Essays
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Mental Models - Byrne, Ruth M. J.
People construct small‐scale models of reality to understand the world and descriptions of it. Their iconic mental representations capture structural aspects of the elements simulated. They think about alternative possibilities that are consistent with assertions that contain logical connectives such as “if” and “or,” quantifiers such as “all” or “some,” and relational terms such as “in front of” or “before.” They reason and make decisions by combining mental models, and they search for counterexamples to their conclusions. People construct mental models when they make deductive inferences and when they make inferences about probability and risk, as well as when they form concepts, solve problems, make moral judgments, or create alternatives to reality in their counterfactual thoughts. -
Memory Gaps and Memory Errors - Neuschatz, Jeffrey S.
Memory is a reconstructive process, relying on pre‐existing shared knowledge to help us comprehend and interpret what we experience. A reliance on prior knowledge is a vital aid to communication and comprehension, but, as a consequence, results in the modification of some details in an event, the addition of other details, or even the fabrication of entire new events. We review classic research that first demonstrated the phenomenon of reconstructive memory and the capability of prior knowledge to influence what people remember. We next discuss cutting‐edge research involving memory gaps and memory errors, including autobiographical memories, distinguishing true from false memories, memory conformity, and potential adaptive reasons for memory errors. Finally, we point to directions for the future research. -
Managing Uncertainty in Work Organizations - Grote, Gudela
Managing uncertainty is a crucial task for organizations. This essay argues that uncertainty management should not only be understood in terms of reducing externally generated uncertainty, as previous research has predominantly done, but should also consider internal uncertainty creation. Evidence from extant research illustrates how this expanded perspective is better able to capture the paradoxical tensions inherent in uncertainty management. A multilevel approach is proposed as processes of reducing and creating uncertainty simultaneously happen and create complementarities across levels of analysis. Major theoretical frameworks, such as self‐regulation, decision‐making under uncertainty, contingency theory, and organizational control, will benefit from adopting such an expanded perspective because their explanatory power is currently limited due to the one‐sided view of uncertainty as an external threat to individual, team, and organizational goal‐striving. -
Language, Perspective, and Memory - Ryskin, Rachel A.
The ability to take the perspective of another person is ubiquitous in many everyday cognitive activities. In particular, it allows people to communicate efficiently with conversational partners. Speakers tailor what they say based on the listener's knowledge and, likewise, listeners use what they know about the speaker to better understand what the speaker means. In this essay, we review foundational research on the role of perspective‐taking in the domain of language processing and describe new lines of work that are beginning to explore the memory processes that support the efficient use of perspectives in conversation. We then discuss key avenues for future research, such as investigating whether the type of perspective‐taking involved in creating memory reminders draws on the same underlying cognitive processes as in the domain of language processing. Exploring this interface between language, perspective‐taking, and memory will require interdisciplinary crosstalk and integration of methodologies across the domains of memory and language research. -
Language and Thought - Goldin‐Meadow, Susan
The notion that the language we speak impacts the thoughts we think is known as the Whorfian hypothesis. This hypothesis is typically tested by, first, describing two languages that differ systematically on a lexical or grammatical dimension and, second, comparing speakers of the two languages on a cognitive skill that might be expected to depend on that dimension. Whether or not we find support for the Whorfian hypothesis depends on how we define language, how we define thought, and what we take as evidence for “impact.” Another, more recent way of testing the hypothesis is to explore patterns of thought in human and nonhuman primates who do not have language––rather than compare cognition in speakers of language 1 versus language 2, we can compare cognition in individuals who have language versus those who do not. We can also explore whether language is special in the impact it has on thought by asking whether other conventional symbol systems shape cognition (e.g., does mental abacus affect thinking beyond numerical calculation? does map reading affect thinking about space more broadly?). If it turns out that the effect language has on thought is special, we need to determine which aspects of language make it special (e.g., do we need to explicitly recognize our behaviors as communicative in order for them to have an effect? do the gestures we produce when we talk shape the way we think?). There is much yet to learn about if, when, and how language shapes thought. -
Knowledge Transfer - Nokes‐Malach, Timothy J.
