Developing cognitive complexity from the expatriate experience

The quest to identify factors responsible for efficient and effective organisation behaviour has led to the growth of a body of literature known as leadership research, and a recurring theme of interest include that of leadership attributes. This study aims to make a contribution to this area of work by providing a profile on the cognitive disposition of "cognitive complexity" of a group of pre-service recreation managers. Garder (1986) made the distinction between "leader managers" and "routine managers" by asserting that the former possess qualities which allow them to exhibit what Bass (1985) calls "Transformational Leadership". For some years, leadership research has been trying to produce explanatory accounts for efficient and effective leadership behaviours and it appears that a more recent theory of its kind is the transformational leadership theory proposed by Bass (1985). Hater and Bass (1988) suggested that transformational leaders should exhibit superior performance ability in making judgement, decisions, and analysis. Kotter (1990) further added that the ability to "gather a broad range of data and look for patterns, relationships, and linkages that help explain things" (p. 104) is one important but basic element for becoming an exceptional leader. Given that these are the behavioural outcomes of "manager leaders", a question of interest would be to identify the cognitive dispositions responsible for these overt behaviours. Cognitive complexity, a cognitive disposition, has been defined as a person's "capacity to construe social behaviour in a multidimensional way" (Bieri, Atkins, Briar, Leaman, Miller, & Tripodi, 1975, p. 185). This suggests that level of cognitive complexity may have a bearing on a person's ability to process multidimensional information such that a cognitively more complex person may have a more differentiated perception of a person, object, or situation than a cognitively less complex person. Within these premises, it could be argued that level of cognitive complexity, acting as a mediator in the input-output process of cognitive functions, may also influence an individual's cognitive outcomes. In fact, this contention finds support in previous studies such as those by Tripodi and Bieri (1964), Hale (1980) and Kishor (1990) which had identified a positive relationship between level of cognitive complexity and superior cognitive outcomes. In a more recent study, Spengler and Strohmer (1994) compared high and low scorers of a cognitive complexity test and found that individuals with lower cognitive complexity scores were more likely to form biased judgements. Given the influence of cognitive complexity in making judgements and appraisals and the administrative challenges faced by today's recreation managers, the need to preview the status of this cognitive disposition among future recreation leaders is tempting. For a practical and application viewpoint, information from this study might provide some insight into impending programme needs and directions for future foci. (Abstract taken from Introduction)

Gender differences in performance on mathematics items: Evidence from the United States and Thailand

This study examined the relationship between basic counselor skills training and cognitive complexity levels in counseling trainees. Data from graduate counseling trainees enrolled in basic skills training courses and a control group were collected (N = 72). Cognitive complexity levels were measured using the traditional 2‐person form of the Role Category Questionnaire (B. R. Burleson & M. S. Waltman) in a pre‐ and posttest design. Participants exposed to the basic skills training course showed a significantly higher cognitive complexity level than the control group when posttest means were compared.

Cognitive complexity is traditionally used for describing human cognition along a simplicity-complexity axis in tests like TOFEL IBT and GRE where text creation and rhetorical organization are quintessentially important. Accordingly, this study sought to investigate the impact of mentor text modelling on cognitive complexity of academic writing tasks in terms of students’ responses to the test inputs. For this purpose, from the population of applicants applying for various high stake exams at Jihahde Daneshgahi, Isfahan University, three intact classes were selected based on a convenient sampling method. The students, both male and female, were graduates from various majors in applied sciences whose age range was between 24 and 29 and they had all passed the preparatory classes required for attending academic writing courses. Each targeted class with twenty-five applicants was concurrently programmed for three writing tasks with various cognitive complexity levels: Independent, integrated, and analytical. The classes, a total of 75 EFL learners, were randomly assigned to three equal groups labeled as product based (PBG), process based (PRBG), and mentor text modeling (MTMG) respectively. Employing a posttest only quasi-experimental design, learners in the three groups received their instruction on advanced writing during a sixteen session course. The learners in each group were taught based on the selected writing approaches. At the end of the treatment, the learners' writing performance was assessed on test tasks within the pre-specified time and word limits by utilizing a relevant posttest. Data analysis reflected that mentor text modeling enjoyed a potentially higher pedagogical efficacy since the learners in the MTM experimental sample performed better in terms of both accuracy and fluency compared with the groups receiving their writing instruction through either product or process based approaches. Notably, the findings revealed that mentor text modeling is a functionally dependable resource for managing writing tasks cognitive complexity and neutralizing the trade-off effect between accuracy and fluency by offering insightful pedagogical hints to EFL teachers, test takers, and writing material developers who have always had a hard time calibrating writing accuracy and fluency in high stake exams.

