Cognitive Psychology Research Articles

The psychology of entrepreneurial performance—theoretical and applied: Robert A. Baron and Michael Frese, co-recipients of the 2024 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research

AbstractProfessors Robert A. Baron and Michael Frese are the joint recipients of the 2024 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research. Their research contributions have helped establish the disciplinary foundation necessary to explore entrepreneurship from theoretical and applied psychological perspectives. From a theoretical psychological perspective, Professor Baron has repeatedly introduced a disciplinary scaffolding from cognitive psychology, social psychology, and judgment and decision-making psychology to develop the field’s socio-cognitive perspective. He has examined entrepreneurship’s basic “why” questions: (1) Why do some persons but not others choose to become entrepreneurs? (2) Why do some persons but not others recognize opportunities for new products or services that can be profitably exploited? (3) Why are some entrepreneurs so much more successful than others? From an applied psychological perspective, Professor Frese has examined entrepreneurship as the epitome of a proactive approach to work, advocating the benefits of personal initiative and the need for a self-regulatory approach to performance among both small business owners and employees in transition economies. Continually taking stock of what is known about the psychology of entrepreneurship through reviews and meta-analysis, he and his students have advanced an evidence-based approach to entrepreneurial training and performance in challenging contexts. Together, Professors Baron and Frese have served as ambassadors for the field of entrepreneurship, welcoming an entire generation of micro scholars to explore the entrepreneurial process and the psychology of the entrepreneurs who enact it.

Advances in VNS efficiency and mechanisms of action on cognitive functions.

This systematic review aims to comprehensively analyze the efficacy and underlying mechanisms of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in enhancing cognitive functions and its therapeutic potential for various cognitive impairments. The review focuses on the impact of VNS on emotional processing, executive functions, learning, memory, and its clinical applications in conditions such as epilepsy, depression, Alzheimer's disease, and other neurological disorders. A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science) was conducted using the keywords "vagus nerve stimulation," "cognitive enhancement," "emotional processing," "executive function," "learning and memory," "epilepsy," "depression," "Alzheimer's disease," "neurological disorders," "attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder," "sleep disorders," and "long COVID." The inclusion criteria encompassed controlled trials, longitudinal studies, and meta-analyses published in English between 2000 and July 2024. A comprehensive review of 100 articles highlighted the cognitive effects of Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS). Studies show that VNS, especially through transcutaneous auricular VNS (taVNS), enhances emotional recognition, particularly for facial expressions, and improves selective attention under high cognitive demands. Additionally, VNS enhances learning and memory, including associative memory and spatial working memory tasks. In clinical applications, VNS exhibits promising benefits for improving cognitive functions in treatment-resistant epilepsy, depression, and Alzheimer's disease. VNS represents a promising therapeutic approach for enhancing cognitive function across diverse patient populations. The reviewed evidence highlights its efficacy in modulating cognitive domains in healthy individuals and improving cognition in neurological conditions. However, the comparative effectiveness of different VNS modalities and the differential effects of online versus offline VNS on cognitive psychology require further investigation. Future research should focus on optimizing VNS protocols and elucidating specific cognitive domains that benefit most from VNS interventions. This ongoing exploration is essential for maximizing the therapeutic potential of VNS in clinical practice.

Mediasi Pemberdayaan Psikologis pada Pengaruh Kepemimpinan Pemberdayaan terhadap Berbagi Pengetahuan

This study uses a quantitative method with a descriptive and explanatory survey approach. The study was conducted at the Kampar Regency Land Office, with the aim of testing the mediation effect of empowerment leadership on the relationship between psychological empowerment and knowledge sharing. The population of this study consisted of all employees of the Kampar Regency Land Office, with a total of 144 people. Based on this population size, according to the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table, the sample size for this study was 103 people. The sampling method used in this study was Systematic Random Sampling. All respondents will be used to obtain primary data related to the variables, which will be collected through a questionnaire with a Likert scale of 1-5 points. All data obtained will be analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the Smart PLS 3.0 analysis tool. This study found that (a). empowerment leadership has a significant positive effect on knowledge sharing; (b). empowerment leadership has a significant positive effect on psychological empowerment; (c). psychological empowerment has a significant positive effect on knowledge sharing; (d). psychological empowerment mediates the effect of empowerment leadership on knowledge sharing. This study uses a quantitative method with a descriptive and explanatory survey approach. The study was conducted at the Kampar Regency Land Office, with the aim of testing the mediation effect of empowerment leadership on the relationship between psychological empowerment and knowledge sharing. The population of this study consisted of all employees of the Kampar Regency Land Office, with a total of 144 people. Based on this population size, according to the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table, the sample size for this study was 103 people. The sampling method used in this study was Systematic Random Sampling. All respondents will be used to obtain primary data related to the variables, which will be collected through a questionnaire with a Likert scale of 1-5 points. All data obtained will be analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the Smart PLS 3.0 analysis tool. This study found that (a). empowerment leadership has a significant positive effect on knowledge sharing; (b). empowerment leadership has a significant positive effect on psychological empowerment; (c). psychological empowerment has a significant positive effect on knowledge sharing; (d). psychological empowerment mediates the effect of empowerment leadership on knowledge sharing.

