Do warnings of response verification moderate the relationship between personality and cognitive ability?

This article presents the results of 2 studies that examine the effect of presenting a warning of response verification by others on the relationship between measures of personality and cognitive ability. In both a field study and a laboratory study, stronger correlations were generally found between measures of personality and cognitive ability when a warning of verification was present. The results from the studies also showed that the warning of verification was associated with slower item response latencies for certain personality scales, suggesting that exposure to the warning increased the complexity of the response decision. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of altering test instructions on the construct validity of personality measures used in applied settings.     

Agreement between informant and self-reported personality in depressed older adults: what are the roles of medical illness and cognitive function?

In a sample of 77 dyads, involving depressed patients at least 50 years of age and their family or friends (informants), patient illness burden and cognitive decline were associated with self-informant rating discrepancies for facets of Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) Openness and Extraversion. Informant judgments about Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were not associated with illness burden or cognitive function, underscoring the potential utility of risk-detection strategies that rely on informant-report in these two domains. Findings suggest the need for research on how patient illness severity and cognitive function affect how friends and family use or misuse information when making judgments about older depressed patients.     

Scholastic Assessment or g? The relationship between the Scholastic Assessment Test and general cognitive ability

There is little evidence showing the relationship between the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and g (general intelligence). This research established the relationship between SAT and g, as well as the appropriateness of the SAT as a measure of g, and examined the SAT as a premorbid measure of intelligence. In Study 1, we used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. Measures of g were extracted from the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and correlated with SAT scores of 917 participants. The resulting correlation was.82 (.86 corrected for nonlinearity). Study 2 investigated the correlation between revised and recentered SAT scores and scores on the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices among 104 undergraduates. The resulting correlation was.483 (.72 corrected for restricted range). These studies indicate that the SAT is mainly a test of g. We provide equations for converting SAT scores to estimated IQs; such conversion could be useful for estimating premorbid IQ or conducting individual difference research with college students.     

The effect of cognitive testing and feedback on older adults’ subjective age

Subjective age, or how old a person feels, is an important measure of self-perception that is associated with consequential cognitive and health outcomes. Recent research suggests that subjective age is affected by certain situations, including cognitive testing contexts. The current study examined whether cognitive testing and positive performance feedback affect subjective age and subsequent cognitive performance. Older adults took a series of neuropsychological and cognitive tests and subjective age was measured at various time points. Participants also either received positive or no feedback on an initial cognitive task, an analogies task. Results showed that participants felt older over the course of the testing session, particularly after taking a working memory test, relative to baseline. Positive feedback did not significantly mitigate this subjective aging effect. Results suggest that subjective age is malleable and that it can be affected by standard cognitive and neuropsychological test conditions.     

Does intergroup contact affect personality? A longitudinal study on the bidirectional relationship between intergroup contact and personality traits

We conducted a longitudinal study to test whether, in addition to being predicted by personality, intergroup contact is longitudinally associated with personality traits. Participants were 388 majority (Italian) and 109 minority (immigrant) first‐year high school students. Results revealed a bidirectional relationship between contact and personality: Quality of contact was longitudinally associated with greater agreeableness and openness to experience, whereas agreeableness and openness to experience were longitudinal predictors of contact quality. An unexpected negative longitudinal association also emerged between quantity of contact and agreeableness. These effects were not moderated by group of belonging (majority vs. minority). Our findings highlight the importance of integrating research on intergroup contact with research on personality.     

The relationship between NEO personality factors and Hoge’s Intrinsic Religious Motivation

Personality traits have shown variable relationships to measures of religious motivation. For example, Costa and McCrae (1985) and McCrae and Costa (1999) suggested that individuals who are high in agreeableness and conscientious gravitate toward religion once they ‘meet’ with religion as a cultural identity Openness to experience involves varied expressions including sensitivity to aesthetics, and egalitarian values (e.g. McCrae and Costa 1996). As such, it has been shown to be negatively correlated with measures of religious fundamentalism, and positively correlated with intrinsic religious motivation. However, other reviews have found only small correlations between personality and religious motivation. Our study was designed to test the relationships among the Big 5 personality factors with Hoge’s Intrinsic Religious Motivation in an undergraduate sample. Results showed that only openness to experience and intrinsic religious motivation were significantly correlated, providing further support for the idea that religious motivation and personality factors may require further research elaboration.     

Marital discord and well-being in older adults: is the association confounded by personality?

The associations between marital discord and multiple measures of well-being (depression, anxiety, life satisfaction, and self-esteem) were evaluated in a population-based sample of 416 couples in which the husband was 65 years or older. Results indicated that greater marital discord was associated with greater depression and lower life satisfaction and self-esteem. Furthermore, the associations between marital discord and well-being remained significant when statistically controlling for the rival explanation of the Big Five personality traits. Finally, there was little evidence for gender differences in the magnitude of the associations between marital discord and well-being. Findings suggest that marital discord is an important correlate of multiple measures of well-being in older individuals and that this association is not confounded by the Big Five personality traits.     

