Marcin Bukowski

Tracing the bilingual advantage in cognitive control: The role of flexibility in temporal preparation and category switching

The present study addressed the question whether bilinguals are characterised by increased cognitive flexibility. Mechanisms of cognitive flexibility were compared between a group of Hungarian-Polish bilinguals and a group of Hungarian monolinguals. The first task explored the effects of temporal orienting (ability to voluntarily orient attention to a certain point in time when a relevant event is expected) and the efficiency of switching between preparatory time intervals of different duration (sequential effects). The second task – the social category switching task – tapped into the mechanisms of switching between 2 types of categories (age and gender) and employed socially relevant stimuli (faces). The results of the first task revealed similar temporal orienting effects for both groups; however, the pattern of sequential effects differed between the groups, showing that bilinguals were less affected by the duration of the preceding preparatory interval. In the social category switching task, bilinguals showed reduced switch costs in the RT measure when categorising gender, and greater accuracy in the specific switch and no-switch conditions. We suggest that bilinguals are characterised by an enhanced mechanism of cognitive flexibility, which is applied to a temporal domain (efficient switching between preparatory intervals of different duration), and extends to the cognitive control processes in social categorisation tasks.

Individual differences in epistemic motivation and brain conflict monitoring activity.

It is well documented that motivation toward closure (NFC), defined as a desire for a quick and unambiguous answer to a question and an aversion to uncertainty, is linked to more structured, rigid, and persistent cognitive styles. However, the neurocognitive correlates of NFC have never been tested. Thus, using event-related potentials, we examined the hypothesis that NFC is associated with the neurocognitive process for detecting discrepancies between response tendencies and higher level intentions. We found that greater NFC is associated with lower conflict-related anterior cingulate activity, suggesting lower sensitivity to cues for altering a habitual response pattern and lower sensitivity to committing errors. This study provides evidence that high NFC acts as a bulwark against anxiety-producing uncertainty and minimizes the experience of error.

When need for closure leads to positive attitudes towards a negatively stereotyped outgroup

The study examined the relationship between epistemic motivation, which is the need for closure (NFC), and positive attitudes towards a negatively stereotyped outgroup (i.e., Gypsies). Although extensive research has revealed that NFC is related to derogatory behavioural tendencies and negative emotions towards stereotyped groups, it is proposed that NFC may also be linked to positive attitudes towards outgroups. It is predicted, however, that this would be true only when NFC is accompanied by a low ability to achieve closure (AAC). It is argued that low AAC impairs the construction of schema and their effective application. Therefore, NFC in individuals with low AAC may lead them to correct their initial tendency to use stereotypes and, as a consequence, to evaluate a negatively stereotyped outgroup in a positive way. In this research, low AAC was assessed by a scale (Study 1) and experimentally induced (Study 2). In both studies, we measured positive attitudes towards Gypsies. The results of the studies supported our prediction that NFC is positively related to positive attitudes towards Gypsies when AAC is low.

Complementary stereotyping of ethnic minorities predicts system justification in Poland

We investigate the phenomenon of complementary stereotyping of ethnic minorities in Poland and its relationship to system justification. Using results from a nationally representative survey we test the hypothesis that complementary stereotypes—according to which ethnic minorities are seen as possessing distinctive, offsetting strengths and weaknesses—would be associated with system justification among Polish majority citizens. For four minorities, results indicated that stereotyping them as (a) low in morality but high in competence or (b) high in morality but low in competence predicted greater system justification. These results suggest that even in a context that is low in support for the status quo, complementary stereotyping of ethnic minorities is linked to system justification processes. For the three minority groups that were lowest in social status, complementary stereotyping was unrelated to system justification. It appears that negative attitude towards these groups can be expressed openly, regardless of one’s degree of system justification.

Self-image threat decreases stereotyping: The role of motivation toward closure

Some prior research indicated that self-image threat may lead people to stereotyping and prejudiced evaluations of others. Other studies found that self-image threat may promote less stereotypical thinking and unprejudiced behavior. In a series of three studies, we demonstrate that self-image threat may lead to either more or less stereotypical perception of the outgroup depending on the level of the individuals` motivation toward closure (NFC). The results reveal that when individuals high (vs. low) in NFC perceived a member of an outgroup, they are less likely to use stereotypical traits if their self-image had been threatened by negative feedback (Study 1) or if they had imagined an example of their own immoral activity (Studies 2 and 3). Moreover, our results demonstrate that the fear of invalidity resulting from self-image threat induction is responsible for the foregoing effects (Study 3). These results are discussed in light of theories of motivational readiness and lay epistemics.