Using the perspective of instructional conversation, we investigated how one teacher regulated student participation and conceptual reasoning in the middle-school mathematics classroom. We examined the elicitations—questions and provocative statements—made by the teacher over a four-day algebra lesson. Analyses showed how the teacher systematically regulated the level of cognitive complexity of his elicitations in reaction to students' responses. When students gave inaccurate or incomplete answers, the teacher tended to reduce the level of cognitive complexity needed to respond to a subsequent elicitation, with the apparent impact being that he scaffolded participation and reasoning. When students provided responses that were mathematically accurate, the teacher usually increased the elicitation level, which subsequently engaged students in more sophisticated forms of reasoning.

Ensuring the quality and consistency of exam questions administered in pre-clerkship medical education is essential to the effective evaluation of first year medical students' foundational knowledge and readiness for advanced study. Based on the premise that early stage medical students are highly intelligent and motivated, we tested the hypothesis that poor performance on exam questions early in the medical education process reflected flaws in the instructional and/or assessment processes rather than student deficits. To validate this assumption, we employed a three-pronged, year-over-year longitudinal assessment model aimed at systematically improving the quality of exam questions for first-year students in the Musculoskeletal and Integument Module of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) pre-clerkship curriculum. We focused on three key aspects in evaluating our summative exam questions: (1) comprehensive item analysis to ensure question reliability, validity, and an appropriate level of cognitive complexity; (2) troubleshooting sessions with teaching faculty and course directors to ensure instructional content and learning objectives maintained alignment with the exam questions under review; and (3) targeted use of formative knowledge check questions aimed at directing student mastery of relevant instructional content. Year-over-year longitudinal tracking of item performance analyzing metrics such as item difficulty, discrimination indices, and response patterns allowed us to identify inconsistencies between intended instructional delivery and student learning outcomes. The identification of questions that consistently underperformed facilitated targeted question review sessions that provided faculty the opportunity to analyze the clarity of question phrasing and content and to ensure alignment with their intended instructional content. Following item analysis and faculty review, we ascertained if the problem lay with the writing of the exam questions, the alignment of instructional content to exam questions, or insufficient instructional focus on the content. With respect to the latter, we also sought to determine if students would benefit from re-exposure to the information via formative knowledge check questions accompanied by detailed explanations. Question remediation targeting each of these aspects proved to be successful in improving performance in the subsequent year’s exams, with the use formative knowledge check questions proving to be especially effective. This year-over-year improvement in item performance confirmed an enhancement of student mastery, supporting the benefits of taking a dynamic longitudinal approach to evaluation of first year medical school assessments. Disclaimer: The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences or the Department of Defense. Uniformed Services University School of Medicine This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.

This paper outlines how the focus on how communicative signals might emerge and how the capacity to interpret them might develop, does not yet explain what type of motivation is required to actually deal with those signals. Without the consistent production of appropriate responses to the production of communicative signals, there would be no point in producing any signal. If language is a tool to accomplish things with others, we need to understand what would lead to cooperation. The first step consists in avoiding the blind belief that all cooperation requires some prosocial attitude. A great deal of cooperation can occur while each participant in the interaction is selfishly attempting to maximize their own benefits or minimizing damaging consequences.I describe how different types of turn-taking can be achieved via different levels of cognitive complexity and how interpretive turn-taking requires a great deal of cognitive abilities that great apes possess. Finally, I provide empirical evidence of social manipulation in non-human primates. Given our awareness of the occurrence of social manipulation during cooperation among human adults, it seems necessary to reconsider to what degree human communication and language evolution require unique prosocial motivations.

To investigate central processing time in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy and Parkinson's disease, reaction times were measured using tasks with different levels of cognitive complexity but with the same motor response. In patients with Parkinson's disease, the additional central processing time required for more complex situations was no different from that in control subjects, suggesting that cognitive aspects of the reaction time procedures tested were possibly too simple to reveal a slowing of thought processes in these patients. Conversely, the central processing time was increased in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy compared with both Parkinson's disease and control subjects. The increase was associated with impairment in frontal lobe test performance. These results confirm that a slowing of central processing is a prominent feature of the cognitive disturbances of progressive supranuclear palsy and, furthermore, suggest that this slowing may be related to striatofrontal dysfunction.

