The Psychology of Human Thought

The “Psychology of Human Thought” is an “open access” collection of peer-reviewed chapters from all areas of higher cognitive processes. The book is intended to be used as a textbook in courses on higher process, complex cognition, human thought, and related courses. Chapters include concept acquisition, knowledge representation, inductive and deductive reasoning, problem solving, metacognition, language, expertise, intelligence, creativity, wisdom, development of thought, affect and thought, and sections about history and about methods. The chapters are written by distinguished scholarly experts in their respective fields, coming from such diverse regions as North America, Great Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Israel, and Australia. The level of the chapters is addressed to advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students.„Psychology of Human Thought“ ist eine Sammlung frei zugänglicher, qualitätsgeprüfter Kapitel aus allen Gebieten höherer Kognition. Sie ist gedacht als Lesebuch zum Studium komplexer Kognition und des menschlichen Denkens. Die Kapitel umfassen die Themen Begriffserwerb, Wissensrepräsentation, induktives und deduktives Schließen, Problemlösen, Metakognition, Sprache, Kultur, Expertise, Intelligenz, Kreativität, Weisheit, Denkentwicklung, Denken und Gefühle. Auch Kapitel zur Geschichte und zu Methoden sind dabei. Die Kapitel sind von weltweit führenden Experten aus den USA, Großbritannien, Frankreich, Norwegen, Israel, Australien und Deutschland verfasst. Das Niveau ist ausgerichtet auf fortgeschrittene Studierende

On the role of executive subcomponents, goal mechanisms, and methods of measurement in decision making under risk conditions

In several scientific disciplines human decision-making behavior has gained rapidly growing interest in the last decades. Neuropsychological research made remarkable effort to investigate the cognitive and emotional processes involved during decision making in different types of decision situations, for example under ambiguity and under risk conditions. In decisions under risk conditions, explicit information about the rules for gains and losses is available to the decision maker (Brand, Labudda, & Markowitsch, 2006; Yates & Stone, 1992). In the wide research field on this type of decisions, there are still theoretical and methodological gaps. Three outstanding gaps are addressed in this thesis. First, a neuropsychological model that theoretically describes the processes involved in these decisions was proposed by Brand and colleagues (2006) but still waits to be specified. Particularly, the model suggests executive functions as the main director of decision-making behavior, but it is not described in detail which subcomponents of the central executive system contribute in which way to decision making. Second, the model does not incorporate one of the main moderators of human behavior and cognitive performance: explicit outcome goals. Third, a methodological gap in decision-making research is to be found in the measurement of decision-making competences. For the measurement several laboratory gambling tasks are used. The variety of existing tasks as well the tasks’ architectures severely restrict the theoretical and practical conclusions that can be drawn from the results they provide. The main problems of the tasks are that they differ with regard to several attributes, are often inflexible for experimental manipulation, and that their ecological validities are restricted due to their gambling orientation. The first two studies of this thesis aimed to fill the gaps in the theoretical model. Study 1 investigated the role of different executive subcomponents in decision-making performance. It was found that particularly strategy managing functions, such as planning and monitoring, predicted performance, while situation processing functions, such as attention/inhibition and coding of information, supported the strategy managing operations. Study 2 investigated the effects of explicit goals on performance in a decision situation that provides increased strategic control. Realistic and attainable goals were found to have a positive effect, improving decision-making performance. In contrast, if the goals were unrealistic and too high, performance decreased. Study 3 evaluated an innovative methodological framework for measuring decision-making performance. The new framework allows designing several decision-making problems within one real-world oriented and unitary story line. The attributes of three standard decision-making tasks were mapped to the new scenario and it was found that participants behaved similarly in the new scenario compared to the original tasks. This indicates that the new scenario measures decision-making performance accurately. The results of the three studies enhance the theoretical understanding of the neurocognitive processes involved in decision making under risk conditions and open new perspectives for the examination of decision-making competence. A specified theoretical model is suggested, which incorporates the executive sub-processes directing the decision-making process, as well as the role of explicit goal setting and other situational conditions. These adaptions are supposed to help to better explain variances in decision-making competence as they can be found in healthy persons as well as patients with neurological or psychiatric diseases

