Influences of presentation mode and time pressure on the utilisation of advance information in response preparation.

An important approach to the investigation of movement selection and preparation is the precuing paradigm where preliminary information about a multidimensional response leads to reaction time benefits which are positively related to the amount of precue information. This so-called precuing effect is commonly attributed to data-limited preparatory motoric processes performed in advance of the response signal. By means of recording the lateralised readiness potential (LRP), the present experiments investigated whether the precuing effect could be explained also by variables that affect strategic utilisation of stimulus-conveyed information. Experiment 1 presented fully and partially informative precues either in mixed or blocked mode. Experiment 2 exerted various degrees of time pressure to the different precue conditions. In both experiments, the precuing effect on reaction times and the LRP was fully preserved, refuting the notion that the sensitivity of the LRP to the amount of preliminary information merely reflects differential precue utilisation. As a major finding, time pressure increased the LRP amplitude during response preparation which is consistent with the view that response strategies generally influence movement preparation on a motoric level.     

Time pressure effects on information processing in overlapping tasks: evidence from the lateralized readiness potential

Information processing is impaired when two tasks are performed concurrently. The interference between the tasks is commonly attributed to structural bottlenecks or strategic scheduling of information processing. The present experiment investigated the effects of time pressure for the second of two responses on information processing in overlapping tasks by recording the lateralized readiness potential (LRP). Time pressure shortened the latency of the second response by diminishing the time devoted to motoric processing. In addition, task interference decreased under time pressure, which is probably due to the relatively early availability of the central bottleneck stage rather than to increased overlap of central stages. The LRP also provided direct evidence for an additional bottleneck following response selection, possibly due to supramodal refractoriness of response initiation.     

Acute aerobic exercise and information processing: Modulation of executive control in a Random Number Generation task

The immediate and short-term aftereffects of a bout of aerobic exercise on young adults’ executive functions were assessed. Sixteen participants performed a Random Number Generation (RNG) task, which measured two aspects of executive function, before, during, and after ergometer cycling exercise. In a separate session, participants completed the same sequence of testing while seated on an ergometer without pedaling. Results suggest that aerobic exercise: (1) selectively influences RNG indices related to the ability to alternate ascending and descending runs throughout the entire exercise bout; (2) induces a shift to a less effortful number generation strategy, particularly during the first few minutes of the exercise; and (3) has no significant influence on RNG performance as soon as the exercise terminates. The strategic adjustments observed during the exercise are interpreted in the framework of Hockey’s [Hockey, G. R. J. (1997). Compensatory control in the regulation of human performance under stress and high workload: A cognitive-energetical framework. Biological Psychology, 45, 73-93.] compensatory control model and suggest that concurrent effortful processes induced by cycling exercise may draw upon available attention resources and influence executive processing.     

Actor-observer differences in realism in confidence and frequency judgments

Taking a social psychological approach to metacognitive judgments, this study analyzed the difference in realism (validity) in confidence and frequency judgments (i.e., estimates of overall accuracy) between one's own and another person's answers to general knowledge questions. Experiment 1 showed that when judging their own answers, compared with another's answers, the participants exhibited higher overconfidence, better ability to discriminate correct from incorrect answers, lower accuracy, and lower confidence. However, the overconfidence effect could be attributable to the lowest level of confidence. Furthermore, when heeding additional information about another's answers the participants showed higher confidence and better discrimination ability. The overconfidence effect of Experiment 1 was not found in Experiment 2. However, the results of Experiment 2 were consistent with Experiment 1 in terms of discrimination ability, confidence, and accuracy. Finally, in both experiments the participants gave lower frequency judgments of their own overall accuracy compared with their frequency judgments of another person's overall accuracy.     