Controversy regarding the nature and frequency of knowledge transfer has received significant attention for more than a century, and this debate has sparked advances in our theoretical understanding of transfer as well as educational practices designed to promote it. We review the classical cognitive approach to studying transfer and highlight several important critiques of that approach regarding issues of context, assessment, and individual differences. These critiques have pushed research to improve understanding of the learning processes that facilitate transfer, the application processes that enact it, and the measurement of it. Research investigating the relationship between achievement goals and transfer serves as an example of the ways issues of context and individual differences are being integrated into the study of transfer. Future work on transfer should continue to refine and clarify how we define, assess, and promote it. -
Implicit Memory - McBride, Dawn M.
Implicit memory involves the influence of memory without intention and often without awareness. For example, many of the tasks we perform without conscious control are considered implicit tasks. These include tasks with which we have experience such as riding a bicycle, driving a car, or typing. In this essay, the study of implicit memory is briefly reviewed beginning with discussion of foundational studies in this area that followed either a processing or memory systems perspective on this topic. Some current, cutting edge research is reviewed with primary emphasis on questions that hold promise for new knowledge about implicit forms of memory: (i) In what ways is conceptual implicit memory (memory without intention) similar to explicit memory (memory with intention)? (ii) What roles do item‐specific (focus on details of an item) and relational (focus on connections between items) processing play in implicit memory retrieval? (iii) What is the role of attention in implicit memory retrieval? Examination of these questions provides avenues for future research in this area. -
Implicit Attitude Measures - Mitchell, Gregory
Owing to concerns about the willingness and ability of people to report their attitudes accurately in response to direct inquiries, psychologists have developed a number of unobtrusive, or implicit, measures of attitudes. The most popular contemporary implicit measures equate spontaneous responses to stimuli with attitudes about those stimuli. Although these measures have been used to open important new lines of inquiry, they suffer from reliability and construct validity problems and administration limitations. Researchers conducting basic research on attitudes may fruitfully utilize implicit measures as part of a multipronged measurement strategy, but researchers seeking to predict behavior from attitudes should continue to rely on explicit measures of attitudes, taking care to minimize reactive bias and to formulate the attitude questions at the same level of specificity as the behavior to be predicted. -
How Form Constrains Function in the Human Brain - Verstynen, Timothy D.
In neural systems, form and function are intimately linked; the communication dynamics across networked areas depends on the organization and integrity of the connections between them (i.e., axons and tracts). With the growth of diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) and fiber tractography tools over the past decade, it has become possible to visualize the physical architecture of the human brain at an unprecedented resolution. This information has provided the first glimpses into the component circuitry supporting cognition, presenting a unique opportunity for cognitive neuroscientists. For the first time we can visualize the connections in the living brain, allowing us to measure individual differences in anatomical connectivity, relate this connectivity to brain function, and gain insights into the link between white matter architecture and behavior. In many ways, this technology is still in its infancy and its full potential has not yet been realized. Here, I outline the importance of understanding neuroanatomical connectivity as a hard constraint on neural computation. Beginning with an overview of the typical patterns of connectivity seen in neural systems, I go on to show how current neuroimaging tools can visualize several different types of connectivity in the brain. By highlighting recent findings showing how neuroanatomical organization and brain function are related during cognitive tasks, I emphasize the utility that structural brain mapping approaches can have for the broader social and behavioral sciences. -
Holding On or Letting Go? Persistence and Disengagement in Goal Striving - Brandstätter, Veronika
Goals shape our personal identities, structure our everyday lives, regulate our behavior, and thus are in fact one of the most important sources of performance and well‐being. Successful goal striving unfolds between tenacious persistence on the one hand and timely disengagement on the other when a goal has become futile and too costly. Disengagement from goals is often difficult, however. Issues of unproductive persistence and (unsuccessful) goal disengagement have, for a long time, been addressed primarily in the realm of monetary decision‐making (escalation of commitment). In the more recent past, research on personal goals has devoted attention to issues of goal disengagement, doing so from two different research perspectives (individual differences approach, process‐oriented approach). This essay gives an overview of traditional and current research on goal disengagement with its practical implications for the individual but also on a societal level, and outlines promising lines of research addressing fundamental questions still unanswered. -
Heuristics: Tools for an Uncertain World - Neth, Hansjörg
We distinguish between situations of risk, where all options, consequences, and probabilities are known, and situations of uncertainty, where they are not. Probability theory and statistics are the best tools for deciding under risk but not under uncertainty, which characterizes most relevant problems that humans have to solve. Uncertainty requires simple heuristics that are robust rather than optimal. We propose to think of the mind as an adaptive toolbox and introduce the descriptive study of heuristics, their building blocks, and the core capacities they exploit. The question of which heuristic to select for which class of problems is the topic of the normative study of ecological rationality. We discuss earlier views on the nature of heuristics that maintained that heuristics are always less accurate because they ignore information and demand less effort. Contrary to this accuracy–effort trade‐off view, heuristics can lead to more accurate inferences—under uncertainty—than strategies that use more information and computation. The study of heuristics opens up a new perspective on the nature of both cognition and rationality. In a world of uncertainty, Homo sapiens might well be called Homo heuristicus. -
Heuristic Decision Making - Carmines, Edward G.
