Ability factors and cognitive processes

Several measures of the speed of information processing were related to ability factors derived from the Cattell-Horn theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Ninety-one college students took a battery of paper and pencil tests designed to measure four ability factors: fluid intelligence (Gf), crystallized intelligence (Gc), spatial visualization (Gv), and clerical perceptual speed (CPS). They also performed paper and pencil and computerized versions of three information processing tasks: mental rotations, letter matching, and sentence verification. Correlations among the ability measures, among the information processing measures, and between the two domains were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. The four ability factors were found to be largely independent in this college population. Speed of letter-matching and sentence verification were highly correlated, but neither was related to speed of mental rotation. Mental rotation speed was strongly correlated with Gv; letter matching speed was correlated with CPS; and sentence verification speed was correlated with both Gc and CPS.     

Development of planning and its relation to other cognitive processes

The purpose of this study was to (a) delineate the course of development of children's planning skills during school years, (b) examine whether different levels of planning exist, and (c) explore the role of other cognitive processes as cognitive correlates of planning. The participants were 250 students, 50 from each of the five targeted grades (3, 5, 7, 9, and 11). They each completed a battery of planning, attention, and simultaneous and successive processing tasks. MANOVA indicated that the main effect of grade was significant, whereas gender had no significant effect on planning. Pairwise comparisons of performance means between grades indicated that developmental trajectories were not uniform across planning tasks. Correlation and regression analyses showed that the relationship between planning tasks and attention, and simultaneous and successive processing scores varied as a function of the planning task and the grade level. Furthermore, two planning factors were found and cluster analyses of variables indicated that one of the tasks, Crack-the-Code, may represent a different kind of planning than the other planning tasks used.     

Ideology is related to basic cognitive processes involved in attitude formation

Ideological orientation shapes the perception of the social world and conservatism is associated to an increased weighting of negative over positive information. In the present work we explored how this ideology-based difference is also related to basic cognitive processes involved in attitude formation. In particular, we hypothesized that conservatives, as compared to liberals, would show stronger illusory correlation effects when negative information is relatively infrequent. In Study 1 we employed the typical illusory correlation paradigm (Hamilton & Gifford, 1976) and results confirmed the hypothesis: conservatives developed more negative impressions toward the minority group and showed consistent memory biases. In Study 2, positive information represented the infrequent dimension and in this case no ideology-based difference was observed. Overall, findings indicate that when exposed to numerically different novel groups and negative behaviors are infrequent, illusory correlation effects are accentuated among individuals embracing conservative rather than liberal views of the world. This result may help to understand why conservatives tend to form more negative attitudes toward social minorities.     

Motivation towards closure and cognitive processes: An individual differences approach

Two studies (N = 212) examined the relationships between elementary cognitive processes and individual differences in the need for cognitive closure. The results indicated that the need for closure is linked with certain cognitive deficits, specifically a restricted pool of cognitive resources allocated to a current activity. It was also found that these cognitive limitations tend to be compensated for by a particularly efficient process of information-selection from the environment. However, the selection process is costly, thus in a situation of drainage of cognitive resources its effectiveness also drops and the selection advantage of high (vs. low) need for closure individuals is eliminated.     

Confidence in memory and other cognitive processes in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Previous studies have implicated beliefs about one's memory (i.e., meta-memory), in maintaining the symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly with respect to checking rituals. However, most research has focused on task- or situation-specific perceptions about memory performance. Expanding on this research, we undertook two studies with analogue and clinical cohorts to examine the relationship between general ‘trait’ beliefs about memory and related processes and OCD symptoms. Trait meta-memory as measured in the current study was conceptualised as a multi-dimensional construct encompassing a range of beliefs about memory and related processes including confidence in one's general memory abilities, decision-making abilities, concentration and attention, as well as perfectionistic standards regarding one's memory. Meta-memory factors were associated with OCD symptoms, predicting OCD symptoms over-and-above mood and other OCD-relevant cognitions. Meta-memory factors were found to be particularly relevant to checking symptoms. Implications for theory and research are discussed.     

