Are Children Sensitive to What They Know?: An Insight from Yucatec Mayan Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 226-242
Author(s):  
Sunae Kim ◽  
Olivier Le Guen ◽  
Beate Sodian ◽  
Joélle Proust
Keyword(s):  
Early Development ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Native Population ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Knowledge States ◽  
Metacognitive Abilities

Abstract Metacognitive abilities are considered as a hallmark of advanced human cognition. Existing empirical studies have exclusively focused on populations from Western and industrialized societies. Little is known about young children’s metacognitive abilities in other societal and cultural contexts. Here we tested 4-year-old Yucatec Mayan (a rural native population from Mexico) by adopting a metacognitive task in which children’s explicit assessment of their own knowledge states about the hidden content of a container and their informing judgments (whether or not to inform an ignorant person about the hidden contents of a container) were assessed. Similar to previous studies, we found that Yucatec Mayan children overestimated their knowledge states in the explicit metacognitive task. However, in contrast with studies on Western children, we did not find the facilitating effect of the implicit informing task over the explicit task. These findings suggest that the early development of metacognition combines universal and culture-sensitive features.

Home and Office: Some Trends of Modernization among the Kanya-Kubja Brahmans

1971 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Khare
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Cultural Transformations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Deductive Method ◽  
Deductive Theory ◽  
Basic Beliefs

Recently Singer (1966: 497–505), while reviewing a book on economic development and Hinduism, underlined the necessity of recognizing the ‘deficiencies’ of the hypothetico-deductive method in studying social change in India. He alluded to Weber's thesis (ideal-typical relations of the Hindu ‘ethic’ to economic development) and its possible ‘distortions’ under this approach, especially if applied ‘as a basis for quick diagnoses of the ideological and structural factors impeding or facilitating economic development…’ (p. 498), or when applied to a general analysis of the social and cultural ‘transformations’ involved in modernization. He noted two major limitations: first, that under hypothetico-deductive use of ideal types one tries to deduce ‘realistic consequences from basic beliefs, values, motives postulated in isolation from concrete social and cultural contexts’ (p. 501), and second (which is perhaps a related consequence), that when deducing general tendencies, one fails ‘to specify conditions and magnitudes under which the conclusions are valid’ (p. 502). While Singer recognizes that this approach ‘will eventually complement’anthropologists’ narrative, descriptive, and inductive approaches, he stresses that the present need is to accumulate relevant empirical studies of the latter kind, against which we can check the conclusions of hypothetico-deductive theory.

Culture, strategy formulation, and firm performance: a meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvio Borrero ◽  
Alejandro Acosta ◽  
Aida F. Medina
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Future Orientation ◽  
Strategy Formulation ◽  
Partial Explanation ◽  
Analytical Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Contexts

PurposeThis article explores how strategy formulation affects firm performance to determine whether rational/analytical strategy formulation is more effective than emergent/reflexive strategy formulation. Additionally, the article assesses if such superiority holds for different cultural contexts.Design/methodology/approachMeta-analysis was performed using the Raju, Burke, Norman, and Landis (RBNL) procedure applied to a dataset of 43 empirical studies reporting 54 effect sizes on strategy–performance relationships.FindingsImplementing a formal strategy formulation process positively relates to firm performance. Rational/analytical formulation approaches are more effective than emergent/reflexive approaches in enhancing firm performance, especially for cultures with low future orientation, high uncertainty avoidance, and high power distance.Research limitations/implicationsThe reduced number of published empirical studies limited the scope and generalizability of the results across countries, industries, or firms. This limitation might be especially true for Latin American firms given the absence of relevant studies in this region. Another potential limitation is related to the distinction between strategy formulation and strategy implementation. Given the empirical nature of the studies meta-analyzed, strategic tools are used as a proxy to determine the formulation approach.Practical implicationsFirms that operate in short-term oriented, uncertainty-avoiding, and elitist cultures should favor implementing rational/analytical strategy formulation techniques rather than emergent/reflexive approaches. Although prescriptive recommendations are limited by the lack of studies in Latin America, firms in this region would seem to be better off using rational/analytical strategy formulation approaches.Originality/valueThese findings provide a partial explanation for the varying results yielded by strategy formulation and suggest cultural contexts in which rational/analytical strategy formulation should be more effective than emergent/reflexive approaches.

scholarly journals TonalEmergence: An Agent-Based Model of Tonal Coordination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Setzler ◽  
Robert Goldstone
Keyword(s):  
Computational Model ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Coordination Mechanisms ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Music Improvisation ◽  
Interacting Agents ◽  
Mutual Adaptation ◽  
Complex Coordination

