Memory representations in a cross-modal matching task: evidence for a verbal component.

In everyday tasks, one often uses touch to find what has been seen. Recent research has identified that when individuals view or touch an object, they may create a verbal memory representation; however, this research involved object naming, which may have prompted the use of verbal strategies. Research has also identified variability in memory representations for objects, which may indicate individual differences. To investigate memory representations and their associations with individual differences in cognitive styles, we measured the cognitive styles of 127 participants and had them complete a non-verbal matching task without distractors, or with verbal or visual distractors. In the task, they viewed an object and then touched an object - or vice versa - and indicated whether the objects were the same or different. On trials where different objects were presented, participants responded consistently more slowly and made more matching errors for similar objects compared to distinct objects. Importantly, higher scores on the verbalizer cognitive style predicted faster reaction times on the matching task across all trial types and distraction conditions. Overall, this indicates that cross-modal object processing in short-term memory may be facilitated by a verbal code.

Does ASMR propensity reflect a mentally flexible mindset? Exploring the relationship between ASMR propensity, transliminality, emotional contagion, schizotypal traits, roleplaying ability, and creativity.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is an alternative state of consciousness characterised by changes in affect, feelings of relaxation, and tingling sensations on the body. Online videos designed to stimulate ASMR in viewers have become increasingly popular. Although there is evidence that ASMR may improve sleep, emotion regulation, and relaxation, the current understanding of ASMR propensity remains limited. This study examined whether a mentally flexible cognitive style may underlie the ability to experience ASMR. Undergraduate students (N = 376) completed an online survey involving a series of self-report questionnaires and two performance-based creative ability tasks. Findings did not provide support for an overall mentally flexible mindset, however, transliminality, emotional contagion susceptibility, positive schizotypal traits, and roleplaying ability all significantly positively predicted ASMR propensity. These findings suggest that ASMR propensity represents several possible underlying cognitive styles relating to enhanced imagination and perceptual ability, and cannot be simply characterised by mental flexibility.

Antivax attitude in the general population along the autism-schizophrenia continuum and the impact of socio-demographic factors.

Introduction: One of the most important inventions in human history is vaccines. However, to date a consistent amount of people exhibit a hesitant approach toward them and mixed results have emerged in the attempt to characterize which factors may play a role in predicting such negative attitude. Here, we aimed at investigating how the individual scoring along the autism-schizophrenic continuum component and socio-cultural factors contribute toward vaccination attitudes in the general population. Methods: To test whether individual position along the autism-schizophrenic continuum could predict vaccine attitude, we used principal component analysis (PCA) to extract the component showing diametric loading between the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and Autistic Quotient (AQ) subscales. Then, we performed a series of multiple linear regression analyses to understand the relation between the ASD-SSD continuum component and Vax scores. We also included socio-demographic factors (i.e., gender, education level, and age) as predictors. Results: Multiple regression analysis revealed that the closer the individual lied on the positive schizotypal pole, the higher was their negative attitude toward vaccines. A diametric, more favorable disposition was found for individuals closer to the autistic end of the continuum. Furthermore, we reported that among the socio-cultural factors, only age can be considered a significant predictor of vaccination attitudes, with younger participants showing a more positive attitudes toward vaccination, while the level of education is an important protective factor in mitigating the negative impact that the proximity to the SSD pole and age play against vaccination disposition. Discussion: These findings are relevant to improve targeted public health interventions, highlighting the crucial role of demographic, psychological, and social correlates in predicting anti-vax beliefs, which have the devasting potential to increase the spread of infectious disease.

The Sociocognitive Origins of Personal Mastery.