Solution strategies as possible explanations of individual and sex differences in a dynamic spatial task

When individuals perform spatial tasks, individual differences emerge in accuracy and speed as well as in the response patterns used to cope with the task. The purpose of this study is to identify, through empirical criteria, the different response patterns or strategies used by individuals when performing the dynamic spatial task presented in the Spatial Orientation Dynamic Test-Revised (SODT-R). Results show that participants can be classified according to their response patterns. Three different ways of solving a task are described, and their relation to (a) performance factors (response latency, response frequency, and invested time) and (b) ability tests (analytical reasoning, verbal reasoning, and spatial estimation) are investigated. Sex differences in response patterns and performance are also analyzed. It is found that the frequency with which men and women employ each one of the strategies described here, is different and statistically significant. Thus, employed strategy plays an important role when interpreting sex differences on dynamic spatial tasks.     

Association between individual differences in non-symbolic number acuity and math performance: A meta-analysis

Many recent studies have examined the association between number acuity, which is the ability to rapidly and non-symbolically estimate the quantity of items appearing in a scene, and symbolic math performance. However, various contradictory results have been reported. To comprehensively evaluate the association between number acuity and symbolic math performance, we conduct a meta-analysis to synthesize the results observed in previous studies. First, a meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies (36 samples, N = 4705) revealed a significant positive correlation between these skills (r = 0.20, 95% CI = [0.14, 0.26]); the association remained after considering other potential moderators (e.g., whether general cognitive abilities were controlled). Moreover, a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies revealed 1) that number acuity may prospectively predict later math performance (r = 0.24, 95% CI = [0.11, 0.37]; 6 samples) and 2) that number acuity is retrospectively correlated to early math performance as well (r = 0.17, 95% CI = [0.07, 0.26]; 5 samples). In summary, these pieces of evidence demonstrate a moderate but statistically significant association between number acuity and math performance. Based on the estimated effect sizes, power analyses were conducted, which suggested that many previous studies were underpowered due to small sample sizes. This may account for the disparity between findings in the literature, at least in part. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of our meta-analytic findings are presented, and future research questions are discussed.     

Individual differences in causal learning and decision making

In judgment and decision making tasks, people tend to neglect the overall frequency of base-rates when they estimate the probability of an event; this is known as the base-rate fallacy. In causal learning, despite people's accuracy at judging causal strength according to one or other normative model (i.e., Power PC, DeltaP), they tend to misperceive base-rate information (e.g., the cause density effect). The present study investigates the relationship between causal learning and decision making by asking whether people weight base-rate information in the same way when estimating causal strength and when making judgments or inferences about the likelihood of an event. The results suggest that people differ according to the weight they place on base-rate information, but the way individuals do this is consistent across causal and decision making tasks. We interpret the results as reflecting a tendency to differentially weight base-rate information which generalizes to a variety of tasks. Additionally, this study provides evidence that causal learning and decision making share some component processes.     

When the mind wanders: Age-related differences between young and older adults

Interest in mind wandering (MW) has grown in recent years, but few studies have assessed this phenomenon in older adults. The aim of this study was to assess age-related differences between young, young–old and old–old adults in MW using two versions of the sustained attention to response task (SART), one perceptual and one semantic. Different indicators were examined (i.e., reported MW episodes and behavioral indices of MW such as response time latency and variability, incorrect response and omission errors). The relationship between MW, certain basic mechanisms of cognition (working memory, inhibition and processing speed), cognitive failures and intrusive thoughts in everyday life was also explored. Findings in both versions of the SART indicated that older adults reported a lower frequency of MW episodes than young adults, but some of the behavioral indices of MW (response time variability, incorrect response and omission errors) were higher in old–old adults. This seems to suggest that MW becomes less frequent with aging, but more pervasive and detrimental to performance. Our results also indicated that the role of age and cognitive mechanisms in explaining MW depends on the demands of the SART task considered.     

