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Drawing on the literature from cognitive neuroscience and auditing research on professional skepticism (PS), this paper identifies new research questions, determinants, and theories that may resolve current problem areas in PS research. We identify the following PS research areas that neuroscientific perspectives can potentially improve: 1) theory, 2) trust, 3) trait and state skepticism, 4) deception/fraud detection, and 5) skeptical judgment and action. The paper concludes with a discussion of the critical question of whether integrating a neuroscientific perspective in PS research is worthwhile and provides further direction for future research.

This paper aims to link recent findings in cognitive neuroscience to better understand how andragogically informed instructional practices impact cognition and learning.

The research questions guiding the study is in what ways can the recent findings in cognitive neuroscience help to inform adult education theory, including andragogy in particular, to deepen our understanding of how andragogical instructional principles and practices can improve learning? We adopted Torraco’s (2005) integrative literature review approach of providing enough details regarding the selection of the literature and the identification and verification of emerged themes of main ideas.

The core assumptions of andragogy (self-direction, prior experience, readiness to learn and immediacy of application) have a connection to the neural networks related to memory and cognition.

First, this study provides fundamental foundations for combining cognitive neuroscience and adult learning to illuminate how cognitive neuroscience contributes physiologically to adult learning. Second, the findings in cognitive neuroscience related to the four assumptions for andragogy help to provide scientific explanations and interpretations for adult learning theories influencing human resource development (HRD), such as self-directed learning, experiential learning and role theory.

First, HRD practitioners could use the integrative approach between andragogy and the cognitive neuroscience to reduce the issues of learning activities in generation differences. In addition, cognitive neuroscience research may contribute to improving teaching and instructional techniques.

The contributions of this study is that it provides an integrative review about why and how anagogical principles work through the lens of cognitive neuroscience. Based on the findings, we suggested a model of adaptive cognitive neuroscience-adult learning structures.

The chapter examines to what extent research from social cognitive neuroscience can inform ethical leadership. We evaluate the contribution of brain research to the understanding of ethical leaders as moral persons as well the understanding of their role as moral managers. The areas of social cognitive neuroscience that mirror these two aspects of ethical leadership comprise research relating to understanding oneself, understanding others, and the relationship between the self and others. Within these, we deem it relevant for ethical leadership to incorporate research findings about self-reflection, self-regulation, theory of mind, empathy, trust, and fairness. The chapter highlights social cognitive neuroscience research in these areas and discusses its actual and potential contributions to ethical leadership. The chapter thereby engages also with the broader discussion on the neuroscience of leadership. We suggest new avenues for future research in the field of leadership ethics and responsibility.

This chapter introduces electroencephalography (EEG), a measure of neurophysiological activity, as a critical method for investigating individual and team decision-making and cognition. EEG is a useful tool for expanding the theoretical and research horizons in organizational cognitive neuroscience, with a lower financial cost and higher portability than other neuroimaging methods (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging). This chapter briefly reviews past work that has applied cognitive neuroscience methods to investigate cognitive processes and outcomes. The focus is on describing contemporary EEG measures that reflect individual cognition and compare them to complementary measures in the field of psychology and management. The authors discuss how neurobiological measures of cognition relate to and may predict both individual cognitive performance and team cognitive performance (decision-making). This chapter aims to assist scholars in the field of managerial and organizational cognition in understanding the complementarity between psychological and neurophysiological methods, and how they may be combined to develop new hypotheses in the intersection of these research fields.

In light of the growing interest in neuroscience within the managerial and organizational cognition (MOC) scholarly domain at large, this chapter advances current knowledge on core neuroscience methods. It does so by building on the theoretical analysis put forward by Healey and Hodgkinson (2014, 2015), and by offering a thorough – yet accessible – methodological framework for a better understanding of key cognitive and social neuroscience methods. Classifying neuroscience methods based on their degree of resolution, functionality, and anatomical focus, the chapter outlines their features, practicalities, advantages and disadvantages. Specifically, it focuses on functional magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, heart rate variability, and skin conductance response. Equipped with knowledge of these methods, researchers will be able to further their understanding of the potential synergies between management and neuroscience, to better appreciate and evaluate the value of neuroscience methods, and to look at new ways to frame old and new research questions in MOC. The chapter also builds bridges between researchers and practitioners by rebalancing the hype and hopes surrounding the use of neuroscience in management theory and practice.

