scholarly journals The role of cognitive abilities in decisions from experience: Age differences emerge as a function of choice set size

Cognition ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 142 ◽  
pp. 60-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato Frey ◽  
Rui Mata ◽  
Ralph Hertwig
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Decisions From Experience ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Choice Set

Set-size and Frequency-of-occurrence Judgements in Young and Older Adults: The Role of the Availability Heuristic

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Maley ◽  
Maree Hunt ◽  
Wendy Parr
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Automatic Processing ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Availability Heuristic ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Availability Bias ◽  
Processing Mechanism

Two experiments examined the cognitive processes underlying judgements of set size and judgements of frequency of occurrence in young (Experiments 1 and 2) and older (Experiment 2) adults. Previous research has implicated the availability heuristic in set-size judgements, whereas an automatic processing mechanism has been implicated in judgements of frequency of occurrence. In the current experiments, path analysis was employed to investigate the role of an availability bias in performance on the judgement tasks. In Experiments 1 and 2, both types of judgement were influenced by repetition frequency of words independent of the availability (recall) of specific exemplars. Experiment 2 extended the investigation to include age differences. Although older adults’ recall performance was poorer overall, the availability bias was age invariant, and there were no age differences in either set-size or frequency-of-occurrence judgements. Our results indicate that both set-size and frequency-of-occurrence judgements are independent of the availability bias evident in recall, and they support the notion that an automatic processing mechanism underlies both types of judgement.

When Too Few Is Bad for the Environment

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-41
Author(s):  
Swen Jonas Kühne ◽  
Ester Reijnen ◽  
Aureliano Crameri
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Choice ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Green Electricity ◽  
Environmental Friendliness ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Choice Sets ◽  
Default Condition ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Choice Set

Abstract. Defaults are an effective tool in shaping consumers’ decisions. However, only a few studies have investigated the role of defaults regarding consumers’ choices of electricity products. Moreover, each of these studies used binary choice sets (gray vs. green electricity). Notably, decision-making research has shown that consumer choice patterns are considerably influenced by the size of the choice set (e.g., adding a third option). The question is, does this also hold for defaults, that is, do they function differently depending on the choice set size? In our experimental study, participants could choose between three electricity products (gray, green, and eco), which varied in their environmental friendliness and price, the default randomly being one of the three products. In addition, we had a no-default condition. Contrary to the other studies, we found not only a default effect for the least environmentally friendly gray product, but also for the environmentally friendlier products green and eco electricity. Moreover, the popularity of the middle option – the green electricity product – was not reduced by adding a third product. The results indicate that increasing the set size by adding an eco-product and by intelligently setting the default could increase the number of consumers buying environmentally friendly electricity products.

Refining our understanding of the “elephant in the room”

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Whiten
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Technological Culture

Abstract The authors do the field of cultural evolution a service by exploring the role of non-social cognition in human cumulative technological culture, truly neglected in comparison with socio-cognitive abilities frequently assumed to be the primary drivers. Some specifics of their delineation of the critical factors are problematic, however. I highlight recent chimpanzee–human comparative findings that should help refine such analyses.

Child and Adolescent Suicides in Bosnia and Herzegovina Before and After the War (1992–1995)

Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almir Fajkic ◽  
Orhan Lepara ◽  
Martin Voracek ◽  
Nestor D. Kapusta ◽  
Thomas Niederkrotenthaler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Youth Suicide ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sex And Age Differences

Background: Evidence on youth suicides from Southeastern Europe is scarce. We are not aware of previous reports from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which experienced war from 1992 to 1995. Durkheim’s theory of suicide predicts decreased suicide rates in wartime and increased rates afterward. Aims: To compare child and adolescent suicides in Bosnia and Herzegovina before and after the war. Methods: Data on youth suicide for prewar (1986–90) and postwar (2002–06) periods were analyzed with respect to prevalence, sex and age differences, and suicide methods. Suicide data from 1991 through 2001 were not available. Results: Overall youth suicide rates were one-third lower in the postwar than in the prewar period. This effect was most pronounced for girls, whose postwar suicide rates almost halved, and for 15–19-year-old boys, whose rates decreased by about a one-fourth. Suicides increased among boys aged 14 or younger. Firearm suicides almost doubled proportionally and were the predominant postwar method, while the most common prewar method had been hanging. Conclusions: The findings from this study indicate the need for public education in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the role of firearm accessibility in youth suicide and for instructions on safe storage in households. Moreover, raising societal awareness about suicide risk factors and suicide prevention is needed.

Age Differences in Learning About Nutrition: The Role of Motivation

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Soederberg Miller ◽  
Tanja N. Gibson ◽  
Jeannette De Dios ◽  
Hana Chuong ◽  
Helen Mirsaeidi
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences

Role of Different School Systems in Cognitive Abilities & Academic Achievement of Adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (Spring 2019) ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
Sidra Iqbal ◽  
Mah Nazir Riaz
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
School System ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Secondary School Student ◽  
School Systems ◽  
Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
Cambridge School

The present study compared cognitive abilities and academic achievement of adolescents studying in three different school systems namely Urdu medium schools, English medium schools, and Cambridge system schools. The sample comprised of 1001 secondary school student. Cognitive abilities were assessed by Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (1960) and marks obtained by the students in the last annual examination were used as an index of academic achievement. Results showed that cognitive abilities of the students were positively associated with academic achievement of the respondents. It was further found that cognitive abilities and academic achievement of students studying in Cambridge school system was better as compared to those studying in other systems. Post-hoc comparison revealed that level of academic achievement of Urdu medium schools was lower as compared to English medium and Cambridge system of schools. The findings suggest that difference in schooling system influenced cognitive abilities and academic achievement of the students. Results further demonstrated that gender was a significant predictor of academic achievement in both Urdu and English medium schools. Future implications of the study were also discussed.

scholarly journals Extended parenting and the evolution of cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1803) ◽  
pp. 20190495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Uomini ◽  
Joanna Fairlie ◽  
Russell D. Gray ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cultural Learning

Traditional attempts to understand the evolution of human cognition compare humans with other primates. This research showed that relative brain size covaries with cognitive skills, while adaptations that buffer the developmental and energetic costs of large brains (e.g. allomaternal care), and ecological or social benefits of cognitive abilities, are critical for their evolution. To understand the drivers of cognitive adaptations, it is profitable to consider distant lineages with convergently evolved cognitions. Here, we examine the facilitators of cognitive evolution in corvid birds, where some species display cultural learning, with an emphasis on family life. We propose that extended parenting (protracted parent–offspring association) is pivotal in the evolution of cognition: it combines critical life-history, social and ecological conditions allowing for the development and maintenance of cognitive skillsets that confer fitness benefits to individuals. This novel hypothesis complements the extended childhood idea by considering the parents' role in juvenile development. Using phylogenetic comparative analyses, we show that corvids have larger body sizes, longer development times, extended parenting and larger relative brain sizes than other passerines. Case studies from two corvid species with different ecologies and social systems highlight the critical role of life-history features on juveniles’ cognitive development: extended parenting provides a safe haven, access to tolerant role models, reliable learning opportunities and food, resulting in higher survival. The benefits of extended juvenile learning periods, over evolutionary time, lead to selection for expanded cognitive skillsets. Similarly, in our ancestors, cooperative breeding and increased group sizes facilitated learning and teaching. Our analyses highlight the critical role of life-history, ecological and social factors that underlie both extended parenting and expanded cognitive skillsets. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals’.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document