Strategies for Catalyzing Workforce Engagement in Warehouse Operations

In 2014, approximately 30% of the global workers viewed experiences in the workplace as positive and fulfilling, which results in increased productivity in the workplace. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that some warehouse service center managers used to engage employees to higher levels of productivity. The population comprised of 7 warehouse service center managers in 2 companies located in the Riverport area in Louisville, KY. The conceptual framework for this study encompassed Kahn\u27s employee engagement theory. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, organizational procedure handbooks, and direct observation to prompt detailed information about participants\u27 experiences with employee engagement. The data collected was transcribed and member checking completed to validate the credibility and trustworthiness. Data collected from each source supported theme interpretation through triangulation. Three key themes developed: clear and concise communication, creating supportive manager-employee partnerships, and benefits to include incentives to promote employee engagement such as recognition awards, salary increases, additional time off work, flexibility with work schedules, and tuition reimbursement. The findings revealed warehouse service center managers used strategies to promote employee engagement in the workplace. The implications for positive social change include the potential to give managers new insights to promote employee involvement in the workplace through effective communication, partnership and incentives to create a sustainable organization while contributing to the economy and increasing involvement in the community

The Social Meaning of Variable Polite LEÍSMO in Mexico City

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Departments of Linguistics and Spanish & Portuguese, 2020Language is intricately complex and powerful. Even the smallest words, like the le pronoun in Spanish, are capable of meaning so much beyond their dictionary definition. This specific pronoun, roughly meaning a formal ‘you’, is found at the intersection of language, context, and society, with implications for understanding language and culture under the broader perspective of human behavior. This dissertation is the first variationist sociolinguistic study with experimental pragmatic component exploring the variable polite leísmo phenomenon in Spanish, focusing on the linguistic treatment of our various socially distant interlocutors. Furthermore, it is the first study to look at the production and perception of polite leísmo in interactive settings in search for its social meaning and value in Mexico City. Due to the complex implications of the variation found with this pronoun as direct object (Aijón Oliva, 2006; Parodi, Luna & Helmer, 2012; RAE 2010), the study makes use of complementary theoretical and methodological approaches common to the areas of morphosyntax, pragmatics, and sociolinguistics. The multivariate conditioning of polite leísmo is statistically uncovered through carefully designed production and perception methods: 107 interactive role plays with diverse residents of Mexico City and 92 reports on contextualized perceptual acceptability of this linguistic variation. Despite its relatively rare use (17%), polite leísmo is commonly perceived as acceptable (56%). It illustrates subtle morphosyntactic ambiguities capable of serving as multifunctional (face-enhancing and mitigating) politeness and social mobility projection tools. This is possible due to the multiple linguistic, contextual, and social factors that simultaneously condition its use and acceptability. Polite leísmo, then, is a half-conscious endeavor to reflect, reinforce, and redefine social relationships and the speaker’s identity within a community by softly signaling speaker’s background (predominantly female educated immigrants), intention (mitigate an imposition and enhance the interlocutor’s image), power dynamics (especially in subordinate positions), and strategic communication (offer and negotiate) through day-to-day speech acts

Technology Mediated Memories in Networked Societies: ScanMemories, Himba Chronotopes and Wearable Absence

Memories are the windows to the past, metaphysical relationships that are developed and associated within the mind, preserved, and shared with others, even sent into the future. Individuals, communities, cultures, and even countries have memories that may be dramatically important to their very existence or simply the directions to the nearest coffee shop. As early as language and communication, the need to save and share memories has been important, whether to share concepts, lessons, or even simply for entertainment. Contributions of this research are focused on the applications of technology regarding memory and memory storage. Using an action research design, the exploration of new technologies occurs through project designs and testing of memory technologies and how they will benefit society in the future, from ability to preserve memories more completely, regain them, historical value, and preservation of culture through memory sharing. Each project explores specific applications that present new ideas on how memories influence our lives and how the future of memories can influence new generations through technology. This research includes the work presented in the appendix regarding the various projects and concepts of Scan Memories, HimbaChronotopes, and Wearable Absence, with an overview of the items covered in the chapters. Memory objects, memory spaces, digital and physical space, interactive memory making, collective and social memory are explored in relationship to potential real-world applications in daily living. Finally, the work concludes with how project interrelates with the exploration into research and application of the technology, the risks, the future, and implications

Intuition und Deliberation bei der Entscheidungsfindung : eine Betrachtung der Prozessebene

