Semantic Hyperpriming in Normal Aging: A Consequence of Instructions?

Abstract

Semantic hyperpriming has consistently been found in normal aging. However, because the standard instructions to test semantic priming are generally ambiguous (focusing on both accuracy and speed), it is difficult to account for hyperpriming in older adults. By using the direct and mediated priming paradigms, this study investigates whether older adults' response mode at testing may explain hyperpriming. First, we show that, under identical conditions, inducing a response mode that favors speed leads to greater priming effects in older adults. The pattern of results is similar to what is observed under standard instructions. Second, prompting a response mode that favors accuracy leads to greater priming effects in younger adults. We discuss various explanations for these findings and conclude, in accordance with the Ratcliff, Thapar, Gomez, and McKoon (2004a Ratcliff, R., Thapar, A., Gomez, P. and McKoon, G. 2004a. A diffusion model analysis of the effects of aging in the lexical-decision task. Psychology and Aging, 19: 278–289. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) diffusion model, that hyperpriming in normal aging is contingent on older adults' response mode at testing.     

Repetition Errors in Habitual Prospective Memory: Elimination of Age Differences via Complex Actions or Appropriate Resource Allocation

ABSTRACT

A challenge in habitual prospective memory tasks (e.g., taking medication) is remembering whether or not one has already performed the action. Einstein, McDaniel, Smith, and Shaw (1998 Einstein, G. O., McDaniel, M. A., Smith, R. E. and Shaw, P. 1998. Habitual prospective memory and aging: Remembering intentions and forgetting actions. Psychological Science, 9: 284–288. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Psychological Science, 9, 284) showed that older adults were more likely to incorrectly repeat an action on habitual prospective memory tasks. Extending this research, we (a) biased participants either toward repetition or omission errors, (b) investigated whether performing a more complicated motor action can reduce repetition errors for older adults, and (c) examined participants' resource allocation to the prospective memory task. Older adults committed more repetition errors than younger adults regardless of biasing instructions when ongoing task demands were challenging (Experiment 1). Performing the more complex motor action, however, reduced repetition errors for older adults. Further, when the ongoing task was less demanding, older adults' repetition errors declined to levels of younger adults (Experiment 2). Consistent with this finding, the resource allocation profiles suggested that older participants were monitoring their output (prospective memory execution) in each trial block.     

Dispositional forgiveness among adolescents

The study examined whether the four constructs of forgivingness found in adults—propensity to lasting resentment, sensitivity to circumstances, willingness to forgive, and willingness to avenge—were already in place among adolescents. It also examined the differences in propensity to forgive and related constructs between young adolescents and older adolescents. More than 500 adolescents (124 sixth graders, 170 seventh graders, 135 eighth graders, and 78 ninth graders) were presented with a slightly modified version of the Forgivingness Scale (Mullet, Barros, Frongia, Usai, Neto, & Rivière-Shafighi, 2003 Mullet, E., Barros, J., Frongia, L., Usai, V., Neto, F. and Rivière-Shafighi, S. 2003. Religious involvement and the forgiving personality. Journal of Personality, 71: 1–19. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The same four-factor structure that was found among adults was also found among adolescents. Scores regarding sensitivity to circumstances and willingness to forgive were lower among older adolescents than among younger adolescents. Scores regarding lasting resentment and willingness to avenge were higher among older adolescents than among younger adolescents.     

Assessing the Effectiveness of Self-Talk Interventions on Endurance Performance

Self-talk in sport has been widely researched with somewhat conflicting results (Van Raalte et al., 1995 Van Raalte, J. L., Brewer, B. Brewer, Lewis, B. Lewis, Linder, D. Linder, Wildman, G. and Kozimor, J. 1995. Cork! The effects of positive and negative self-talk on dart throwing performance.. Journal of Sport Behavior, 18: 508–58.  [Google Scholar]; Perkos et al., 2002 Perkos, S., Theodorakis, Y. and Chroni, S. 2002. Enhancing performance and skill acquisition in novice basketball players with instructional self-talk.. The Sport Psychologist,, 16: 368–383. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of three different self-talk interventions on endurance performance. Participants were nine cyclists who performed a 20-minute cycling ergometer workout two times per week for five weeks. At each workout participants were requested to cycle as far as possible. A multiple-baseline design was utilized, which after varying baseline lengths allowed for the implementation of one out of three self-talk interventions: self-regulated positive self-talk, assisted positive self-talk, and assisted negative self-talk. Results revealed a performance increase in all groups with the greatest increase being found in the assisted positive self-talk condition.     

