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Chan JYC, Nagashima T, Closser AH. Participatory Design for Cognitive Science: Examples From the Learning Sciences and Human-Computer Interaction. Cogn Sci 2023; 47:e13365. [PMID: 37817646 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023]
Abstract
Given the recent call to strengthen collaboration between researchers and relevant practitioners, we consider participatory design as a way to advance Cognitive Science. Building on examples from the Learning Sciences and Human-Computer Interaction, we (a) explore what, why, who, when, and where researchers can collaborate with community members in Cognitive Science research; (b) examine the ways in which participatory-design research can benefit the field; and (c) share ideas to incorporate participatory design into existing basic and applied research programs. Through this article, we hope to spark deeper discussions on how cognitive scientists can collaborate with community members to benefit both research and practice.
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McLean KC, Pasupathi M, Syed M. Cognitive scripts and narrative identity are shaped by structures of power. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:805-813. [PMID: 37031012 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
Constructing a narrative identity involves developing an understanding of oneself as integrated through time and across contexts, a task critical to psychosocial development and functioning. However, research has primarily focused on the individual in isolation or in highly localized contexts. This is problematic because narrative identity is profoundly shaped by structures of power; thus, we cannot understand how individuals understand themselves through time, across contexts, and as a member of a particular community without attention to the structure of society. We propose a structural-psychological framework for the study of autobiographical memory, narrative, and context that examines how structures of power are maintained, and potentially changed, through the narration of autobiographical events, as guided by cognitive scripts, or master narratives.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Moin Syed
- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Feist MI, Duffy SE. To each their own: a review of individual differences and metaphorical perspectives on time. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1213719. [PMID: 37674755 PMCID: PMC10478712 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1213719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023] Open
Abstract
How do people talk-and potentially think-about abstract concepts? Supported by abundant linguistic evidence, Conceptual Metaphor Theory posits that people draw upon concrete concepts to structure abstract ones via metaphorical connections. Often, the source domain for a metaphor draws upon embodied physical experience, as in the time is space system, whereby representations in the domain of time are thought to arise from experiences of navigating through, orienting within, and observing motion in space. In recent years, psychological evidence has suggested that the connections between space and time are indeed conceptual; however, many gaps in our understanding of the workings of metaphor remain. Notably, until recently, the unique variations in the ways in which people experience metaphor have been largely overlooked, with much research falling prey to what Dąbrowska has identified as one of the 'deadly sins' of cognitive linguistics: to ignore individual differences. By focusing on two widely studied metaphors for time, Moving Time and Moving Ego, this review article shines a spotlight on the varied ways in which people draw on their embodied and enculturated experiences, along with 'human experience' on an individual level and the contexts within which they use metaphor. In doing so, it highlights the importance for metaphoric conceptualization of variation across languages, across contexts, and across individuals, suggesting that while the use and interpretation of metaphor may begin with cross-domain connections, they are but part of the story.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele I. Feist
- Department of English, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, United States
| | - Sarah E. Duffy
- Department of Humanities, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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Feist MI, Duffy SE. Cognitive Science: Piecing Together the Puzzle. Cogn Sci 2023; 47:e13319. [PMID: 37478024 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023]
Abstract
Alongside significant gains in our understanding of the human mind, research in Cognitive Science has produced substantial evidence that the details of cognitive processes vary across cultures, contexts, and individuals. In order to arrive at a more nuanced account of the workings of the human mind, in this letter we argue that one challenge for the future of Cognitive Science is the integration of this evidence of variation with findings which can be generalized.