This article examines the relationship between cognitive processing and mastery. While scholars have called for the integration of sociological and cognitive analyses of mastery, sociological research has focused almost exclusively on mapping its social correlates. As a result, sociologists have relied on untested and underspecified assumptions about cognition to explain the efficacy of mastery. Taking an interdisciplinary approach integrating research on mastery, dual-process models of cognition, and intersectionality, we specify and test the hypothesis that deliberate thinking dispositions are associated with a greater sense of control over one's life chances and assess whether this relationship varies across different intersections of social positions. Regression results from survey data in a diverse student sample (N = 982) suggest a positive correlation between deliberate cognitive style and personal mastery. However, results from a quantitative intersectional analysis demonstrate that this relationship does not hold for East Asian women.

Cultural bias: a comparison of semantic responses by 126 students from Pakistan and the United Kingdom to a wheelchair when viewed against a congruent and incongruent background.

PURPOSE: Converging visual behavioural and attentional allocation studies within neuroscience have shown culture influences the processing of visual information obtained from the visual field. While attending (reviewing) a visual scene, individuals from a collectivist culture attend more to the context (background) compared to those from an individualist culture who view more the focal object. This highlights the effect of cultural conditioning in terms of holistic and analytical processing of visual information. This study aimed to demonstrate these principles in the context of an assistive product, a wheelchair, highlighting the key visual elements of the form; and, how a congruent background (hospital room) or incongruent (athletics track) influenced cultural bias during visual processing and assigned meaning. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A combination of research methods (Semantic Differential Scale and eye-tracking) was used to triangulate the results. A total of 126 adult student participants, (Pakistani/collectivist, n = 57) and the (UK/individualist, n = 69), viewed a visual presentation of a wheelchair with semantically congruent and then an incongruent background and responded via an online questionnaire. A sub-sample completed the survey whilst monitored via eye-tracking. RESULTS: Pakistani respondents used shorter and less frequent fixations on the foreground compared to the responses of their counterparts (UK respondents). The wheel of the wheelchair was highlighted as the prominent form by both groups. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrate a culture-influenced pattern of visual processing even when the product was displayed against a semantically incongruent background. The findings from this study also validate and extend the outcomes of similar studies revealing a more specific, yet consistent, cultural effect on individuals' visual perception. Finally, the efficacy of triangulated research methods in their relationship to exploring the AT product's semantics was discussed.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONThe knowledge of AT products' semantics will be significant to investigate, for their improved social acceptance, particularly when considered from a diverse cultural standpoint.A model of best practice, focussing on semantics manipulation, will provide AT product designers, practitioners, and those involved in their marketing, Internationally, with a suitable process/tool to positively reframe the perception of these devices.Finally, this research will help product and industrial designers to consider cultural cognitive styles in the design of products for the better adoption of products within the global marketplace.

Life events and depression among children and adolescents in southwest China: a two-stage moderated mediation model of social support and cognitive styles.

BACKGROUND: According to data from the National Health Commission in 2018, more than 30 million children and adolescents in China suffered from mental health problems of varying degrees, with depression accounting for the largest proportion. Life events occur at every stage of child and adolescent development. Many studies have found a relationship between life events and depression in children and adolescents, but few studies have further explored the mediating and moderating variables that influence this relationship. Based on theoretical and empirical research on social support and cognitive styles, this study established a two-stage moderated mediating model to test whether social support mediates life events to depression, and cognitive style moderates the two mediating pathways. METHODS: We recruited 3540 participants from primary and secondary schools in Chongqing and collected 2814 valid data. All the participants completed self-report measures of life events, depression, social support and cognitive styles. The moderated mediation model was examined using SPSS PROCESS model 58. RESULTS: (1) There were significant positive correlations between life events and depression. (2) Social support mediates the relationship between life events and depression in children and adolescents. (3) Cognitive style moderates life events to social support and social support to depression. LIMITATIONS: This is a cross-sectional study and the questionnaire is self-reported. CONCLUSIONS: In children and adolescents, life events can influence depression through the mediating role of social support and cognitive styles could moderate its two mediating pathways.

