Conference Presentations
Elias Ghazal, Mya Hanna, & Tessa Kramer
Elias Ghazal, Mya Hanna, and Tessa Kramer attended the Psychonomic Society’s 65th Annual meeting in November 2024 where they presented on: "From Stagnation in Cognitive Development to Conspiratorial Belief: The Relationship Between Piaget and Conspiratorial Beliefs". Elias, Mya, and Tessa worked on this project through GVSU's Decide Lab with Mario Fific, Brian Bowdle, and Kendall Shattuck.
Read more about their research below:
Conspiratorial beliefs pervade various societal levels and domains, emerging as a potent social force. Despite extensive research, understanding their cognitive underpinnings remains elusive, with paradoxical findings in correlational studies of the phenomenon. Exploring less traveled paths, we investigated the potential role of cognitive development. Focusing on Piaget's theory of cognitive development, we examined transitions from preoperational to formal thinking, assessing individuals' adherence to key developmental stages. Our research probes whether differing levels of conspiratorial beliefs correlate with failure to fully transition from earlier to later stages. Through Piagetian tasks designed for adults, we find a pronounced connection between conspiratorial beliefs and stagnation in animism, suggesting incomplete cognitive development. This partial development may foster susceptibility to conspiratorial beliefs later in life. Our findings underscore the importance of cognitive frameworks in understanding the formation and perpetuation of conspiratorial thinking, offering insights into potential intervention strategies.
Interest Area(s)
Psychology
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