For organizational neuroscience to progress, it requires an overarching theoretical framework that locates neural processes appropriately within the wider context of organizational cognitive activities. In this chapter, we argue the case for building such a framework on two foundations: (1) critical realism, and (2) socially situated cognition. Critical realism holds to the importance of identifying biophysical roots for organizational activity (including neurophysiological processes) while acknowledging the top-down influence of higher-level, emergent organizational phenomena such as routines and structures, thereby avoiding the trap of reductionism. Socially situated cognition connects the brain, body, and mind to social, cultural, and environmental forces, as significant components of complex organizational systems. By focusing on adaptive action as the primary explanandum, socially situated cognition posits that, although the brain plays a driving role in adaptive organizational activity, this activity also relies on the body, situational context, and cognitive processes that are distributed across organizational agents and artifacts. The value of the framework that we sketch out is twofold. First, it promises to help organizational neuroscience become more than an arena for validating basic neuroscience concepts, enabling organizational researchers to backfill into social neuroscience, by identifying unique relations between the brain and social organization. Second, it promises to build deeper connections between neuroscience and mainstream theories of organizational behavior, by advancing models of managerial and organizational cognition that are biologically informed and socially situated.

This chapter overviews organizational neuroscience (ON), covering the past, present, and future of this growing field of inquiry. First, we define ON and clarify the boundaries of the field. Second, we describe the evolution of ON by starting with early papers that tended to discuss the potential of ON to benefit both research and practice. Throughout its development, debates have abounded about the value of ON. Such debates are often related to challenges in collecting, integrating, interpreting, and using information from the brain-level of analysis. It is time for the field to move beyond these debates to focus on applying neuroscience to further theory development and reveal more comprehensive answers to research questions of importance to both academics and practitioners. Third, we propose and describe future research directions for ON. The research directions that we propose are merely a sample of the many paths along which ON inquiry can move forward. Fourth, we outline potential practical implications of ON, including: training and development, job design, high-performance assessment, motivating communications, and conflict prevention. Finally, we draw conclusions about ON as it stands today, address challenges in developing ON, and point out opportunities. We conclude with takeaways and highlight the importance of ON for both academics and practitioners.

Although the field of neuroscience has evolved dramatically, little research has attempted to conceptualize the impact of neuroscience on the field of human resource development (HRD). The purpose of this study is an integrative review of the influential relationship between neuroscience and workplace learning including applicable implications for HRD research and practice.

By reviewing 93 studies on neuroscience and brain-based learning published between 1995 and 2017, the authors synthesized their findings.

This study discusses the basic concepts of neuroscience such as the structure and functions of the brain, neuroscientific findings about memory and cognition, the effect of neural transmitters on memory and cognition and the neuroscience of learning. This study also illustrates brain-based learning styles affecting learning and describes various neuroscientific learning principles and models that can be applied to practical planning and the delivery of workplace learning and HRD activities.

This study concludes with brain-based learning principles called neuroscientism compared with traditional learning theories. It also includes several brain-based learning cases from workplace settings and implications for future research and further HRD practices.

Recent developments in neuroscience have generated great expectations in the education world globally. However, building a bridge between brain science and education has been hard. Educational researchers and practitioners more often than not hold unrealistic images of neuroscience, some naively positive and others blindly negative. Neuroscientist looking at how the brain reacts and changes during mental tasks involving reading or mathematics usually discuss education as some constant and undifferentiated “social environment” of the brain, either assuming it to be a “black box” or evoking an image of perfect schooling and full access to it. In this review, we claim that a more productive and realistic relationship between neuroscience and the comparative study of education can be thought about in terms of the hypothesis that formal education is having a significant role in the cognitive and neurological development of human populations around the world. We review research that supports this hypothesis and implications for future studies.