Using Cognitive Mapping to Study the Relationship between News Exposure and Cognitive Complexity

Research indicates that ratee job experience and performance variability can affect performance judgments and causal attributions (Leventhal et al., 1977; Fusilier & Hitt, 1983; Scott & Hammer, 1975). When prototype expectations concerning ratee characteristics are not met, raters reacting to the cognitive inconsistency may distort ratee performance information (DeNisi, Cafferty, & Meglino, 1984). Because cognitively complex raters view behavior in a multidimensional manner (Schneier, 1977), not through a simplified schemata, cognitive complexity's possible effect on rating accuracy under cognitively inconsistent conditions was investigated. In an initial pilot study, 147 undergraduate volunteers rated the expected performance variability of a professor with either zero, five, or ten years of experience. Experiment 1 utilized a Ratee Experience $\times$ Ratee Performance Variability $\times$ Rater Cognitive Complexity regression design. One-hundred-thirty-five undergraduate volunteers completed three cognitive complexity measures, six vignettes, six BARS, an attribution questionnaire, and a manipulation check questionnaire. Experiment 2 used a similar design with videotaped rating stimuli (three lectures) to replicate Experiment 1. The pilot study showed that subjects expect only inexperienced professors to have variable performance. Overall rating accuracy was lowest in the moderate variability condition and in the high experience condition. Accuracy component analyses (Cronbach, 1955) indicated that more variable performance was rated more accurately. Further, marginal evidence suggested that higher cognitive complexity is somewhat associated with greater differential elevation accuracy when experienced ratees have variable performance. Also, effort and chance attributions were strongest in the moderate experience condition. In Experiment 2, highly experienced ratees and those with moderate variability were rated more accurately than others. Cognitive complexity was not helpful to rating accuracy. In one case, it was associated with more underrating of highly experienced, highly variable ratees. General support was found for the contention that prototype expectations exist and affect rating accuracy. Very limited support was gained for cognitive complexity as a useful rater characteristic. In consistent experimental findings are discussed in terms of the salience of performance variability and cognitive processing of information. Implications for training raters to observe multiple performance dimensions and attend to the possible biasing affects of ratee characteristics are also discussed.

Chapter 5 examines judges’ writing style variation over time. It focuses on the cognitive complexity, linguistic tone, and length of judges’ opinions. The chapter’s empirical analysis leverages the text of approximately 429,000 opinions written by courts of appeals judges from 1924 to 2019. The empirical results show that, as judges age, their opinions change in several ways. Declining abilities to reason result in opinions that are less cognitively complex and shorter in length. The readability of aged opinions is also reduced, as manifested in longer sentences. Consistent with theoretical expectations, older judges’ opinions are less emotional overall. Last, the results suggest older judges write opinions that are more inconsistent in their cognitive complexity than opinions authored by younger judges.

Colleges around the country have adopted technology tools to simplify planning and registration processes and provide interventions to support students’ timely completion. However, there is little evidence of these tools’ efficacy in improving student progression and completion (c.f., Rossman et al., 2021; Velasco et al., 2020). The minimal impact of advising and planning technologies on student success is amplified among institutions supporting the students who make up the new majority of postsecondary learners—those who are Black, Latine, Indigenous, and/or low-income (BLI/LI). One possible reason for this is that such tools were not designed with the needs of this population in mind. Using process map and focus group data from students at two broad-access universities, coupled with interview data from institutional stakeholders, this study interrogates the ways that BLI/LI students engage in academic planning. We find that this process is more cognitively complex and nuanced than is typically acknowledged; program planning tools do not include the information BLI/LI students require; and low-income college students are particularly disadvantaged by these tools. As such, we find support for the hypothesis that current tools’ efficacy is muted because they do not center the needs of BLI/LI students in their design.

Two experiments were conducted to test hypotheses derived from complexity theory regarding the interactive effect of situational variables and cognitive complexity of a communicator on the informational value of written communications. Complexity theory suggests that cognitively complex encoders, utilizing more dimensions of judgment in recognizing differences, are better able than cognitively simple encoders to distinguish the intended meaning of a communication from all competing, but inaccurate interpretations. Further, evidence exists which indicates that affective bias toward the referent of communication may lessen differences due to cognitive complexity. Much controversy has developed over the specific form of the interaction effect. Results of the experiments indicate that the superiority of cognitively complex encoders over cognitively simple ones is not limited by affective stimulus valence.

Informed by the cognition hypothesis (Robinson, 2011), recent studies indicate that more cognitively complex tasks can result in better incorporation of feedback during interaction and, as a consequence, more learning. It is not known, however, how task complexity and feedback work together in computerized environments. The present study addressed this gap by investigating how cognitive complexity in face-to-face (FTF) versus computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments mediates the efficacy of recasts in promoting second language development. Eighty-four adult learners of Spanish as a foreign language at a mid-Atlantic university were randomly assigned to a control group or one of four experimental groups. The experimental groups engaged in one-on-one interaction and received recasts on the Spanish past subjunctive but differed according to (a) whether or not they had to reflect on another person’s intentional reasons during the task and (b) whether they interacted in FTF or CMC environments. Learning was measured with two production tasks and a multiple-choice receptive test in a Pretest-Posttest 1-Posttest 2 design. Results revealed that in the FTF mode, performing the cognitively complex task while receiving recasts led to the most learning. In the CMC mode, the cognitively complex task + recasts was not effective. Instead, the cognitively simple task led to the most development in CMC. The study also found that judgments of time on task were the only independent measure of cognitive complexity that held across mode.

