When Is Cultural Input Central? The Development of Ontological Beliefs About Religious and Scientific Unobservables

Across diverse cultural contexts, children and adults believe in the existence of religious and supernatural unobservables (e.g., gods, angels) as well as scientific and natural unobservables (e.g., germs, oxygen). In this article, we explore the role of cultural input and testimony in children’s developing beliefs in supernatural and natural unobservables as real. We review cross-cultural research with children and adults on their beliefs about the ontological status of religious and scientific unobservables and the epistemic patterns associated with these beliefs. Based on the evidence, we argue that cultural input plays a central role in the development of belief about supernatural unobservables as real, whereas it plays a less critical role in the development of belief about natural unobservables as real. In the latter case, we argue that direct experiences with the natural world combine with children’s naive theories to generate beliefs about natural unobservable entities and processes as real.

Fertőzésekhez kapcsolódó immunológiai jelenségek: a szürkezóna jelentősége

Összefoglaló. A fertőzésekhez kapcsolódó immunológiai kórképekre különösen jellemző, hogy mind etiológiai tényezőikben, mind klinikai képükben rendkívül heterogének. Az átfedő és inkomplett megjelenési formák nem ritkák, ami a diagnosztika standardizálását nehezíti. Egyes, a fertőzésekhez opcionálisan kapcsolódó tünetek megfigyelése már több mint egy évszázaddal ezelőtt elvezetett a gócelmélet megszületéséhez, amely eredeti formájában leginkább elnagyolt és naiv feltételezéseken alapult. Folyamatosan bővülő ismereteink ugyanakkor egyre több esetben támasztják alá, hogy az átvészelt, esetleg krónikus vagy perzisztáló fertőzések, illetve a mikrobiom összetétele számos ponton lehet befolyással immunológiai, metabolikus és endokrin homeosztázisunkra. A jelen munkában az ismert összefüggéseket, illetve a meghaladott feltételezéseket is röviden érintve megkíséreljük a rendelkezésre álló ismereteken keresztül áttekinteni a fertőzésekhez kapcsolódó immunológiai jelenségek szürkezónáját, azon kórtani folyamatokat és tüneteket, amelyek létezése igazolható, de terápiás következményeik az egyén szintjén egyelőre bizonytalanok. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(38): 1526–1532. Summary. Immunologic phenomena related to infections are well known to be truly heterogeneous, both regarding their etiology and the clinical picture. Overlapping symptoms and incomplete presentations are not seldom, which often constitute diagnostic challenge. Certain, optional complications of infectious diseases led to the creation of the focal infection theory more than a century ago, although only on the basis of assumptions derived from elusive and naive theories. However, an expanding body of evidence ever since did underline the impact of previous and persistent infections on the immunologic, metabolic and endocrine homeostasis. Besides briefly touching the well-defined diseases, as well as the outdated theories of this field, we aim to provide an overview of the grey zone of infection-related immunologic phenomena, the existence of which is biologically well established, however, their true significance on an individual basis remains uncertain. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(38): 1526–1532.

It’s a question of talent! The interplay of design complexity and talent information on consumers’ product design responses

Purpose Existing research on product design has found that a design’s complexity is an important antecedent of consumers’ aesthetic and behavioural responses. This paper aims to shed new light on the relationship between design complexity and perceptions of design quality by taking the effects of consumers’ naïve theories into account. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses of this paper are tested in a series of three experiments. Findings The findings from three studies show that the extent to which consumers prefer more complex product designs to simpler ones depends on the extent to which they believe that the complexity of a design is indicative of the effort or of the talent of the designers involved in the design process. These competing naïve theories, in turn, are triggered by contextual information that consumers have at their disposal, such as the professional background of a designer or the brand that is associated with a particular design. Research limitations/implications This research was limited to a design's complexity as the central design element and to the effects of two naïve theories. Future research may also take other design factors and consumer heuristics into account. Practical implications This research reveals that the extent to which managers may successfully introduce both complex and simple designs may depend on the reputation of a company’s designers and the prestige of a brand. Originality/value This research examines design complexity from a novel theoretical perspective and shows that the effect of design complexity on perceptions of design quality is contingent on two specific naïve theories of consumers.

How Posting Online Reviews Can Influence the Poster’s Evaluations

The current research demonstrates that posting online reviews can influence the evaluations of the individual posting the review. Across four studies, we examine the impact of individuals’ naive theories about the meaning of their own posting on subsequent attitudes. In these experiments, individuals were assigned to write either positive or negative reviews about various products and services and then post them. The meaning associated with posting a review was varied to indicate either high validity (e.g., saving, extending, sharing) or low validity (e.g., deleting, hiding, archiving) with respect to their previously written reviews. When posting was associated with a high validity meaning, it increased reliance on those thoughts polarizing attitudes and behavioral intentions compared with when the posting was associated with a low validity meaning. These findings were mediated by the impact of meaning on thought confidence.

Myths about Intimate Partner Violence and Moral Disengagement: An Analysis of Sociocultural Dimensions Sustaining Violence against Women

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health issue worldwide and a serious violation of human rights. Recognizing IPV as a form of violence is essential for both victims who need help and offenders who can join treatment programs. Furthermore, only a society able to identify violence can effectively deal with IPV. The present study is aimed at investigating the role of sociocultural dimensions (i.e., ambivalent sexism toward women, ambivalence toward men, and lay theories about gender differences) in sustaining myths about IPV and moral disengagement. The participants were 359 university students (76.5% female). The results show that hostile sexism toward women plays a key role in sustaining both myths and moral disengagement. Moreover, benevolence toward men and biological lay gender theories (i.e., “naïve” theories assuming that sex differences are a product of biology and genetics) significantly affected the endorsement of IPV myths. The implications are discussed.

Children’s conceptions of knowledge and cognition: On the development of epistemic thinking in early and middle childhood

Metacognitive and epistemological reflection are often perceived as being beyond the perceptive and cognitive abilities of young children. Research, however, has proven that at a very early stage of develop- ment children are naturally intrigued by their own minds, observe and draw conclusions, build personal conceptions of knowledge and cognition, and quickly move from the stage of “naïve theories of mind” to reflecting on more advanced epistemological phenomena. The aim of this article is present the idea of epistemological reflection and its role in the development of children’s conceptions of knowledge and cognition. Theoretical considerations will be complemented with a research project driven by the following research questions: What is the conception of knowledge among young children? What differ- ences do they perceive between knowledge and learning? Visual and verbal explanations prepared by children will be used to present the role such personal epistemology plays in future self-regulation com- petency and in constructing children’s ability to evaluate their own learning and set new aims. In summary, the conclusions for educational practice will be discussed.

The cognitive foundations of misinformation on science

Populated by many misleading naïve theories, a difficulty understanding the foundations of scientific expertise and conversely, a tendency to trust one’s own intuitions too much and ignore one’s own ignorance, a built-in myside bias, paranoid tendencies, a propensity to simplify when remembering and to exaggerate when communicating, and so forth, the human mind’s evolved complexion is, to say the least, little predisposed to form accurate scientific beliefs. But this needs not be the end of the story, as many of those cognitive proclivities can, under certain conditions, be leveraged to favor accurate belief formation.