Discrimination of sea-bird sounds vs. garden-bird songs: Do Scottish and German-Saxon infants show the same preferential looking behaviour as adults?

Birdsong and human speech share some genetic origins (Haesler, Rochefort, Georgi, Licznerski, Osten, & Scharff, 2007 Haesler, S., Rochefort, C., Georgi, B., Licznerski, P., Osten, P. and Scharff, C. 2007. Incomplete and inaccurate vocal imitation after knockdown of FoxP2 in songbird basal ganglia nucleus area X. PLOS Biology, 5: e312–e321.  [Google Scholar]; Vargha-Khadem, Gadian, Copp, & Mishkin, 2005 Vargha-Khadem, F., Gadian, D. G., Copp, A. and Mishkin, M. 2005. FoxP2 and the neuroanatomy of speech and language. Nature Review of Neuroscience, 6: 131–138. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). In two studies (N = 67 infants and N = 28 adults) in Scotland (UK) and Saxony (Germany), perceptual discrimination of innate, repetitive, lower frequency sea-bird sounds vs. learned, melodic, higher frequency garden-bird songs was tested in infants in their first year as well as in adults, using the conditioned head-turn procedure (CHTP; e.g., Jusczyk, Friederici, Wessels, Svernkerud, & Jusczyk, 1993 Jusczyk, P. W. and Krumhansl, C. L. 1993. Pitch and rhythmic patterns affecting infants' sensitivity to musical phrase structure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 19: 627–640.  [Google Scholar]). Infants and adults reliably distinguished between the two types of sounds. Independently of environment, infants paid more attention to sea-bird sounds than to garden-bird songs, while adults showed the reverse preference. Further analysis revealed additional insights into the underlying processes.     

Are Preferences in Emotional Processing Affected by Distraction? Examining the Age-Related Positivity Effect in Visual Fixation within a Dual-Task Paradigm

ABSTRACT

Recent research has suggested that age-related positivity effects are eliminated under conditions of dual-task load (Knight et al., 2007 Knight, M., Seymour, T. L., Gaunt, J. T., Baker, C., Nesmith, K. and Mather, M. 2007. Aging and goal directed emotional attention: Distraction reverses emotional biases. Emotion, 7: 705–714. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Emotion, 7, 705; Mather & Knight, 2005 Mather, M. and Knight, M. 2005. Goal directed memory: The role of cognitive control in older adults' emotional memory. Psychology and Aging, 20: 554–570. [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Psychology and Aging, 20, 554), because the cognitive control resources necessary to enact such preferences are not available when individuals are distracted by competing information. We further examined how older adults' emotional information processing preferences are affected by distracting information by utilizing a within-subjects dual-task measure. Younger and older adults viewed a series of positive, negative, and neutral images both in conditions of full and divided attention. Fixation preferences to valenced images were assessed through eye tracking. Regardless of whether images were viewed in full or divided attention conditions, older adults demonstrated a preference in their fixation for positive and neutral in comparison to negative images. These results provide evidence that older adults' positive fixation preferences may not always necessitate full, cognitive control.     

