scholarly journals The Experimental Investigation of Religious Cognition

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. S. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Evangelical Christians ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
God Concepts ◽  
Cognition And Emotion ◽  
Concepts Of God ◽  
The Social ◽  
Measurement Tools ◽  
Subsequent Recall ◽  
Character Of God

Religious cognition may be defined as the cognitive processes and representational states involved in religion-related knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, behaviours, and experience. Religious content and information processing occurs both at an intellectual, propositional level and also at an affect-laden, implicational level. Many questions are unanswered in our understanding of religious cognition, but fundamental to them all is the question of how religious cognition can be measured. Psychology of religion has primarily used questionnaires to measure religious belief, but many limitations suggest the need for new methods that can tap into implicational religious cognition, such as God schemas, as well as propositional religious cognition, such as God concepts. The purpose of this investigation was to explore which experimental paradigms most successfully tap into implicational religious cognition, and thereby add a new set of measurement tools to those available to the psychologist of religion. A consideration of research into the schematic representation of self and other persons suggested multiple hypotheses that could be tested using experimental paradigms adapted from the social cognition and cognition and emotion literatures. I present findings from a series of five experiments that measured cognitive biases in attention, memory, and judgement speed that were hypothesized to result from implicational religious cognition.Two experiments adapted the emotional Stroop paradigm to explore the possibility of a religious Stroop effect. While evangelical Christians, non-evangelical Christians, and atheists did not differ in interference when colour-naming emotionally valent religious material, in a subsequent unexpected recall test evangelicals showed enhanced recall for religious but not control material. Three experiments adapted the self-reference effect paradigm to investigate the accessibility and centrality of God schemas relative to self-schemas. Though evangelical and non-evangelical Christians had relatively similar propositional beliefs about the character of God, the pattern of evangelicals’ speed in making God-referent judgements and subsequent recall of God-referent material suggested that their God schemas were better-elaborated, more efficient, and more affect-laden than those of non-evangelicals. Atheists were able to draw consistently on two different concepts of God, but did so slowly and with poor subsequent recall, indicating that their God schemas were poorly elaborated, inefficient, and affect-free.Though much research exploring these biases is still to be done, the findings of the current investigation suggest that incidental memory and judgement speed paradigms are successful in tapping into implicational religious cognition and can reveal differences not otherwise observable through more direct measurement.

“Sou Inglesa! Sou Inglesa!”: Memórias de uma Menina Anglo-Portuguesa (1907-1930)

2017 ◽  
pp. 141-155
Author(s):  
Miguel Alarcão
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Social History ◽  
Travel Literature ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Cultural Encounter ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Times

Textualizing the memory(ies) of physical and cultural encounter(s) between Self and Other, travel literature/writing often combines subjectivity with documental information which may prove relevant to better assess mentalities, everyday life and the social history of any given ‘timeplace’. That is the case with Growing up English. Memories of Portugal 1907-1930, by D. J. Baylis (née Bucknall), prefaced by Peter Mollet as “(…) a remarkably vivid and well written observation of the times expressed with humour and not little ‘carinho’. In all they make excellent reading especially for those of us interested in the recent past.” (Baylis: 2)

THE EARLY MODERN ORIGINS OF BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-54
Author(s):  
Richard Boyd
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Francis Bacon ◽  
Economic Rationality ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Behavioral Psychology ◽  
Human Conduct ◽  
The Social

AbstractFor all the recent discoveries of behavioral psychology and experimental economics, the spirit of homo economicus still dominates the contemporary disciplines of economics, political science, and sociology. Turning back to the earliest chapters of political economy, however, reveals that pioneering figures such as Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, and Adam Smith were hardly apostles of economic rationality as they are often portrayed in influential narratives of the development of the social sciences. As we will see, while all three of these thinkers can plausibly be read as endorsing “rationality,” they were also well aware of the systematic irrationality of human conduct, including a remarkable number of the cognitive biases later “discovered” by contemporary behavioral economists. Building on these insights I offer modest suggestions for how these thinkers, properly understood, might carry the behavioral revolution in different directions than those heretofore suggested.