Un estúdio exploratório de la relación entre el estilo cognitivo y el monitoreo metacognitivo en una muestra de estudiantes universitários colombianos / An Exploratory Study of the Relation between Cognitive Style and Metacognitive Monitoring in a Sample of Colombian University Students

Resumen. Si bien la investigación sobre la metacognición y los estilos cognitivos es sólida para cualquier campo solo, pocas investigaciones han abordado los dos juntos. Además, ningún estudio hasta la fecha ha examinado objetivos más específicos relacionados con aspectos específicos de la metacognición, como la habilidad de monitoreo y su relación con el estilo cognitivo. Por lo tanto, el presente estudio investigó medidas de confianza, rendimiento y precisión para tres tipos de juicios metacognitivos (predicción, concurrente y postdicción) y tres tipos diferentes de preguntas metacognitivas: preguntas sobre la tarea, preguntas sobre uno mismo y preguntas en diferentes momentos (antes, durante y después) y cómo se relacionan con el estilo cognitivo (dependiente del campo, intermedio, independiente del campo) en una muestra de 57 estudiantes universitarios colombianos. Los resultados revelaron que había diferencias en la precisión y el sesgo del monitoreo metacognitivo en función del estilo cognitivo, y que estos hallazgos fueron similares entre los diferentes momentos y entre los juicios metacognitivos. Con respecto al estilo cognitivo, aquellos con un estilo cognitivo intermedio o independiente del campo informaron una mayor precisión de monitoreo y menos sesgo que las personas con un estilo dependiente del campo. Se discuten las implicaciones para la investigación, la teoría y la práctica.

Abstract. While research on metacognition and cognitive styles is robust for either field alone, few studies have broached the two together. In addition, no studies to date have examined finer-grained objectives related to specific aspects of metacognition such as monitoring skill and its relation to cognitive style. Thus, the present study investigated confidence, performance, and accuracy measures for three types of metacognitive judgments (prediction, concurrent and postdiction) and three different types of metacognitive questions-questions about the task, questions about the self, and questions at different moments (before, during, and after)-and how these are related to cognitive style (field dependent, intermediate, field independent) in a sample of 57 Colombian university students. Results revealed that there were differences in metacognitive monitoring accuracy and bias as a function of cognitive style, and that these findings were similar both between different moments and across metacognitive judgments. Regarding cognitive style, those with an intermediate or field independent cognitive style reported greater monitoring accuracy and less bias than individuals with a field dependent style. Implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed.

The Relationships between Cognitive Styles and Creativity: The Role of Field Dependence-Independence on Visual Creative Production.

Previous studies explored the relationships between field dependent-independent cognitive style (FDI) and creativity, providing misleading and unclear results. The present research explored this problematic interplay through the lens of the Geneplore model, employing a product-oriented task: the Visual Creative Synthesis Task (VCST). The latter requires creating objects belonging to pre-established categories, starting from triads of visual components and consists of two steps: the preinventive phase and the inventive phase. Following the Amabile's consensual assessment technique, three independent judges evaluated preinventive structures in terms of originality and synthesis whereas inventions were evaluated in terms of originality and appropriateness. The Embedded Figure Test (EFT) was employed in order to measure the individual's predisposition toward the field dependence or the field independence. Sixty undergraduate college students (31 females) took part in the experiment. Results revealed that field independent individuals outperformed field dependent ones in each of the four VCST scores, showing higher levels of creativity. Results were discussed in light of the better predisposition of field independent individuals in mental imagery, mental manipulation of abstract objects, as well as in using their knowledge during complex tasks that require creativity. Future research directions were also discussed.