Individual differences in the suppression of unwanted memories: the executive deficit hypothesis

When confronted with reminders to an unpleasant memory, people often try to prevent the unwanted memory from coming to mind. In this article, we review behavioral and neurocognitive evidence concerning the consequences of exerting such control over memory retrieval. This work indicates that suppressing retrieval is accomplished by control mechanisms that inhibit the unwanted memories, making them harder to recall later, even when desired. This process engages executive control mechanisms mediated by the lateral prefrontal cortex to terminate recollection-related activity in the hippocampus. Together, these findings specify a neurocognitive model of how memory control operates, suggesting that executive control may be an important means of down-regulating intrusive memories over time. We conclude by proposing that individual differences in the regulation of intrusive memories in the aftermath of trauma may be mediated by pre-existing differences in executive control ability. In support of this executive deficit hypothesis, we review the recent work indicating links between executive control ability and memory suppression.     

Individual differences in Sternberg’s memory scanning task

This study provides a new perspective on both the cognitive processes actually implemented and the effect of a simple experimental control - the recall constraint - in Sternberg’s memory scanning task. These findings were highlighted by adopting a new approach based on the comparison of qualitative and quantitative results.The analysis of individual processing, on 72 adults, each participating in one of two experimental conditions (with or without sequence recall), highlighted a large variability in quantitative results as well as qualitative procedures. Based on the participants’ retrospective verbalisations, two categories of strategies were identified: (1) the procedures used to memorize the sequence of digits, and (2) the procedures used to compare this sequence with the test digit, which includes strategies for coding the items and processes for searching them in memory. The analysis of the strategies shows that their frequencies of use depend not only on the experimental condition, but also on the participants, the level of task difficulty and the interaction between participants and level of difficulty. This variability questions the accuracy of Sternberg’s mean model. Furthermore, this approach suggests some answers to the old debate concerning the exhaustive search pattern for the yes response. Indeed, our results show three types of strategies that can be identified according to the different models of search suggested in the literature. The “exhaustive” search, that would only be involved in the recall condition and only for some of the participants, the “self-terminating” search and the “immediate” strategy, which can be identified with a model of parallel search with limited resources. Thus our study suggests that the different search models are appropriate but depend on both the specific experimental conditions and participant’s strategy. Our results should help to improve the interpretation of data collected with this paradigm in cognitive and neuroscientific studies of memory.     

Sex differences in recollective experience for olfactory and verbal information

We examined recollective experience as a function of sex for olfactory and verbal information. In the first study, men and women studied a set of highly familiar odors with incidental or intentional encoding instructions. In the second study, participants were presented with a number of sentences. At recognition, participants indicated whether their positive response was based on conscious recollection (remembering), a feeling of familiarity (knowing), or guessing. The results indicated that recollection was higher among women than men, and that familiarity-based recognition was equally large across sex for both types of information.The finding that the sex-related experiential difference disappeared when controlling for verbal proficiency suggests that sex-related differences in activating verbal information play an important role for sex differences in recollective experience.     

The effects of visual context and individual differences on perception and evaluation of modern art and graffiti art

Traditionally, artworks are seen as autonomous objects that stand (or should stand) on their own. However, at least since the emergence of Conceptual Art in the 1920s and Pop Art in the 1960s, art lacks any distinctive perceptual features that define it as such. Art, therefore, cannot be defined without reference to its context. Some studies have shown that context affects the evaluation of artworks, and that specific contexts (street for graffiti art, museum for modern art) elicit specific effects (Gartus & Leder, 2014). However, it is yet unclear how context changes perception and appreciation processes. In our study we measured eye-movements while participants (64 psychology undergraduates, 48% women) perceived and evaluated beauty, interest, emotional valence, as well as perceived style for modern art and graffiti art embedded into either museum or street contexts. For modern art, beauty and interest ratings were higher in a museum than in a street context, but context made no difference for the ratings of graffiti art. Importantly, we also found an interaction of context and individual interest in graffiti for beauty and interest ratings, as well as for number of fixations. Analyses of eye-movements also revealed that viewing times were in general significantly longer in museum than in street contexts. We conclude that context can have an important influence on aesthetic appreciation. However, some effects depend also on the style of the artworks and the individual art interests of the viewers.     