Background:The association of cognitive and motor impairments in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases is thought to be related to damage in the common brain networks shared by cognitive and cortical motor control processes. These common brain networks play a pivotal role in selecting movements and postural synergies that meet an individual’s needs. Pathology in this “highest level” of motor control produces abnormalities of gait and posture referred to as highest-level gait disorders. Impairments in cognition and mobility, including falls, are present in almost all neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting common mechanisms that still need to be unraveled.Objective:To identify motor-cognitive profiles across neurodegenerative diseases in a large cohort of patients.Methods:Cohort study that includes up to 500 participants, followed every year for three years, across five neurodegenerative disease groups: Alzheimer’s disease/mild cognitive impairment, frontotemporal degeneration, vascular cognitive impairment, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. Gait and balance will be assessed using accelerometers and electronic walkways, evaluated at different levels of cognitive and sensory complexity, using the dual-task paradigm.Results:Comparison of cognitive and motor performances across neurodegenerative groups will allow the identification of motor-cognitive phenotypes through the standardized evaluation of gait and balance characteristics.Conclusions:As part of the Ontario Neurodegenerative Research Initiative (ONDRI), the gait and balance platform aims to identify motor-cognitive profiles across neurodegenerative diseases. Gait assessment, particularly while dual-tasking, will help dissect the cognitive and motor contribution in mobility and cognitive decline, progression to dementia syndromes, and future adverse outcomes including falls and mortality.

Rationalist explanations of foreign policy change are underdetermined because they overlook the decision-makers themselves. Insight from cognitive psychology shows that individuals’ cognitive structures provide a useful lens through which to understand why some people are more likely than others to change their core beliefs. Two related cognitive variables – cognitive openness and cognitive complexity – hold promise for enhancing extant explanations of foreign policy change. This article assesses the cognitive structure of the three leaders who dominated Israeli decision-making in the decade leading up to Israel’s dramatic policy change vis-à-vis the PLO in 1993: Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. The article demonstrates that Peres, who is found to be the most cognitively open and complex, was quicker to embrace a dialogue with the PLO than Rabin, while Shamir, who is found to hold the lowest levels of openness and complexity, rejected this move altogether. Peres, and to a lesser extent Rabin, proved to be more sensitive to international, regional and domestic changes than Shamir. This case illustrates that systemic-structural and domestic political factors are necessary, but insufficient, conditions for foreign policy change. The levels of decision-makers’ cognitive openness and complexity are key to determining the likelihood that they will change their beliefs on a core policy issue that can, in turn, lead to foreign policy change. This article thus contributes to our understanding of both foreign policy change and the process leading up to the historic 1993 agreement between Israel and the PLO.

Individuals with Huntington disease (HD) experience progressive cognitive decline that may appear years before motor manifestations of the disease. These declines have a profound effect on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) over the disease course, and thus it is important that self-report measures of cognitive function are validated for use in longitudinal studies. 359 individuals with premanifest or manifest HD completed baseline and at least one follow-up (12- and 24-month) assessment. Neuro-QoL™ Cognitive Function was administered at each time-point. Participants completed a self-reported global rating of cognitive change, as well as performance-based cognitive changes (using the Symbol Digit Modalities Test). Standardized response means (SRMs) and general linear models evaluated whether Neuro-QoL™ Cognitive Function was responsive to change over time with respect to self-reported and performance-based anchors. Test-retest reliability and known-group validity were also examined. Responsiveness was supported by effect sizes that were small in magnitude, but in the expected direction relative to self-reported and performance-based change. General linear models generally supported 12- and 24-month responsiveness relative to self-reported cognitive change and 12-month responsiveness relative to performance-based change. Test-retest reliability was excellent, and the measure exhibited known-group validity. Longitudinal analyses generally indicate that the Neuro-QoL™ Cognitive Function measure is sensitive to change over time in individuals with HD. Neuro-QoL Cognitive Function changes reflect self-reported cognitive change at 12 and 24 months and performance-based change at 12 months. This measure may be useful in clinical trials or longitudinal observation studies.