Letter detection: A window to unitization and other cognitive processes in reading text

Experiments are reviewed that use the letter-detection task, in which subjects read text and circle target letters. Evidence is provided that the letter-detection task reveals the processing units used in reading text and is influenced as well by visual, phonetic, and a combination of semantic and syntactic factors. Specifically, it is shown that circling a target letter in a word depends on the familiarity of the word’s visual configuration, the location of the word in the reader’s visual field, the phonetic representation of the letter in the word, and a combination of the word’s meaning and its grammatical function.     

The contributions of memory and attention processes to cognitive abilities

In two experiments, the contributions of memory and attention processes to the cognitive abilities of reasoning and perceptual speed were investigated. Two measures of speed of information retrieval from long-term and short-term memory (Posner paradigm, Sternberg paradigm) and two attention measures (continuous attention test, attention switching test) were included in the first experiment (N = 220). The memory tests led to correlations with the measures of cognitive abilities, whereas the attention test did not. The same tests as well as one additional memory test and one attention test (working memory test, test of covert orientation) were administered in the second experiment (N = 116). Again, the memory tests led to the larger correlations with the measures of cognitive abilities. Two components were obtained in components analysis, of which the first was characterized by high loadings of the memory tests and the second by high loadings of the attention tests. Only the memory component contributed to the prediction of cognitive abilities.     

The role of action plans and other cognitive factors in motion extrapolation: A modelling study

When observers are asked to remember the final location of an object undergoing apparent or implied motion, a forward displacement is observed. The magnitude of this form of motion extrapolation is known to depend on various factors including stimulus attributes, action plans, and other cognitive cues. Here we present a modelling approach that aims at bridging different existing theories of displacement within a single theoretical framework. A network model consisting of interacting excitatory and inhibitory cell populations coding for stimulus attributes like position or orientation is used to study the response to motion displays. The intrinsic network dynamics can be modulated by additional information sources representing action plans directed at the moving target or cognitive cues such as prior knowledge about the trajectory. These factors decide the extent to which the dynamic representation overshoots the final position. The model predictions are quantitatively compared with the experimental findings. The results are discussed in relation to theoretical ideas about processing principles underlying motion extrapolation and a comparison with neurophysiological findings linked to movement prediction is made.     

Combining speed and accuracy to assess error-free cognitive processes

Both the speed and accuracy of responding are important measures of performance. A well-known interpretive difficulty is that participants may differ in their strategy, trading speed for accuracy, with no change in underlying competence. Another difficulty arises when participants respond slowly and inaccurately (rather than quickly but inaccurately), e.g., due to a lapse of attention. We introduce an approach that combines response time and accuracy information and addresses both situations. The modeling framework assumes two latent competing processes. The first, the error-free process, always produces correct responses. The second, the guessing process, results in all observed errors and some of the correct responses (but does so via non-specific processes, e.g., guessing in compliance with instructions to respond on each trial). Inferential summaries of the speed of the error-free process provide a principled assessment of cognitive performance reducing the influences of both fast and slow guesses. Likelihood analysis is discussed for the basic model and extensions. The approach is applied to a data set on response times in a working memory test. The authors wish to thank Roger Ratcliff, Christopher Chabris, and three anonymous referees for their helpful comments, and Aureliu Lavric for providing the data analyzed in this paper.     

Correlates of Canadian native children's reading performance: From cognitive styles to cognitive processes

Individual differences in reading and cognitive processing among a sample of generally poor readers were studied in order to answer two major questions: Do they have a specific cognitive style that favors global-simultaneous strategies and a weak sequential strategy? If they do not have a distinct cognitive style or strategy, but are merely poor in using sequential (Successive) strategies, then, would the same processes that influence reading performance in the general population determine their performance as well? A sample of 84 Canadian First Nations (FN) children were assessed in word and pseudoword reading, rapid naming speed, and ability to process information using the Planning, Attention, Successive, and Simultaneous (PASS) theory of intelligence. Results confirmed that this sample of children did not exhibit a specific cognitive style. Rather, there was evidence of a weakness in Successive processing only in the subgroup of poor readers. The importance of understanding the role of Successive processing and rapid naming speed relative to reading is further discussed.     