Sanctifying Work: Effects on Satisfaction,Commitment, and Intent to Leave

Sanctification involves perceiving objects or events: (a) theistically by viewing them as having spiritual significance, or (b) nontheistically by viewing them as extraordinary and worthy of veneration and respect without any reference to a higher being. Previous research has found positive outcomes associated with sanctification, including increased satisfaction with marriage (Mahoney et al., 1999 Mahoney, A., Pargament, K. I., Jewell, T., Swank, A. B., Scott, E.Emery, E. 1999. Marriage and the spiritual realm: The role of proximal and distal religious constructs in marital functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 13: 321–338. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), body image (Mahoney, Carels, et al., 2005 Mahoney, A., Carels, R. A., Pargament, K. I., Wachholtz, A., Leeper, L. E.Kaplar, M. 2005. The sanctification of the body and behavioral health patterns of college students. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15: 221–238. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) and sexual intercourse (Murray-Swank, Pargament, & Mahoney, 2002 Murray-Swank, N. A., Pargament, K. I. and Mahoney, A. 2002. At the crossroads of sexuality and spirituality: The sanctification of sex by college students. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15: 199–219.  [Google Scholar]) to name a few. This study extends these findings into the world of work by demonstrating that those who sanctify their jobs are more satisfied, more committed to their organization, and at the same time less likely to intend to leave.     

A closer look at moral dilemmas: Latent dimensions of morality and the difference between trolley and footbridge dilemmas

Although a distinction between moral-personal and moral-impersonal dilemmas (Greene, Sommerville, Nystrom, Darley, & Cohen, 2001 Greene, J. D., Sommerville, R. B., Nystrom, L. E., Darley, J. M. and Cohen, J. D. 2001. An fMRI investigation of emotional engagement in moral judgement. Science, 293: 2105–2108. doi:10.1126/science.1062872.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) has been widely accepted as an explanation for a difference between the trolley and footbridge dilemmas (Thomson, 1985 Thomson, J. J. 1985. “The trolley problem”. In Ethics: Problems and principles, Edited by: Fischer, J. M. and Ravizza, M. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.  [Google Scholar]), its psychometric properties remain a mystery. In this study 219 participants completed 62 moral dilemma tasks used in Greene et al. (2001 Greene, J. D., Sommerville, R. B., Nystrom, L. E., Darley, J. M. and Cohen, J. D. 2001. An fMRI investigation of emotional engagement in moral judgement. Science, 293: 2105–2108. doi:10.1126/science.1062872.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and the correlation structure among the dilemmas was analysed through factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings suggest that, first, moral-personal dilemmas are composed of one factor, indicating that the assumption in Greene et al. (2001 Greene, J. D., Sommerville, R. B., Nystrom, L. E., Darley, J. M. and Cohen, J. D. 2001. An fMRI investigation of emotional engagement in moral judgement. Science, 293: 2105–2108. doi:10.1126/science.1062872.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was supported. Second, moral-impersonal dilemmas are explained by two factors that reflect procedural and consequential aspects of decision making. Third, the trolley and footbridge dilemmas fall under the same factor category; therefore the difference between the two dilemmas cannot be attributed to emotional involvement. Additionally, the results of the structural equation modelling suggest that they differ in the engagement of rational processing.     

Commentary Research on gene–environment interdependence: Honing the tools and examining the angles

The insightful overview by Sir Michael Rutter (this issue) on gene–environment interdependence comes about 10 years after the breakthrough Science publications on gene–environment interactions (G×E) involving the MAOA and 5-HTT genes by Caspi et al. (2002 Caspi, A., McClay, J., Moffitt, T. E., Mill, J., Martin, J.Craig, I. W. 2002. Role of genotype in the cycle of violence in maltreated children. Science, 297: 851–854. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2003 Caspi, A., Sugden, K., Moffitt, T. E., Taylor, A., Craig, I. W.Harrington, H. 2003. Influence of life stress on depression: Moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene. Science, 301: 386–389. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Since then, a field of research has burgeoned that has produced replications as well as intriguing new evidence of gene–environment interdependence. At the same time, however, the field has witnessed a growing scepticism about the relevance of studying gene–environment interactions and has seen replication failures (see Duncan & Keller, 2011 Duncan, L. E. and Keller, M. C. 2011. A critical review of the first 10 years of candidate gene-by-environment interaction research in psychiatry. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168: 1041–1049. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Risch et al., 2009 Risch, N., Herell, R., Lehner, T., Liang, K.-Y., Eaves, L.Hoh, J. 2009. Interaction between the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), stressful life events, and risk of depression: A meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 301: 2462–2471. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Against this backdrop, we comment and elaborate on several of the key issues raised by Rutter, and suggest some directions for future research on G×E. Specifically, we discuss (1) replication issues; (2) the crucial role of experiments in understanding gene–environment interdependence; (3) current unknowns with regard to differential susceptibility; and (4) clinical and practical implications of G×E research.     

