Leader or Leaderess? Consequences of Using Feminatives for the Perception of Leadership

According to the Implicit Leadership Theory, leadership roles are assigned in the process of social construction and depend upon the level of congruence with the cognitive representation of a leader. Previous studies show that this cognitive representation is much more likely to involve a leader being a male rather than a female. The article presents the results of an experiment aimed at tentatively verifying whether the use of the feminine forms could increase the cognitive availability of the representation of a woman as a leader. In the experiment, 135 teams (N = 307 respondents) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions: 1) generic instruction (without the use of feminatives, “Please, draw a leader”), 2) inclusive instruction (using feminatives, “Please, draw a leader/leaderess”). The results showed a significant interaction between the experimental manipulation and the proportion of women in the team. The use of feminine forms increased the percentage of females drawn as leaders only in teams with a high female-to-male ratio.

The Effect of the P.L.A.N Strategy on Developing the Cognitive Representation of Fourth-grade Literary Students in the Subject of History

The current research aims to identify the impact of the PLAN strategy on the development of knowledge for students of the fourth literary grade in the subject of history, and the researcher has put the hypotheses, including that there are no statistically significant differences at the level (0,05) between the average scores of the students of the experimental group who study the subject of history B (PLAN strategy) and the students of the control group who study the same subject (the usual method) in the post-cognitive representation test. Cognitive representation, tribal and dimensional. The researcher chose two schools in the Samarra Education Department to conduct his experiment, the number of students of the research groups reached (69).) Students of (34) students for the experimental group and (35) students for the control group prepared a test of cognitive representation that consisted of (25) items, which were presented to a group of experts and specialists to verify the validity of the test and to analyze its paragraphs and calculate its stability, and after analyzing the results of the answers of the sample students and treating them statistically Using the appropriate statistical means, it was found that all the test items are valid, and to calculate the stability of the test, Couder-Richardson coefficient-20 was used, as the reliability was (0.84), which is Good stability factor. After the procedures we figured to the average scores of the experimental group students in a test of cognitive representation and in favor of the post, and the results also showed a statistically significant difference between the average scores of the experimental group students in the pre and post tests Cognitive representation.

Emotional and cognitive representation of COVID-19 among Polish adults during the peak of the second wave of the pandemic

Introduction: This paper presents the results of cognitive and emotional representation of COVID-19 in the sample of adult Poles during the peak of the second wave of the pandemic (November–December 2020). Aims: The study was designed to investigate the mental and emotional representation of COVID-19 in adult Poles. It was hypothesised that the representation would have a different structure depending on gender, age, education as well as personal experience of COVID-19 or other medical conditions. Methods: The survey was carried out in November and December 2020, and involved two hundred Polish adults aged 17 to 58 years (Mage = 32.59, SD = 10.19). The subjects were surveyed via the Google Forms web survey platform. A link to the survey was sent to the participants on Facebook. Results: Three in four respondents were found to believe that COVID-19 indeed existed, and that a virus was the most important cause of the problem. According to nearly one in two respondents, the effects of the disease were exaggerated by the mass media. On average, the respondents tend to believe that the severity of the disease may be controlled by one’s behaviour. The emotional representation of COVID-19 reflected predominantly negative emotions. The respondents were convinced that the disease led to significant consequences affecting the domains of personal life and work. Discussion: According to many participants, the effects of the disease are overestimated in media reports. The lack of knowledge about neurological and neuropsychological complications suggests that this aspect of the disease is insufficiently emphasised in the mass media during the second wave of the pandemic. Conclusions: Individual variables and experience of COVID-19 affect one’s cognitive and emotional representation of the disease and one’s beliefs concerning the mitigation of risks. This means that any future information related to COVID-19, and the promotion of knowledge concerning the possible mechanisms of disease development, must be conveyed in a way adjusted to gender and age as well as the level of education.