Humans have a remarkable capacity for coordination. Our ability to interact and act jointly in groups is crucial to our success as a species. Joint Action (JA) research has often concerned itself with simplistic behaviors in highly constrained laboratory tasks. But there has been a growing interest in understanding complex coordination in more open-ended contexts. In this regard, collective music improvisation has emerged as a fascinating model domain for studying basic JA mechanisms in an unconstrained and highly sophisticated setting. A number of empirical studies have begun to elucidate coordination mechanisms underlying joint musical improvisation, but these empirical findings have yet to be cached out in a working computational model. The present work fills this gap by presenting TonalEmergence, an idealized agent-based model of improvised musical coordination. TonalEmergence models the coordination of notes played by improvisers to generate harmony (i.e., tonality), by simulating agents that stochastically generate notes biased towards maximizing harmonic consonance given their partner's previous notes. The model replicates an interesting empirical result from a previous study of professional jazz pianists: that feedback loops of mutual adaptation between interacting agents support the production of consonant harmony. The model is further explored to show how complex tonal dynamics, such as the production and dissolution of stable tonal centers, are supported by agents that are characterized by 1) a tendency to strive toward consonance, 2) stochasticity, and 3) a limited memory for previously played notes. TonalEmergence thus provides a grounded computational model to simulate and probe the coordination mechanisms underpinning one of the more remarkable feats of human cognition: collective music improvisation.

scholarly journals Behavioural Artificial Intelligence: An Agenda for Systematic Empirical Studies of Artificial Inference

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tore Pedersen ◽  
Christian Johansen
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Intelligent Systems ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Artificial Intelligent ◽  
The Public ◽  
Computer Scientists ◽  
Intelligent Behavior

Artificial Intelligence (AI) receives attention in media as well as in academe and business. In media coverage and reporting, AI is predominantly described in contrasted terms, either as the ultimate solution to all human problems or the ultimate threat to all human existence. In academe, the focus of computer scientists is on developing systems that function, whereas philosophy scholars theorize about the implications of this functionality for human life. In the interface between technology and philosophy there is, however, one imperative aspect of AI yet to be articulated: How do intelligent systems make inferences? We use the overarching concept “Artificial Intelligent Behaviour” which would include both cognition/processing and judgment/behaviour. We argue that due to the complexity and opacity of Artificial Inference, one needs to initiate systematic empirical studies of artificial intelligent behavior similar to what has previously been done to study human cognition, judgment and decision making. This will provide valid knowledge, outside of what current computer science methods can offer, about the judgments and decisions made by intelligent systems. Moreover, outside academe – in the public as well as the private sector – expertise in epistemology, critical thinking and reasoning are crucial to ensure human oversight of the artificial intelligent judgments and decisions that are made, because only competent human insight into AI-inference processes will ensure accountability. Such insights require systematic studies of AI-behaviour founded on the natural sciences and philosophy, as well as the employment of methodologies from the cognitive and behavioral sciences.

scholarly journals The Knobe Effect From the Perspective of Normative Orders

Studia Humana ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-15
Author(s):  
Andrzej Waleszczyński ◽  
Michał Obidziński ◽  
Julia Rejewska
Keyword(s):  
Essential Role ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Stable Model ◽  
Mutual Relationship ◽  
Knobe Effect ◽  
Moral Normativity ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Theoretical Analyses

Abstract The characteristic asymmetry in the attribution of intentionality in causing side effects, known as the Knobe effect, is considered to be a stable model of human cognition. This article looks at whether the way of thinking and analysing one scenario may affect the other and whether the mutual relationship between the ways in which both scenarios are analysed may affect the stability of the Knobe effect. The theoretical analyses and empirical studies performed are based on a distinction between moral and non-moral normativity possibly affecting the judgments passed in both scenarios. Therefore, an essential role in judgments about the intentionality of causing a side effect could be played by normative competences responsible for distinguishing between normative orders.

scholarly journals Humans or Machines? Scientific Determinism within the Context of Yoruba Human Ontology

2021 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwatoyin Adebola GBADAMOSI
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Traditional Belief ◽  
Full Control ◽  
History Of ◽  
Human Ontology