Goal: The purpose of this study is to present a method to quantitatively identify the levels of stress of employees during work using the technology of smart watches with sensors measuring vital signs and, from this data, deepen the discussion on the relationships between the levels of physical and cognitive complexity of the activities and their influence on the stress resulting from these works. Theoretical reference: Use of literature through research on similar methods already applied in immersive training, dissertations, articles, and national standards. For this purpose, the Systematic Bibliographic Review (SBR) was used, which is “a scientific method for searching and analyzing articles in a given area of ​​science”. Method: To achieve the objectives proposed in this work, a methodology with ten steps was developed. Four different workstations of an optical connector assembly company were selected to assess the stress levels of assemblers, using smart watch sensors, during their work activities. The workstations were evaluated for their physical load, through ergonomic analysis and for their cognitive load, through mental load classification. All data were statistically correlated. Results and conclusion: Based on the statistical analysis of the data, it can be seen that the higher the level of complexity, the higher the average levels of stress presented. There is a direct influence on the level of stress and activities with greater complexity and related to physical (ergonomic) demands. The level of demand for carrying out activities, motivated by skills, rules and knowledge, mainly because they are related to decision-making, is related to the stress levels of employees, and can thus directly affect their mental health. Research implications: Through the results presented, we realized that reducing the demands of decision and reasoning during the activities requested at work, the company will be able to promote a reduction of the possible levels of stress of its employees, if this action does not impact on the reduction of their motivation for work. Originality/Value: The method presented in this article differs from the others by comparing the different physical and mental demands with the stress levels measured with the use of smart watches during the activities of assembly line workers. It can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of an activity alternation approach, such as rotation, which can have a positive impact not only to minimize physical overloads but also to reduce levels of mental stress at work.

Research Summary Distinctiveness is an essential element of crafts. Building on optimal distinctiveness theory, we examine the relationship between craft‐based ventures, distinctiveness, and crowdfunding performance. Using a sample of 10,915 craft campaigns and 429,290 non‐craft campaigns, we find that craft‐based campaigns have higher distinctiveness but realize lower success through distinctiveness. Additionally, craft‐based campaigns with a higher risk index have lower distinctiveness, those with higher strategy breadth have higher distinctiveness, and those with lower cognitive complexity have higher distinctiveness. The findings have implications for crafts‐based entrepreneurs in leveraging distinctiveness and the value of lowering perceptions of distinctiveness through elements of strategic entrepreneurship—strategy breadth and cognitive complexity. Managerial Summary Our study aids craft‐based entrepreneurs in presenting their ventures in crowdfunding contexts. We find that increasing the distinctiveness of craft‐based ventures results in lower crowdfunding campaign performance. Additionally, our results indicate that craft‐based campaigns that have higher risk have lower levels of distinctiveness. Conversely, we find that craft‐based campaigns with higher levels of strategic breadth and lower levels of cognitive complexity exhibit higher levels of distinctiveness. These findings have important implications regarding best practices related to how craft‐based entrepreneurs can best present their ventures within crowdfunding contexts. Specifically, our results indicate that craft‐based ventures can realize better crowdfunding performance via lower levels of distinctiveness within their campaigns.

The purpose of this paper is to compare how peer learning and problem-solving skills are applied on two information problems with differing levels of cognitive complexity. We analysed how 49 high school students solved two information problems with differing levels of complexity which involved selecting and interpreting information. The results show that in the more cognitively complex task, the pairs of students showed higher performance levels in the information search, browsing and development skills. Plus, they also achieved higher levels of shared knowledge construction. However, the information scanning and presenting skills did not show higher performance levels. These results may contribute to improving the teaching of the information processing competence in secondary education.

The paper presents the results of a study of the functional state evaluations of the brain during auditory perception. The subjects listened 60 questions with different linguistic characteristics, taken from polygraph database templates, and answered to them. This characteristics: is the number of different types of words, the percentage of words from different parts of speech, the number of negations, the presence of forms of personal pronouns and their place in the question, the number of letters, the percentage of vowels, the position of intonational stress. As psychological characteristics that affect the functional state of the brain, the following were measured: verbal intelligence according to the R.Amthauer’s test, personal and situational anxiety according to the Spielberger — Khanin test. To measure the functional state of the brain, a 19-channel EEG was recorded in the 10–20% system. The functional state of the brain was assessed by calculating the fractal dimension of the EEG using the method. The sample consisted of students and employees of a number of educational institutions in St Petersburg, 9 men and 8 women aged 19 to 59 years. An analysis of the experimental data made it possible to confirm the hypothesis about the influence of the measured questionnaire characteristics, the linguistic characteristics of the questions, and the psychological characteristics of the subjects on the fractal dimension of the EEG. EEG analysis in various leads revealed two EEG “complexity” factors related to the frontal and occipital areas of the brain. A regression model was obtained for assessing the cognitive complexity of a particular test question, which is reflected in the complexity of the EEG curve of the subject perceiving this question. The resulting model allows you to select questions for psychophysiological examination that have the required level of cognitive complexity. The results of the work testify to the importance of such an indicator as the fractal dimension of the EEG for studying the functional state of the brain and its dependence both on the personal and biological characteristics of a person, and on the emotional state and complexity of the information received by the analyzers.