{"pk":25775,"title":"Systemic Metaphors Promote Systems Thinking","subtitle":null,"abstract":"Is income inequality more of a blemish or a failing organ in\nour economy? Both metaphors capture something about\nwealth disparities, but only failing organ seems to emphasize\nthe fact that our economy is a complex system where activity\nin one region may lead to a cascade of problems in other parts\nof the system. In the present study, we introduce a novel\nmethod for classifying such “systemic” metaphors, which\nreveals that people can reliably identify the extent to which a\nmetaphor highlights the complex causal structure of a target\ndomain. In a second experiment, we asked whether exposing\npeople to more systemic metaphors would induce a systems\nthinking mindset and influence reasoning on a seemingly\nunrelated task. We found that participants who were primed\nwith systemic metaphors scored higher on subsequent tasks\nthat measured relational and holistic thinking, supporting the\nview that these metaphors can promote systems thinking.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[{"word":"systems thinking; metaphors; intervention"},{"word":"framing; decision making"}],"section":"Papers","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/38f266dx","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Paul","middle_name":"H","last_name":"Thibodeau","name_suffix":"","institution":"Oberlin College","department":""},{"first_name":"Anna","middle_name":"","last_name":"Winneg","name_suffix":"","institution":"Oberlin College","department":""},{"first_name":"Cynthia","middle_name":"M","last_name":"Frantz","name_suffix":"","institution":"Oberlin College","department":""},{"first_name":"Stephen","middle_name":"J","last_name":"Flusberg","name_suffix":"","institution":"SUNY Purchase College","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"2015-01-02T02:00:00+08:00","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/25775/galley/15399/download/"}]}