Böcker av Cassie Stutts Berry

Perceiving our world is an active process. We actively explore and investigate theenvironment rather than passively registering the objects and events we encounter. Ourperception and attention reflect our moods, expectations, and beliefs. Recent evidence supportingthis approach comes from studies that focus on the impact of individual differences on humanperception and attention. Characteristics about the world we live in, such as culture or religion,may drive these differences in perception and attention. One of the ways these differences havebeen looked at is by examining executive functioning. Inhibitory control, the ignoring ofirrelevant information, is an important component of executive functioning. The Simon, Flanker,and Stroop tasks are all common measures of inhibitory control. They all require to some degreethe inhibition of irrelevant information when selecting an appropriate response to stimuli.Previous research has indicated differences in cognitive functioning for those of differentpolitical beliefs. Differences are seen in perception of multi-level stimuli in people of differentcultures and religions and for people with different political leanings. Previous research hasfound similar differences in performance on a measure of executive functioning for people ofdifferent religions. The expected effects for the Simon and Flanker task were found in thissample; however, differences in the size of the Simon and Flanker effect were not found in thissample for those of different religious beliefs or political beliefs.