Social determinants of identity in communities: A social capital- and social categorization-based approach – findings from Latvia

The article investigates the relations, in the light of new paradigms of economic development, between trust and economic wealth at the micro level in the Republic of Latvia, by means of a structural equation modelling-based approach and a framework combining social capital and social identity theory, in a rationale of cross-fertilization between social and cognitive science. Results are also tested against control dimensions reflecting relevant divides in Latvian society (residence place dimensions; ethno-linguistic belongings; educational differences). General results support the hypothesis of the existence of a causal path connecting personal wealth, institutional trust, social engagemen…

Tracing multisensory food experiences on Twitter

How a food, or a dish, is named and how its components and attributes are described can all influence the perception and the enjoyment of the food. Therefore, tracing patterns in food descriptions and determining their role can be of value. The aims of this study were the following: (1) to describe the multisensory food experience as represented in microblog entries concerning food and drink on Twitter, (2) to provide an overview of the changes in the above-mentioned food representations during the period 2011‐20, and (3) to contribute to a broader understanding of the human‐food relationship as reflected on social media ‐ in this case Twitter ‐ and outline its potential utility for the res…

Editors' Introduction

This volume contains a selection of the papers presented at the 11<sup>th</sup> International Symposium on Cognition, Logic and Communication which took place in Riga, at the University of Latvia on December 10-11 2015. The choice of topic reflected a growing understanding in the community of linguists and cognitive scientists that fundamental grammatical features of language, in particular the mass/count distinction, use of number words, and plurality, reflect our grasp of non-linguistic numerical operations, in particular individuation and measurement.

Impact of Demographic Differences on Color Preferences in the Interface Design of e-Services in Latvia

In our study, we test users’ color preferences of interfaces of typical electronic services’ (e-services) environment. The motivation of our study is to explore discrepancy between (a) the high degree of availability of e-services in Latvia, and (b) low usage of these e-services among population. We aim to find the regularities regarding color preferences that could be useful in the development of e-services and that could support the rise of the usage of e-services in future. Although there are several reasons why people avoid using e-services (some of them socio-cognitive, some – technological), we would like to focus on a particular aspect – the colors of e-services interface. In particu…

Perceptions of institutions and social capital accumulation: A social categorization and shared agency‐based approach. Evidence from the Russian Federation

Perception of Biological Motion in Central and Peripheral Visual Fields

Abstract Studies analysing biological motion perception based on reduced number of dots have demonstrated that biological motion can be perceived even when only the lower part of the body is visible or when the number of dots representing the object is reduced. What is the minimal amount of information that enables biological motion to be distinguished from its scrambled version? The results of the current experiment demonstrate that biological motion can be distinguished from its scrambled version when the object is formed of approximately 5 (4.7 ± 0.1) dots. Additionally, we also investigated whether the threshold value for biological motion perception differs in central and peripheral vi…