Age differences in memory control: evidence from updating and retrieval-practice tasks

Some contemporary approaches suggest that inhibitory mechanisms play an important role in cognitive development. In addition, several authors distinguish between intentional and unintentional inhibitory processes in cognition. We report two experiments aimed at exploring possible developmental changes in these two types of inhibitory mechanisms. In Experiment 1, an updating task was used. This task requires that participants intentionally suppress irrelevant information from working memory. In Experiment 2, the retrieval-practice task was used. Retrieval practice of a subset of studied items is thought to involve unintentional inhibitory processes to overcome interference from competing memories. As a result, suppressed items become forgotten in a later memory test. Results of the experiments indicated that younger children (8) were less efficient than older children (12) and adults at intentionally suppressing information (updating task). However, when the task required unintentional inhibition of competing items (retrieval-practice task), this developmental trend was not found and children and adults showed similar levels of retrieval-induced forgetting. The results are discussed in terms of the development of efficient inhibition and the distinction between intentional and unintentional inhibitions.     

Gender differences on the mental rotations test: a factor analysis

The purpose of the present study was to examine possible gender differences in strategy when completing the mental rotations test. Two experiments examined gender differences and the factor structure on outcomes that can be obtained on this test. Experiment 1 involved large groups testing and Experiment 2 used small groups. Factor analytic results in both experiments generally supported the notion that items with one wrong and one blank response or one correct and one blank reflect reluctance to guess, whereas one correct and one wrong or two wrong answers reflect propensity to guess. Even though the factor structure was the same in males and females, the data provided mitigated support for the hypothesis that males have a higher propensity to guess and females show a greater reluctance to guess. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the interpretation of gender differences on the MRT.     

EQ-nomics: Understanding the relationship between individual differences in Trait Emotional Intelligence and entrepreneurship

Past studies highlight the importance of Trait Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the prediction of career success. Given the evidence that trait EI predicts job performance and job satisfaction, it is reasonable to expect this construct to also predict other forms of career success. In this study, we examine whether EI predicts entrepreneurship; that is, whether higher trait EI is linked to entrepreneurial behaviours and entrepreneurial success, and whether any effects of trait EI on entrepreneurship are independent of the personality trait of Core Self-Evaluations, demographic variables, and individual differences in entrepreneurial personality. Results show that trait EI predicts only some entrepreneurial outcomes beyond other variables examined, and with small effect sizes. This suggests that individual differences in entrepreneurship result only in part from inter-personal differences in trait EI. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Musical training generalises across modalities and reveals efficient and adaptive mechanisms for reproducing temporal intervals

Expert musicians are able to time their actions accurately and consistently during a musical performance. We investigated how musical expertise influences the ability to reproduce auditory intervals and how this generalises across different techniques and sensory modalities. We first compared various reproduction strategies and interval length, to examine the effects in general and to optimise experimental conditions for testing the effect of music, and found that the effects were robust and consistent across different paradigms. Focussing on a ‘ready-set-go’ paradigm subjects reproduced time intervals drawn from distributions varying in total length (176, 352 or 704 ms) or in the number of discrete intervals within the total length (3, 5, 11 or 21 discrete intervals). Overall, Musicians performed more veridical than Non-Musicians, and all subjects reproduced auditory-defined intervals more accurately than visually-defined intervals. However, Non-Musicians, particularly with visual stimuli, consistently exhibited a substantial and systematic regression towards the mean interval. When subjects judged intervals from distributions of longer total length they tended to regress more towards the mean, while the ability to discriminate between discrete intervals within the distribution had little influence on subject error. These results are consistent with a Bayesian model that minimizes reproduction errors by incorporating a central tendency prior weighted by the subject's own temporal precision relative to the current distribution of intervals. Finally a strong correlation was observed between all durations of formal musical training and total reproduction errors in both modalities (accounting for 30% of the variance). Taken together these results demonstrate that formal musical training improves temporal reproduction, and that this improvement transfers from audition to vision. They further demonstrate the flexibility of sensorimotor mechanisms in adapting to different task conditions to minimise temporal estimation errors.     

