Culture, perception, and artistic visualization: a comparative study of children's drawings in three Siberian cultural groups

Analytic and holistic cognitive style as a set of independent manifests: Evidence from a validation study of six measurement instruments

Cognitive styles are commonly studied constructs in cognitive psychology. The theory of field dependence-independence was one of the most important cognitive styles. Yet in the past, its measurement had significant shortcomings in validity and reliability. The theory of analytic and holistic cognitive styles attempted to extend this theory and overcome its shortcomings. Unfortunately, the psychometric properties of its measurement methods were not properly verified. Furthermore, new statistical approaches, such as analysis of reaction times, have been overlooked by current research. The aim of this pre-registered study was to verify the psychometric properties (i.e., factor structure, split-half reliability, test-retest reliability, discriminant validity with intelligence and personality, and divergent, concurrent and predictive validity) of several methods routinely applied in the field. We developed/adapted six methods based on self-report questionnaires, rod-and-frame principles, embedded figures, and hierarchical figures. The analysis was conducted on 392 Czech participants, with two data collection waves. The results indicate that the use of methods based on the rod-and-frame principle may be unreliable, demonstrating no absence of association with intelligence. The use of embedded and hierarchical figures is recommended. The self-report questionnaire used in this study showed an unsatisfactory factor structure and also cannot be recommended without futher validation on independent samples. The findings also did not correspond with the original two-dimensional theory.

Current Perspectives on Cognitive Diversity

To what extent is cognition influenced by a person’s cultural background? This question has remained controversial in large fields of the cognitive sciences, including cognitive psychology, and is also underexplored in anthropology. In this perspective article, findings from a recent wave of cross-cultural studies will be outlined with respect to three aspects of cognition: perception and categorization, number representation and counting, and explanatory frameworks and beliefs. Identifying similarities and differences between these domains allows for general conclusions regarding cognitive diversity and helps to highlight the importance of culturally shaped content for a comprehensive understanding of cognition.

Perspectives on culture and concepts

The well-respected tradition of research on concepts uses cross-cultural comparisons to explore which aspects of conceptual behavior are universal versus culturally variable. This work continues, but it is being supplemented by intensified efforts to study how conceptual systems and cultural systems interact to modify and support each other. For example, cultural studies within the framework of domain specificity (e.g., folkphysics, folkpsychology, folkbiology) are beginning to query the domains themselves and offer alternative organizing principles (e.g., folksociology, folkecology). Findings highlight the multifaceted nature of both concepts and culture: Individuals adopt distinct conceptual construals in accordance with culturally infused systems such as language and discourse, knowledge and beliefs, and epistemological orientations. This picture complicates questions about cognitive universality or variability, suggesting that researchers may productively adopt a systems-level approach to conceptual organization and cultural epistemologies. Related implications for diversity in cognitive science are discussed.