Using personality and cognitive ability to predict academic achievement in a young adult sample

This study examined the relationship between cognitive ability, personality, and academic achievement in post-secondary students, using latent variable models. Testing both simple and complex relationships, we found that cognitive ability and personality predicted reading achievement independently, but that they interact when predicting math achievement - at least in the Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience domains.     

Cognitive ability, personality, and academic performance in adolescence

Does positive thinking predict variance in school grades over and above that predicted by cognitive ability? Six hundred and thirty nine high school students participated in a three-year longitudinal study that predicted grades using cognitive ability and three positive thinking variables – self-esteem, hope, and attributional style. Hope, positive attributional style and cognitive ability predicted higher grades, whilst self-esteem was a less consistent predictor of academic performance. Structural equation modelling revealed significant paths from cognitive ability, gender, and a second order positive thinking factor to grades. The results suggest that intelligence, gender, and positive thinking each play a unique role in predicting academic performance in youth. Some suggestions for further research are made.     

The association of anxiety,depression, and worry symptoms on cognitive performance in older adults

Emerging research suggests that a relationship exists between the cognitive aspects of anxiety (e.g. worry) and cognitive decline in older adults. The current study examined the association between anxiety, depressive, and worry symptoms on cognitive performance. Participants were 156 older adults enrolled in the Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample Study (NKI-RS). Hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to determine the unique associations of anxiety, depressive, and worry symptoms on cognitive performance as measured by the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery (Penn CNB), the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS), and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Worry symptoms were a significant predictor of Penn CNB social cognition, complex cognition, executive function, and episodic memory performance as well as RAVLT immediate and short-delay recall, but not of D-KEFS performance or RAVLT long-delay recall. In contrast, anxiety and depressive symptoms had few unique associations with cognitive performance. Given that worry symptoms have a negative impact on many aspects of neurocognitive performance, they may have utility in predicting and preventing cognitive decline in older adults.     

The effects of modifying interpretation bias on worry in generalized anxiety disorder

This study investigated whether facilitating a benign interpretive bias decreases negative thought intrusions in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Clients were randomly allocated to an interpretation modification condition in which they repeatedly accessed benign meanings of emotionally ambiguous homographs and scenarios, or to a control condition in which they accessed threat and benign meanings with equal frequency. Worry frequency was assessed using a breathing focus task that involved categorising the valence of thought intrusions before and after an instructed worry period. Interpretation bias was assessed during the modification tasks, and on a different measure of interpretation bias (sentence completion) following a period of worry. The experimental procedure modified interpretations made during training, and in the later sentence completion task. Furthermore, compared to the control group, the benign group showed fewer negative thought intrusions during breathing focus (as rated by both participants and an assessor). These findings show that it is possible to induce a more benign interpretive bias in GAD clients and that this reduces negative thought intrusions.     

Social cognitive predictors of college students’ academic performance and persistence: A meta-analytic path analysis

This study tested Social Cognitive Career Theory’s (SCCT) academic performance model using a two-stage approach that combined meta-analytic and structural equation modeling methodologies. Unbiased correlations obtained from a previously published meta-analysis [Robbins, S. B., Lauver, K., Le, H., Davis, D., & Langley, R. (2004). Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 261–288.] were used to create the input correlation matrices for subsequent path-analytic tests of the model, using both college GPA and retention as performance criteria. Results suggested that SCCT does an adequate to excellent job of modeling academic performance and persistence, but that model fit was better when general cognitive ability versus high school GPA was used to operationalize the ability/past performance variable. Results are discussed in terms of their fit with SCCT and their practical implications.     

Short-term predictive effects of the looming cognitive style on anxiety disorder symptoms under restrictive methodological conditions

The looming cognitive style (LCS), an overarching cognitive vulnerability for anxiety syndromes, pertains to a tendency to construct dynamic expectations (mental scenarios, images) of negative events as progressively increasing in danger and rapidly escalating in risk. This study tested the hypothesis that the LCS has functions as a cognitive antecedent and moderator for even short-term changes over a brief time interval in anxiety syndromes (worry, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, social anxiety, general anxiety) under restrictive methodological conditions. These included: (a) a one-week interval during which very little changes in anxiety were observed, and (b) controlling for participants' depression and intolerance of uncertainty. As hypothesized by our model, the looming cognitive style predicted short-term changes in worry and OCD symptoms over the week interval, and tended to predict changes in social (audience) anxiety. This style also functioned as a moderator and predicted changes in OCD symptoms among participants already high on this anxiety outcome. Intolerance of uncertainty predicted changes in social (audience) anxiety but not changes in OCD symptoms or worry. These findings support the looming vulnerability theory of anxiety, and encourage further attention into the possible role of the LCS as a cognitive antecedent and moderator of changes in a spectrum of anxiety syndromes.     

