Knowledge and power: Social science and the social world

The world’s centre of gravity is changing, from the North Atlantic to Eastern Asia. As world centres of knowledge have correlated historically with world centres of power, this ongoing geopolitical change is likely to bring changes also to the global map of cognition. Knowledge and power are intrinsically related, knowledge is power, it is based on power, and it produces instruments of power. Moreover, the vistas of social scientists and scholars are always circumscribed by the power relations of the social world they are studying. A way of looking into this is to analyse the concepts and the narratives they use and produce. What features do they highlight, and what do they hide? Cognitive change is driven by two kinds of change, change (i.e. new discovery) of evidence, and change of power. On a macro scale, the major forces of power change bearing upon cognitive change have been social mobilizations, for example, of classes, women, and ethnic groups, the rise and decline of states, and, third, economic or ecological crises disrupting the functioning of existing powers. Indigenization and de-Westernization are different programmes. The former is synonymous with nativization and rooting in the particular culture of a population, whereas the latter may be, and often is, an emancipation from Western cultural domination in the name of another universalistic culture. De-Westernization is inherently confrontational, whereas indigenization may range from supplementary to isolationist. Academic indigenization and de-Westernization have in their cognitive challenges similarities with contemporary critical identity movements, such as feminism and ethnic movements. The cognitive challenges mounted by both types of currents proceed across four levels of cognitive depths, claiming canon inclusion of certain thinkers and role models, questioning and rejection of prevailing social narratives, practising new forms of knowledge production, and fourth epistemological or meta-sociological reflections on the old and the new knowledge paradigms. Indigenization should be treated as a limited supplementary project, whereas de-Westernization is likely to advance. It should be an opening of global horizons, not a closure. Pluralism of critique, challenge, and search for other, better ways are decisive for the development of knowledge.

Data literacy and the cognitive challenges of a data-rich business environment: an analysis of perceived data overload, technostress and their relationship to individual performance

PurposeConsidering the cognitive challenges associated with a data-rich business environment, this research aims to investigate the relationship between data literacy (DL), perceived data overload (PDO), and technostress (TS), besides the effect of these constructs on professional's individual performance (IP).Design/methodology/approachThrough survey research, the authors collected data from 321 professionals who work in data-rich and highly technological business environments. To test the hypotheses proposed, the authors developed the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) procedures.FindingsThe results showed that DL is positively associated with IP and negatively with PDO. PDO is positively associated with TS and negatively with IP. The authors found no significant negative association between TS and IP.Research limitations/implicationsWith this research, the authors seek to contribute to the gap in the literature concerning two cognitive challenges associated with data-rich business environments: PDO and TS, analyzing from the point of view of the individual, and highlighting the importance of DL in this context.Practical implicationsThe results can assist managers in effectively being concerned with the DL level of their workforce. This is important considering not only the professionals' IP but also the cognitive challenges such as PDO and TS.Originality/valueThe innovation of this study lies in the empirical analysis of DL in the business context and its relationship with two cognitive challenges inherent in data-rich environments: PDO, and TS. Besides, the authors highlight the importance of understanding such phenomena in terms of IP.

Cognitive Load Impairs Time to Initiate and Complete Shooting Tasks in ROTC Members

ABSTRACT Introduction Multitasking typically requires an individual to simultaneously process cognitive information while performing a motor task. Cognitive motor interference (CMi) is encountered when cognitive challenges negatively impact motor task performance. Military personnel encounter cognitively taxing situations, especially during combat or other tactical performance scenarios, which may lead to injury or motor performance deficits (i.e., shooting inaccuracy, delayed stimulus–response time, and slowed movement speed). The purpose of the current study was to develop four cognitive motor shooting paradigms to determine the effects of cognitive load on shooting performance in healthy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets. Methods Thirty-two healthy collegiate ROTC members (24 male and 8 female; 20.47 ± 1.24 years, 174.95 ± 10.58 cm, and 77.99 ± 13.90 kg) were recruited to complete four simulated shooting tasks with additional “motor” challenge (180° turn, gait, weighted, and unweighted landing) and with and without a “cognitive” decision-making challenge requiring response selection and inhibition to both auditory and visual stimuli, totaling eight multi-task cognitive motor shooting conditions. The current study was approved by the university’s Institutional Review Board. Task initiation (seconds), task completion (seconds), and number of misses were calculated to determine marksmanship efficiency and accuracy. For each task, a multivariate repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted for the combined dependent variables. If the overall multivariate repeated-measures ANOVA was significant, follow-up univariate ANOVAs were conducted for each dependent variable. Alpha was set at α = 0.05 for all analyses. Results Task initiation increased for the cognitive condition for the 180° turn (4.29 ± 1.22 seconds baseline, 5.09 ± 1.39 seconds cognitive; P < .05), gait (2.76 ± .60 seconds baseline, 3.93 ± .62 seconds cognitive; P < .05), unweighted (1.27 ± .57 seconds baseline, 3.39 ± .63 seconds cognitive; P < .05), and weighted landing (1.46 ± .72 seconds baseline, 3.35 ± .60 seconds cognitive; P < .05). Task completion time increased for the cognitive condition for the 180° turn (3.48 ± 1.53 seconds baseline, 4.85 ± 1.24 seconds cognitive; P < .05), gait (7.84 ± 2.07 seconds baseline, 9.23 ± 1.76 seconds cognitive; P < .05), unweighted (5.98 ± 1.55 seconds baseline, 7.45 ± 1.51 seconds cognitive; P < .05), and weighted landing (6.09 ± 1.42 seconds baseline, 7.25 ± 1.79 seconds cognitive; P < .05). There were no statistically significant differences in the number of misses for any of the tasks between conditions (P > .05). Conclusions The addition of a cognitive load increased both task initiation and task completion times during cognitive motor simulated shooting. Adding cognitive loads to tactical performance tasks can result in CMi and negatively impact tactical performance. Thus, consideration for additional cognitive challenges into training may be warranted to reduce the potential CMi effect on tactical performance.