The idea of decision‐making shortcuts, or heuristics, originated in psychological work explaining why individuals diverged from rational behavior. Political scientists have viewed shortcuts more positively. Applied to research on voter decision‐making processes, scholars have discovered the ubiquitous use of shortcuts by voters. These shortcuts are simplified decision‐making strategies that help voters compensate for a lack of detailed political knowledge about candidates and issues. Despite their widespread use, scholars continue to debate over whether these shortcuts are truly useful tools in helping citizens make good choices in the voting booth. Recent work has suggested that one fruitful way to resolve this debate is to consider the influence of political institutions and the ways in which they structure the decision environment. In this essay, we explore the psychological origins of heuristic research, its application to political science, and the ensuing debates over the efficacy of these shortcuts. We end with a discussion of recent research on institutions and the decision‐making environment, and how these factors might alter what scholars know about heuristic decision making. -
Genetic Foundations of Attitude Formation - Kandler, Christian
Since the pioneering work of Eaves and Eysenck (1974) appeared in Nature some 40 years ago, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, and behavioral geneticists have investigated the effects of nature and nurture on the formation of social attitudes. It has consistently been found that manifestations of social attitudes (i.e., preferences, values, and beliefs pertaining to things such as politics, religion and the treatment of ingroups and outgroups) are genetically influenced. More recently, researchers have focused their efforts on the psychophysiological pathways between gene activity and attitudes. In particular, a broad body of research examines how personality traits may be a link between genetic factors and political orientations. The latter are typically treated as either a single left–right dimension or divided into two core aspects: resistance to change/authoritarian conservatism and acceptance of inequality/social dominance orientation. In this essay, we provide an overview of this research, present some findings from our recent international behavioral genetic study on the topic, and identify key issues for future research. We suggest that future studies treat attitude formation as a complex process in which genetic factors and the psychophysiological phenomena that stem from them are affected by the surrounding social environment and culture. Such research will require (i) international study designs capturing individual and cultural levels of variation and (ii) interdisciplinary collaboration among scientists and researchers in various fields of study such as genetics, psychology, sociology, political science, neuroscience, and human biology. -
Event Processing as an Executive Enterprise - Ross, Robbie A.
Actual experience as life unfolds tends to be an ebb and flow of dynamic, multimodal sensations, many of which are fleeting. Yet what is encoded, recalled, and talked about tends to be events—units of experience that are conceptualized as having both a beginning and an end. In this essay, we consider processing mechanisms that enable the extraction of event structure from the dynamically unfolding stream of experience. Two proposals emerge from our own and others' recent research on event processing: First, fluent detection of structure within activity streams appears to hinge on knowledge of the predictability relations within those streams. Second, skill at event processing seems to involve harnessing such knowledge of predictability relations to selectively direct attention to information‐rich portions of the activity stream. If this account is correct, individual differences in knowledge and executive skill should influence event‐processing fluency. As well, children's developmental progress in event processing should reveal the telltale impact of increasing knowledge and executive skill. Our hope is that research pursuing these ideas will ultimately make it possible to enhance event‐processing fluency for all, which in turn has the potential to facilitate memory, learning, and social interaction. -
Ethical Decision‐Making: Contemporary Research on the Role of the Self - Shu, Lisa L.