Reliability and Factor Structure of the Psychological Maltreatment and Neglect Scales of the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI)

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Psychological Maltreatment (PM) and Neglect subscales of the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI; DiLillo et al., 2010 DiLillo, D., Hayes-Skelton, S. A., Fortier, M. A., Perry, A. R., Evans, S.Messman-Moore, T. L. 2010. Development and initial psychometric properties of the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI): A comprehensive self-report measure of child maltreatment history. Child Abuse and Neglect, 34: 305–317. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The CAMI is a retrospective self-report measure that assesses multiple forms of child maltreatment (i.e., sexual, physical, psychological, neglect, exposure to interparental violence) retrospectively from adults. The CAMI's PM and Neglect subscales were administered to a geographically diverse sample of 400 college students and a sample of 412 newlyweds. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted for each group separately by subscale. Represented in the PM factor structures were items that depict emotional responsiveness, terrorizing/spurning, demanding/rigid, corrupting, and isolating parental behaviors. The Neglect scale included items depicting basic needs, cleanliness, abandonment, monitoring and medical neglect factors. Revised versions of the CAMI PM and Neglect subscales based on the factor analysis are presented.     

Cross-notational semantic priming between symbolic and nonsymbolic numerosity

Symbolic and nonsymbolic numerosities produce similar behavioural effects and activate the same brain areas. These results have usually been interpreted in terms of a common, notation-independent magnitude representation. However, semantic priming between symbolic and nonsymbolic inputs has been somehow elusive (e.g., Koechlin, Naccache, Block, & Dehaene, 1999 Koechlin, E., Naccache, L., Block, E. and Dehaene, S. 1999. Primed numbers: Exploring the modularity of numerical representations with masked and unmasked semantic priming. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 25: 1882–1905. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). In Experiment 1, we looked at whether cross-notational semantic priming depends on exact numerical meaning. Dice faces and digits were mixed as prime and target. Semantic priming occurred when prime and target were in the same notation as much as when they were in different notation. In Experiment 2, we found cross-notation semantic priming even when the nonsymbolic numerosity was presented as a set of random dots. Priming, however, occurred only from sets of dots to digit, not vice versa. These data support the computational model recently proposed by Verguts and Fias (2004 Verguts, T. and Fias, W. 2004. Representation of number in animals and humans: A neural model. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 16: 1493–1504. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Verguts, Fias, & Stevens, 2005 Verguts, T., Fias, W. and Stevens, M. 2005. A model of exact small-number representation. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 112: 66–80.  [Google Scholar]).     

Exploring the role of characteristic motion when learning new faces

Previous research has shown that it is easier to recognize familiar faces when shown moving, rather than static, especially when viewing conditions are difficult (Knight & Johnston, 1997 Knight, B. and Johnston, A. 1997. The role of movement in face recognition. Visual Cognition, 4: 265–273. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Lander, Christie, & Bruce, 1999 Bruce, V., Henderson, Z., Greenwood, K., Hancock, P. J. B., Burton, A. M. and Miller, P. 1999. Verification of face identities from images captured on video. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 5: 339–360. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). One possible theoretical reason for the moving-face advantage is that we learn “characteristic motion signatures” for familiar faces, associated with the face representation in memory. To examine this idea we investigated the role of motion at test when learning faces from either static images or moving sequences (Experiment 1). Results suggest that there is only an advantage for motion at test when the face is learned moving. In Experiment 2 we map the importance of facial motion as a face becomes increasingly familiar, on a television drama. We demonstrate that the beneficial effect of motion is not dependent on the amount of time the face is viewed. Results from both experiments support the idea of rapidly learned characteristic motion patterns.     

