Symposium

Symposium 3: Moving Beyond Cognitive Universals (Special Symposium)
Co-Sponsored by the SPARK Society
Friday, November 5, 3:45 - 5:45 PM CT 

Chair: Belem G. López (The University of Texas at Austin)
Co-Organizers: Angela Gutchess (Brandeis University) and Ayanna Thomas (Tufts University) 
Though it is well documented that race plays a role in how we perceive, remember, think, and navigate the world, much of research in Cognitive Psychology has ignored race. One reason may be that we have approached the study of human cognition from the perspective of cognition as universal, as being explained using species-typical mechanisms. Such a perspective has influenced how the field values specific research questions focused on diversity within cognition. Structural factors also play an important role as to why race is ignored in our field. The lack of racial diversity in the publication process and the field may leave us unprepared to engage in impactful science relevant to an increasingly diverse society. The panel of experts will present research that highlights why race should be consider in understanding human cognition, and how we as field may eliminate structural barriers that have prevented this important consideration.

Reconstructing the Study of Human Cognition by Abandoning Cognitive Universals 

Presenter: Richard William Prather II (University of Maryland)
I address five concerns with how human cognition is currently studied: (1) reliance on homogenous population samples when trying to generalization of behavior on artificial lab-based tasks and homogenous samples to real- world contexts; (2) focus on controlling for or ignoring "extraneous" variables; (3) assumption of a generic human actor instead of a focus on individual and contextual variation; (4) insufficient theory building. I contend that these concerns are deeply connected and that the solution is a significant change in how we study human cognition, similar in scope to the Cognitive Revolution. We need to reconsider the assumption of cognitive universals and how that assumption is built into the norms of the discipline. I propose a reconstruction of how researchers study human cognition by implementing a combination of methodological approaches and theoretical positions.

Beyond White Monolingual Hegemony in Cognition: Interrogating Our Complicity 

Presenter: Belem G. López (The University of Texas at Austin)
Bilingualism researchers and cognitive psychologists must question how we have continuously, implicitly and explicitly, marginalized racialized communities, in research inquiry and the field. Bilingual experiences are the global norm, yet through processes of colonization, monolingualism, in particular white monolingualism, is privileged, especially in the U.S. Researchers must interrogate what it means to examine cognition while continuously ignoring important societal power structures that directly impact our study populations. As such, researchers must grapple with how outcomes are often interpreted within white monolingual ideological frameworks. This talk highlights the importance of addressing the white monolingual hegemony in our field, to move toward a more nuanced understanding of human cognition as it exists among different racial and ethnic groups, and how their experiences are affected by different micro-and macro-systems. Further, I stress the need for researchers to incorporate interdisciplinary methods and theories to better understand human cognition in its diversity.

Creating an Inclusive Science: Considerations for Increasing the Representation of Minoritized Populations in Cognitive Psychology

Presenter: Tissyana C. Camacho (California State University)
In 2006, a flagship journal in developmental science provided a special topic issue centered on race, ethnicity, and culture (Quintana et al. 2006). This special issue did not include a single study on cognitive development. More recent research demonstrates that cognitive psychology severely lags behind developmental and social psychology in highlighting race (Roberts et al, 2021). These findings suggest there are issues in the field of cognitive psychology surrounding who does the science, who participates in the science, as well as who teaches the science. Thus, a pressing question for the field of cognitive psychology is how can its scientists promote inclusion of racial-ethnic diversity at all levels of the science? This talk will focus on how the field of cognitive psychology can increase its representation of minoritized populations in research. Issues and strategies for creating inclusive research questions and research designs will be discussed.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Sleep Quality Impact Neural Activity Patterns Supporting Episodic Memory Performance 

Presenter: Audrey Duarte (The University of Texas at Austin)
Sleep facilitates episodic memory and individual differences in habitual sleep quality contribute to those in memory performance. Epidemiological research shows reductions in sleep quantity and quality in racial/ethnic minorities compared to non-Hispanic Whites. However, the impact of these racial/ethnic sleep disparities on memory and its neural underpinnings is unknown. To address this question, we collected actigraphy sleep data for one week, and recorded EEG during performance of a paired associate learning task in racial/ethnic minorities and non-Hispanic Whites across the adult lifespan. Racial/ethnic minorities had reduced sleep duration and more variable sleep quality than non-Hispanic Whites, and individuals reporting greater exposure to racial/ethnic discrimination showed the poorest sleep. These sleep patterns were, in turn, related to a greater dependence on familiarity-based and a lower dependence on recollection-based neural patterns in racial/ethnic minorities. These results highlight the importance of social and health disparity factors on interactions between race/ethnicity and neurocognitive function.

Social and Contextual Forces Drive Inequalities in Cognitive Aging

Presenter: Jennifer Manly (Columbia University)
Research on cognitive aging has operated in settings that has limited applicability to the world’s diverse population. This narrow focus is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of our field, which include understanding the brain’s flexible adaptation to different contexts, and the neural and environmental mechanisms underlying cognitive aging among all people, not just a select, privileged few. I will describe an alternate approach of forming equal partnerships with research participants from minoritized backgrounds that has produced rigorous study designs and outcomes. I will present lessons learned from interdisciplinary research that has linked cognitive aging trajectories to lifecourse social exposures, such as structural racism, educational experiences, immigration, bilingualism, occupational opportunities, neighborhood investment, and residential segregation. I will show examples of cognitive aging research that is informed by the principles of public health and health justice.