How do people decide when facing dilemmas that pit self‐interested gains against ethical values? We highlight two key principles from contemporary behavioral research: (i) people are more willing to act unethically when they can convince themselves that their behavior does not reflect poorly on their moral character and (ii) people tend to be content with an “ethical enough” self‐image. We examine how these principles shed light on the antecedents and consequences of ethical behavior, emphasizing situational determinants and psychological processes. We close by considering important questions that remain unanswered, and discuss how furthering our understanding the role of the self in ethical decision‐making can be used to nudge people toward more ethical behavior. -
Epistemological Linguistics - Greene, Rebecca D.
Numerous researchers are coming to appreciate the linguistic and interactional nature of content learning. At the same time, language‐centered educational standards are being implemented nationwide, and the federally protected but educationally struggling English Learner population is rapidly expanding (Migration Policy Institute, 2013). In response to these evolving circumstances, a new subdiscipline known as Epistemological Linguistics is emerging in which researchers are exploring the role of language in content learning. This field will also offer practitioners and policy makers recommendations based on up‐to‐date theory and ample, sound empirical evidence surrounding disciplinary learning. Epistemological linguistics is also taking advantage of the rapidly growing capacity of computers to facilitate and enhance, as well as collect and analyze data on, students' learning of language and content. -
Emotion Regulation - Zarolia, Paree
Emotion regulation refers to the processes by which we influence which emotions we have, when we have them, how we experience them, and how we express them. The study of emotion regulation has become an increasingly popular and fruitful area of research in the past few decades. In the following chapter, we summarize past research, highlight current findings, and suggest some potential future directions for the study of emotion regulation. We review foundational research highlighting the process model of emotion regulation and research comparing distinct emotion regulation strategies such as reappraisal and suppression. Then, we highlight new conceptualizations of emotion regulation that question the assumption that emotion regulation is inherently adaptive, that examine the effect of culture on emotion regulation, examine the contexts that lead to successful emotion regulation towards a variety of emotion goals. Finally we discuss promising future directions for the study of emotion regulation. -
Emotion and Intergroup Relations - Mackie, Diane M.
When the social identities people develop as members of groups become salient, people perceive the world in terms of the costs and benefits to that salient group membership. This means that events that have no implications for the individual him or herself can be perceived as harmful, beneficial, offensive, complimentary, unfair, or just, for example, depending on the consequences those events have for the group. As a result, perceptions of intergroup events, anticipated intergroup interactions, or ongoing structural intergroup relations elicit group‐based emotions—emotions that individuals feel as members of their groups. These emotions influence individuals' perceptions, interpretations, and actions toward their ingroup, relevant outgroups, and any other objects and events that are relevant to group membership. Thus, emotions play a critical role in intergroup relations, energizing desires to cooperate or compete, to retaliate or make peace. Focusing on the role of such emotions has contributed to an understanding of the social nature of emotion, as well as to the antecedents of intergroup conflict and the necessary conditions for its resolution. That understanding will be promoted by further clarification of the nature of social identity, the process of identification, the anticipation of emotions in others, and the time course of emotions, both in general and in the context of group membership in particular. -
Emotion and Decision Making - Huntsinger, Jeff R.
The topic of emotion and decision making is an old one. Classic Western philosophical perspectives generally considered emotion a contaminating influence on cognition, one that needed to be suppressed, ignored, or ideally brought in line with reason. Recent psychological research shows that, contrary to such pessimistic perspectives, emotion plays a largely functional and adaptive role in regulating cognition and decision making. We first outline how affect regulates cognition using the affect‐as‐information account as a guiding framework. We next discuss foundational research on the role of emotion in regulating cognition and decision making consistent with this account. Finally, we end with a discussion of new research developments and open research questions. -
Embodied Knowledge - Pecher, Diane
In theories of grounded cognition, mental representations (concepts) share processing mechanisms with systems for perception and action. In this view, mental representations are simulations of embodied experiences. This view is supported by empirical data showing that concepts, linguistic processing, and emotion processing interact with perception and action. Key issues for further research are the question how abstract concepts are grounded in sensory‐motor processing, how language and concepts are related, and the development of formal models. -
Effortful Control - Spinrad, Tracy L.