Do Korean Fraction Names Promote Part-Whole Reasoning?

We investigated the effects of transparent fraction names on children's reasoning about fractions. U.S. and Korean first and second graders were tested using verbal and nonverbal measures. On a verbal task, Korean students were worse at interpreting their own conventional fraction names than interpreting modified terms with a more familiar word for parts. This indicates that Korean fraction names may not be as transparent as previously claimed (e.g., Miura et al., 1999 Miura , I. T. , Okamoto , Y. , Vlahovic-Stetic , V. , Kim , C. C. , & Han , J. H. ( 1999 ). Language supports for children's understanding of numerical fractions: Cross-national comparisons . Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 74 , 356 – 365 . [Google Scholar]). On nonverbal tasks, such as matching equivalent pictures of fractions and solving mixed-number problems using objects, students from both nations performed above chance and about equally well. However, U.S. students were more likely than Korean students to misinterpret a sharing task in terms of whole numbers, leading to significantly below-chance performance in the former group.     

Verbal Learning Changes in Older Adults Across 18 Months

ABSTRACT

The major aim of this study was to investigate individual changes in verbal learning across a period of 18 months. Individual differences in verbal learning have largely been neglected in the last years and, even more so, individual differences in change in verbal learning. The sample for this study comes from the Zurich Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging (ZULU; Zimprich et al., 2008a Zimprich, D., Martin, M., Kliegel, M., Dellenbach, M., Rast, P. and Zeintl, M. 2008a. Cognitive ability structure in old age: First results from the Zurich Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 67: 177–195. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and comprised 336 older adults in the age range of 65–80 years at first measurement occasion. In order to address change in verbal learning we used a latent change model of structured latent growth curves to account for the non-linearity of the verbal learning data. The individual learning trajectories were captured by a hyperbolic function which yielded three psychologically distinct parameters: initial performance, learning rate, and asymptotic performance. We found that average performance increased with respect to initial performance, but not in learning rate or in asymptotic performance. Further, variances and covariances remained stable across both measurement occasions, indicating that the amount of individual differences in the three parameters remained stable, as did the relationships among them. Moreover, older adults differed reliably in their amount of change in initial performance and asymptotic performance. Eventually, changes in asymptotic performance and learning rate were strongly negatively correlated. It thus appears as if change in verbal learning in old age is a constrained process: an increase in total learning capacity implies that it takes longer to learn. Together, these results point to the significance of individual differences in change of verbal learning in the elderly.     

Thinking Levels of Questions in Christian Reading Textbooks

If Christian schools desire students to achieve higher-level thinking, then the textbooks that teachers use should reflect such thinking. Using Risner's (1987 Risner, G. P. (1987). Cognitive levels of questioning demonstrated by test items that accompany selected fifth-grade science textbooks (Doctoral dissertation). Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. [Google Scholar]) methodology, raters classified questions from two Christian publishers’ fifth grade reading textbooks based on the revised Bloom's taxonomy (Anderson et al., 2001 Anderson, L. W., Krathwohl, D. R., Airasian, P. W., Cruikshank, K. A., Mayer, R. E., Pintrick, P. R., … Wittrock, M. C. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. New York, NY: Addison Wesley Longman. [Google Scholar]). The questions in the A Beka Book textbook contained 57.6% lower-level and 42.4% higher-level thinking; the questions in the Bob Jones University Press textbook contained 45.8% lower-level and 54.2% higher-level thinking. Analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the percentages of thinking in the two publishers (p < .05).     

