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Cognitive Structures (cognitive + structure)
Selected AbstractsFurther Correspondences and Similarities of Shamanism and Cognitive Science: Mental Representation, Implicit Processing, and Cognitive StructuresANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 1 2003Timothy L. Hubbard Properties of mental representation are related to findings in cognitive science and ideas in shamanism. A selective review of research in cognitive science suggests visual images and spatial memory preserve important functional information regarding physical principles and the behavior of objects in the natural world, and notions of second-order isomorphism and the perceptual cycle developed to account for such findings are related to shamanic experience. Possible roles of implicit processes in shamanic cognition, and the idea that shamanic experience may involve normally unconscious information becoming temporarily available to consciousness, are considered. The existence of a cognitive module dedicated to processing information relevant to social knowledge and social interaction is consistent with cognitive science and with shamanism, and may help account for the extension of intentionality and meaning that characterize shamanic practice. Overall, findings from cognitive science and ideas from shamanism exhibit a number of correspondences and similarities regarding basic properties of cognition, and this suggests that shamanic and nonshamanic cognition may not be fundamentally different. [source] The link between household structure and the level of abstraction in the purchase decision process: an analysis using a functional foodAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010Ramo Barrena Major changes are affecting consumer trends in the agri-food sector. Suppliers are engaged in launching a succession of product innovations and introducing a range of new marketing strategies to promote food health benefits, while consumers are incorporating the new attributes into their choice structures. This study aims to analyze the consumer cognitive structure for a functional food using a means,end chain approach, through the association pattern technique (APT). A further objective is to verify whether consumer cognitive structures vary with household structure (children vs. no children), as reported in the literature on new product acceptance. The results reveal a higher degree of abstraction in the cognitive structure of households with children, incorporating more values in the means,end chains. In line with other research approaches, our study also confirms the stronger confidence-seeking tendency typically associated with the cognitive structure of this type of household. [EconLit Classification: Q130]. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Emotional Meaning and the Cognitive Organization of Ethnozoological DomainsJOURNAL OF LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2001Justin M. Nolan This article shows that the cognitive structure of semantic ethnozoological domains is influenced by the culturally constituted affective values of these domains. Data were collected from American undergraduates who free listed the generic constituents of four ethnozoological life-forms: birds, fish, snakes, and wugs. Participants indicated on each free list which items they liked and disliked, and which single item best represented the life-form domain. They were also asked whether they liked or disliked the exemplar and the domain. Concordance was found between the attitude toward the life form (i.e., whether it is liked or disliked) and the salience of similarly judged items, and between the attitude toward the life form and the attitude toward the exemplar. Concordance was also found between the attitude toward the exemplar and the salience of similarly judged items. The exemplars of each life-form domain are highly salient overall, and the proportion of liked and disliked items in the free lists generally corresponds with the attitude toward the life-form domain. All findings support our hypothesis that emotional meaning and culturally conditioned attitudes play a significant role in the organization of ethnozoological domains. [source] Combining idiographic and nomothetic methods in the study of internal working modelsPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, Issue 2 2000WARREN A. REICH Attachment theory's notion of internal working model refers to an affective,cognitive structure that guides how individuals experience, and act within, their close relationships. Understanding working models in general (i.e., nomothetically) can be greatly enhanced by attending to the unique (i.e., idiographic) properties of individuals'data. A general method is described for eliciting and empirically representing both the common and unique properties of individuals'descriptions of self and others. This approach is illustrated by two studies in which participants described self and others in a variety of significant roles and relationships by choosing from a list of attachment-related descriptive terms. A hierarchical clustering algorithm, HICLAS (DeBoeck & Rosenberg, 1988), is used to generate a unique graphical representation for each individual's responses. We illustrate the use of HICLAS to (a) assess nomothetic properties of the structures and relate those properties to other variables such as attachment style, and (b) link aspects of any individual's structure with other idiographic data such as interview narratives. Data from HICLAS enhances the interpretation of other, more qualitative idiographic information, and helps to produce new constructs, variables, and propositions amenable to rigorous hypothesis tests in future research. [source] Getting Older, Getting Wiser?POLITICS & POLICY, Issue 3 2003The Impact of Aging on Candidate Evaluation Domain-specific measures, such as political ideology and sophistication, have been used in models of how citizens