Decision-making styles of patients and general population in health care: A scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: Decision-making styles form the backbone of effective decision-making and show promise as an important construct that warrants further attention. We investigated what is known about decision-making styles among patients and the general population in a health care setting. METHODS: We used Arksey and O'Malley's framework and searched PubMed and CINAHL databases using relevant combinations of keywords and subject headings. Articles were limited to those published in English up to February 2020. RESULTS: Sixteen articles met the inclusion criteria. We found that decision-making styles were described as role preferences or personality, psychological, and cognitive factors that influence decision-making. In the identified studies, the evidence was scarce regarding decision-making styles as the foundation for effective decision-making. Moreover, most studies were vague in the description of decision-making styles, offered little explanation of the concept, and varied substantially in the terminology, numbers, and types of decision-making styles and measurement methods. CONCLUSIONS: Decision-making styles, as a dynamic process, have received little attention in health care and are rarely addressed in health communication research or investigations of decision-making support. Other frameworks that are not directly related to decision-making styles were used in most analyzed studies. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Decision-making styles in health care should be reinterpreted as a dynamic process that can be developed or changed.

The chain mediating role of cognitive styles and alienation between life events and depression among rural left-behind children in poor areas in Southwest China.

BACKGROUND: Compared with no-left-behind children, left-behind children show more psychological and behavioral problems, among which depression is the most common and most influential psychological problem in childhood. Many studies have documented the impact of life events on depression among left-behind children, but few studies have focus on the mediating mechanisms behind this relationship. Based on theoretical and empirical research on cognitive style and alienation, this study constructed a chain mediation model to test whether cognitive style and alienation play a mediating role in life events and depression of left-behind children. METHODS: We recruited 13,035 participants from 25 districts and counties in Chongqing. After screening, 5127 questionnaires of left-behind children were included in the data analysis. They all completed self-report measures of demographic information, life events, cognitive styles, alienation and depression. We used SIF, CDI, ASLEC, CCSQ and IAP to collect the information of the variables and used the SPSS to analyze the data. RESULTS: (1) There were significant positive correlations among life events and depression. (2) Left-behind children's depression was affected by life events through 3 different pathways: the mediating role of cognitive styles, the mediating role of alienation, and the chain mediating role of both cognitive styles and alienation. LIMITATIONS: This is a cross-sectional study and the data used in our study is self-reported. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive styles and alienation could mediate the association between life events and depression among left-behind children.

Bold and bright: shy and supple? The effect of habitat type on personality-cognition covariance in the Aegean wall lizard (Podarcis erhardii).

Animals exhibit considerable and consistent among-individual variation in cognitive abilities, even within a population. Recent studies have attempted to address this variation using insights from the field of animal personality. Generally, it is predicted that animals with "faster" personalities (bolder, explorative, and neophilic) should exhibit faster but less flexible learning. However, the empirical evidence for a link between cognitive style and personality is mixed. One possible reason for such conflicting results may be that personality-cognition covariance changes along ecological conditions, a hypothesis that has rarely been investigated so far. In this study, we tested the effect of habitat complexity on multiple aspects of animal personality and cognition, and how this influenced their relationship, in five populations of the Aegean wall lizard (Podarcis erhardii). Overall, lizards from both habitat types did not differ in average levels of personality or cognition, with the exception that lizards from more complex habitats performed better on a spatial learning task. Nevertheless, we found an intricate interplay between ecology, cognition, and personality, as behavioral associations were often habitat- but also year-dependent. In general, behavioral covariance was either independent of habitat, or found exclusively in the simple, open environments. Our results highlight that valuable insights may be gained by taking ecological variation into account while studying the link between personality and cognition.

Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents: Testing Vulnerability-Stress and Protective Models in the Context of COVID-19.

Adolescents who experience negative life events may be at risk for depression, particularly those with psychosocial vulnerabilities. We investigate longitudinally the impact of vulnerability/protective factors on the relation between a large-scale negative life event, the COVID-19 pandemic, and depressive symptoms. Adolescents (N = 228, Mage = 14.5 years, 53% female, 73% white) self-reported depressive symptoms 2-4 months before the pandemic (Time 1), and again 2 months following stay-at-home orders (Time 2). At T2, adolescents also completed measures of vulnerability, protective factors, and COVID-19-related distress. Depressive symptoms increased at T2, and COVID-19 distress interacted with resilience and negative cognitive style in predicting increases in T2 depression. Focusing on vulnerability and protective factors in adolescents distressed by large scale negative life events appears crucial.

