Cognitive psychology concepts for understanding corrupt ...

Cognitive psychology is defined as the study of individual-level mental processes such as information processing, attention, language use, memory, ... ResearchTopicsPublicationsTheU4BlogLearning&eventsAboutUsSearchHomeCognitivepsychologyconceptsforunderstandingcorruptbehaviourBySiriNeset(WedevelopedthisbackgroundinformationtoaccompanyU4IssueThecognitivepsychologyofcorruption)Cognitivepsychologyisdefinedasthestudyofindividual-levelmentalprocessessuchasinformationprocessing,attention,languageuse,memory,perception,problemsolving,decision-making,andthinking(GerrigandZimbardo2002).Acoreassumptionofanalysingcorruptbehaviourthroughacognitivepsychologylensisthatindividualsmakeconsciousdecisionstoengageincorruptbehaviour.Thesedecisionsmostlikelyinvolveseveralparallelpsychologicalprocesses.Improvedunderstandingabouthowtheseprocessesareinvolvedindecision-makingoncorruptioncouldimprovethedesignofanti-corruptionprogramsdirectedtowardssocietieswherecorruptionisthenormortowardsindividualpower-holders.Below,wereviewconceptsrelatedtodecision-makingwithinthefieldofcognitivepsychologythataremostrelevantforexplainingcorruptbehaviourandthatappearinourliteraturereview.InformationprocessingAdecisioninvolvesachoicebetweentwoormorealternativesthatinvolvechoicesaboutquestionslikewhether,whom,when,andwhich.Eachalternativeisassociatedwithasetofbeliefsabouttheoutcomeassociatedwitheachalternative.Everyoutcomeisassociatedwithavalueorpreference,althoughthesebeliefsandvaluesmaywellbeidiosyncratictoeverydecision-maker.Makingachoiceimpliescommitmenttothechosenalternativeandcaninvolvesearchingforreasonsorrationalisationstojustifythechoice.Abasicmodelofdecision-makingconsistsofthreesteps:InputintheformofvisualorauditoryinformationStoringandcodingofthatinformationinthebrain,withthisstoredinformationusedbythepartsofthebrainresponsibleformentalactivitiessuchasmemory,perceptionandattentionOutputintheformofbehaviourbasedoninformationprocessing(McLeod2008).Thetaskofchoosingbetweenalternativesandbehavinginaparticularwayinvolvesvariousdegreesofinformationprocessing.Thisinturnentailsdifferentformsofdata-drivenandconcept(orhypothesis)drivenknowledgeacquisitionactivitiesthatrangealongthecontinuumfromdirectknowledge(perceptionbased)toindirectknowing(cognitionbased)thatinvolvesmorecomplexinferencetasks(BaronandHarvey1980;Harris1981;LindsayandNorman1977;TaylorandCrocker1981).Threefactorsinfluencethecorrectprocessingofinformation.One,time:stressandhighlevelsofinformationthatneedprocessingweakenattentionandaccuracy(Hastie,1981).Two,capacity:individualsrequirethementalcapacitytoprocessincongruentinformation(Fiske,KinderandLarter1983).Three,motivation:individualpreferencesforaccuracyovermaintainingthestatusquowillresultindifferentbehaviouraloutcomes(Crockeretal.1984).SchemataTheideaof“schemata”isawell-knownconceptwithincognitivepsychology,andcanhelpustounderstandtheinternalmentalprocesses(i.e.codingandinformationstorage)thatliebetweenthestimuli(input)andtheresponseindividualsmakeinfaceofanygivensituation.Aschemaisdefinedas“acognitivestructureoforganisedpriorknowledge,abstractedfromexperiencewithspecificinstancesthatguidetheprocessingofnewinformationandtheretrievalofstoredinformation”(FiskeandLinville1980,543).Schemataincludescript,examples,andanalogies.Theyareastructuredframeworkthathelpspeopletostore,simplify,andrelateinformation,andtheydifferaccordingtolevelofexpertiseandinvolvement.Furthermore,theyareconnectedtocomplexcognitiveprocessessuchasmemory,andareattheheartofbothdata-andtheory-driveninformationprocessing.Intermsofdecision-makingprocesses,cognitivepsychologyresearchonschematacantellusmuchabouthowestablishedknowledgeinfluencesthewayinwhichnewknowledgeisunderstood,categorised,selected,coded,inferred,storedandretrieved(Larson1994).Howschematafunctioncanbedescribedinfivepoints.First,schemataorganiseexperiences.Secondly,theyinfluencehowlong-termmemorystores,andretrieves,information(TaylorandCrocker1981).Third,thestructureoftheschematacanactasabasisforfillingoutmissinginformation(Minsky1975)andassuchprovideinformationthatisperceivableinthegivensituation(TaylorandCrocker,1981).Fourth,schematacontributetosimplifyproblemsolvingthroughshortcutsandheuristics(TverskyandKahneman1973).Finally,schemataareinstrumentalinself-evaluationbyprovidingabasisfrompriorexperiences.EmotionsandmotivationsEmotionsandmotivationshavetraditionallybeenomittedfromtraditionalcognitiveresearch(SmithandSemin,2004).However,withinasituatedcognitionperspective,motivationalconstructsareusefulforunderstandingtheinitiationanddeterminationofinformationprocessing.Emotionsareseenasavitalingredientinfunctionalcognition.Studiesdemonstratethatbraindamageaffectingtheemotionalsystems(whereverbalabilitiesand“intelligence”areintact)severelyaffectedpatients’rationaldecision-makingability(Damasio1994).CognitionandbehaviourThestudyofcognitionisinseparablytiedtoobservationsofbehaviouroractionstakenbytheindividual.Themindisviewedascomposedofinnerstructuresthatorganiseinformationfromtheenvironment,connectthisinformationwithpriorstoredknowledge,andprocessinformationandknowledgetoformadecisionuponwhichtoact(Clark1997,47).Thecognition/behaviourlinkis,however,notaclean-cutrelationshipwhereincognitionshapesbehaviour.Asubstantialbodyofworkonsomeofthebasictheoriesinpsychology(suchasthatondissonancetheory–seeFestinger1957)showsthattheconnectionisbidirectionalandthatcognitionandbehaviouraresocloselytiedthatitisdifficulttochangeonewithoutchangingtheother(e.g.CooperandFazio1984).CognitionincontextInmostcases,contextspecificsocialandphysicalknowledgedrivesorinfluencesinformationprocessing.Sometheoristsview“cognitionasanadaptiveprocessthatemergesfromtheinteractionbetweenanindividualandtheworld,bothphysicalandsocial”(SmithandSemin2004,55).Featuresoftheenvironment/contextthattheindividualoperateswithinarethusbothrecoursesfor,andconstraintsonhis/hercognitionandbehaviour(SmithandSemin2004).Theenvironmentisbothasupplierofinputsaswellasareceiverofinputsandisaninteractiveandresponsive“unit”tohumanactions,aprocessofcontinuousreciprocalcausation(Clark1997).Canindividuals’cognitivepsychologybechanged?Theoriesofschematicbasesofbeliefchangearecentraltoourunderstandingofhowwecaninfluencechangeinindividualbehaviour.Eventhoughschemataareveryresistanttochange,itcanchangethroughexperienceandexposuretoincongruentinformation(informationthatdoesnotfitwiththecontentoftheexcisingschema)(Crocker,FiskeandTaylor1984).Incongruentinformationleadstoschematicchangeviaaccommodationandassimilation(InhelderandPiaget1958).Inmostcases,incongruentinformationsimplyassimilatesintotheexistingcorrespondingschema,ratherthantheschemaaccommodatingoradjustingtotheincongruentinformation(Crockeretal.1984).Peopleareattentivetoincongruentinformation,butresearchhasrevealedthatsuchinformationisrarelyprocessedcompletelyviashort-termmemoryandthenstoredinlong-termmemory.Instead,incongruentinformationisoftenlabelled“fake,”andconsequently,existingmentalexamplesdonotupdate(ibid).Severalschematicfeaturescanchangewhenfacedwithincongruentinformation.First,newvariablescanbeaddedtotheschemaandoldonesdiscarded.Second,defaultvaluesassociatedwiththeschematicvariablescanchange.Third,theverticalandhorizontalstructureofthecategoriesandsub-categoriesthatcomposetheschemacanchange.Fourth,whatismentallyconsideredaprototypeor“goodexample”canchange.Butthemoredevelopedaschemais,themoreresistantitistochange,althoughanychangethatdoesstickislikelytohavelargeconsequencesforotherschemata(Fiskeetal.1983).Moreover,aschemathatisnotactivatedwhenincongruentinformationispresentcannotbechanged(Crockeretal.1984).Inotherwords,aschemathatdoesnotcontainelementsthatcanbechallengedandthuschangedwillnotshift,becausetherearenocasesthatareclearlyincongruent(ibid).Moreover,clearandconcentratedinformationpresentedrepeatedlyismoredifficulttodismiss(Lord,RossandLepper1979;Crockeretal.1984)Forreferences,pleaseseeU4IssueThecognitivepsychologyofcorruption.ShareDisclaimerAllviewsinthistextaretheauthor(s)’,andmaydifferfromtheU4partneragencies’policies.ThisworkislicencedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives4.0Internationallicence(CCBY-NC-ND4.0)