scholarly journals Spreading Non-natural Concepts: The Role of Intuitive Conceptual Structures in Memory and Transmission of Cultural Materials

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Nyhof ◽  
Justin Barrett
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Reproduction Task ◽  
Cultural Concepts ◽  
Conceptual Structures ◽  
Common Items ◽  
Counterintuitive Concepts ◽  
Folk Stories ◽  
Better Than

AbstractThe four experiments presented support Boyer's theory that counterintuitive concepts have transmission advantages that account for the commonness and ease of communicating many non-natural cultural concepts. In Experiment 1, 48 American college students recalled expectation-violating items from culturally unfamiliar folk stories better than more mundane items in the stories. In Experiment 2, 52 American college students in a modified serial reproduction task transmitted expectation-violating items in a written narrative more successfully than bizarre or common items. In Experiments 3 and 4, these findings were replicated with orally presented and transmitted stimuli, and found to persist even after three months. To sum, concepts with single expectation-violating features were more successfully transmitted than concepts that were entirely congruent with category-level expectations, even if they were highly unusual or bizarre. This transmission advantage for counterintuitive concepts may explain, in part, why such concepts are so prevalent across cultures and so readily spread.

Role of Positive and Negative Instances in Learning Disjunctive Concepts

1973 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin L. Schroth ◽  
Federico M. V. Tamayo
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Disjunctive Concepts ◽  
Better Than ◽  
And Task

The present study involved comparing the learning of disjunctive concepts when information is presented by the use of all positive instances or all negative instances. The series of disjunctive concepts varied in complexity in terms of number of dimensions and values. 128 college students served as Ss and 4 different stimulus sets of varying complexity were used. All negative instances groups performed significantly better than positive-instances groups and task complexity was significant. These results were interpreted as support for Bourne's hypothesis that negative instances provide more information about disjunctive concepts than positive instances.

Role of Context in the Recall of Counterintuitive Concepts

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 521-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Ryan Tweney ◽  
M. Afzal Upal ◽  
D. Jason Slone ◽  
Lauren Gonce
Keyword(s):  
Religious Belief ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Relevant Context ◽  
Counterintuitive Concepts ◽  
Better Than

AbstractCounterintuitive concepts have been identified as major aspects of religious belief, and have been used to explain the retention and transmission of such beliefs. To resolve some inconsistencies in the literature concerning counterintuitiveness, we conducted three experiments to study the effect of context on recall. Five types of items were used: intuitive, minimally counterintuitive, maximally counterintuitive, minimally counterintuitive with contradictory context, and intuitive with contradictory context. Items were presented with context or without context and participants were asked to recall them. Maximally counterintuitive concepts were found to have the poorest recall in both immediate and delayed recall conditions and regardless of the presence or absence of context. No significant differences were found in the recall rates of minimally counterintuitive concepts and intuitive concepts, although delayed recall affected minimally counterintuitive concepts less than intuitive concepts, suggesting the possibility of differential "fitness." Presence of contradictory context was found to be able to change minimally counterintuitive items into the functional equivalents of intuitive items (and vice versa). When relevant context was present, minimally counterintuitive concepts were recalled significantly better than intuitive concepts, which is consistent with the findings of Barrett & Nyhof (2001). For items presented as lists, intuitive items were recalled better, consistent with the findings of Norenzayan & Atran (2004b). Thus, context was the key element affecting recall and the discrepancy among prior studies (and the much earlier studies of Bartlett, 1932) was resolved. The results imply that no "item-centered" explanation of the formation and transmission of religious concepts can be adequate in itself. Instead, the nature of the surrounding context must be included in any such account.

Persuading for Change

2012 ◽  
pp. 58-67
Author(s):  
Sean Watts ◽  
Teppo Räisänen ◽  
Sami Halonen
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Republic Of Korea ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Social Proof ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Persuasive Systems ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Better Than

Persuasion happens when somebody tries to change someone else’s attitudes or behavior without using coercion or force. In different cultures, different persuasion principles seem to work better than others. This has to be taken into account in marketing and design. It is especially true when developing persuasive systems, i.e. systems that aim at changing the user. In this chapter, the authors study the role of culture in the context of authority and social proof. This was examined through positivist survey conducted by South Korean and Finnish College Students. The received results suggest that authority plays a bigger role in the Republic of Korea than in Finland. Ergo, the authors conclude that the implications of culture should be regarded when designing systems that aim at any kind of change.

Examining the Role of Language in Play Among Children With and Without Developmental Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 795-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J. Short ◽  
Rachael Cooper Schindler ◽  
Rita Obeid ◽  
Maia M. Noeder ◽  
Laura E. Hlavaty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Play Skills ◽  
Critical Aspect ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Better Than

Purpose Play is a critical aspect of children's development, and researchers have long argued that symbolic deficits in play may be diagnostic of developmental disabilities. This study examined whether deficits in play emerge as a function of developmental disabilities and whether our perceptions of play are colored by differences in language and behavioral presentations. Method Ninety-three children participated in this study (typically developing [TD]; n = 23, developmental language disorders [DLD]; n = 24, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]; n = 26, and autism spectrum disorder [ASD]; n = 20). Children were videotaped engaging in free-play. Children's symbolic play (imagination, organization, elaboration, and comfort) was scored under conditions of both audible language and no audible language to assess diagnostic group differences in play and whether audible language impacted raters' perception of play. Results Significant differences in play were evident across diagnostic groups. The presence of language did not alter play ratings for the TD group, but differences were found among the other diagnostic groups. When language was audible, children with DLD and ASD (but not ADHD) were scored poorly on play compared to their TD peers. When language was not audible, children with DLD were perceived to play better than when language was audible. Conversely, children with ADHD showed organizational deficits when language was not available to support their play. Finally, children with ASD demonstrated poor play performance regardless of whether language was audible or not. Conclusions Language affects our understanding of play skills in some young children. Parents, researchers, and clinicians must be careful not to underestimate or overestimate play based on language presentation. Differential skills in language have the potential to unduly influence our perceptions of play for children with developmental disabilities.

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