M Afzal Upal
Biographic Data
| ID | 6773203 |
|---|---|
| NAME | M Afzal Upal |
| GIVEN NAMES | M Afzal |
| FAMILY NAME | Upal |
| SIGNATURE | UPAL M A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Defence Research and Development Canada |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5758-9077 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 20 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements
Understanding the Role of Context on Memory for Maximally Counterintuitive Concepts
The current study examined how contextual information, defined as information represented at the level of the situation model, influenced memory for minimally and maximally counterintuitive stories. The first two experiments investigated whether the presence of explicit instructions to make sense of “strange information” in the stories influenced memory for maximally counterintuitive stories. Although no such effect was observed, post hoc analyse…
A Framework for Agent-Based Social Simulations of Social Identity Dynamics
Understanding the memory advantage of counterintuitive concepts
Previous work suggests that concepts that are only slightly counterintuitive are more memorable than concepts that are intuitive or overly counterintuitive (Boyer, 1994; Boyer & Ramble, 2001), although causes for this memory advantage have been debated (Barrett, 2008; Upal, 2009). We conducted four experiments to better understand the cognitive processes that underlie memory for counterintuitive concepts by recording both reading time and recall …
From individual to social counterintuitiveness
Memory, Mystery and Coherence
This article reports an investigation involving a series of studies carried out to critically examine the hypothesis that presence of 2 or 3 minimally counterintuitive concepts in a story makes it more memorable than stories containing fewer or more of such concepts. The results paint a more complicated picture involving a number of interacting factors with contribution of the counterintuitive concepts to the global story cohesion emerging as a k…
Role of Context in the Recall of Counterintuitive Concepts
Counterintuitive concepts have been identified as major aspects of religious belief, and have been used to explain the retention and transmission of such beliefs. To resolve some inconsistencies in the literature concerning counterintuitiveness, we conducted three experiments to study the effect of context on recall. Five types of items were used: intuitive, minimally counterintuitive, maximally counterintuitive, minimally counterintuitive with c…
The Creative Structuring of Counterintuitive Worlds
Recent research has shown a memory advantage for minimally counterintuitive (MCI) concepts, over concepts that are either intuitive (INT) or maximally counterintuitive (MXCI), although the general result is heavily affected by context. Items from one such study were given to subjects who were asked to create novel stories using at least three concepts from a list containing all three types. Results indicated a preference for using MCI items (as i…
Towards a Cognitive Science of New Religious Movements
Traditionally cognitive scientists have had little to say about religion (and even less to say about new religious movements (NRMs)) partly because religion is arguably a social phenomenon (Bainbridge et al. 1994) and partly because of the pervasive scientific bias of relegating religion to the heap of the irrational, the illogical, and 'a fading vestige of the prescientific times' (Lewis 2003). While sociologists of religion have been studying N…
Role of Context in the Recall of Counterintuitive Concepts
Counterintuitive concepts have been identified as major aspects of religious belief, and have been used to explain the retention and transmission of such beliefs. To resolve some inconsistencies in the literature concerning counterintuitiveness, we conducted three experiments to study the effect of context on recall. Five types of items were used: intuitive, minimally counterintuitive, maximally counterintuitive, minimally counterintuitive with c…
The Creative Structuring of Counterintuitive Worlds
Recent research has shown a memory advantage for minimally counterintuitive (MCI) concepts, over concepts that are either intuitive (INT) or maximally counterintuitive (MXCI), although the general result is heavily affected by context. Items from one such study were given to subjects who were asked to create novel stories using at least three concepts from a list containing all three types. Results indicated a preference for using MCI items (as i…
Towards a Cognitive Science of New Religious Movements
Traditionally cognitive scientists have had little to say about religion (and even less to say about new religious movements (NRMs)) partly because religion is arguably a social phenomenon (Bainbridge et al. 1994) and partly because of the pervasive scientific bias of relegating religion to the heap of the irrational, the illogical, and 'a fading vestige of the prescientific times' (Lewis 2003). While sociologists of religion have been studying N…
From individual to social counterintuitiveness
Towards a Cognitive Science of New Religious Movements
Traditionally cognitive scientists have had little to say about religion (and even less to say about new religious movements (NRMs)) partly because religion is arguably a social phenomenon (Bainbridge et al. 1994) and partly because of the pervasive scientific bias of relegating religion to the heap of the irrational, the illogical, and 'a fading vestige of the prescientific times' (Lewis 2003). While sociologists of religion have been studying N…
Role of Context in the Recall of Counterintuitive Concepts
Counterintuitive concepts have been identified as major aspects of religious belief, and have been used to explain the retention and transmission of such beliefs. To resolve some inconsistencies in the literature concerning counterintuitiveness, we conducted three experiments to study the effect of context on recall. Five types of items were used: intuitive, minimally counterintuitive, maximally counterintuitive, minimally counterintuitive with c…
The Creative Structuring of Counterintuitive Worlds
Recent research has shown a memory advantage for minimally counterintuitive (MCI) concepts, over concepts that are either intuitive (INT) or maximally counterintuitive (MXCI), although the general result is heavily affected by context. Items from one such study were given to subjects who were asked to create novel stories using at least three concepts from a list containing all three types. Results indicated a preference for using MCI items (as i…
From individual to social counterintuitiveness
Memory, Mystery and Coherence
This article reports an investigation involving a series of studies carried out to critically examine the hypothesis that presence of 2 or 3 minimally counterintuitive concepts in a story makes it more memorable than stories containing fewer or more of such concepts. The results paint a more complicated picture involving a number of interacting factors with contribution of the counterintuitive concepts to the global story cohesion emerging as a k…
Understanding the memory advantage of counterintuitive concepts
Previous work suggests that concepts that are only slightly counterintuitive are more memorable than concepts that are intuitive or overly counterintuitive (Boyer, 1994; Boyer & Ramble, 2001), although causes for this memory advantage have been debated (Barrett, 2008; Upal, 2009). We conducted four experiments to better understand the cognitive processes that underlie memory for counterintuitive concepts by recording both reading time and recall …
A Framework for Agent-Based Social Simulations of Social Identity Dynamics
Understanding the Role of Context on Memory for Maximally Counterintuitive Concepts
The current study examined how contextual information, defined as information represented at the level of the situation model, influenced memory for minimally and maximally counterintuitive stories. The first two experiments investigated whether the presence of explicit instructions to make sense of “strange information” in the stories influenced memory for maximally counterintuitive stories. Although no such effect was observed, post hoc analyse…
Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements
Epistemology (7 works) · Counterintuitive (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Cognitive psychology (5 works) · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Context (archaeology (3 works) · Recall (3 works)