Challenges and Opportunities for Psychological Research in the Majority World

How can psychology transform itself into an inclusive science that engages with the rich cultural diversity of humanity? How can we strive towards a broader and deeper understanding of human behavior that is both generalizable across populations and attentive to its diversity? To address these major questions of our field, relying on scholars from different world regions, we outline first the opportunities associated with conducting psychological research in these and other majority world regions, highlighting international collaborations. Cross-cutting research themes in psychological research in the majority world are presented along with the urgent need to adopt a more critical lens to research and knowledge production within psychology. Indigenization, critical, transformative and liberatory approaches to understanding psychological phenomena framed within the decolonial imperative are presented as future options for a more diverse and equitable psychological science. Next, we address challenges, including limited institutional research infrastructure, limited national investment in research, political and social challenges these regions face, and the impact of imported (rather than locally produced) psychological knowledge. We conclude by offering recommendations to enable psychological science to be more representative of the world’s population. Our aim is to facilitate a broader, better-informed, and more empathic conversation among psychological scientists worldwide about ways to make psychological science more representative, culturally informed and inclusive.

A Black-Archipelago Anticolonial Canon Speaks Psychology

In Euromodernity, the discipline of western psychology holds a unique place in the global knowledge order. It is the primary epistemic source, the authoritative voice of psychological knowledge. This essay explores epistemic problems with western psychological science and its canonical status. Epistemic selectivism—the failure to address phenomena which are detrimental to all human beings, not only those of concern to western subjects and their subjectivities—is identified as a problem to be solved in the discipline of western psychology. In order to address epistemic failures of western psychology I return to the knowledge that emerges from the geography where Europe launched its project of racial and racist modern life. I review the Black-Archipelago anticolonial canon that speaks psychology. I follow this anticolonial canon because it pierces and penetrates epistemic silences about psychological experience in Euromodernity. Of the plenitude of theories and concepts developed by Black, Caribbean anticolonial thinkers which are of relevance to understanding the psychological effects of Euromodernity I focus in this review on two fundamental ideas—Frantz Fanon’s sociogenic principle and the emancipatory thrust of consciousness. An embrace of the principle of open epistemologies is proposed as a solution to the problem of epistemic selectivism.

Stop Fooling Yourself! (Diagnosing and Treating Confirmation Bias).

Confirmation bias (CB) is a cognitive bias that allows us to fool ourselves by selectively filtering data and distorting analyses to support favored beliefs or hypotheses. In this article, I will briefly review some classic experiments from cognitive psychology that illustrate what a powerful, pernicious, and insidious force CB is. I will then discuss how to recognize CB in our own thinking and behavior and describe specific elements of good experimental design that can mitigate its effects. These elements-such as randomization and blinding-are conceptually straightforward but often difficult in practice and therefore not as widely implemented as they should be.

An Interview with Brian MacWhinney on His Lifelong Commitment to Psychology and Language Learning Research

Dear Professor MacWhinney, many thanks for accepting our invitation for the interview. Edward and Hassan: Let’s begin with some background. Could you please share with us your journey into the field of psycholinguistics? In other words, what sparked your original interest in this area of research in the first place? For example, were there any specific persons, experiences, or events that influenced your decision to pursue psycholinguistics/psychology, and how has your background in cognitive psychology shaped your approach to studying language acquisition and processing?

다이나믹어포던스와 디지털파라메트릭 융합디자인 연구 - 공기 청정기 홀커버 디자인을 중심으로

This study was inspired by the trend in contemporary production design that is encapsulated by the term “convergence.” Design, technology, and sensibility are extensively integrated into product design, forming a new methodology that enables designers to effectively attract and engage consumers. This methodology uses behavior induction, based on the concept of affordance from cognitive psychology, and a mathematical-function method called digital parametrics to amplify the affordance. This allows designers to focus on logical, mathematical methods and move away from traditional sensitive approaches. This represents the merging of analog and digital technologies and serves as a foundational effort to integrate artificial intelligence into the design field. A new concept for an air-cleaner design was developed by incorporating various functions into the basic pattern design. This parametric concept is expected to find wide application in product design in the future, as user diversity and cultural shifts become even more pronounced.