evaluate candidates for political office. Non-domain-specific factors, such as age, may have additional explanatory power in models of evaluations and affect the type of information processing strategies employed by citizens. Specifically, the use of person- and issue-based information in evaluation strategies may be affected by the cognitive structure of aging, including the acquisition of person impression skills and resources. We test this hypothesis using the Pooled Senate Election Study (1988,92) and the 1974 American National Election Study. The analysis reveals that younger citizens base their evaluations mostly on issue-based criteria, but as citizens age they add person-based criteria to their evaluations. Implications for decision-making models are discussed. [source] The development of maternal self-esteemINFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 5 2007C. Farrow Although an important theoretical concept, little is known about the development of maternal self-esteem. This study explores the significance of maternal cognitions, psychopathological symptoms, and child temperament in the prediction of prenatal and postnatal maternal self-esteem. During pregnancy 162 women completed measures assessing their unhealthy core beliefs, psychopathological symptoms, and self-esteem. At 1 year postpartum 87 of these women completed measures assessing their self-esteem and their child's temperament. Overall maladaptive maternal core beliefs and psychopathological symptoms during pregnancy explained 19% of the variance in prenatal maternal self-esteem. Forty-two percent of the variance in maternal self-esteem at 1 year could be explained by a combination of prenatal maternal self-esteem, mental health symptoms, maternal core beliefs, and more unsociable infant temperament. Underlying maternal cognitive structures may be important in determining the development of maternal self-esteem. [source] The link between household structure and the level of abstraction in the purchase decision process: an analysis using a functional foodAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2010Ramo Barrena Major changes are affecting consumer trends in the agri-food sector. Suppliers are engaged in launching a succession of product innovations and introducing a range of new marketing strategies to promote food health benefits, while consumers are incorporating the new attributes into their choice structures. This study aims to analyze the consumer cognitive structure for a functional food using a means,end chain approach, through the association pattern technique (APT). A further objective is to verify whether consumer cognitive structures vary with household structure (children vs. no children), as reported in the literature on new product acceptance. The results reveal a higher degree of abstraction in the cognitive structure of households with children, incorporating more values in the means,end chains. In line with other research approaches, our study also confirms the stronger confidence-seeking tendency typically associated with the cognitive structure of this type of household. [EconLit Classification: Q130]. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The Logarithmic-To-Linear Shift: One Learning Sequence, Many Tasks, Many Time ScalesMIND, BRAIN, AND EDUCATION, Issue 3 2009Robert S. Siegler ABSTRACT The relation between short-term and long-term change (also known as learning and development) has been of great interest throughout the history of developmental psychology. Werner and Vygotsky believed that the two involved basically similar progressions of qualitatively distinct knowledge states; behaviorists such as Kendler and Kendler believed that the two involved similar patterns of continuous growth; Piaget believed that the two were basically dissimilar, with only development involving qualitative reorganization of existing knowledge and acquisition of new cognitive structures. This article examines the viability of these three accounts in accounting for the development of numerical representations. A review of this literature indicated that Werner's and Vygotsky's position (and that of modern dynamic systems and information processing theorists) provided the most accurate account of the data. In particular, both changes over periods of years and changes within a single experimental session indicated that children progress from logarithmic to linear representations of numerical magnitudes, at times showing abrupt changes across a large range of numbers. The pattern occurs with representations of whole number magnitudes at different ages for different numerical ranges; thus, children progress from logarithmic to linear representations of the 0,100 range between kindergarten and second grade, whereas they make the same transition in the 0,1,000 range between second and fourth grade. Similar changes are seen on tasks involving fractions; these changes yield the paradoxical finding that young children at times estimate fractional magnitudes more accurately than adults do. Several different educational interventions based on this analysis of changes in numerical representations have yielded promising results. [source] Beyond Conceptual Change: Using Representations to Integrate Domain-Specific Structural Models in Learning MathematicsMIND, BRAIN, AND EDUCATION, Issue 2 2007Florence Mihaela Singer ABSTRACT, Effective teaching should focus on representational change, which is fundamental to learning and education, rather than conceptual change, which involves transformation of theories in science rather than the gradual building of knowledge that occurs in students. This article addresses the question about how to develop more efficient strategies for promoting representational change across cognitive development. I provide an example of an integrated structural model that highlights the underlying cognitive structures that connect numbers, mathematical operations, and functions. The model emphasizes dynamic