Type D personality and social relations in adults with diabetes: results from diabetes MILES – The Netherlands

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether individual differences in Type D personality (combination of negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI)) could explain heterogeneity in perceived social support and relationship adjustment (intimate partner relationship) among people living with diabetes.

Design: In the Diabetes MILES—The Netherlands survey, 621 adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes (54% female, age: 56?±?14 years) completed measures of Type D personality (DS14), perceived social support and relationship adjustment. We used established DS14 cut-off scores to indicate Type D personality, high NA only, high SI only and reference groups.

Results: Participants from the Type D and NA only groups perceived lower levels of social support (Welch[3,259]?=?37.27, p?<?0.001), and relationship adjustment (Welch[3,191]?=?14.74; p?<?0.01) than those from the SI only and reference groups. Type D was associated with lower social support (lowest quartile; adjusted OR?=?8.73; 95%CI?=?5.05?～?15.09; p?<?0.001) and lower relationship adjustment (lowest quartile; adjusted OR?=?3.70; 95%CI?=?2.10?～?6.53; p?<?0.001). Type D was also associated with increased levels of loneliness.

Conclusion: Participants with Type D and participants with high NA only tend to experience less social support and less relationship adjustment. Type D personality was also associated with more loneliness. Experiencing lower social support and relationship adjustment may complicate coping and self-management in people with diabetes.     

More than words? Hypomanic personality traits,visual imagery and verbal thought in young adults

The use of visual mental imagery has been proposed to be a risk factor for the development of bipolar disorder, due to its potential to amplify affective states. This study examined the relation between visual imagery (both trait usage and intrusive experiences of such imagery), intrusive verbal thought, and hypomania, as assessed by self-report questionnaires, in a sample of young adults (N=219). Regression analyses found (after controlling for anxiety, depression, and positive and negative affect) that levels of intrusive visual imagery predicted levels of hypomania, but that neither trait use of visual imagery nor intrusive verbal thought did. These results were consistent with the proposal that being a 'visualiser', as opposed to a 'verbaliser', is a risk factor for bipolar disorder, with the caveat that it is specifically intrusive experiences of imagery, rather than the tendency to utilize imagery per se, that acts as a risk factor.     

Fear of falling and falls in older adults with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of social importance on prospective remembering in younger and older adults as a possible factor contributing to the age-prospective memory paradox. Using a between-subjects design, 40 younger and 40 older adults worked on a time-based prospective memory task in which social importance was varied. Overall, younger adults outperformed older adults in the prospective memory task. Importantly, in contrast to younger adults, older adults' prospective memory performance was significantly better in the social importance condition than in the standard condition. This interaction was not reflected in participants' time-monitoring behaviour. Findings are discussed in the context of recent prospective memory theories.     

Representation and learning in motor action – Bridges between experimental research and cognitive robotics

To gain a better understanding of the functionality of representation and categorization in action and interaction, it is fundamental that researchers understand how movements are represented in long-term memory. It is our position that human motor control requires that our actions be planned and represented in terms of intended perceptual effects and future task demands, and that the individual has a well-structured mental representation of the task so that the movement can be carried out successfully. Basic Action Concepts (BACs) are identified as major building blocks of cognitive representation in long-term memory, which are cognitive tools used to master the functional demands of movement tasks. In this paper, we consider relevant issues in research methodology and present an experimental method that can be used to assess action-relevant representational structures. This method permits us to observe the strong relationship between cognitive representation and performance in manual action. For example, the specific differences in the mental representations of participants are strongly related to skill level, as well as biomechanical and task constraints. We then discuss results from our learning experiments, where we have examined the development and changes in cognitive representation over time. From these experiments we have found that cognitive reference structures include task-specific spatial information, which provides the basis for action control in skilled voluntary movement. We have implemented these results on various robotic platforms. We argue that the insights gained from various experimental approaches in the field of cognitive psychology and motor control enable researchers to explore the possibilities and limitations of artificial control architectures in robot systems. Finally, we argue that this is not a unidirectional process. Researchers from the field of cognitive psychology and motor control can profit from the advances in technological systems, which enhance the understanding of human motor control in skilled voluntary action.     

The spacing effect in older and younger adults: does context matter?

Age-related memory change has been a topic of much investigation in recent years, including spacing benefits and reliance on contextual cues. We manipulated the spacing schedule and the context of learning and observed the effects on long-term recall ability in healthy older and younger adults. After learning Swahili–English word pairs, half practiced immediately (massed) and half practiced 24 h later (spaced) either in the same room or a different room (context) from the initial session. A final recall test 10 days after the practice session occurred in the same room as the first session. Participants in the spaced condition remembered more than those in the massed condition 10 days later. Younger adults remembered more word pairs than older adult participants. Context change eliminated the spacing benefit for both age groups.     

Interviewing cognitively impaired older adults: how useful is a cognitive interview?