Al-Mutanabbi's Genius - A Study in the Poetry Process

A number of Arab poets were well-known, and their poetry gained a presence in the memory of the Arab person, but the popularity that Abu al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi and his poetry enjoyed was remarkable, as it filled the world and occupied people - according to the expression of Judge al-Jurjani - and his poetry remained the fairest melodies divided among poetry lovers, and the most process. The process of al-Mutanabbi's poetry is linked to his genius, which combined two consciousnesses: awareness of the truth of poetry, and awareness of the nature of the human soul, which are two different things. This is the research question and its knowledge gap, to which I did not find - in what I read - an answer. The answer to this question will not be achieved without a deep reading of the poetry of Abu al-Tabib through the transformations of the poetic meaning in the expression of the human self. Which reveals Al-Mutanabbi's awareness of human nature, and his unique ability in the aesthetic expression of that awareness, and this disclosure of this awareness will not be achieved except by employing the conquests of human knowledge in the philosophy of beauty, cognitive psychology, cognitive linguistics, and discourse analysis according to a descriptive and analytical methodology of the elements of the poetic phenomenon revealed in The end is about a well-defined pattern of Al-Mutanabbi's poetics in describing the human self, which fused idea and art with great brilliance.

Endel Tulving. 26 May 1927 — 11 September 2023

Endel Tulving was an Estonian–Canadian cognitive psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist who transformed the study of human memory in the 50 years between 1960 and 2010. He was born in Estonia in 1927, and spent several years in post-war Europe before emigrating to Canada in the late 1940s. He obtained degrees at the University of Toronto and at Harvard University before returning to the University of Toronto as a faculty member in 1956. He was always an independent thinker, and rejected the dominant view of memory and learning in terms of associations in favour of a more cognitive approach in which the organization of remembered events played a major part. He also developed theories on how events are encoded and retrieved, first in terms of behaviour and then in terms of their underlying neural correlates in specific brain regions. His theoretical ideas on different memory systems and their relations to different types of consciousness, laid out in his 1983 book Elements of episodic memory (Oxford University Press), continue to play a major part in current work on human memory. As a person, he retained a somewhat European sense of propriety and formality, which often made him seem quite formidable to new acquaintances. Once someone's scientific seriousness was established, however, Endel was warmly supportive of his students and colleagues. He was much loved by his family, and held in high esteem by his fellow scientists.

Preparing to play: a thematic analysis of bottom training in gay men’s fist-play

Anal fisting amongst gay men has been characterised as a risky form of sexual play, particularly for the bottoming (receptive) playmate. This view may be oversimplistic and fail to recognise how fist-bottoms ready themselves for fist-play through preparatory journeys of bottom training. This study explored how gay men who bottom in fist-play understand bottom training and how this understanding informs their personal sense of pleasure, risk, and safety. Unstructured individual interviews were conducted with 8 gay men who play as fist-bottoms. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted on the data, from which four main themes were developed: (1) training the body to play; (2) training for headspace; (3) training to understand pleasure; and (4) training by rules. Taken together, the findings highlight how fist-bottoms understand their bottom training as both a formative and transformative process that shapes their corporeal, psychological, erotic, and subcultural knowledge and skills to navigate play. Through bottom training, fist-bottoms explore and attune their understanding of what is safe and pleasurable, as well as riskier play.

Unveiling Global Trends in Reactive and Proactive Aggression: A Cutting-Edge Bibliometric Analysis

This bibliometric mapping discusses the research landscape of proactive and reactive aggression, key authors, collaborative networks, and trends in scholarly publishing for the past two decades. The study, using tools like VOSviewer, shows important patterns in co-authorship, citation networks, and keyword co-occurrence. The leading personalities include Adrian Raine, Paula J. Fite, Richard E. Tremblay, and Paul J. Frick. Heavy contributors to the knowledge about aggression from biological, psychological, and developmental perspectives are identified. Co-authorship is intense, especially on topics dealing with neuro-criminology, childhood and adolescent behavior, and the role of psychopathy in violent behavior. The analysis shows that from the year 2009, the publication of works has grown rapidly to their peak in the year 2022, reflecting an upward spiral of interest and interdisciplinary research on aggression. Dominant keywords like "aggression," "reactive," "proactive," "psychopathy," and "conduct disorder" point to the core themes of research on emotional regulation, developmental trajectories, and clinical interventions. This review has come to a close that studies in the field of aggression have now developed into a multi-disciplinary science, embracing neuroscience, psychology, criminology, and social science knowledge to further advance the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of aggressive behavior and develop various treatments. Future research will have to go on filling in areas of investigation that are underrepresented, including but not limited to aggression at the interface with particular demographic variables and newer approaches to intervention.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

