge du perfectionnisme.

An Experiential Thinking Style: Its Facets and Relations With Objective and Subjective Criterion Measures

In Study 1, an experiential factor divided into the following 3 factors when 3 or more factors were extracted: intuition, emotionality, and imagination; whereas a rational factor retained its coherence. In Study 2, an experiential but not a rational thinking style was positively associated with performance measures of creativity, humor, aesthetic judgment, and intuition and with self-report measures of empathy and social popularity. A rational thinking style was associated with several measures of adjustment. Both thinking styles were positively related to personal growth. Support was provided from several sources for the discriminant validity of the experiential facets. In a third study, the independence of the 2 thinking styles and of gender differences in self-reported data were verified by observations by others of participants' thinking styles. The importance of identifying facets of an experiential thinking style and of discovering previously unrecognized favorable attributes of this thinking style was discussed.

Foreword

We surveyed first-year students at the ANU College of Law on various measures of wellbeing, thinking styles and motivations for attending law school. We followed up our surveys with a student–faculty dialogue retreat. The results of our work confirm that, even in a law school where formal mentoring programs are in place and where resources for student counselling are readily available, law students suffer symptoms of psychological distress at levels higher than their age peers in the general public. During the first year of law school, many students experience psychological struggles, changes in their thinking styles, and changes in self-concept and sense of wellbeing. By the end of the first year many students in our sample showed increased rational thinking and lower experiential thinking. Lower levels of experiential thinking were associated with increased symptoms of psychological distress, while students with a higher propensity toward experiential thinking showed little change in depressive symptoms from the beginning to the end of the year of law study. In extended deliberations on law student wellbeing, faculty and student retreat participants highlighted their sense that law school changed them in important ways, making them more rational, analytical, competitive and adversarial. Law school also promoted feelings of insecurity, inefficacy and isolation. To address these changes, participants made a variety of proposals for curricular reform, which are discussed here. Specific changes in law school curricula – including proposals for greater transparency, clarity and guidance about course work, for more positive and formative feedback, and for more social and intellectual engagement – are identified as having potential to improve law student wellbeing.

Age and gender differences in preferences for rational and experiential thinking

Cognitive-Experiential Self Theory assumes that reasoning conforms to a parallel dual processing model (comprising rational and experiential systems), through which we make sense of the world. The Rational Experiential Inventory was developed to measure an individual’s preference for rational (need for cognition) and experiential (faith in intuition) thinking, with individual differences proposed to influence the respective dominance of each. While small but consistent gender effects have been found previously, age effects have rarely been reported or investigated across the lifespan. We examine both age and gender differences in Rational Experiential Inventory scores, using combined data from five studies involving adult participants ( n = 520, 61.9% male) with a mean age of 41.45 years ( SD = 11.73, range 20–74 years). Results suggest a convergence of the rational and experiential systems in adulthood, although the timing may be different for women and men. In later adulthood, the relationship appears to diverge again.

Tradeoffs and Conflict in Risky Choice: The Argumentation Model

We present the argumentation model, a new model of conflict in risky choice, and apply it to elementary tradeoffs between outcome probability and magnitude. The model postulates two deliberation modes: Pro-argumentation (focusing on advantages), the conflict from which is negatively related to tradeoff size, and contra-argumentation (focusing on disadvantages), the conflict from which is positively related to tradeoff size. We propose that deliberation is biased toward pro-argumentation, so that, when additional cognitive resources must be deployed, more of these resources are allocated to pro-argumentation. We confirm that, when the outcomes are losses or when the decision maker has no distinctly rational or experiential thinking style, the mediating effect of pro-argumentation increases more than the mediating effect of contra-argumentation, and the relation between tradeoff size and conflict changes in a downward direction (specifically, from positive to inverse U-shaped). We discuss how the analysis of conflict can disclose processes of decision making.

Architects' Places, Users' Places: Place Meanings at the New Central Bus Station, Tel Aviv

When planning urban public projects, urban designers and architects are often required to create meaningful places. However, when architects interpret the meaning of places using different terms than their non-professional users, their ability to instill places with comprehensible meaning is hindered. The issue of architects' and users' place meanings is addressed in this paper through an analysis of place-narratives of an ‘everyday’ public place, the New Central Bus Station, Tel Aviv. It is found that although both architects and users emphasize the activities carried out in the place, they do not engage the same modes of thought when reflecting on it; while architects tend to use abstract thinking, users tend to prefer experiential, emotive or relational thinking. However, it is concluded that the different modes of thought do not prevent a mutual agreement on the overall place-meaning of the Station.

Why don't doctors wash their hands? A correlational study of thinking styles and hand hygiene

The World Health Organization has identified cognitive determinants of hand hygiene as an outstanding research question. This study investigated whether doctors' preferences for a rational thinking style or an experiential thinking style are associated with hand hygiene compliance. This was an observational study of hand hygiene practices of 32 doctors in 2 teaching hospitals in South Australia. Compliance rates were correlated with self-reported thinking styles. The doctors were observed by a trained observer during a ward round or outpatient clinic and were unaware that hand hygiene was under observation. The main outcome measures were hand hygiene compliance (hand hygiene compliance tool) and thinking style (Rational-Experiential Inventory). An overall mean compliance rate of 7.6% (standard deviation +/- 7.2%) was found. Compliance was significantly positively correlated with experiential/automatic thinking (r = .46; P = .004) and the observational setting of ward rounds (vs clinics) (r = -.47; P = .003). No significant relationship was found between compliance and a rational/deliberate thinking style (r = -.01; P = .472). Hand hygiene is more experiential than rational. Findings suggest that certain promotional strategies appealing to the experiential thinking mode may improve compliance, and that traditional approaches based on logic and reasoning alone probably will not work.