Personal and Social Factors in Achievement-Related Cognition: A Study of Attribution,Appraisal, and Emotion among University Students in Delhi

In recent years, achievement-related cognition and emotion have received a lot of attention from all sections of researchers. A number of researchers have tried to empirically study the determinants and consequences of achievement-related cognition. The explanations given range between individualistic explanations and sociocultural explanations. It is believed that both personal and social factors interact together in bringing about variations in achievement-related cognition and emotion. It is widely accepted that there are variations in human behavior, which are generally believed to be the result of generation-old cultural changes. Cultural factors are believed to exert influence on human behavior and psyche. When one talks about culture, it is mostly treated as a homogeneous entity. Variations within cultures and intra-cultural differences due to various social factors are largely ignored. Researchers world over have started believing in the fact that exposure not only to varying cultural conditions but also to different social factors affects individuals’ psychological functioning. Present research is directed towards exploring variations in achievement-related cognition and emotion due to personal and social factors. Eighty students from a university in Delhi participated in the research. The personal factor of self-construal and social factors like gender, social setting, perceived social class, and family were taken into account. Findings of the study corroborated the hypothesis that both personal and social factors have an impact on achievement-related cognition and emotion.     

Individual differences,aging, and IQ in two-choice tasks

The effects of aging and IQ on performance were examined in three two-choice tasks: numerosity discrimination, recognition memory, and lexical decision. The experimental data, accuracy, correct and error response times, and response time distributions, were well explained by Ratcliff’s (1978) diffusion model. The components of processing identified by the model were compared across levels of IQ (ranging from 83 to 146) and age (college students, 60–74, and 75–90 year olds). Declines in performance with age were not significantly different for low compared to high IQ subjects. IQ but not age had large effects on the quality of the evidence that was obtained from a stimulus or memory, that is, the evidence upon which decisions were based. Applying the model to individual subjects, the components of processing identified by the model for individuals correlated across tasks. In addition, the model’s predictions and the data were examined for the “worst performance rule”, the finding that age and IQ have larger effects on slower responses than faster responses.     

The Influence of Hero and Villain Labels on the Perception of Vice and Virtue Products

The placement of heroes and villains is ubiquitous on labels and packages in the marketplace. In this research, we examine the influence of a hero versus a villain label on the preference for virtue versus vice products. Across seven laboratory and field studies, we find that consumers derive higher utility for a hero (villain) label with a vice (virtue) food than from a hero (villain) label with a virtue (vice) food. Relying on a coherence‐based explanation, we propose that a hero label adds a beneficial aspect to vice foods, making them appear less harmful, whereas a villain label adds an edgy aspect to virtue foods, making them appear more fun. This research provides insights into the effect of hero and villain branding and offers implications for marketing strategy and public policy.     