A new study has found that engaging in creative activities can significantly boost well‐being by providing meaningful spaces for expression and achievement, CNN reported on Sept. 15. “Options such as knitting and drawing require very few tools and can be engaging and creatively fulfilling activities,” said Dr. Helen Keyes, cognitive psychologist and head of the School of Psychology and Sport Science at Anglia Ruskin University, and study author, via email. Although prior studies have shown that creating arts and crafting is therapeutic for people with mental health conditions, the general population has been understudied, according to the study, which was published in Frontiers in Public Health. The researchers analyzed a sample of 7,182 participants living in England (age 16 and older) from the annual Taking Part survey conducted by the U.K.'s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, which explores how the public engages with these activities. Participants' reported happiness, life satisfaction and sense of their lives being worthwhile were positively correlated to participating in arts and crafts, but arts and crafts were not associated with decreased anxiety or loneliness, which requires further investigation.

Which ERP components are effective in measuring cognitive load in multimedia learning? A meta-analysis based on relevant studies.

The open and generative nature of multimedia learning environments tends to cause cognitive overload in learners, and cognitive load is difficult for researchers to observe objectively because of its implicit and complex nature. Event-related potentials (ERP), a method of studying potential changes associated with specific events or stimuli by recording the electroencephalogram (EEG), has become an important method of measuring cognitive load in cognitive psychology. Although many studies have relied on ERP output measurements to compare different levels of cognitive load in multimedia learning, the results of the effect of cognitive load on ERP have been inconsistent. In this study, we used a meta-analysis of evidence-based research to quantitatively analyze 17 experimental studies to quantitatively evaluate which ERP component (amplitude) is most sensitive to cognitive load. Forty five effect sizes from 26 studies involving 360 participants were calculated. (1) The results of the studies analyzed in subgroups indicated high level effect sizes for P300 and P200 (2) Analyses of moderating variables for signal acquisition did not find that different methods of signal acquisition had a significant effect on the measurement of cognitive load (3) Analyses of moderating variables for task design found that a task system with feedback was more convenient for the measurement of cognitive load, and that designing for 3 levels of cognitive load was more convenient for the measurement of cognitive load than for 2 levels of cognitive load. (4) Analyses of continuous moderating variables for subject characteristics did not find significant effects of age, gender, or sample size on the results.

Towards human-centric warehousing: the impact of rack configuration and cognitive demands on order picking performance

Within warehouse logistics processes, design concepts and management decisions regarding operations systems determine the demands placed on human operators. While the literature proposes that human-centric work system design positively affects the operator, the impact on operator performance remains under-explored. We analyse the case of a German retail warehouse where the shelf numbering follows the pickers' walking direction from right to left. However, all human order pickers working in this system are familiar with a left-to-right writing system due to their schooling and training. Because cognitive psychology proposes that writing system direction impacts spatial orientation in goal-oriented visual search, we are motivated to explore the interplay of rack configuration and human cognitive demands. We ground our mixed-effects model on archival data, including 470,968 storage location visits. Our results indicate that order pickers work 18.7% faster when picking items starting from the left side of the shelf compared to starting their visual search from the right side. Our findings suggest that human search strategies in warehousing operations are influenced by attention templates like writing direction on a similar level as by system design elements of the warehouse itself. This insight underscores the potential for diversified future human-centric design approaches in warehouse logistics.

The Economy of Critical Attention: A Computational Analysis of Roland Barthes’s S/Z

Abstract This article argues for the importance of analyzing distributions of literary-critical attention to understand the shape of our discipline and how it has evolved. The article sees critical attention as a scarce resource in literary economies, both within a single text and at much larger scales—even across time. Circulations of critical attention are directed by filtering models, a concept borrowed from cognitive psychology that refers to how competing demands for attention are prioritized. The accrual of critical attention implicitly signals the location of value in a literary economy. When this accrual (or lack thereof) is quantified using computational methodologies, we can track where critical attention goes, how much of it, and why. As a proof of this concept, the article offers a quantitative analysis of critical attention in Roland Barthes’s S/Z. This work reveals the hidden logics of Barthes’s distribution of critical attention and demonstrates how such analyses can identify the filtering models that operate in our critical tools and practices.