Use and interpretation of test scores from limited cognitive test batteries: How g + Gc can equal g

Single scores from limited and unbalanced test batteries of cognitive ability can be ambiguous to interpret theoretically. In this study, a limited verbally and knowledge‐loaded cognitive test battery, from applicants to the Swedish police academies (N = 1,344), was examined to provide foundations for the use and interpretation of test scores. Three measurement models were compared: one single factor model and two bifactor models, which decomposed the variance of the battery into orthogonal components. The models were evaluated by fit indices and omega coefficients, and then applied to the prediction of academic performance. The overall prediction of all models was similar, although specific abilities also were found to provide substantial predictive validity over and above general intelligence (g). The findings provide support for the use of single scores in applied settings (selection), but suggest that it may be more appropriate to interpret such scores as composites of substantive components, and not just as measures of g.     

Effects of performance anxiety on effort and performance in rock climbing: A test of processing efficiency theory

Abstract

Three studies examined the effort and performance of rock climbers in the context of processing efficiency theory. Anxiety was manipulated by different means in the three studies. In each study, the effort due only to the physical exertion of climbing was controlled for. Anxiety, effort, and performance were measured via self-report, an integrated heart rate measure, and belayer observation. Consistent with processing efficiency theory, the results showed that higher levels of anxiety were usually associated with higher levels of effort and commensurately higher levels of performance. However, the results also suggested that cognitive anxiety may not be the prime determinant of the effort and performance changes observed. Finally, the results suggested that other individual difference variables may play an important part in determining the extent to which individuals may be able to make use of anxiety-induced effort.     

Thought listing and endorsement measures of self-referential thinking in test anxiety

Abstract

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine cognitive reactions of high and low test-anxious subjects while performing a task of extreme difficulty. A sample of 44 subjects (28 females, 16 males) attempted a difficult analogies task and then reported their thoughts during the task. Subjects also completed the Sarason Test Anxiety Scale and several other self-report measures of their cognitive reactions to the task. Thought listings were classified according to their referent (self, task, or unrelated) and their valence (positive, negative, or neutral). Correlational analyses were then performed with the various measures and revealed an association between test anxiety and reports of negative thoughts involving the self. Test anxiety was not related significantly to the number of thoughts involving the task nor to actual performance on the task. However, test-anxious subjects did report more negative expectancies for their performance and greater cognitive interference during the task. Negative self-expectancies were also related to more negative self thoughts, fewer positive self thoughts, and fewer positive task-related thoughts. The results are interpreted as further evidence for both the role of negative self-related cognitions in the experience of test anxiety and the usefulness of unstructured measures in anxiety research.     

Anxiety and performance in runners: Effects of stress and anxiety on physical performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of state and trait anxiety on physical performance under both neutral and stressful conditions. In Study I, 43 male and female track athletes answered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and twice underwent ergometric testing in the physiology laboratory after receiving a neutral or a stress-inducing instruction. In Study II, these 43 runners completed the state scale shortly before a test run in a practice session and once again just before the start in an official competition. Results showed a significant increase in self-reported state anxiety under the stress condition in both the laboratory and the field setting. At the same time, the mean physical performance, measured as physiological performance parameters (maximum oxygen intake, physical work capacity) or as running performance, significantly deteriorated under stress. The induced stress affected the heart rate in addition to the mere physical work load, with no sign of compensation occurring during the entire period of ergometric testing. Effects of anxiety on performance were tested by separate 2(trait) × 3(state) ANOVAs for each situation. For both laboratory situations, and for the practice situation as well, no significant relationships, neither linear nor nonlinear, were detected. In the competition situation, however, an inverted-U relationship was found in the low trait-anxious subgroup.     

Relationship of worry and emotionality to test performance in a juku environment

The relationships between trait and state worry and emotionality and performance in a Juku environment were explored; these Japanese anxiety data were also compared in an international context. The Juku or ‘cram school’ provides additional after-school instruction to improve the probability of students getting into select private junior high schools. The subjects were 362 students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades. Test anxiety was measured by the Japanese Children's Trait Worry and Emotionality Scale and the Japanese Children's State Worry and Emotionality Scale. The performance tests measured achievement in mathematics, social studies, Japanese language, and science. As expected, the relationship between the state worry measures and performance was stronger than between either state emotionality or the trait measures. The data also indicate that trait anxiety was dramatically less here than in other international contexts while state anxiety was moderately less.     

