The cartesian folk theater: People conceptualize consciousness as a spatio-temporally localized process in the human brain

Forstmann, M., & Burgmer, P. (2021). The cartesian folk theater: People conceptualize consciousness as a spatio-temporally localized process in the human brain. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Dec 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001108

Abstract: The present research (total N = 2,057) tested whether people’s folk conception of consciousness aligns with the notion of a “Cartesian Theater” (Dennett, 1991). More precisely, we tested the hypotheses that people believe that consciousness happens in a single, confined area (vs. multiple dispersed areas) in the human brain, and that it (partly) happens after the brain finished analyzing all available information. Further, we investigated how these beliefs are related to participants’ neuroscientific knowledge as well as their reliance on intuition, and which rationale they use to explain their responses. Using a computer-administered drawing task, we found that participants located consciousness, but not unrelated neurological processes (Studies 1a and 1b) or unconscious thinking (Study 2) in a single, confined area in the prefrontal cortex, and that they considered most of the brain not involved in consciousness. Participants mostly relied on their intuitions when responding, and they were not affected by prior knowledge about the brain. Additionally, they considered the conscious experience of sensory stimuli to happen in a spatially more confined area than the corresponding computational analysis of these stimuli (Study 3). Furthermore, participants’ explicit beliefs about spatial and temporal localization of consciousness (i.e., consciousness happening after the computational analysis of sensory information is completed) are independent, yet positively correlated beliefs (Study 4). Using a more elaborate measure for temporal localization of conscious experience, our final study confirmed that people believe consciousness to partly happen even after information processing is done (Study 5).

Content in which emotions are more prevalent than argument quality is more likely to be shared; content in which positive emotions are more prevalent than negative emotions is more likely to be shared

What makes people share political content on social media? The role of emotion, authority and ideology, Jason Weismueller et al. Computers in Human Behavior, December 20 2021, 107150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107150

Highlights

• Emotionality is more important than argument quality in fostering user engagement.

• Positive political content receives more engagement than negative content.

• Ideological extreme users are less likely to engage with positive content.

• Politicians may use influential users in the political sphere for political campaigning.

• Social media platforms should emphasize a greater focus on critical thinking.

Abstract: In this paper, we examine which content characteristics lead to increased sharing of political information on social media, and which role political ideology has in user sharing behavior. More specifically, we investigate the impact of emotions and authority on sharing, as well as the moderating role of political extremity of social media users. We analyzed 10,141 political tweets, sent by 527 influencers between July 2019 and June 2020. The results reveal that content in which emotions are more prevalent than argument quality is more likely to be shared than content in which argument quality is prevalent. Perhaps surprisingly, we also show that content in which positive emotions are more prevalent than negative emotions is more likely to be shared than content in which negative emotions are prevalent. Moreover, authority (i.e., a dominant language style and a high number of followers) can lead to increased shares. Finally, we find that content in which positive emotions are more prevalent than negative emotions is less effective in increasing shares when users are located at the ideological extreme compared to the ideological center. On the one hand, we provide insights into how influencers in social media networks can be utilized for political campaigning. On the other hand, we provide insights into what makes users engage with political content from influencers that might contribute to political polarization on social media.

Keywords: InfluencersUS PoliticsSharingIdeologySocial network analysisTwitter

People form face impressions based on a conceptual understanding of personality structure that they have come to learn from their regional environment

Personality across world regions predicts variability in the structure of face impressions. DongWon Oh, Jared D. Martin, and Jonathan B. Freeman. Psychological Science, accepted. Dec 2021. https://files.cargocollective.com/c860495/OhMartinFreeman_PersonalityAcross.pdf

Abstract: Research on face impressions has often focused on a fixed and universal architecture, treating  regional variability as noise. Here, we demonstrate a crucial yet neglected role of cultural  learning processes in forming face impressions. In Study 1, we found that variability in the  structure of perceivers’ face impressions across 42 world regions (n=287,178) could be  explained by variability in the actual personality structure of people living in those regions. In  Study 2, data from 232 world regions (n=307,136) revealed that perceivers use the actual  personality structure learned from their local environment to form lay beliefs about personality,  which in turn scaffold the structure of perceivers’ face impressions. Together, these results  suggest that people form face impressions based on a conceptual understanding of personality  structure that they have come to learn from their regional environment. The findings call for greater attention on the regional and cultural specificity of face impressions.

Keywords: person perception, face processing, social cognition, semantic memory, cultural psychology