Cross-cultural differences in biased cognition - Pilot task data

This data collection consists of pilot data measuring task equivalence for measures of attention and interpretation bias. Congruent Mandarin and English emotional Stroop, attention probe (both measuring attention bias) and similarity ratings task and scrambled sentence task (both measuring interpretation bias) were developed using back-translation and decentering procedures. Tasks were then completed by 47 bilingual Mandarin-English speakers. Presented are data detailing personal characteristics, task scores and bias scores.<p>The way in which we process information in the world around us has a significant effect on our health and well being. For example, some people are more prone than others to notice potential dangers, to remember bad things from the past and assume the worst, when the meaning of an event or comment is uncertain. These tendencies are called negative cognitive biases and can lead to low mood and poor quality of life. They also make people vulnerable to mental illnesses.

In contrast, those with positive cognitive biases tend to function well and remain healthy. To date most of this work has been conducted on white, western populations and we do not know whether similar cognitive biases exist in Eastern cultures. This project will examine cognitive biases in Eastern (Hong Kong nationals ) and Western (UK nationals) people to see whether there are any differences between the two. It will also examine what happens to cognitive biases when someone migrates to a different culture. This will tell us whether influences from the society and culture around us have any effect on our cognitive biases. Finally the project will consider how much our own cognitive biases are inherited from our parents.

Together these results will tell us whether the known good and bad effects of cognitive biases apply to non Western cultural groups as well, and how much cognitive biases are decided by our genes or our environment.</p>

本数据集为预实验数据，用于测量注意偏向（attention bias）与解释偏向（interpretation bias）相关任务的等效性。研究团队采用回译法（back-translation）与去中心化程序（decentering procedures）开发了匹配的中英双语情绪Stroop任务（emotional Stroop）、注意探测任务（attention probe，二者均用于测量注意偏向），以及相似性评定任务（similarity ratings task）与乱句重组任务（scrambled sentence task，二者均用于测量解释偏向）。随后由47名中英双语使用者完成全部实验任务，本数据集包含被试的个人特征、任务得分及偏向得分的详细数据。

个体加工周遭环境信息的方式，对其健康状况与生活福祉具有显著影响。例如，当事件或评论的含义存在不确定性时，部分人群相较于他人更易察觉潜在危险、回忆过往负面经历并做出最坏假设。这类倾向被称为负性认知偏向，可引发情绪低落与生活质量下降，还会增加个体罹患精神疾病的风险。

与之相对，具备正性认知偏向的人群往往能更好地适应环境并维持健康状态。截至目前，此类研究大多针对西方白人群体展开，我们尚不明确东方文化中是否存在类似的认知偏向。本项目将分别考察东方（中国香港籍）与西方（英国籍）人群的认知偏向，以探究二者间是否存在差异；同时还将研究个体迁移至不同文化环境后，其认知偏向会发生何种变化，以此明确周遭社会与文化因素对认知偏向是否存在影响。最后，本项目还将探讨个体的认知偏向在多大程度上继承自父母。

综上，本项目的研究结果将揭示认知偏向已知的正负效应是否同样适用于非西方文化群体，以及认知偏向在多大程度上由基因或后天环境所决定。