The acquisition order of coherence relations: On cognitive complexity in discourse

Numerosity and Cognitive Complexity as Moderators of the Medium Effect

This paper presents the findings of a mail survey distributed to franchisees in two Ontario cities. This was a follow-up study to one conducted on franchisees in five Ontario cities in 1989. The purpose of the study was to look more fully at personality and attitudinal variables affecting franchisees' job-involvement levels. The three psychographic variables of Type “A” Behaviour, Innovativeness, and Cognitive Complexity appeared to be key predictors in defining franchisees' job-involvement levels, the findings further showed that the franchisees were job-involved, moderate Type ‘A’s, with innovative and cognitively complex profiles.

The present paper focuses on the acquisition of L2 constructions for the expression of motion from a typological (Cadierno, 2008; Talmy, 1985, 1991, 2000) and a psycholinguistic perspective with implications for pedagogy (Robinson, 2003a, 2007; Robinson & Gilabert, 2007a, 2007b). Specifically, we report the results of a cross-linguistic study which examined the extent to which the manipulation of pedagogic tasks in terms of cognitive complexity can facilitate the development of target-like lexicalization patterns and appropriate L2 ways of thinking-for-speaking for the expression of motion by adult L2 learners with typologically similar and typologically different L1s and L2s, i.e., Danish vs. Japanese L1 learners of English. The results of the study show that level of L2 proficiency, assessed using a cloze test, predicts more target-like reference to L2 motion across both L1 groups. Typological similarity between the L1 (Danish) and L2 (English) results in greater use of motion constructions incorporating mention of ground of motion compared to their use by Japanese L1 speakers. More cognitively complex tasks lead to production of more target-like lexicalization patterns, but also only for speakers of the typologically similar L1, Danish.

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.

News recommending systems (NRSs) are algorithmic tools that filter incoming streams of information according to the users’ preferences or point them to additional items of interest. In today’s high-choice media environment, attention shifts easily between platforms and news sites and is greatly affected by algorithmic technologies; news personalization is increasingly used by news media to woo and retain users’ attention and loyalty. The present study examines the implementation of a news recommender algorithm in a leading news media organization on the basis of observation of the recommender system’s outputs. Drawing on an experimental design employing the ‘algorithmic audit’ method, and more specifically the ‘collaborative audit’ which entails utilizing users as testers of algorithmic systems, we analyze the composition of the personalized MyNews area in terms of accuracy and user engagement. Premised on the idea of algorithms being black boxes, the study has a two-fold aim: first, to identify the implicated design parameters enlightening the underlying functionality of the algorithm, and second, to evaluate in practice the NRS through the deployed experimentation. Results suggest that although the recommender algorithm manages to discriminate between different users on the basis of their past behavior, overall, it underperforms. We find that this is related to flawed design decisions rather than technical deficiencies. The study offers insights to guide the improvement of NRSs’ design that both considers the production capabilities of the news organization and supports business goals, user demands and journalism’s civic values.

Making sense of blockchain technology: How will it transform supply chains?

An important element of news delivery on the World Wide Web today is the near ubiquity of breaking news headlines. What used to be called search engines (e.g., Yahoo! and Lycos) are now “portals” or “hubs,” popular services that use news, weather, and other content features to extend the time users spend on the sites. Traditional models of news dissemination in the mass media often assume some level of intention behind most news exposure. The prevalence of news on the disparate corners of the Web provides opportunities for people to encounter current affairs information in an incidental fashion, a byproduct of their other online activities. This study uses survey data from 1996 and 1998 to test whether accidental exposure to news on the Web is positively associated with awareness of current affairs information. The results indicate that incidental online news exposure was unrelated to knowledge in 1996 but acted as a positive predictor in 1998.

In today's high-choice media environment, the relations between news consumption and (extreme) political views receive extensive attention. While social media and news aggregators are often blamed for political polarization, theories from media psychology highlight the importance of additional aspects of news consumption, aside from the media types used, in impacting the formation of political views and thereby, for instance, polarization. However, these aspects are typically studied in isolation, neglecting the heterogeneity in where and how news can be consumed. Based on this observation, the present work investigated the conjoint relations of various aspects of news consumption across media types with political views and their extremity. Study 1 included two samples of N = 714 (sample 1) and N = 721 (sample 2) participants completing an online survey assessing political news consumption habits and general political views, namely, ideology and affective polarization. Study 2 included two samples of N = 725 (sample 3) and N = 713 (sample 4) participants completing scales on issue-specific political views, namely, attitudes on war and the war against Ukraine. Latent Profile Analyses revealed four mostly media type-specific news consumer profiles replicated across samples, indicating that individuals choose one media type, like social media, aggregators, or print media, and devote considerable time to consuming political news from various sources, including attitude-incongruent news and diverse perspectives, from the same selected media type. While these profiles differed on sociodemographic and personality variables, few significant relations were found between these profiles and political views. These findings highlight the complexity of these relations and challenge the assumption that only certain media types, and news consumption via them, drive political extremity.

Cognitive map method and space syntax theory are both concerned with the study field of environmental cognition and behavior. The theory basis of the two methodologies derived from environmental psychology gives an inspiring opportunity to establish an integrated research framework by Kim and Penn from 2001 to 2004. According to the standpoints presented by Kim, an investigation and survey in this paper was performed to examine the degree of correlation between cognitive map method and space syntax theory. As far as cognitive map method was concerned, 52 college students were chosen to take part in the cognitive test in Xiao Ximen historical conservation area, a historical city core in Changsha. After analyzing the cognitive maps drawn by students and digitizing their sketch maps through syntactic measures based on GIS technique, the data platform of comparative study was created followed by measuring the syntactic values of the real map. With comparing these data derived from the two methodologies, findings suggest that the syntactic configuration in the real environments and the configuration of cognitive map are closely related.