The Role of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Moderating Neural Representations of Self and Other in Primates

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaki Isoda
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
The Social

As a frontal node in the primate social brain, the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) plays a critical role in coordinating one's own behavior with respect to that of others. Current literature demonstrates that single neurons in the MPFC encode behavior-related variables such as intentions, actions, and rewards, specifically for self and other, and that the MPFC comes into play when reflecting upon oneself and others. The social moderator account of MPFC function can explain maladaptive social cognition in people with autism spectrum disorder, which tips the balance in favor of self-centered perspectives rather than taking into consideration the perspective of others. Several strands of evidence suggest a hypothesis that the MPFC represents different other mental models, depending on the context at hand, to better predict others’ emotions and behaviors. This hypothesis also accounts for aberrant MPFC activity in autistic individuals while they are mentalizing others. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 44 is July 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Cognitive Bias in Intelligence Analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Whitesmith
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Cognitive Bias ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Intelligence Analysis ◽  
Experimental Setting ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Underlying Causes

Belief, Bias and Intelligence outlines an approach for reducing the risk of cognitive biases impacting intelligence analysis that draws from experimental research in the social sciences. It critiques the reliance of Western intelligence agencies on the use of a method for intelligence analysis developed by the CIA in the 1990’s, the Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH). The book shows that the theoretical basis of the ACH method is significantly flawed, and that there is no empirical basis for the use of ACH in mitigating cognitive biases. It puts ACH to the test in an experimental setting against two key cognitive biases with unique empirical research facilitated by UK’s Professional Heads of Intelligence Analysis unit at the Cabinet Office, includes meta-analysis into which analytical factors increase and reduce the risk of cognitive bias and recommends an alternative approach to risk mitigation for intelligence communities. Finally, it proposes alternative models for explaining the underlying causes of cognitive biases, challenging current leading theories in the social sciences.

scholarly journals Talige stileringen als identiteitsconstructie bij Marokkaanse jongens

1970 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 151-171
Author(s):  
Jürgen Jaspers
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Problematic Relationship ◽  
The Social

This article points at the problematic relationship between sociolinguisticsand sociology, which has a.o. led to a conception of language asmerely a reflector or a marker of identity, and to a neglect of the role oflanguage in social and ethnic life. Instead, identity is here portrayed asan interplay between self- and other-positioning, and this promises toreveal much more about the quirky and fleeting linguistic uses someMoroccan youths make of Antwerp dialect, Standard Dutch and imperfectDutch. These uses are subsequently analysed as linguistic stylisations(cf. Rampton), ie. strategic exaggerations or inauthenticities whichpotentially or temporarily question the social relations they evoke.

scholarly journals Fake news and unfunded beliefs in the post-truth age

Universitas ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 87-108
Author(s):  
Víctor Castillo-Riquelme ◽  
Patricio Hermosilla-Urrea ◽  
Juan P. Poblete-Tiznado ◽  
Christian Durán-Anabalón
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Male Gender ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Social Fabric ◽  
The Social ◽  
Paranormal Beliefs ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Relationship

The dissemination of fake news embodies a pressing problem for democracy that is exacerbated by theubiquity of information available on the Internet and by the exploitation of those who, appealing to theemotionality of audiences, have capitalized on the injection of falsehoods into the social fabric. In thisstudy, through a cross-sectional, correlational and non-experimental design, the relationship betweencredibility in the face of fake news and some types of dysfunctional thoughts was explored in a sampleof Chilean university students. The results reveal that greater credibility in fake news is associated withhigher scores of magical, esoteric and naively optimistic thinking, beliefs that would be the meetingpoint for a series of cognitive biases that operate in the processing of information. The highest correlationis found with the paranormal beliefs facet and, particularly, with ideas about the laws of mentalattraction, telepathy and clairvoyance. Significant differences were also found in credibility in fake newsas a function of the gender of the participants, with the female gender scoring higher on average thanthe male gender. These findings highlight the need to promote critical thinking, skepticism and scientificattitude in all segments of society.

Using Theoretical Frameworks from the Social Sciences to Understand and Explain Behaviour in Social Computing

2011 ◽  
pp. 36-53
Author(s):  
Jacqui Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Social Computing ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Psychological Processes ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Cognition And Emotion ◽  
The Social

Research over the past 15 years has examined how the Internet is being used to support communication and social interaction across a variety of groups and communities. However, much of this research has been exploratory, rather than explanatory. It is argued here that approaches from the social sciences offer established methods and frameworks within which the psychological and social impacts of computing can be addressed. In discussing various theories, the chapter highlights one problem—that individual theories have tended to be used to explain a single aspect of human behaviour. There is a need to think more holistically and search for a theoretical approach that can explain intrapersonal processes (e.g. cognition and emotion) as well as interpersonal behaviour within social computing. A number of theoretical frameworks from the social sciences (e.g. social identity theory and social capital theory) will be discussed as potentially being able to explain psychological processes at all levels for users of social computing applications. In summary, the objectives of this chapter are to discuss current approaches used to explain the way people interact in social computing contexts, identify shortcomings with these and to highlight approaches that can address these shortcomings.

