Conference: Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives for Research in Cognition

It has long been recognized that culture can influence cognitive processes such as memory, perception, and decision making. However, a consideration of culture has not been prominent in cognitive psychology. As research becomes more global and collaborative, with calls for greater diversity and inclusion across sub-disciplines, there is an opportunity to uncover ways in which cognitive processes can differ across individuals in diverse populations.

This award seeks to gather momentum for cognitive scientists to consider cultural influences and to advance the diversity of researchers, populations, and topics under study.

A series of three Culture and Cognition conferences will be organized over the next two years. The aims are to 1) advance research on cognition across cultures; 2) build a community of researchers; and 3) provide networking and support for trainees. Two of these meetings will operate as pre-conferences of the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, with its core audience of cognitive psychologists.

A third, standalone meeting will facilitate connections among culture and cognition researchers worldwide. Meetings will include a mixture of formats, including research presentations, panel discussions, roundtables, posters, and networking receptions. The emphasis will be on interaction and active participation of attendees from all career stages, including trainees.

The meetings will explore interdisciplinary perspectives on defining culture in the study of cognition, with invited speakers representing a range of disciplines that includes cognitive, social, and developmental psychology, as well as anthropology. The program will also include scientists who are themselves from culturally diverse origins working in geographically diverse locations.

To build infrastructure, a website and mailing list will be created, which will support the development of the community of researchers and trainees, the dissemination of information, and provide a foundation for building on the momentum created. Support is provided by the Perception, Action, and Cognition Program and the Cultural Anthropology Program.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.