People with extremist views less able to do complex mental tasks, research suggests

[AtW]

"Our brains hold clues for the ideologies we choose to live by, according to research, which has suggested that people who espouse extremist attitudes tend to perform poorly on complex mental tasks.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge sought to evaluate whether cognitive disposition – differences in how information is perceived and processed – sculpt ideological world-views such as political, nationalistic and dogmatic beliefs, beyond the impact of traditional demographic factors like age, race and gender.



The study, built on previous research, included more than 330 US-based participants aged 22 to 63 who were exposed to a battery of tests – 37 neuropsychological tasks and 22 personality surveys – over the course of two weeks.

The tasks were engineered to be neutral, not emotional or political – they involved, for instance, memorising visual shapes. The researchers then used computational modelling to extract information from that data about the participant’s perception and learning, and their ability to engage in complex and strategic mental processing.
"

https://www.theguardian.com/science/...earch-suggests

[DonaldJTrump]

A sample size of 330 is not very significant

Also the Guardian as a source is an instant fail

[NotAllThere]

This good enough?

https://www.pnas.org/content/115/19/E4532 - published May 8, 2018

[DonaldJTrump]

This good enough?

https://www.pnas.org/content/115/19/E4532 - published May 8, 2018

2/10 must try harder

The sample consisted of 332 UK citizens recruited through Prolific Academic (47.1% female; age: M = 37.96, SD = 13.69)

[NotAllThere]

You didn't like the grauniad link, so I gave you the source. Which shows that the grauniad misreported by 2, and are almost three years late. Now your aversion to the paper has grounds.

[Whorty]

You didn't like the grauniad link, so I gave you the source. Which shows that the grauniad misreported by 2, and are almost three years late. Now your aversion to the paper has grounds.

He was one of the 332

[Platypus]

Researchers from the University of Cambridge sought to evaluate whether cognitive disposition – differences in how information is perceived and processed – sculpt ideological world-views such as political, nationalistic and dogmatic beliefs, beyond the impact of traditional demographic factors like age, race and gender.

It sounds to me more like the case that people who are less able to do complex mental tasks are more likely to be extremists. But the other way around is catchier and it's easier to brand extremists as dullards than to suggest that all slow coaches are extremists. I wonder people with extremist views includes Guardian readers?