Conceptual flexibility and the meaning of Covid-19: evidence from the first Italian lockdown

Several studies highlighted the flexible character of our conceptual system. However, less is known about the construction of meaning and the impact of novel concepts on the structuring of our conceptual space. We addressed these questions by collecting free listing data from Italian participants on a newly–and yet nowadays critical–introduced concept, i.e., Covid-19, during the first Italian lockdown. We also collected data for other five illness-related concepts. Our results show that Covid-19’s representation is mostly couched in the emotional sphere, predominantly evoking fear—linked to both possible health-related concerns and social-emotional ones. In contrast with initial public debates participants did not assimilate Covid-19 neither completely to severe illnesses (e.g., tumor) nor completely to mild illnesses (e.g., flu). Moreover, we also found that Covid-19 has shaped conceptual relations of other concepts in the illness domain, making certain features and associations more salient (e.g., flu-fear; disease-mask). Overall, our results show for the first time how a novel, real concept molds existing conceptual relations, testifying the malleability of our conceptual system.

Naming guides how 12-month-old infants encode and remember objects

A foundation of human cognition is the flexibility with which we can represent any object as either a unique individual (my dog Fred) or a member of an object category (dog, animal). This conceptual flexibility is supported by language; the way we name an object is instrumental to our construal of that object as an individual or a category member. Evidence from a new recognition memory task reveals that infants are sensitive to this principled link between naming and object representation by age 12 mo. During training, all infants (n= 77) viewed four distinct objects from the same object category, each introduced in conjunction with either the same novel noun (Consistent Name condition), a distinct novel noun for each object (Distinct Names condition), or the same sine-wave tone sequence (Consistent Tone condition). At test, infants saw each training object again, presented in silence along with a new object from the same category. Infants in the Consistent Name condition showed poor recognition memory at test, suggesting that consistently applied names focused them primarily on commonalities among the named objects at the expense of distinctions among them. Infants in the Distinct Names condition recognized three of the four objects, suggesting that applying distinct names enhanced infants’ encoding of the distinctions among the objects. Infants in the control Consistent Tone condition recognized only the object they had most recently seen. Thus, even for infants just beginning to speak their first words, the way in which an object is named guides infants’ encoding, representation, and memory for that object.

Gender is a multifaceted concept: evidence that specific life experiences differentially shape the concept of gender

ABSTRACTGender has been the focus of linguistic and psychological studies, but little is known about its conceptual representation. We investigate whether the conceptual structure of gender – as expressed in participants’ free-listing responses – varies according to gender-related experiences in line with research on conceptual flexibility. Specifically, we tested groups that varied by gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender-normativity. We found that different people stressed distinct aspects of the concept. For example, normative individuals mainly relied on a bigenderist conception (e.g., male/female; man/woman), while non-normative individuals produced more aspects related to social context (e.g., queer, fluidity, construction). At a broader level, our results support the idea that gender is a multifaceted and flexible concept, constituted by social, biological, cultural, and linguistic components. Importantly, the meaning of gender is not exhausted by the classical dichotomy opposing sex, a biological fact, with gender as its cultural counterpart. Instead, both aspects are differentially salient depending on specific life experiences.

Gender is a multifaceted concept: evidence that specific life experiences differentially shape the concept of gender

Gender has been the focus of linguistic and psychological studies, but little is known about its conceptual representation. We investigate whether the conceptual structure of gender—as expressed in participants’ free-listing responses—varies according to gender-related experiences in line with research on conceptual flexibility. Specifically, we tested groups that varied by gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender-normativity. We found that different people stressed distinct aspect of the concept. For example, normative individuals mainly relied on a bigenderist conception (e.g., male/female; man/woman), while non-normative individuals produced more aspects related to social context (e.g., queer, fluidity, construction). At a broader level, our results support the idea that gender is a multifaceted and flexible concept, constituted by social, biological, cultural, and linguistic components. Importantly, the meaning of gender is not exhausted by the classical dichotomy opposing sex, a biological fact, with gender as its cultural counterpart. Instead, both aspects are differentially salient depending on specific life experiences.

Subjectively and Objectively Measured Sleep Predict Differing Aspects of Cognitive Functioning in Adults

Objective To examine associations between subjectively-reported sleep and objectively-measured sleep (i.e., actigraphy) with different domains of cognitive functioning, and determine whether age may moderate these associations. Method In this cross-sectional study, a total of 489 participants (mean age = 45.4 years; SD = 18.8) completed a self-reported sleep measure and one week of actigraphy. Participants also completed a battery of cognitive tests measuring episodic memory, social cognition, executive functioning, and complex cognition (i.e., reasoning, visuospatial, and language abilities). Results Multiple regression analyses revealed that greater objective sleep quality and longer onset latencies were both associated with better performance on measures of conceptual flexibility. In contrast, subjective sleep quality was not associated with performance in any cognitive domain after accounting for objective sleep variables. Age moderated sleep–cognition relationships in differing ways based on cognitive domain and facet of sleep assessed. For example, whereas poorer subjective sleep quality was associated with poorer complex cognition in younger, but not older adults, poorer objective sleep quality was associated with poorer conceptual flexibility in older, but not younger adults. Conclusions Objectively-measured and self-reported sleep are associated with differing aspects of executive functioning, with the latter related to executive functioning broadly and the former associated with conceptual flexibility in particular. Age moderates sleep–cognition relationships differentially depending on the method by which sleep quality and quantity are measured.

Online and Offline Representations of Biocultural Diversity: A Political Ecology Perspective on Nature-Based Tourism and Indigenous Communities in the Brazilian Pantanal

The concept of biocultural diversity is confronted with contemporary changes that impact on local communities, such as globalization and digital transformations. Engaging the conceptual flexibility of ‘biocultural diversity’, we studied nature-based tourism at the intersection of indigenous communities and the digital realm. We employed a political ecology perspective to examine online and offline representations of biocultural diversity in the Brazilian Pantanal, one of the biggest wetlands in the world, and home to groups of peoples known as the Pantaneiros. Data from interviews with 48 stakeholders in the tourist sector were structured along three ‘myths’—the Uncivilised, Unrestrained, and Unchanged—for which we have also constructed counter narratives. Each myth denoted the primacy of biodiversity, and ignored broader dimensions of the Pantanal as a bioculturally diverse landscape. The relationships of the Pantaneiros with their environment were found to be intricate and had clear repercussions for tourism, but ironically, reference to the Pantaneiro culture in nature-based tourism was superficial. Moreover, thriving on the myths, this form of tourism perpetuates skewed power structures and social inequalities. Lower-class Pantaneiros likely suffer most from this. We recommend stakeholder engagement with a biocultural design that facilitates the integration of other-than-biodiversity values, and that thereby promotes sustainability of the entire social-ecological system.

PSYCHO-SEMANTIC APPROACHES ?? INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

The article presents a psychosemantic approach to interpersonal relations, which is based on the theoretical concepts of O. Harvey, D. Hunt, & H. Schroeder, as well as, L.Vygotski, A. N. Leontev, D.N. Leontev, V. Nalimov, and others. A psychosemantic approach to interpersonal relations manifests through the concepts of person’s conceptual system, gestalt-concepts, conceptual dissonance, common conceptual space, and conceptual flexibility. The main pathogenic strategies of conceptual dissonance smoothing, like distortion of existing reality, distortion of the laws and principles offormal logic, and rejection of previous experience, are also discussed.