Why might animals remember? A functional framework for episodic memory research in comparative psychology.

One of Clayton's major contributions to our understanding of animal minds has been her work on episodic-like memory. A central reason for the success of this work was its focus on ecological validity: rather than looking for episodic memory for arbitrary stimuli in artificial contexts, focussing on contexts in which episodic memory would serve a biological function such as food caching. This review aims to deepen this insight by surveying the numerous functions that have been proposed for episodic memory, articulating a philosophically grounded framework for understanding what exactly functions are, and drawing on these to make suggestions for future directions in the comparative cognitive psychology of episodic memory. Our review suggests four key insights. First, episodic memory may have more than one function and may have different functions in different species. Second, cross-disciplinary work is key to developing a functional account of episodic memory. Third, there is scope for further theoretical elaboration of proposals relating episodic memory to food caching and, in particular, future-oriented cognition. Finally, learning-related functions suggested by AI (artificial intelligence)-based models are a fruitful avenue for future behavioural research.

Design and practice of human-machine cooperative international Chinese character teaching in ChatGPT application

The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into language education has created new opportunities for improving the instruction and acquisition of Chinese characters. Nevertheless, the cognitive difficulties linked to the acquisition of Chinese characters, such as their intricate visual features and lack of clear meaning, necessitate thoughtful deliberation when developing AI-supported learning interventions. The objective of this project is to explore the capacity of a collaborative method between humans and machines in teaching Chinese characters, utilising the advantages of both human expertise and AI technology. We specifically investigate the utilisation of ChatGPT, a substantial language model, for the creation of instructional materials and evaluation methods aimed at teaching Chinese characters to individuals who are not native speakers. The study utilises a mixed-methods approach, which involves both qualitative examination of lesson plans created by ChatGPT and quantitative evaluation of student learning outcomes. The results indicate that the suggested framework for human-machine collaboration can successfully tackle the cognitive difficulties associated with learning Chinese characters, resulting in enhanced learner involvement and performance. Nevertheless, the research also emphasises the constraints of AI-generated material and the significance of human involvement in guaranteeing the accuracy and dependability of educational interventions. This research adds to the expanding collection of literature on AI-assisted language learning and offers practical insights for educators and instructional designers who aim to use AI tools into Chinese language curriculum. The results emphasise the necessity of employing a multi-disciplinary strategy in AI-supported language learning, incorporating knowledge from cognitive psychology, educational technology, and second language acquisition.

Balancing work and family life during the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring within and between group differences across time, gender, and worksites

ABSTRACT This multi-wave survey was conducted at a Norwegian insurance company before (Time 0: N = 568) and during (Time 1: N = 558/Time 2: N = 601) the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly twice as many employees agreed or highly agreed that it was harder to balance home life and work during the pandemic than before. No gender differences were found in work-home balance, meaning this applied to both men and women. However, a two-factor structure of the interaction showed higher levels of work-to-home conflict, but not work-to-home enrichment, among women during the pandemic. A repeated measure MANOVA suggested no interaction effects between gender and worksite. A non-significant effect of time suggested that work-to-home conflict and work-to-home enrichment were stable during the pandemic. Although the generalizability of these findings is limited to a WEIRD sample in one Norwegian company, gender differences found in work-to-home conflict and stability found in the work-home interaction might have implications for theory and practices beyond the present study. By exploring stability and change in the work-home interaction during a societal crisis, this study adds to the knowledge of occupational health psychology, with future relevance as work and home boundaries become increasingly blurred.

The (absence of the) presence-absence distinction in motivation science.

A focal stimulus (object, end state, outcome, event, experience, characteristic, possibility, etc.) may represent a presence, an occurrence, or something, or it may represent an absence, a nonoccurrence, or nothing. This presence-absence distinction has received extensive and explicit attention in cognitive psychology (it is the central figure), but it has received minimal and primarily implicit attention in motivation science (it is the ground, not the figure). Herein, we explicitly place the presence-absence distinction in the role of figure in a motivational account of behavior, and we do so in the context of the foundational approach-avoidance motivation distinction. We review pertinent literature in cognitive psychology and motivation science, and we provide a model integrating the approach-avoidance and the presence-absence distinctions, along with numerous examples, illustrations, and observations. We believe that attending to the presence-absence distinction in motivation science holds great promise for theory, research, and application, and we encourage researchers to attend to this distinction moving forward. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).