The relationships between urbanicity, general cognitive ability, and susceptibility to the Ebbinghaus illusion

Resumen

Previous studies have shown that, in samples of non-Western observers, susceptibility to the Ebbinghaus illusion is stronger in urban dwellers. While such relationship between illusion strength and urbanicity has been ascribed to attentional effects, the present study explored the possibility that it is instead mediated by general cognitive ability. We recruited a sample of remote Namibians who varied in their level of urbanicity, and measured their susceptibility to the Ebbinghaus illusion, their levels of education and literacy, and their general cognitive ability. The results showed that urbanicity was related to Ebbinghaus susceptibility, and that general cognitive ability, literacy and education did not mediate this effect, which is somewhat reassuring with regard to the findings of previous studies that did not control for these variables. However, we found robust relationships between urbanicity, on the one hand, and cognitive ability, education and literacy, on the other, which advocates for careful consideration of the impact of the latter variables in studies about the cognitive effects of urban environments.

Áreas y palabras clave

Cómo citar (APA 7)

Caparos, S., & BOISSIN, E. (2023). The relationships between urbanicity, general cognitive ability, and susceptibility to the Ebbinghaus illusion. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ce2fb_v1