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Manalili MAR, Pearson A, Sulik J, Creechan L, Elsherif M, Murkumbi I, Azevedo F, Bonnen KL, Kim JS, Kording K, Lee JJ, Obscura M, Kapp SK, Röer JP, Morstead T. From Puzzle to Progress: How Engaging With Neurodiversity Can Improve Cognitive Science. Cogn Sci 2023; 47:e13255. [PMID: 36807910 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
In cognitive science, there is a tacit norm that phenomena such as cultural variation or synaesthesia are worthy examples of cognitive diversity that contribute to a better understanding of cognition, but that other forms of cognitive diversity (e.g., autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder/ADHD, and dyslexia) are primarily interesting only as examples of deficit, dysfunction, or impairment. This status quo is dehumanizing and holds back much-needed research. In contrast, the neurodiversity paradigm argues that such experiences are not necessarily deficits but rather are natural reflections of biodiversity. Here, we propose that neurodiversity is an important topic for future research in cognitive science. We discuss why cognitive science has thus far failed to engage with neurodiversity, why this gap presents both ethical and scientific challenges for the field, and, crucially, why cognitive science will produce better theories of human cognition if the field engages with neurodiversity in the same way that it values other forms of cognitive diversity. Doing so will not only empower marginalized researchers but will also present an opportunity for cognitive science to benefit from the unique contributions of neurodivergent researchers and communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie A R Manalili
- Faculty of Education & Society, University College London.,School of Health & Psychological Sciences, City, University of London
| | - Amy Pearson
- School of Psychology, University of Sunderland
| | - Justin Sulik
- Cognition, Values & Behavior, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
| | - Louise Creechan
- Department of English Studies and Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University
| | | | - Inika Murkumbi
- Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge
| | | | | | - Judy S Kim
- University Center for Human Values, Princeton University
| | - Konrad Kording
- Departments of Neuroscience and Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania and CIFAR
| | - Julie J Lee
- Department of Psychology, New York University
| | | | | | - Jan P Röer
- Department for Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University
| | - Talia Morstead
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia
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Newcombe NS, Hegarty M, Uttal D. Building a Cognitive Science of Human Variation: Individual Differences in Spatial Navigation. Top Cogn Sci 2023; 15:6-14. [PMID: 36203368 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this issue is to take stock of cognitive science of human variation in the field of spatial navigation, an important domain in which debates have often assumed an invariant human mind. Addressing the challenge of individual differences requires cognitive scientists to change their practices in several ways. First, we need to consider how to design measures and paradigms that have adequate psychometric characteristics. Second, using reliable, efficient, and valid measures, we need to examine how people vary from time to time, both in the short run due to emotions, such as stress or time pressure, and in the longer run, due to training or living in physical environments that require wayfinding skills. Third, we need to study people different from the traditional college participants, including variations in age, gender, education, culture, physical environment, and possible interactions among these variables.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mary Hegarty
- Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California at Santa Barbara
| | - David Uttal
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University
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Consideration of culture in cognition: How we can enrich methodology and theory. Psychon Bull Rev 2022:10.3758/s13423-022-02227-5. [PMID: 36510095 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-022-02227-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
In this paper, we argue that adopting an inclusive approach where diverse cultures are represented in research is of prime importance for cognitive psychology. The overrepresentation of participant samples and researchers from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) cultures limits the generalizability of findings and fails to capture potential sources of variability, impeding understanding of human cognition. In an analysis of articles in representative cognitive psychology journals over the five-year period of 2016-2020, we find that only approximately 7% of articles consider culture, broadly defined. Of these articles, a majority (83%) focus on language or bilingualism, with small numbers of articles considering other aspects of culture. We argue that methodology and theory developed in the last century of cognitive research not only can be leveraged, but will be enriched by greater diversity in both populations and researchers. Such advances pave the way to uncover cognitive processes that may be universal or systematically differ as a function of cultural variations, and the individual differences in relation to cultural variations. To make a case for broadening this scope, we characterize relevant cross-cultural research, sample classic cognitive research that is congruent with such an approach, and discuss compatibility between a cross-cultural perspective and the classic tenets of cognitive psychology. We make recommendations for large and small steps for the field to incorporate greater cultural representation in the study of cognition, while recognizing the challenges associated with these efforts and acknowledging that not every research question calls for a cross-cultural perspective.
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Lewis NA. What would make cognitive science more useful? Trends Cogn Sci 2022; 26:1038-1039. [PMID: 36207262 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
What would make cognitive science more useful? In this essay, I argue that the cognitive sciences could advance theories and be more useful to society if they devoted more effort to conducting research in ways that include a more diverse set of participants and stakeholders than they have historically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil A Lewis
- Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA; Division of General Internal Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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