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Much of the study of cognition has focused on identifying universal principles and has thereby marginalized approaches that consider culture and context. However, embracing context can lead to better methods for identifying universality.
The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is an empirically based, hierarchical model of the structure of psychopathology. In this Review, Rodriguez-Seijas et al. consider the applicability of the HiTOP model to diverse, underrepresented and epistemically excluded populations.
The somatosensory system processes tactile sensations to represent the human body. In this Review, Tamè and Longo discuss updates to the classical principles of somatosensation that reflect emerging patterns and complexities in how touch is represented.
People hold subjective beliefs that, independent of the actual distribution of resources, one party’s gains are inevitably accrued at other parties’ expense. In this Review, Davidai and Tepper synthesize research on when and why such zero-sum beliefs emerge and their consequences for individuals, groups and society.
Sexual objectification refers to a cultural prioritization of sexual appearance and appeal over other attributes. In this Review, Ward et al. synthesize empirical evidence about the sources and consequences of seeing women as sexual objects, and of women’s objectification of themselves (self-objectification).
Gesture contributes to human communication and encodes information differently from language. In this Review, Kita and Emmorey discuss how gesture interacts with and supports spoken and signed languages.
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Individuals frequently lack the ability and confidence to make sense of quantitative information in their decision making. In this Review, Reyna and Brainerd describe how numeracy training emphasizing the qualitative meaning of numbers in context — the gist — can create substantial and long-lasting improvements to numeracy abilities that transfer across contexts.
Psychology research typically focuses on biases at the individual level rather than across broader societal systems. In this Review, Skinner-Dorkenoo and colleagues consider how systemic factors contribute to individual-level racial biases in the USA and vice versa.
Whether music-related psychological responses evolved as specialized cognitive adaptations is unknown. In this Review, Singh and Mehr find evidence for universality and early expression of emotional and behavioural responses but not domain-specificity, suggesting that music-related responses draw on more general psychological mechanisms.