In den letzten Jahren erschienen zahlreiche Studien, in denen intuitive und deliberate Verarbeitungsmodi experimentell induziert und hinsichtlich der Entscheidungsqualität verglichen wurden (Halberstadt & Levine, 1999; Wilson et al., 1993; Wilson & Schooler, 1991). Über die Prozessebene intuitiver und deliberater Entscheidungsfindung ist indes bislang nur wenig bekannt. Zwei-Prozess Theorien (für einen Überblick siehe Evans, 2008) reichen für ein Verständnis intuitiver und deliberater Entscheidungsprozesse nicht aus, da sie weder auf theoretischer Ebene ausreichend spezifiziert noch auf empirischer Ebene hinreichend getestet wurden. Insbesondere machen diese Theorien keinerlei Annahmen darüber, wie Informationen im Entscheidungsprozess integriert werden. Unabhängig von der klassischen Zwei-Prozess Dichotomie wurden wiederum verschiedene Informationsintegrationsstrategien, die von der Anwendung vereinfachter Gewichtungsschemata bis hin zur aufwändigen Berechnung gewichteter Summen reichen (Gigerenzer, Todd & The ABC Research Group, 1999; Payne, Bettman & Johnson, 1988, 1993), theoretisch konzeptualisiert und empirisch untersucht. Kürzlich wurde im Rahmen einer alternativen Zwei-Prozess Konzeption eine universelle Informationsintegrationsstrategie vorgeschlagen (Glöckner & Betsch, 2008a), nach der Informationen unter Nutzung automatischer Prozesse im Sinne einer gewichteten Summe integriert werden. Die Testung dieser Strategie erfolgte bislang allerdings nur für den Bereich intuitiver Entscheidungen. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit bestand daher in einer vergleichenden Untersuchung von Prozessen der Informationsintegration, die intuitiven versus deliberaten Entscheidungen zugrunde liegen. Dazu wurde die Methode der instruktions-basierten experimentellen Induktion intuitiver und deliberater Verarbeitungsmodi aus vorausgehenden Studien zur Entscheidungsqualität übernommen. Die Arbeit setzte genau an den Schnittstellen an, an denen Zwei-Prozess Theorien und theoretische Ansätze zu Informationsintegrationsstrategien empirisch nicht ausreichend getestet wurden. Zunächst wurde in einer Serie von vier Experimenten anhand einfacher und komplexer probabilistischer Inferenzaufgaben (City-Size Aufgabe) untersucht, ob der Verarbeitungsmodus die Verwendung von Informationsintegrationsstrategien beeinflusst. Dafür kamen in einem ersten Schritt verschiedene Strategieklassifikationsmethoden (Experimente 1 und 2; Bröder, 2010; Bröder & Schiffer, 2003a; Glöckner, 2009a, 2010) und in einem weiteren Schritt die Eye-Tracking Methode (Experimente 3 und 4) zum Einsatz, anhand derer die Verarbeitungstiefe (automatische vs. bewusst-serielle Informationsintegration; Velichkovsky, 1999) ermittelt wurde. Die Ergebnisse dieser Experimente ergaben keinen Hinweis auf Unterschiede zwischen dem intuitiven und deliberaten Verarbeitungsmodus auf Ebene der Informationsintegration. Sowohl bei intuitiven als auch deliberaten Entscheidungen integrierten Personen häufig eine Vielzahl an Informationen im Sinne einer gewichteten Summenbildung. Dabei verwendeten sie jedoch keine bewusst-seriellen Rechenoperationen, sondern schnelle, automatische Informationsintegrationsprozesse. Ein Unterschied zwischen den beiden Verarbeitungsmodi zeigte sich hingegen auf Ebene der Informationssuche, die bei deliberaten Entscheidungen umfassender und gründlicher ausfiel. Darüber hinaus wurde in zwei Experimenten die Integration von Informationen mit einem affektiven Gehalt in Abhängigkeit des Verarbeitungsmodus untersucht. Dazu wurden rechtliche Entscheidungsaufgaben mit jeweils einer affektiven und mehreren affekt-neutralen Informationen erstellt und in einer Vorstudie getestet. Anhand dieser Aufgaben wurde geprüft, a) wie affektive Informationen unmittelbar nach ihrer Darbietung während einer seriellen Informationspräsentation gewichtet werden, und b) ob sie die abschließende Entscheidung beeinflussen. Ein wichtiger Befund der beiden Experimente bestand darin, dass affektiven Informationen bei der direkten Bewertung häufiger kein Gewicht zugewiesen wurde, wenn diese in einem deliberaten anstatt in einem intuitiven Verarbeitungsmodus erfolgte. Die Ergebnisse bezüglich des Einflusses affektiver Informationen auf die abschließende Entscheidung waren hingegen weniger eindeutig. So wies Experiment 5 darauf hin, dass die Konstellation aus Verarbeitungsmodus und Präsentationszeitpunkt der affektiven Information maßgeblich dafür sein könnte, ob diese die Entscheidung beeinflusst. Dieses Ergebnis konnte jedoch in Experiment 6 nicht repliziert werden. Die Befunde dieser Arbeit liefern einen ersten Hinweis darauf, dass es sich bei Intuition und Deliberation nicht um zwei qualitativ unterschiedliche und vollständig separierbare Verarbeitungsmodi handelt. Entsprechende Implikationen für den Zwei-Prozess Ansatz werden diskutiert