Conspiratorial Beliefs and Cognitive Styles: An Integrated Look on Analytic Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Scientific Reasoning in Relation to (Dis)trust in Conspiracy Theories.

The tendency to believe in conspiracy theories (implying secret and malevolent plots by scheming groups or individuals), incites growing decennial interest among psychological researchers (exploring the associated personality traits, worldviews and cognitive styles of people). The link between the conspiratorial beliefs and the cognitive styles remains of particular interest to scholars, requiring integrated theoretical considerations. This perspective article will focus on the relationship between the propensity to (dis)trust conspiracy theories and three cognitive styles: analytic thinking, critical thinking, and scientific reasoning. Analytic thinking (inclination toward slow and deliberate processing of information in a conscious effort to mitigate biases and reach objective understanding of facts), is a well-studied concept in the context of conspiratorial beliefs, while the negative mutual relationship seems well-evidenced. On the other hand, the evidence on the link with the critical thinking (readiness to consider, reason, appraise, review, and interpret facts to update existing beliefs) has only started to emerge in the last years. Finally, scientific reasoning (ability to apply principles of scientific inquiry to formulate, test, revise and update knowledge in accordance with new evidence), is the least studied of the three cognitive styles in relation to conspiracy theories. The present article will: (a) revise the (lack of) scientific consensus on the definitional and conceptual aspects (by providing theoretical framework); (b) summarize the state of the art on the subject (by providing overview of empirical evidence); (c) discuss directions for future research (especially in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic). An integrated perspective on the relationship between conspiratorial beliefs and cognitive styles of people, may serve to inspire future behavioral interventions.

Should dispersers be fast learners? Modeling the role of cognition in dispersal syndromes.

Both cognitive abilities and dispersal tendencies can vary strongly between individuals. Since cognitive abilities may help dealing with unknown circumstances, it is conceivable that dispersers may rely more heavily on learning abilities than residents. However, cognitive abilities are costly and leaving a familiar place might result in losing the advantage of having learned to deal with local conditions. Thus, individuals which invested in learning to cope with local conditions may be better off staying at their natal place. In order to disentangle the complex relationship between dispersal and learning abilities, we implemented individual-based simulations. By allowing for developmental plasticity, individuals could either become a 'resident' or 'dispersal' cognitive phenotype. The model showed that in general residents have higher learning abilities than dispersers. Dispersers evolve higher learning ability than residents when dispersers have long life spans and when dispersal occurs either early or late in life, thereby maximizing the time in one habitat patch. Time is crucial here, because the longer an individual resides in a location where it can use its learned knowledge or behavior, the more often it profits from it and thus eventually obtains a net benefit from its investment into learning. Both, longevity and the timing of dispersal within lifecycles determine the time individuals have to recoup that investment and thus crucially influence this correlation. We therefore suggest that species' life history will strongly impact the expected cognitive abilities of dispersers, relative to their resident conspecifics, and that cognitive abilities might be an integral part of dispersal syndromes.

Do cognitive styles affect vaccine hesitancy? A dual-process cognitive framework for vaccine hesitancy and the role of risk perceptions.