Impact of age and cyclooxygenase inhibition on the hemodynamic response to acute cognitive challenges

Structural and functional changes in the cerebral vasculature occur with advancing age, which may lead to impaired neurovascular coupling (NVC) and cognitive decline. Cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibition abolishes age-related differences in cerebrovascular reactivity, but it is unclear if COX inhibition impacts NVC. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of aging on NVC before and after COX inhibition. Twenty-three young (age=25±4 y) and 21 older (age=64±5 y) adults completed two levels of difficulty of the Stroop and n-back tests before and after COX inhibition. Middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCAv) was measured using transcranial Doppler ultrasound and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) was measured using a finger cuff. Hemodynamic variables were measured at rest and in response to cognitive challenges. During the Stroop test, older adults demonstrated a greater increase in MCAv (Young: 2.2±6.8% vs. Older: 5.9±5.8%; P=0.030) and MAP (Young: 2.0±4.9% vs. Older: 4.8±4.9%; P=0.036) compared with young adults. There were no age-related differences during the n-back test. COX inhibition reduced MCAv by 30% in young and 26% in older adults (P<0.001 for both). During COX inhibition, there were no age-related differences in the percent change in MCAv or MAP in response to the cognitive tests. Our results show that older adults require greater increases in MCAv and MAP during a test of executive function compared with young adults and that any age-related differences in NVC were abolished during COX inhibition. Collectively, this suggests that aging is associated with greater NVC necessary to accomplish a cognitive task.

Children’s Reputation Management: Learning to Identify What Is Socially Valued and Acting Upon It

Much of what people do is motivated by a concern with social evaluation. We argue that the process of figuring out what others value and making effective use of this information presents significant cognitive challenges. These challenges include reasoning about the relevance of different forms of information and making inferences about the mental lives of others. They also include modifying one’s behavior in light of whatever personal qualities appear to be valued in an effort to appeal to different audiences. We argue that the foundations of many of the important skills needed to meet these challenges are already in place early during childhood, but that the challenges themselves persist well into adulthood.

Change by challenge: A common genetic basis behind childhood cognitive development and cognitive training

The interplay of genetic and environmental factors behind cognitive development has preoccupied multiple fields of science and sparked heated debates over the decades. Here we tested the hypothesis that developmental genes rely heavily on cognitive challenges—as opposed to natural maturation. Starting with a polygenic score (cogPGS) that previously explained variation in cognitive performance in adults, we estimated its effect in 344 children and adolescents (mean age of 12 years old, ranging from 6 to 25) who showed changes in working memory (WM) in two distinct samples: (1) a developmental sample showing significant WM gains after 2 years of typical, age-related development, and (2) a training sample showing significant, experimentally-induced WM gains after 25 days of an intense WM training. We found that the same genetic factor, cogPGS, significantly explained the amount of WM gain in both samples. And there was no interaction of cogPGS with sample, suggesting that those genetic factors are neutral to whether the WM gains came from development or training. These results represent evidence that cognitive challenges are a central piece in the gene-environment interplay during cognitive development. We believe our study sheds new light on previous findings of interindividual differences in education (rich-get-richer and compensation effects), brain plasticity in children, and the heritability increase of intelligence across the lifespan.