The Influence of Task Value,Expectancies for Success,and Identity on Athletes' Achievement Behaviors

This study extended and supported the use of Eccles et al.'s (1983) Eccles, J. S., Adler, T. F., Futterman, R., Goff, S. B., Kaczala, C. M., Meece, J. L. and Midgley, C. 1983. “Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors”. In Achievement and achievement motives: Psychological and sociological approaches, Edited by: Spence, J. T. 75–146. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.  [Google Scholar] expectancy-value model to a competitive sport context. High school varsity basketball players (N = 189) were assessed on expectancies for success, interest value, attainment value, utility value, and basketball identity. Achievement behavior was measured as coaches't ratings of players' effort and persistence displayed throughout the season. Significant differences emerged between African-American and White athletes on all variables; however, no gender differences were present. Regression analyses indicated different patterns in the relationships among self- and task beliefs and achievement behaviors by race. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that self- and task beliefs mediated the relationship between identity and effort and persistence. Specifically, identity was a strong predictor of self- and task beliefs and expectancies significantly predicted effort and persistence. Explanations for the racial differences are discussed as well as the role that identity plays in the expectancy-value model and practical implications for coaches.     

The Effect of Response Bias on the Personality Inventory for DSM–5 (PID–5)

Valid self-report assessment of psychopathology relies on accurate and credible responses to test questions. There are some individuals who, in certain assessment contexts, cannot or choose not to answer in a manner typically representative of their traits or symptoms. This is referred to, most broadly, as test response bias. In this investigation, we explore the effect of response bias on the Personality Inventory for DSM–5 (PID–5; Krueger, Derringer, Markon, Watson, & Skodol, 2013 Krueger, R. F., Derringer, J., Markon, K. E., Watson, D., & Skodol, A. E. (2013). The Personality Inventory for DSM–5 (PID–5)–Adult (Full version). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. [Google Scholar]), a self-report instrument designed to assess the pathological personality traits used to inform diagnosis of the personality disorders in Section III of DSM–5. A set of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Restructured Form (MMPI–2–RF; Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008 Tellegen, A., & Ben-Porath, Y. S (2008). MMPI–2–RF technical manual. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]/2011 Ben-Porath, Y. S., & Tellegen, A. (2011). MMPI–2–RF manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 2008) [Google Scholar]) validity scales, which are used to assess and identify response bias, were employed to identify individuals who engaged in either noncredible overreporting (OR) or underreporting (UR), or who were deemed to be reporting or responding to the items in a “credible” manner—credible responding (CR). A total of 2,022 research participants (1,587 students, 435 psychiatric patients) completed the MMPI–2–RF and PID–5; following protocol screening, these participants were classified into OR, UR, or CR response groups based on MMPI–2–RF validity scale scores. Groups of students and patients in the OR group scored significantly higher on the PID–5 than those students and patients in the CR group, whereas those in the UR group scored significantly lower than those in the CR group. Although future research is needed to explore the effects of response bias on the PID–5, results from this investigation provide initial evidence suggesting that response bias influences scale elevations on this instrument.     

Factorial invariance of the Rahim emotional quotient index

This study investigated the degree of factorial invariance of the 30-item Rahim Emotional Quotient Index (REQI) (Afzalur Rahim et al., 2002 Afzalur Rahim, M., Psenicka, C., Polychroniou, P., Zhao, J.-H., Yu, C.-S., Anita Chan, K., van Wyk, R. (2002). A model of emotional intelligence and conflict management strategies: A study in seven countries. The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 10(4), 302–326. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/eb028955[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) across gender and language, using multiple group confirmatory factor analysis. Respondents were 341 full-time employed applicants to programmes in a South African Business School (females = 39.6%, African language group = 60.1%; non-African/Western language group = 39.9). With regard to age, the majority of the sample (25.5%) fell into the category 31–35 years. The Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square difference tests showed no statistically significant differences between different gender and language groups, with regard to factor structure, factor loadings, variances and covariance. The findings support the original five-factor structure of the REQI for the two language groups, as well as the two gender groups.