This research examined whether an Enhanced Cognitive Interview (ECI) and a Modified Cognitive Interview (MCI) improved 75- to 96-year-old adults' recall for a video-taped event. Specifically, we examined the effectiveness of these interviews in relation to a Structured Interview (control), and compared the performance of older adults who scored high or low on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), which is a test to assess cognitive functioning. Participants with low MMSE scores recalled fewer correct details, and were less accurate than those with high scores. Nevertheless, both high and low MMSE groups reported substantially more correct information about Action, Person, Object, and Surrounding details with the MCI and ECI than with the SI. No corresponding increase in the amount of incorrect and confabulated information was found. Furthermore, recall accuracy for both groups was greater with the ECI and MCI than with the Structured Interview. Overall, findings suggest that older individuals, including those with reduced cognitive ability can benefit from the use of Cognitive Interview protocols.     

Does cognitive flexibility training enhance subjective mental functioning in healthy older adults?

Declining cognitive abilities in older adults can contribute to significant changes in socioemotional health and substantially reduce their perception of well-being. Whereas much attention has been dedicated to creating cognitive training programs to improve cognitive health in old age, there is little emphasis on the consequences of such interventions for subjective mental functioning. We created a randomized controlled trial in which we evaluated the effects of an adaptive computerized cognitive flexibility training. Healthy older adults (60–80 years old) were assigned to one of three conditions (frequent or infrequent switching or active control group) and performed 58 half-hour sessions within a period of 12 weeks. We measured effects on subjective cognitive failures and executive dysfunctioning, everyday functioning, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and quality of life, before, and after training. Additionally, participants’ proxies rated their cognitive failures and executive dysfunctioning. Subjective cognitive failures and executive dysfunctioning improved 4 weeks posttraining in all groups, although effect sizes were low (?_p² = .058 and .079, respectively) and there were no differences between groups (all p’s > .38). No significant changes in subjective reports were seen directly after training, which was the case in all groups. Proxies did not report any functional changes over time, yet their evaluations were significantly more favorable than those of the participants, both pretraining (p < .0005) and posttraining (p = .004). Although we found no evidence of improvement on subjective mental functioning, we adduce several factors that encourage further research into the effects of computerized cognitive training on subjective performance.     

Is probability matching smart? Associations between probabilistic choices and cognitive ability

In three experiments involving over 1,500 university students (n = 1,557) and two different probabilistic choice tasks, we found that the utility-maximizing strategy of choosing the most probable alternative was not the majority response. In a story problem version of a probabilistic choice task in which participants chose from among five different strategies,the maximizing response and the probability-matching response were each selected by a similar number of students (roughly 35% of the sample selected each). In a more continuous, or trial-by-trial, task, the utility-maximizing response was chosen by only one half as many students asthe probability-matching response. More important, in both versions of the task, the participants preferring the utility-maximizing response were significantly higher in cognitive ability than were the participants showing a probability-matching tendency. Critiques of the traditional interpretation of probability matching as nonoptimal may well help explain why some humans are drawn to the nonmaximizing behavior of probability matching, but the traditional heuristics and biases interpretation can most easily accommodate the finding that participants high in computational ability are more likely to carry out the rule-based cognitive procedures that lead to maximizing behavior.     

Does multicultural personality moderate the relationship between cross-group friendship and allophilia?

ABSTRACT

Contact research has well documented the beneficial effects of cross-group interactions in general, and friendship potential in particular, in promoting positive attitudes toward outgroups. Yet, most of the studies to date have mainly focused on reducing negative attitudes and prejudice. Extending emerging attempts in social and psychological research to understand positive outgroup orientations, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between cross-group friendship and allophilia (i.e., positive outgroup attitudes) in a sample of 406 American undergraduates. The study also examined whether individual differences in multicultural personality play a moderating role in this relationship. Findings revealed that cross-group friendship was positively associated with allophilia, and that the relationship was stronger for individuals who scored low on open-mindedness and high on social initiative. The present study highlights the important role of multicultural personality in the linkage between close cross-group interactions and positive outgroup attitudes.     

Do older individuals adapt to their traits?: Personality–emotion relations among younger and older adults

Prominent lifespan theories posit that older adults are motivated to engage in emotion-regulation more frequently than younger adults. The present study follows from such theories and makes a novel prediction hitherto unexamined in the aging–emotion literature. Based on the idea that older adults more frequently regulate their emotions, it was predicted that traits, reflective of temperament or habit, would be less predictive of emotions among older adults (N = 60; M age = 74.9 years) than younger adults (N = 44; M age = 19.5 years). This hypothesis was confirmed across four of the Big 5 traits and, consistent with predictions, the moderating effects of age were particularly strong for negative emotions. The discussion focuses on the implications of the present findings for understanding age differences in personality, emotion, and emotion-regulation.     

Do humor styles matter in the relationship between personality and subjective well‐being?

The primary goal of this research was to examine the role of humor styles in the relationships between personality (extraversion and neuroticism) and two components of subjective well-being: life satisfaction and affective well-being. The sample consisted of 225 young adults, with mean age 23.61 years. Results indicated that the relationship between both extraversion and neuroticism and satisfaction with life could be partially explained by the mediating role of self-enhancing humor. Additionally, affiliative humor proved to be a partial mediator of the relationship between neuroticism and affective well-being. The findings of this research suggested that adaptive humor styles might be one of the mechanisms linking personality and subjective well-being.