Freewill has been a subject of intense study in the history of philosophy, this revolves around the debate that are humans free or are their actions determined? While there has been a lot of questions on the nature of human will, the search for answers remains relevant in contemporary studies as seen in the entrance of neuroscience to this quest. Neuroscience, in the study of the human will arrived at a conclusion based on empirical studies that freewill is an illusion because the human will is determined by cerebral activities. The discovery in the field of neuroscience therefore challenges the traditional belief about freewill and our beliefs that humans are in full control of their will. This submission indicated that human decisions for actions were initiated before humans became aware of them, that is, likening humans to machines, thereby creating a lacuna especially within the Yoruba religious and cultural contexts. This study therefore, interrogated the position of neuroscience on the human will by focusing on how scientific determinism can be viewed from the Yoruba worldview. Scientific determinism evident in the field of neuroscience was examined with a view to situating the findings of neuroscience on human will within the context of Yoruba human ontology.

scholarly journals Unraveling the Interconnections Between Statistical Learning and Dyslexia: A Review of Recent Empirical Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Singh ◽  
Christopher M. Conway
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Structured Information ◽  
Learning Impairment

One important aspect of human cognition involves the learning of structured information encountered in our environment, a phenomenon known as statistical learning. A growing body of research suggests that learning to read print is partially guided by learning the statistical contingencies existing between the letters within a word, and also between the letters and sounds to which the letters refer. Research also suggests that impairments to statistical learning ability may at least partially explain the difficulties experienced by individuals diagnosed with dyslexia. However, the findings regarding impaired learning are not consistent, perhaps partly due to the varied use of methodologies across studies – such as differences in the learning paradigms, stimuli used, and the way that learning is assessed – as well as differences in participant samples such as age and extent of the learning disorder. In this review, we attempt to examine the purported link between statistical learning and dyslexia by assessing a set of the most recent and relevant studies in both adults and children. Based on this review, we conclude that although there is some evidence for a statistical learning impairment in adults with dyslexia, the evidence for an impairment in children is much weaker. We discuss several suggestive trends that emerge from our examination of the research, such as issues related to task heterogeneity, possible age effects, the role of publication bias, and other suggestions for future research such as the use of neural measures and a need to better understand how statistical learning changes across typical development. We conclude that no current theoretical framework of dyslexia fully captures the extant research findings on statistical learning.

scholarly journals A Case for Cognitive Models in Visualization Research

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lace Padilla
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
User Studies ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Framework ◽  
The Mind

The visualization community has seen a rise in the adoption of user studies. Empirical user studies systematically test the assumptions that we make about how visualizations can help or hinder viewers' performance of tasks. Although the increase in user studies is encouraging, it is vital that research on human reasoning with visualizations be grounded in an understanding of how the mind functions. Previously, there were no sufficient models that illustrate the process of decision-making with visualizations. However, Padilla et al., 2018 recently proposed an integrative model for decision-making with visualizations, which expands on modern theories of visualization cognition and decision-making. In this paper, we provide insights into how cognitive models can accelerate innovation, improve validity, and facilitate replication efforts, which have yet to be thoroughly discussed in the visualization community. To do this, we offer a compact overview of the cognitive science of decision-making with visualizations for the visualization community, using the Padilla et al., 2018 cognitive model as a guiding framework. By detailing examples of visualization research that illustrate each component of the model, this paper offers novel insights into how visualization researchers can utilize a cognitive framework to guide their user studies. We provide practical examples of each component of the model from empirical studies of visualizations, along with visualization implications of each cognitive process, which have not been directly addressed in prior work. Finally, this work offers a case study in utilizing an understanding of human cognition to generate a novel solution to a visualization reasoning bias in the context of hurricane forecast track visualizations.

scholarly journals Understanding Emotions in Electronic Auctions: Insights from Neurophysiology

2021 ◽  
pp. 87-98
Author(s):  
Marc T. P. Adam ◽  
Jan Krämer
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Bidding Behavior ◽  
Affective Processes ◽  
Emotional Aspects ◽  
Important Field ◽  
Electronic Auction ◽  
Understanding Emotions ◽  
Coherent Picture

AbstractThe design of electronic auction platforms is an important field of electronic commerce research. It requires not only a profound understanding of the role of human cognition in human bidding behavior but also of the role of human affect. In this chapter, we focus specifically on the emotional aspects of human bidding behavior and the results of empirical studies that have employed neurophysiological measurements in this regard. By synthesizing the results of these studies, we are able to provide a coherent picture of the role of affective processes in human bidding behavior along four distinct theoretical pathways.

Adding culture and context improves evolutionary theorizing about human cognition

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Anne McNamara ◽  
Ronald Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Systems ◽  
Cultural Contexts

AbstractBoyer & Petersen (B&P) lay out an evolutionarily grounded framework to produce concrete, testable predictions about economic phenomena. We commend this step forward, but suggest the framework requires more consideration of cultural contexts that provide necessary input for cognitive systems to operate on. We discuss the role of culture when examining both evolved cognitive systems and social exchange contexts.

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