Effortful control, defined as the ability to voluntary inhibit a dominant response and to activate a subdominant response, is believed to play an important role in children's development. In this essay, we distinguish between effortful control and aspects of control that are involuntary (i.e., reactive). The development of effortful control is summarized, and research on its relations to children's positive social behaviors and maladjustment is reviewed. Key areas for future work are also discussed, with an emphasis on interventions designed to promote self‐regulation. -
DNA Revolution and the Social and Behavioral Sciences - Trzaskowski, Maciej
A century of genetic research on the social and behavioral sciences has addressed the “how much” question, showing that genetic differences are important for nearly all traits. However, during the past few decades, research has moved beyond this rudimentary “how much” question to ask “how” questions about developmental change and continuity, about the relationship between traits, and about the interplay between genes (nature) and environment (nurture). We suggest that some of the most important and transformative findings in the social and behavioral sciences have come from this research. Moreover, the most revolutionary changes in genetic research are on their way with the rapid advances in DNA technology and methodology, which promise to transform the social and behavioral sciences. It is crucial that social and behavioral scientists stay on top of the DNA revolution. The purpose of our essay is to provide an overview of genetic research in the social and behavioral sciences. -
Dissociation and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) - Huntjens, Rafaële J. C.
Dissociative experiences are thought to occur acutely (e.g., during or immediately following trauma) or chronically and are considered to reduce the subjective distress accompanying stressful events. Growing evidence is consistent with a model that distinguishes between two qualitatively different types of phenomena—“compartmentalization” and “detachment.” Compartmentalization involves a deficit in the ability to deliberately control processes or actions that would normally be amendable to such control (e.g., amnesia and dissociative identities). Detachment refers to an experienced state of disconnection from the self or the environment (e.g., depersonalization, derealization, and numbing). -
Cultural Differences in Emotions - De Leersnyder, Jozefien
Do emotions differ across cultures? This essay reviews the markedly different ways in which psychologists have approached this question in the past and discusses directions for the future. We first show how past research has often failed to find cultural differences in emotion by focusing on what emotions people from different cultures can have hypothetically, rather than investigating the emotions they actually have in daily life. Taking a sociocultural perspective, we demonstrate that cultural differences in people's actual emotional practices not only exist but are also meaningful and predictable: Accumulating evidence suggests that people experience more of those emotions that fit their culture's relationship goals and values. We review evidence for two mechanisms that may be behind these cultural differences in emotion—different situational ecologies and different tendencies to interpret (or appraise) emotional events. Finally, we discuss a road map for what lies ahead in the psychological study of cultural differences in emotion. We propose that future research will benefit from a dynamic approach to culture and emotion—an approach that explicitly captures how cultural differences in emotion emerge as a function of people's ongoing social interactions and relationships. -
Construal Level Theory and Regulatory Scope - Ledgerwood, Alison
Humans spend a large portion of their lives in pursuit of desired ends, from finding food and meeting deadlines to pursuing important career and relationship goals. The desired ends that people seek can vary in their proximity: For instance, food may be spatially close or distant; we might plan to meet a friend in the near or distant future. Thus, the ability to mentally support the pursuit of desired ends that are distant as well as close is essential for adaptive human functioning. This essay examines the basic mental processes that allow humans to contract and expand their regulatory scope in this functional way. A growing body of research suggests that different levels of psychological supports enable people to effectively pursue ends that can be closer or more distant. High‐level supports emphasize central and general aspects of an experience, and therefore tend to travel well—they can effectively guide action and interaction for the distant future, for remote locations, for unlikely scenarios, or with dissimilar others. Lower‐level supports emphasize specific, secondary, and unique aspects of an experience, and therefore support contractive scope—they help immerse people in the particular details of the current context to act effectively in the here and now. As the field moves forward, researchers are beginning to investigate how people expand and contract the scope of their social relationships in particular—an area of inquiry with important implications for understanding domains such as social communication and social learning that are central to human experience as social creatures.