Electrocortical indices of attention correlate with the need for closure.

Need for closure (NFC), defined as a desire for a quick and unambiguous answer to a question and an aversion to uncertainty, usually leads to a more structured, persistent, and rigid cognitive style. We suggested that this cognitive characteristic could be related to differences in a simple sensory gating control mechanism as reflected in event-related potentials (N1 component). We expected that the higher an individual’s NFC, the more attention he/she would allocate to the selected stimuli or the feature of the stimuli, which is manifested in an increased N1 component. We tested this assumption in two experiments where NFC was measured by a scale and event-related potentials were recorded during the Stroop task and the Visual Distractor task. In line with the hypotheses, we found that NFC was associated with amplified processing of stimuli at an early sensory stage, which was evidenced in an increased N1 component. We suggested that this early sensory gating mechanism protects high NFC individuals against anxiety-producing uncertainty.

Measurement of Psychological Entitlement in 28 Countries

This article presents the cross-cultural validation of the Entitlement Attitudes Questionnaire, a tool designed to measure three facets of psychological entitlement: active, passive, and revenge entitlement. Active entitlement was defined as the tendency to protect individual rights based on self-worthiness. Passive entitlement was defined as the belief in obligations to and expectations toward other people and institutions for the fulfillment of the individual’s needs. Revenge entitlement was defined as the tendency to protect one’s individual rights when violated by others and the tendency to reciprocate insults. The 15-item EAQ was validated in a series of three studies: the first one on a general Polish sample (N = 1,900), the second one on a sample of Polish students (N = 199), and the third one on student samples from 28 countries (N = 5,979). A three-factor solution was confirmed across all samples. Examination of measurement equivalence indicated partial metric invariance of EAQ for all national samples. Discriminant and convergent validity of the EAQ was also confirmed.

Limits of control: The effects of uncontrollability experiences on the efficiency of attentional control

Two experiments were conducted to explore the effects of experiencing uncontrollability on the efficiency of attentional control. The experience of uncontrollability was induced either by unsolvable tasks (Experiment 1) or by tasks in which non-contingent feedback was provided (Experiment 2). A version of the Attentional Network Test-Interactions with an additional measure of vigilance (ANTI-V) was used to evaluate the efficiency of the attentional networks (i.e., alerting, orienting, and executive). Results of both experiments revealed a decreased efficiency of executive attention in participants who experienced stable control deprivation but no negative effects in participants who were able to restore their sense of previously deprived control. Additionally, when participants were asked to perform unsolvable tasks and did not receive feedback (Experiment 1), detrimental effects on the orienting network and vigilance were observed. The motivational and cognitive mechanisms underlying the effects of various uncontrollability experiences on conflict resolution and attentional control are discussed.

Who’s to blame? Causal attributions of the economic crisis and personal control

In this research, we examined how people cope with threats to personal control related to the global economic crisis. Three studies (one correlational and two experimental) tested the prediction that blaming social outgroups could serve as a means to restore a threatened sense of personal control. We found that outgroup blaming attributions are related to higher levels of personal control over the effects of the economic crisis (Study 1). Further, blaming outgroups helps to restore a sense of personal control (Study 2) only when blaming attributions are related to specific versus global causes (i.e., outgroups but not the economic system; Studies 2 and 3). We discuss individual and social implications of outgroup blaming as a form of coping with lack of control in the context of economic crises.

Motivational determinants of reasoning about social relations: the role of need for cognitive closure

The role of need for cognitive closure (NFCC) in reasoning about social relations was investigated. Participants learned pairwise liking/disliking relations between people who could also be categorised on the basis of nationality and then had to group them into social cliques. The social clique structures were either consistent or inconsistent with the nationality categorisation, and the diagnostic information that was necessary to determine the number of cliques appeared either early or late in the information sequence. We expected participants under conditions of high (vs low) NFCC to rely more on heuristic processing. As predicted, high (vs low) NFCC participants were less accurate in their representations of cliques when the clique structure was inconsistent with the nationality category (Study 1 and 2) and when the diagnostic information was presented late (Study 1). The implications regarding the influence of NFCC on reasoning and the role of specific NFCC manipulations are discussed.