Embodiment, process, and product in ensemble expression

To what extent do musicians need to have a common idea about the music in order to give a coherent, joint performance? An expressive performance is traditionally seen as generated from a cognitive representation of music, which predicts that a shared musical idea should be central. An embodied and enactive perspective on performance, in contrast, emphasizes the emergent and externalized character of performance, as “togetherness” is achieved in the sounds, movements, and material performed. Reconsidering cognitive processes from an embodied perspective challenges us to find new ways to measure and conceptualize ensemble performance. This includes how we measure musical coordination as something that is achieved not between pairs of individuals, but in relation to the joint sonic output. It also includes how we conceive of expression and aesthetics in performance contexts, as an emergent product that is the outcome of embodied processes and ways of interacting.

Levels of Self-representation and Their Sociocognitive Correlates in Late-Diagnosed Autistic Adults

The cognitive representation of oneself is central to other sociocognitive processes, including relations with others. It is reflected in faster, more accurate processing of self-relevant information, a “self-prioritisation effect” (SPE) which is inconsistent across studies in autism. Across two tasks with autistic and non-autistic participants, we explored the SPE and its relationship to autistic traits, mentalizing ability and loneliness. A SPE was intact in both groups, but together the two tasks suggested a reduced tendency of late-diagnosed autistic participants to differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar others and greater ease disengaging from the self-concept. Correlations too revealed a complex picture, which we attempt to explore and disentangle with reference to the inconsistency across self-processing studies in autism, highlighting implications for future research.

Fashion designers home interiors: extending their brand image and aesthetic through magazine features

Fashion designers, serving as the face and namesake of their brands, periodically present their homes in magazines. This exploratory study investigates whether this provides a unique opportunity to assist consumers in forming associations with the existing brand. An interdisciplinary literature review provided a thematic foundation, examining: 1) the presentation of self and how this concept can be symbolized through objects in the home; 2) visual culture and visual rhetoric; 3) and the concepts of brand identity, brand image, the “associative network memory model,” and flagship-store image. Content analysis of six in-depth, qualitative interviews was employed to collect relevant and meaningful information. Study informants examined and discussed images of the homes, flagship stores and current runway collections of Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch and Alexander Wang. Findings suggest that viewers are able to attribute associated lifestyles to the home, store or clothing being observed. When the perceived home image was congruent with the viewer-held brand conception, it seemed to reinforce the image. If the perceived home image contrasted with the viewer-held brand conception, it seemed to weaken the image. Two major recommendations were presented: 1) ensure that the home is a clear visual and cognitive representation of the designer’s intended brand identity; 2) establish a clear visual link between homes and brand offerings.

Fashion designers home interiors: extending their brand image and aesthetic through magazine features

Fashion designers, serving as the face and namesake of their brands, periodically present their homes in magazines. This exploratory study investigates whether this provides a unique opportunity to assist consumers in forming associations with the existing brand. An interdisciplinary literature review provided a thematic foundation, examining: 1) the presentation of self and how this concept can be symbolized through objects in the home; 2) visual culture and visual rhetoric; 3) and the concepts of brand identity, brand image, the “associative network memory model,” and flagship-store image. Content analysis of six in-depth, qualitative interviews was employed to collect relevant and meaningful information. Study informants examined and discussed images of the homes, flagship stores and current runway collections of Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch and Alexander Wang. Findings suggest that viewers are able to attribute associated lifestyles to the home, store or clothing being observed. When the perceived home image was congruent with the viewer-held brand conception, it seemed to reinforce the image. If the perceived home image contrasted with the viewer-held brand conception, it seemed to weaken the image. Two major recommendations were presented: 1) ensure that the home is a clear visual and cognitive representation of the designer’s intended brand identity; 2) establish a clear visual link between homes and brand offerings.

Why go for a computation-based approach to cognitive representation

An influential view in (philosophy of) cognitive science is that computation in cognitive systems is semantic, conceptually depending on representation: to compute is to manipulate representations. I argue that accepting the non-semantic teleomechanistic view of computation lays the ground for a promising alternative strategy, in which computation helps to explain and naturalise representation, rather than the other way around. I show that this computation-based approach to representation presents six decisive advantages over the semantic view. I claim that it can improve the two most influential current theories of representation, teleosemantics and structural representation, by providing them with precious tools to tackle some of their main shortcomings. In addition, the computation-based approach opens up interesting new theoretical paths for the project of naturalising representation, in which teleology plays a role in individuating computations, but not representations.