Ecology,language, and performance on spatial cognitive tasks

The study of the orientation systems that people use in different cultures to describe the location of objects in space has drawn some interest of researchers in the fields of anthropology, psycholinguistics, and cognitive psychology. There has been a rethinking of the “linguistic relativity hypothesis,” and some empirical studies tend to support the notion that language is the major determinant of encoding and cognitive performance on spatial tasks. This paper reports a cross‐cultural study carried out with 545 children aged 4 to 14 years, both schooled and unschooled, in India and Nepal. The field sites were selected taking into consideration how reference to spatial locations is organized in the language as well as in the local cultural practices. In a village near Varanansi in India, people organize spatial locations mainly with reference to cardinal directions, but in the city of Varanasi, relative references are also used, although people in both the locations speak the same language (i.e., Hindi). In a village in Nepal, on the other hand, the “uphill‐downhill” geocentric frame of reference is the most compelling. We test the relationship between ecology, culture, and language, encoding of spatial information, and performance on some Piagetian spatial tasks, taking age and schooling into account. Berry's eco‐cultural model is used to discuss the findings that support linguistic relativism at the group but not at the individual level. Les systèmes d'orientation spatiale utilisés dans différentes sociétés pour décrire la localisation d'objets ont attiré L'attention de chercheurs en anthropologie, en psycholinguistique et en psychologie cognitive. L'hypothèse du relativisme linguistique a été remise à L'ordre du jour et des études empiriques ont montré que la langue était un déterminant majeur de L'encodage spatial et de la performance à des épreuves de cognition spatiale. Cet article porte sur une étude interculturelle comparative effectuée avec 545 enfants de 4 à 14 ans, scolarisés ou non, en Inde et au Népal. Les trois terrains ont été sélectionnés en tenant compte de la façon dont les références spatiales sont organisées aussi bien dans la langue que dans les pratiques culturelles locales. Dans un village près de Bénares, en Inde, les objets sont localisés selon les points cardinaux, alors que dans la ville de Bénares, des références relatives (droite, gauche, devant, derrière) sont également utilisées, alors que la langue parlée est la même (le Hindi). Dans un village au Népal, le système spatial le plus utilisé est un cadre de référence géocentrique formé par L'opposition «en haut vers la montagne/en bas vers la vallée». Nous étudions les relations entre L'écologie, la culture et la langue, L'encodage d'informations spatiales et la performance à des épreuves spatiales dérivées de la théorie de Piaget, en tenant compte de L'âge et de la scolarisation. Le modèle éco‐culturel de Berry est utilisé comme cadre théorique pour mettre en perspective les résultats, qui confirment le relativisme linguistique au niveau du groupe mais pas au niveau individuel. El estudio de los sistemas de orientación espacial utilizados en diversas culturas para describir la localización de los objetos ha atraído la atención de los investigadores en antropología, psicolingüística y psicología cognitiva. A partir de una renovación de la hipótesis del relativismo lingüístico, algunos estudios empíricos parecen apoyar la noción de que el lenguaje es el determinante más importante de la codificación y el desempeño cognitivo en tareas espaciales. El presente artículo informa sobre un estudio transcultural comparativo, efectuado con 545 niños de 4 a 14 años, escolarizados o no, urbanos y rurales, en India y en Nepal. Los sitios en donde se llevó a cabo el trabajo de campo se seleccionaron tomando en cuenta la forma en que se hace referencia a localizaciones espaciales en la lengua y en las prácticas culturales. En un pueblo de las planicies del Ganges, los habitantes organizan el espacio de manera geocéntrica, según los puntos cardinales, mientras que en la ciudad de Benares, también se utilizan referencias relativas (izquierda/derecha), aún cuando la lengua es la misma (el hindú). En un pueblo de Nepal, el cuadro de referencia geocéntrica “arriba/abajo” es predominante. El presente estudio examinó las relaciones entre la ecología, la cultura, la lengua, la codificación de la información espacial y el desempeño en algunas tareas espaciales de Piaget, teniendo en cuenta la edad y la escolarización. Este estudio está basado en el marco teórico eco‐cultural de Berry. Los resultados confirman una forma moderada de relativismo lingüístico a nivel grupal, más no así a nivel individual.     

Gender Differences in Gratitude: Examining Appraisals, Narratives, the Willingness to Express Emotions, and Changes in Psychological Needs

ABSTRACT Previous work suggests women might possess an advantage over men in experiencing and benefiting from gratitude. We examined whether women perceive and react to gratitude differently than men. In Study 1 , women, compared with men, evaluated gratitude expression to be less complex, uncertain, conflicting, and more interesting and exciting. In Study 2 , college students and older adults described and evaluated a recent episode when they received a gift. Women, compared with men, reported less burden and obligation and greater gratitude. Upon gift receipt, older men reported the least positive affect when their benefactors were men. In Studies 2 and 3, women endorsed higher trait gratitude compared with men. In Study 3, over 3 months, women with greater gratitude were more likely to satisfy needs to belong and feel autonomous; gratitude had the opposite effect in men. The willingness to openly express emotions partially mediated gender differences, and effects could not be attributed to global trait affect. Results demonstrated that men were less likely to feel and express gratitude, made more critical evaluations of gratitude, and derived fewer benefits. Implications for the study and therapeutic enhancement of gratitude are discussed.     

