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On the Influence of Cognitive Styles on Users' Understanding of Explanations

Riefle, Lara ORCID iD icon 1; Hemmer, Patrick 1; Benz, Carina 1; Vössing, Michael ORCID iD icon 1; Pries, Jannik
1 Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Abstract:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly complex, making it difficult for users to understand how the AI has derived its prediction. Using explainable AI (XAI)-methods, researchers aim to explain AI decisions to users. So far, XAI-based explanations pursue a technology-focused approach - neglecting the influence of users' cognitive abilities and differences in information processing on the understanding of explanations. Hence, this study takes a human-centered perspective and incorporates insights from cognitive psychology. In particular, we draw on the psychological construct of cognitive styles that describe humans' characteristic modes of processing information. Applying a between-subject experiment design, we investigate how users' rational and intuitive cognitive styles affect their objective and subjective understanding of different types of explanations provided by an AI. Initial results indicate substantial differences in users' understanding depending on their cognitive style. We expect to contribute to a more nuanced view of the interrelation of human factors and XAI design.


Volltext §
DOI: 10.5445/IR/1000189850
Veröffentlicht am 22.01.2026
Cover der Publikation
Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI)
Publikationstyp Forschungsbericht/Preprint
Publikationsdatum 05.10.2022
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator KITopen-ID: 1000189850
Verlag arxiv
Umfang 9 S.
Schlagwörter Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC)
Nachgewiesen in OpenAlex
arXiv
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