Evaluating the cognitive avoidance model of generalised anxiety disorder: Impact of worry on threat appraisal, perceived control and anxious arousal

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterised by persistent and uncontrollable worry. According to the cognitive avoidance theory of GAD, worry may function as an affective dampening strategy motivated by intolerance of negative emotional states. By facilitating avoidance of more distressing cognitions and associated affect, worry is said to preclude modification of the fear representation in memory, maintaining threat associations and perpetuating further anxiety and worry. The present study evaluated these assumptions in a treatment-seeking GAD sample. Sixty-one participants were randomly allocated to conditions in which they were instructed to worry, imaginally process or relax in response to an anxiety trigger. Results supported the detrimental impact of worry, showing maintained threat expectancies and decreased control perceptions compared to other modes of processing. However, skin conductance level increased as a function of worry and there was no suggestion that worry suppressed affective responding. These findings highlight the need for clarification of the mechanisms involved in the maintenance of threat associations and worry in GAD.     

The mediational role of executive functions for the relationship between motor ability and academic performance in pediatric cancer survivors

IntroductionPediatric Cancer Survivors (PCS) bear a high risk for late effects within motor abilities (MAs) and executive functions (EFs). In typically developing children, these domains are interrelated and predictors of academic performance. The current study investigated (i) whether MAs and EFs are also interrelated in PCS, and (ii) whether EFs mediate the relation between MAs and academic performance.Methods78 PCS (7–16 years; M = 11.23; SD = 2.49) participated in this study. Three MAs were assessed: coordination and strength (using the German Motor Test) and endurance (using a cycle ergometer test). EFs were assessed: inhibition and cognitive flexibility (Color-Word Interference Test) and working memory (Block Recall test); and academic performance by questionnaire asking for children’s grade point average.ResultsPearson correlations revealed associations of coordination and strength with EFs and associations of all three MAs with academic performance. A multiple regression model revealed that among the three MAs, coordination was the only significant predictor of EFs (β = 0.42, p = .001). Lastly, mediation analyses revealed that the association of MAs with academic performance was mediated by EFs (indirect effect: β = 0.167, p = .003). Regarding individual motor abilities, this was only true for coordination and strength, but not for endurance.ConclusionResults show that MAs and EFs are interrelated in PCS and that EFs mediate the relationship between coordination and strength with academic performance. This may be important for the design of future physical activity interventions to improve MAs, EFs and academic performance.     

The effect of time constraints and personality facets on general cognitive ability (GCA) assessment

General cognitive ability (GCA) is a recognized construct for predicting job performance and capacity to learn. However, it has recently been argued that the time constraints under which GCA is assessed might provoke test anxiety, which negatively biases GCA scores. This can then lead to erroneous rejection of qualified candidates in personnel hiring contexts. This paper aimed to investigate: (1) to what extent candidates’ GCA scores increase when tested without time constraints and the ability of this GCA score to predict job performance; and (2) the personality characteristics that hinder GCA test performance under time constraints. Results from two field studies conducted in an actual personnel selection context partially confirmed the hypotheses. They revealed that, aside from the improvement of all candidates’ GCA scores when time constraint was removed, only GCA assessed without time constraints predicts job performance. Furthermore, while all candidates’ scores were influenced by the time constraint condition, individuals who are anxious, low-impulse, low value-questioning and deliberating are more penalized by the time constraint condition of such testing and, thus, are more likely to be erroneously eliminated in a selection process.     

The mediating role of cognitive ability on the relationship between motor proficiency and early academic achievement in children

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between motor proficiency and academic achievement in 7 years-old children. A mediating model in which the relation between motor proficiency and academic achievement is mediated by cognitive ability was tested. Participants included 152 children from the longitudinal study Jeunes enfants et leurs milieux de vie (Young Children and their Environments). Motor proficiency was evaluated with the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT2), cognitive ability with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and academic achievement with the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test II (WIAT II). Results showed that motor proficiency, cognitive ability and academic achievement were positively correlated with each other. A structural equation modeling analysis revealed that motor proficiency had a positive effect on academic achievement through an indirect path via cognitive ability. These results highlight the fundamental importance of motor skills in children's academic achievement in early school years.     

On the predictive validity of indirect attitude measures: Prediction of consumer choice behavior on the basis of affective priming in the picture-picture naming task

Recent studies have revealed that robust and replicable affective priming of naming responses can be obtained when pictures are used as primes and targets. The aim of the present research was to examine the predictive validity of affective priming effects that are obtained with the picture-picture naming task. In two studies that were modeled after [Karpinski, A., & Hilton, J. L. (2001). Attitudes and the Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 774-778], we observed that individual difference scores that are obtained with the naming task exhibit good predictive validity. Both practical and theoretical implications of this finding are discussed.