cognition

Beliefs about how risky something is — from legalizing concealed handguns to allowing carbon pollution — are often shaped by deep cultural forces. The theory of “cultural cognition” suggests that individuals will interpret evidence, no matter how well supported by science, in ways that reinforce their connections to those with whom they share a worldview.

Survey data continue to indicate that Americans have grown markedly pessimistic about the prospects of future generations, even as the most comprehensive research to date suggests a nuanced reality.

As parents have long observed, children learn with ease, rapidly absorbing information in their environment and picking up new skills and knowledge at a rapid pace. Things are not so easy for most adults — in particular, they have more difficulty learning languages — but they can be masterful at relying on hard-won experience to get them through life’s challenges.

The tendency for individuals to overestimate their own merits has long vexed psychologists, philosophers, employers, co-workers and spouses. Formally known as self-enhancement bias, it’s nearly universal but varies significantly from country to country. What societal factors might promote its prevalence?

Jean Piaget, a pioneer of 20th-century cognitive development theory, claimed that preschoolers were “irrational, illogical … and limited to the here and now.” But nearly 100 years later, new technologies and approaches have provided cognitive scientists new ways to investigate how infants and young children learn; their findings challenge Piaget’s longstanding theories of early childhood cognitive development.