Two Concepts of God

1966 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-240
Author(s):  
John Lachs
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Religious Language ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
God Concepts ◽  
Scientific Curiosity ◽  
Concepts Of God ◽  
Theology Proper

Philosophers have long debated the question of the existence of God. This is one of many philosophical issues in which the motivation for inquiry has come more perhaps from the side of human feeling than from disinterested scientific curiosity. Powerful emotions appear to prompt thinkers to devote effort to the attempt to prove or disprove the existence of God. The urgency of this task has made some of these philosophers pay less than adequate heed to the concepts they employ. It appears to have escaped the attention of many of them that the word “God” does not have a single meaning either in religious language generally or in philosophical theology. It is obvious that one of the important ways in which religious traditions differ is in their conceptions of the Deity. But a considerable number of different God-concepts may be distinguished in the Judeo-Christian religious tradition itself, and not even in Christian theology proper is the word “God” free of ambiguity.

Arbitration in its Psychological Context

2020 ◽  
pp. 909-950
Author(s):  
Tony Cole ◽  
Pietro Ortolani ◽  
Sean Wright
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Contextual Approach ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
The Social ◽  
Contextual Behavioral Science ◽  
Professional Context

This concluding chapter presents a program for a more ‘contextual’ approach to the application of psychology to arbitration than has been adopted within arbitration scholarship thus far. It specifically examines the area of Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS), which focuses on the ‘act in context’, treating behaviour as inseparable from the circumstances that surround it. Such a context-sensitive approach allows new light to be shed on the psychology of arbitration, while also unifying the existing literature within a new epistemic framework that offers the advantage of not only predicting but also of potentially influencing the behaviour of interest in arbitration. While psychology can be applied to arbitration in many ways, the chapter focuses on arbitrator reasoning. It addresses the professional context of arbitration, scrutinizing how individual conceptions of the role of the arbitrator can influence reasoning. The chapter also considers the social context of arbitration, analysing the relations between the hierarchical character of the arbitration community and the existence of cognitive biases.

scholarly journals On Singing and Listening in Vaughan Williams's Early Songs

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-282
Author(s):  
Ceri Owen
Keyword(s):  
Art Music ◽  
Social Utility ◽  
Robert Louis Stevenson ◽  
Narrative Coherence ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
Publication History ◽  
Multiple Voices ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Early Songs

Vaughan Williams's celebrated set of Robert Louis Stevenson settings, Songs of Travel, has lately garnered liberal scholarly attention, not least on account of the vicissitudes of its publication history. Following the cycle's premiere in 1904 it was issued in two separate books, each gathering stylistically different songs. Though a credible case for narrative coherence has been advanced in numerous accounts, the cycle's peculiar amalgamation of materials might rather be read as a signal to its projection of multiple voices, which unsettle the longstanding critical tendency to map a single protagonist through its progress. The division marked by the cycle's publication history may productively be understood to reflect a tension inherent in its aesthetic propositions, one constitutive of much of Vaughan Williams's work, which frequently mediates between the individualistic and the collective, the “artistic” and the “accessible,” and, as I suggest, the subjective voice of the individual artist in its invitation to the participation of a singing and listening community. I propose that Vaughan Williams's early songs frequently frame the idea or demand the engagement of a listener's contribution, as particular modes of singing and listening—and singing-as-listening—are figured and invited within the music's constitution. Composed as he was searching for an individual creative voice that simultaneously sustained a nascent commitment to the social utility and intelligibility of national art music, these songs explore the possibility of achieving a self-consciously collective authorial subjectivity, often reaching toward a musical intersubjectivity wherein boundaries between self and other—and between composer, performer, and listener—are collapsed. In the recognition of such processes lies a means of examining the tendency of Vaughan Williams's work toward projecting a powerfully subjective voice that simultaneously claims identification with no single agency.

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