Investigating the Geography of Thought Across Eleven Countries : Cross-Cultural Differences in Analytic and Holistic Cognitive Styles Using Simple Perceptual Tasks and Reaction Time Modeling

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Authors	LACKO David ČENĚK Jiří ARIKAN Alaattin DRESLER Thomas GALANG Adrianne John STACHOŇ Zdeněk ŠAŠINKOVÁ Alžběta TSAI Jie-Li PROŠEK Tomáš UGWITZ Pavel ŠAŠINKA Čeněk
Year of publication	2025
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Social Studies
Citation	LACKO, David, Jiří ČENĚK, Alaattin ARIKAN, Thomas DRESLER, Adrianne John GALANG, Zdeněk STACHOŇ, Alžběta ŠAŠINKOVÁ, Jie-Li TSAI, Tomáš PROŠEK, Pavel UGWITZ and Čeněk ŠAŠINKA. Investigating the Geography of Thought Across Eleven Countries : Cross-Cultural Differences in Analytic and Holistic Cognitive Styles Using Simple Perceptual Tasks and Reaction Time Modeling. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Washington: American Psychological Association, 2025, vol. 154, No 2, p. 325-346. ISSN 0096-3445. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0001685.
web	https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-54927-001
Doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0001685
Keywords	analytic and holistic cognition; cognitive style; reaction time modeling; latent profiles; cultural dimensions; cultural differences
Attached files	Investigating_the_Geography_of_Thought_Across_Eleven_Countries.pdf
Description	This paper investigates cross-cultural differences in analytic/holistic cognitive styles among participants from eleven countries: Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Ghana, Philippines, Slovakia, Taiwan, and Türkiye. Using a pre-registered design, 993 university students were assessed with three perceptual tasks based on Navon hierarchical figures and Gottschaldt’s embedded figures. Analytic and holistic cognitive styles were estimated using reaction time modeling, specifically a Bayesian 4-parameter shifted Wald distribution and a hierarchical linear ballistic accumulator model. The results revealed notable cross-cultural variations in cognitive styles, though these differences did not align with predictions from analytic/holistic cognitive style theory. Countries traditionally characterized as more holistic or analytic did not consistently show the expected cognitive style patterns. Multilevel modeling examined the influence of country-level variables, such as Hofstede’s and Schwartz’s cultural dimensions. While some dimensions, like individualism and long-term orientation, were associated with both analytic and holistic thinking, many cultural predictors had no significant impact on cognitive styles. Additionally, exploratory latent profile analysis assessed cognitive meta-styles, such as flexibility and rigidity, but the findingsdo not support the presence of a rigidity meta-style. No profiles exhibited a strong preference for one cognitive dimension while showing a low preference for the other. These findings challenge the straightforward application of analytic/holistic theory across diverse cultural contexts and suggest a need for re-evaluation of its generalizability.