RATIONALE: In this study, we consider cognitive differences in vaccine hesitancy and how perceived risks intervene in this relationship. Recent research agrees on the existence of two cognitive processes, intuitive and analytic cognition. Different individuals lean toward one of these processes with varying degrees of strength, influencing day-to-day behavior, perceptions, and decisions. Thinking dispositions might influence, at the same time, vaccine acceptance and perceived risks of vaccine-preventable disease, but the implications of individuals' cognitive differences for vaccination uptake have seldom been addressed from a sociological standpoint. OBJECTIVE: We bridge this gap by adopting a dual-process framework of cognition and investigate how thinking styles have a direct association with vaccine hesitancy and an indirect one through perceptions of risk. METHODS: We use data from original surveys carried out between September and November 2019 on a sample of the Italian population, participating in an online panel run by a major Italian survey company. We use Karlson, Holm, and Breen (KHB) decomposition to compare coefficients of nested-nonlinear models, separate the direct and indirect association of cognitive processes with vaccine hesitancy, and disentangle the contribution of each measure of risk perception. RESULTS: Net of individual socio-demographic characteristics, intuitive thinking is positively associated with the likelihood of being vaccine hesitant, and this direct association is as important as the indirect one through risk perceptions. Affective risk perceptions account for over half of the indirect association, underlining the centrality of affective versus probabilistic approaches to risk perception. CONCLUSION: This study contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the importance of including cognitive characteristics in vaccine hesitancy research, and empirically showing individuals' qualitatively complex perceptions of risks. Taking into account individuals' preferred cognitive style and affective concerns might be important in developing better tailored communication strategies to contain vaccine hesitancy.

Brain-Adjusted Relational Leadership: A Social-Constructed Consciousness Approach to Leader-Follower Interaction.

Relationship-based approaches to leadership represent one of the fastest-growing leadership fields and help us to understand better organizational leadership. Relation-based approaches emphasize the relationship and interaction between the leader and the follower. The emphasis is placed on the way that they interact and influence each other at attaining mutual goals. It is known that leaders are linked to followers and vice versa in a sense of responding to other's needs toward the achievement of mutual goals. Leaders and followers are an essential part of this social process implying that they are losing their traditional identity rooted in the formal organizational structure (manager-subordinate) and become inseparable actors of a co-constructing process of leadership. What is less known though is the way that leadership actors are linked to each other and in particular how they try to understand how to do that in the workplace. What is even less understood is the importance and role of consciousness in this relationship. Especially since consciousness appears to be both a fundamental and a very elusive element in human relations. Therefore, this paper conceptually explores the concept of consciousness within the context of the social brain theory to argue that leadership actors need to rethink their approach to individuality and focus on mutually dependent relations with each other. This paper contributes to the field of Neuro-management by introducing the concept of Homo Relationalis. In this respect, we suggest that leadership is not just a socially constructed element but also a social brain constructed phenomenon that requires an understanding of the human brain as a social organ. We further recommend a new approach of applying cognitive style analysis to capture the duality of leader/follower in the same person, following the self-illusion theory. Finally, we conclude that we need to further emphasize a social brain-adjusted relational leadership approach and we introduce two new cognitive styles that can help capture the essence of it.

Locus of Control and Negative Cognitive Styles in Adolescence as Risk Factors for Depression Onset in Young Adulthood: Findings From a Prospective Birth Cohort Study.

Whilst previous observational studies have linked negative thought processes such as an external locus of control and holding negative cognitive styles with depression, the directionality of these associations and the potential role that these factors play in the transition to adulthood and parenthood has not yet been investigated. This study examined the association between locus of control and negative cognitive styles in adolescence and probable depression in young adulthood and whether parenthood moderated these associations. Using a UK prospective population-based birth cohort study: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), we examined the association between external locus of control and negative cognitive styles in adolescence with odds of depression in 4,301 young adults using logistic regression models unadjusted and adjusted for potential confounding factors. Interaction terms were employed to examine whether parenthood (i.e., having become a parent or not) moderated these associations. Over 20% of young adults in our sample were at or above the clinical threshold indicating probable depression. For each standard deviation (SD) increase in external locus of control in adolescence, there was a 19% (95% CI: 8-32%) higher odds of having probable depression in young adulthood, after adjusting for various confounding factors including baseline mood and different demographic and life events variables. Similarly, for each SD increase in negative cognitive styles in adolescence, there was a 29% (95% CI: 16-44%) higher odds of having probable depression in the adjusted model. We found little evidence that parenthood status moderated the relationship between external locus of control or negative cognitive styles in adolescence and probable depression following adjustment for confounding factors. Effect estimates were comparable when performed in the complete case dataset. These findings suggest that having an external locus of control and holding negative cognitive styles in mid- to late adolescence is associated with an increased likelihood of probable depression in young adulthood.