Intelligence differences and conceptual judgement

Summary Studies of gifted children were recently reviewed by Vernon, Adamson, and Vernon (1977). These studies can be said to fall into three main categories, those concerned with the identification and education of such children, e.g., Ogilvie (1970), the psychometrically analysed structure of their abilities, e.g., Guilford (1967) and the factors contributing to success or creativity among those of high IQ, e.g., Terman (1930), Torrance (1969) and Wallach (1970). Few experimental studies have been attempted in this area despite the current interest in the relationship between intelligence and cognitive processes. The experiments reported here are intended to initiate an exploration of the effect of intelligence differences on the conceptual structure of different groups of children. The task selected as a basis for such an investigation was that developed by Collins and Quillian (1969), and taken further by Schaeffer and Wallace (1970). Pairs of words and pairs of pictures chosen from four hierarchically ordered categories were presented to children of average or of high intelligence for comparative classification. Subjects were asked to say whether or not the two items in a pair belonged to the same or different conceptual categories, and to press buttons accordingly. Despite a marked IQ difference, the two groups did not differ in the speed with which they judged picture pairs to be the same or different, but the gifted children were significantly faster in judgements based on presented word pairs. Supplementary studies attempted to determine the source of the interaction in terms of perceptual, motor response, or decision functions.     

Domain-specificity and individual differences in worry

Worrying is generally perceived to be an undesirable mental state. An evolutionary approach suggests, however, despite the potential distress, worry may function to focus individuals’ attention on evolutionarily-relevant tasks. In the current study (N = 193), we demonstrated that participants’ primary worries were focused within domains central to reproductive success and mate-value. Furthermore, mating strategy predicted worries in the domains of social status and mating. Neuroticism, as an individual difference reflecting vigilance to threats, was correlated with worry about fitness-relevant but not fitness-irrelevant domains. The current study documents the first domain-specific assessment of worries and complements this analysis with intriguing individual difference predictors of worry.     

Process differences and individual differences in some cognitive tasks

This study is based on three distinct elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs) using chronometric techniques: (a) the S. Sternberg memory scan task, (b) a visual scan task which is perfectly analogous to the memory scan, except that the target digit is presented first and the subject must then scan a set of digits and indicate the presence or absence of the target digit in the set, and (c) the Hick paradigm, which involves responding to a visual stimulus (a light going “on”) when the stimulus is one among sets of either 1, 2, 4, or 8 equally probable alternatives. Certain parameters of all three tasks, such as intercept and slope of RT as a function of set size, from which different cognitive processes are inferred, are compared experimentally and correlationally. Subjects were 48 university students, tested and retested on the three tasks in a counterbalanced design on two separate days to obtain the retest reliabilities needed to correct all correlations for attenuation. Subjects were also given Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices as a measure of psychometric g. Parameters of the ECTs are significantly and, in some cases, quite substantially correlated with g. Virtually all of this correlation is due to the general factor of the various ECTs, rather than to specific processing components (independent of the general factor). The results also indicate that different ECT paradigms (e.g., visual search and memory search tasks) may yield markedly different values in terms of the group means of analogous parameters, indicating different processes, and yet not show independence of the parameters in terms of individual differences; that is, measurements of the different parameters in individuals are perfectly correlated (i.e., disattenuated correlations do not differ significantly from r = 1). This is found for the intercept parameter of visual and memory search. The reverse condition is also found for the other parameters (e.g., slope); that is, their mean values are nearly identical, suggesting the same processes, yet disattenuated correlations between individual differences are relatively low, or even negative, indicating different processes. Although the general factor clearly predominates, it does not completely overwhelm individual differences in various component processes that are distinct from the general factor.