title: Global-local processing impacts academic risk taking.
abstract: Research has shown that academic risk taking-the selection of school tasks with varying difficulty levels-affords important implications for educational outcomes. In two experiments, we explored the role of cognitive processes-specifically, global versus local processing styles-in students' academic risk-taking tendencies. Participants first read a short passage, which provided the context for their subsequent academic risk-taking decisions. Following which, participants undertook the Navon's task and attended to either global letters or local letters only, i.e., were either globally or locally primed. The effects of priming on academic risk taking were then assessed using a perception-based measure (Experiment 1) and a task-based measure (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 provided preliminary evidence, which Experiment 2 confirmed, that globally focused individuals took more academic risk than did locally focused individuals after controlling for participants' need for cognition (how much they enjoy effortful cognitive activities). Additionally, the inclusion of and comparisons with a control group in Experiment 2 revealed that locally focused participants drove the observed effects. The theory of predictive and reactive control systems (PARCS) provides a cogent account of our findings. Future directions and practical applications in education are discussed.
authors: a Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences , National University of Singapore , Singapore.
authors: Elvis W S
authors: EWS
authors: Tan
authors: a Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences , National University of Singapore , Singapore.
authors: Stephen Wee Hun
authors: SWH
authors: Lim
authors: b Graduate School of Education , Kyoto University , Kyoto , Japan.
authors: Emmanuel
authors: E
authors: Manalo
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D012309:Risk-Taking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Academic risk taking; Global-local processing; Navon’s task; Need for cognition (NFC); Theory of predictive and reactive control systems (PARCS)