The perceived vulnerability to disease scale: Cross-cultural measurement invariance and associations with fear of COVID-19 across 16 countries

Using cross-sectional data from N = 4274 young adults across 16 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examined the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD) scale and tested the hypothesis that the association between PVD and fear of COVID-19 is stronger under high disease threat [that is, absence of COVID-19 vaccination, living in a country with lower Human Development Index (HDI) or higher COVID-19 mortality]. Results supported a bi-factor Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling model where items loaded on a global PVD factor, and on the sub-factors of Perceived Infectability and Germ Aversion. However, cross-national invariance could only be obtained on the configural level with a reduced version of the PVD scale (PVD-r), suggesting that the concept of PVD may vary across nations. Moreover, higher PVD-r was consistently associated with greater fear of COVID-19 across all levels of disease threat, but this association was especially pronounced among individuals with a COVID-19 vaccine, and in contexts where COVID-19 mortality was high. The present research brought clarity into the dimensionality of the PVD measure, discussed its suitability and limitations for cross-cultural research, and highlighted the pandemic-related conditions under which higher PVD is most likely to go along with psychologically maladaptive outcomes, such as fear of COVID-19.     

On the time course of exogenous cueing effects in bilinguals: higher proficiency in a second language is associated with more rapid endogenous disengagement

Previous investigations have demonstrated a bilingual advantage on various aspects of executive control. It remains unclear how the language proficiency of bilinguals might relate to the mechanisms involved in attentional disengagement. In the present investigation, we tested the hypothesis that high bilingual proficiency would lead to a more rapid endogenous disengagement of attention from task-irrelevant peripheral cues. We predicted that more rapid attentional disengagement would result in an earlier appearance of inhibition of return (IOR). In this study Hindi-English bilinguals who differed in their L2 (English) proficiency participated in a target detection task. Visual targets were preceded by uninformative peripheral cues at various stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) allowing for us to visualize the time course of cue-related facilitation and inhibition. High-proficient Hindi-English bilinguals showed an earlier appearance of IOR than did low-proficient bilinguals, suggesting increased efficiency in disengagement of attention from task-irrelevant inputs. Furthermore, consistent with the "global" advantage that characterizes bilinguals in many tasks, the high-proficient group outperformed low-proficient bilinguals in overall reaction time.     

Piagetian Studies of Cognitive Development in India

The paper presents a review of studies on cognitive development of children in India inspired by Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Piaget’s theory is briefly introduced before examining its cross-cultural applications. Early studies of cognitive development, which focus on age-related changes in cognition, are described. These are followed by the studies of the last decades in which developmental contexts, such as those provided by ecology, culture, schooling, and various forms of training, are implicated. Studies of spatial cognition are discussed in some detail and points of convergence between findings of Indian studies and those reported by Piaget are critically examined. The issue of “performance” vs. “competence” is addressed and research evidence that considers performance difference as a matter of cognitive style is presented. Possible reasons for decline of research interest in Piagetian studies in recent years is examined and suggestion for future studies in this field are offered.     

Downsizing and Supersizing: How Changes in Product Attributes Influence Consumer Preferences

This paper investigates how changing the value of one attribute while keeping other attributes constant influences consumers' judgments and behaviors. We find that in two options, a proportionally equal change in one attribute tilts people's preference toward the option with higher (or lower) absolute magnitude of change when the change is desirable (or undesirable). We propose that when individuals face an attribute change, they use a deliberative and effortful response, known as System 2, to detect the change. However, they rely less on this system to evaluate the changed options. Instead, a more automatic System 1 processing influences their decision by making them apply the bigger‐is‐better heuristic (bigger‐is‐worse for an undesirable change) to prefer the option with the highest (lowest) absolute magnitude of change. Six studies demonstrate this phenomenon in both lab and real settings and support our hypothesis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.