The influence of social context on the perception of assistive technology: using a semantic differential scale to compare young adults' views from the United Kingdom and Pakistan.

Background and aim: A Society's view of disability may influence the perception and use of Assistive Technology (AT) products. Semantic cues or cultural coding provide the viewer with a series of visual stimuli to be given or ascribed meaning. Previous research has shown cognitive approaches to visual perception and assignment of meaning vary between diverse cultures. This study reviews the influence of contextual settings on perception, to provide the basis for a debate on the societal perception of communicative content (semantic/meaning) of an AT product; and, the relevance of different cultural cognitive styles. The paper explores, from a cultural viewpoint, the overall understanding of disability internationally.Method: A Semantic Differential (SD) scale was used to obtain views on the image of an attendant wheelchair from nine hundred and ninety-one (991) young adults from the United Kingdom (UK) and Pakistan (PAK), reflecting the individualist and collectivist societies, respectively. This survey follows a previous paper-based study using the same image and protocol. Comparing the two surveys, a consensus of views from the two groups was achieved.Results and conclusion: The responses from the UK group were skewed towards a negative view of disability compared to the Pakistan group. This inferred greater social stigma associated with this AT product in the UK. The combined findings from both surveys provide insights into societal perception of AT products and disability. Areas for future research are suggested, including what visual components of an AT product (graphemes) appear to be associated with positive or negative responses for collectivist and individual societal groups.Implications for rehabilitationAssistive Technology (AT) product designers, academics, professionals and stakeholders need to be aware of challenges which are originated from one's socio-cultural environment. AT products convey certain meanings, semantics, which are interpreted by the society and are subjective to a specific cultural setting.•For the effective communication of meanings and values an AT product relies on the visual clues and design features embedded within the design. However, there have been a limited number of studies reviewing this aspect of product semantics.•The survey and associated testing has highlighted the differences in cultural perception towards AT products and demonstrated the importance of effectively designing the semantic attributes of an AT product as well as its function.•The demonstration of the efficacy of methods within the study for exploring the interpretation of semantic attributes of AT products will help designers and developers better understand the perceptions of individual cultures and societal groups.•A better understanding of different cultures and societies will enable designers and clinicians who specify AT products to reduce AT product abandonment; and, the associated stigma around disability.

Different cognitive styles can affect performance in laparoscopic surgery skill training.

BACKGROUND: The lack of depth cues and haptic feedback makes minimally invasive surgery a cognitive challenge. It is therefore important to know which individuals are expected to perform well in minimally invasive surgery. In cognitive psychology, methods are available with which one can measure different cognitive thinking styles. It is well known that these cognitive styles correlate with many different tasks. We investigated whether this method can also predict performance on a box trainer (Lübeck Toolbox®), a device for training laparoscopic surgery. If so, the method might help to select and train those people who will most likely develop high skills in minimally invasive surgery. METHODS: Thirty medical students and thirty non-medical students performed five laparoscopic surgical tasks on a box trainer. We measured the time required and the errors participants made on each task. Their cognitive style was measured with a method from cognitive psychology that distinguishes between people who think visually, spatially, or verbally. Furthermore, all students completed a subset of a standard intelligence test (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) and three subtests of the German Medical University Admission Test (TMS). RESULTS: Participants with spatial thinking styles performed best on the box trainer. Visual and verbal cognitive styles impeded box trainer performance. Performance on the box trainer could also be predicted by the TMS and IQ scores. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows for the first time that a standard method from cognitive psychology can be used to distinguish between different cognitive styles in surgical education and that these different cognitive styles affect performance on a box trainer. Since the correlation between box trainer performance and surgical proficiency is well documented, the method might be an efficient way to reduce errors and to elevate patient safety in laparoscopic surgery.