multiple representations that students can internalize within the number line and which lead to developing a dynamic mental structure. In teaching practice, the model focuses on a counting task format, which integrates a variety of activities, specifically addressing motor, visual, and verbal skills, as well as various types of learning transfer. [source] Mediating Among Scientists: A Mental Model of Expert PracticeNEGOTIATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT RESEARCH, Issue 4 2009Kenneth Kressel Abstract Despite the considerable research on mediator behavior, the cognitive structures and processes that presumably guide the strategic and tactical choices of professional mediators are poorly understood. The current study made use of a reflective case study method to explore in considerable detail the strategic thinking of five experienced mediators. The project was conducted at the National Institutes of Health whose Office of the Ombudsman (OO) mediates disputes among the institute's scientists. Eighteen cases were studied. The thinking of the mediators in these cases displayed regularities that are described in terms of the ombuds team's working mental model of mediation. The mental model consists of two strongly contrasting intervention scripts: a deep problem-solving script (DPS) focused on identifying and addressing latent issues of an interpersonal or systemic kind and a tactical problem-solving script (TPS) focusing instead on the issues as presented by the parties. The tactical script was applied in either an integrative bargaining mode or a more distributive quasi-arbitration approach. The choice of which script to follow in a given case is determined by first order decision rules concerning the existence and nature of any latent problems that may be present, and second order decision rules concerning the parties' capacity to engage in "deep" problem-solving. Despite their very different foci, both DPS and TPS appear to follow the same metascript of problem-solving stages, beginning with an intensive diagnostic phase during which the decision rules are applied and a script "selection" is made. DPS is the preferred intervention mode of team members. Every case began with at least a preliminary effort to search for and address latent causes, and team members expressed dissatisfaction if they could not apply DPS in cases where latent problems were thought to be fueling the conflict. However, ombudsmen used the scripts flexibly and switched to TPS if DPS was unnecessary or impractical. Both scripts produced agreements that were useful to the parties and to the institution's scientific purposes, particularly the fostering of scientific competence. The mental model is heavily shaped by the social context in which the ombudsmen function. Thus, the primacy of DPS in the model appears to be due to the fact that the ombudsmen are "repeat players" in the life of the NIH and therefore in a position to become adept at recognizing the latent sources of its dysfunctional conflicts, are under a strong role mandate as ombudsmen to pay attention to covert patterns of organizational dysfunction, and deal with disputants pressed to address latent issues blocking scientific work. [source] Mapping consumers' mental models with ZMETPSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 6 2002Glenn L. Christensen In the quest to understand the customer, consumer researchers, whether practitioner or academic, must understand the perceived personal relevance of a product, service, or brand from the consumers' perspective. Fundamentally, what must be understood are the cognitive structures or mental models that underlie consumers' feelings of involvement. This article demonstrates the power of the Zaltman metaphor-elicitation technique (ZMET) (Zaltman, 1997) to gain such consumer insight by first eliciting and then mapping consumers' knowledge structures. The article provides illustrations of how ZMET can be used to create a collective cognitive map for a group of consumers, and how ZMET data can be mapped in different ways to give greater insight into consumers' product knowledge structures. Also provided is a description of how the knowledge structures of consumers are subdivided and grouped around important meaning themes that frame and motivate a person's involvement with an activity. Ultimately, it is demonstrated that consumers' mental models are made up of both cognitive (beliefs) and emotional (feelings) components, and that these structures of meaning are activated by the current consumption situation. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Some Correspondences and Similarities of Shamanism and Cognitive Science: Interconnectedness, Extension of Meaning, and Attribution of Mental StatesANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 2 2002Timothy L. Hubbard Correspondences and similarities between ideas in shamanism and ideas in contemporary cognitive science are considered. The importance of interconnectedness in the web of life worldview characteristic of shamanism and in connectionist models of semantic memory in cognitive science, and the extension of meaning to elements of the natural world in shamanism and indistributed cognition, are considered. Cognitive consequences of such an extension (e.g., use of representativeness and intentional stance heuristics, magical thinking, social attribution errors, and social in-group/out-group differences) are discussed. It is suggested that attributions of mental states, beliefs, and desires to a computer on the basis of behavioral measures (e.g., the Turing test) is consistent with the extension of meaning and intentionality to nonhuman elements of the natural world in shamanism. In general, the existence of such correspondencesand similarities suggests that elements of shamanism may reflect cognitive structures and processes that are also used by nonshamans and in nonshamanic settings. 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