Computer models of cognitive processes

Conclusion From the small sample of achievements that I have had time to mention, we can only conclude that automation is here to stay. Nor is there any doubt that more powerful automata will be built. A great many of the higher human abilities will be given to machines. The great rush to automation is sure to stimulate psychologists to learn more about the human symbolic processes being mimicked by the machines. And the computers, which are the ultimate cause of the feverish scramble toward automation, are providing both the framework for describing complex models of behavior and also the means for testing these models. With both the means and the motivation at hand, psychologists are sure to make rapid progress in understanding complex human behavior.Operated with support from the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force.     

Eye fixations and cognitive processes

This paper presents a theoretical account of the sequence and duration of eye fixation during a number of simple cognitive tasks, such as mental rotation, sentence verification, and quantitative comparison. In each case, the eye fixation behavior is linked to a processing model for the task by assuming that the eye fixates the referent of the symbol being operated on.     

The effects of peer ostracism on children's cognitive processes

In adults, experiences of social exclusion have been shown to not only adversely affect mood and threaten primary needs, but also to disrupt cognitive processes. The aim of this study was to provide an initial test of the effects of social exclusion on cognitive processes in children (N = 55; aged 8–12 years). Ostracism was simulated experimentally using the Cyberball paradigm—a computer-based ball-throwing game that participants believed they were playing with two peers over the internet. Following this, participants were administered subtests from the Working Memory Test Battery for Children. Girls who were ostensibly ignored during the game demonstrated poorer cognitive performance than those who were included by their co-players, while boys did not. Findings are discussed in relation to those previously reported in adult research and evidence of gender-specific correlates of relational aggression in children and adolescents.     

The nonverbal manifestations of cognitive processes in clinical listening

Nonverbal behaviors were observed during communicative sequences in videotaped clinical interviews. The interviews were conducted by two groups of physicians-in-training with contrasting cognitive profiles as determined by well-known laboratory tasks prior to the interviews. In each phase of the communicative sequences, significant differences emerged between the two groups for various types of nonverbal behaviors. Differences also emerged between the two groups of interviewers in their questioning patterns and in the nature of the narrative elicited from their interlocutors. A correlational analysis revealed consistent patterns of behaviors across phases of the communicative sequences. The findings provide additional evidence for the intimate connection between nonverbal behavior and cognitive activity and point to nonverbal behaviors as objective measures of the processes underlying clinical listening.     

Positive affect and psychosocial processes related to health

Positive affect is associated with longevity and favourable physiological function. We tested the hypothesis that positive affect is related to health‐protective psychosocial characteristics independently of negative affect and socio‐economic status. Both positive and negative affect were measured by aggregating momentary samples collected repeatedly over 1 day, and health‐related psychosocial factors were assessed by questionnaire in a sample of 716 men and women aged 58–72 years. Positive affect was associated with greater social connectedness, emotional and practical support, optimism and adaptive coping responses, and lower depression, independently of age, gender, household income, paid employment, smoking status, and negative affect. Negative affect was independently associated with negative relationships, greater exposure to chronic stress, depressed mood, pessimism, and avoidant coping. Positive affect may be beneficial for health outcomes in part because it is a component of a profile of protective psychosocial characteristics.     

The fleeting gleam of praise: cognitive processes underlying behavioral reactions to self-relevant feedback

We propose that a preference for favorable social feedback (i.e., self-enhancement) requires only that feedback be characterized as favorable or unfavorable but that a preference for self-confirming feedback (i.e., self-verification) is based on a more elaborate set of cognitive operations that requires both the characterization of feedback and a subsequent comparison of that feedback to a representation of self stored in memory. Study 1 set the stage for testing this hypothesis by showing that depriving people of processing resources interfered with their tendency to access their self-conceptions. In Studies 2 and 3, participants who were deprived of resources preferred the favorable, self-enhancing evaluator, whereas control participants displayed a preference for the self-verifying evaluator, even if that evaluator was relatively unfavorable.     

Set recognition as a window to perceptual and cognitive processes

The Set visual perception game is a fertile research platform that allows investigation of perception, with gradual processing culminating in a momentary recognition stage, in a context that can be endlessly repeated with novel displays. Performance of the Set game task is a play-off between perceptual and conceptual processes. The task is to detect (among the 12 displayed cards) a 3-card set, defined as containing cards that are either all similar or all different along each of four dimensions with three possible values. We found preference and reduced response times (RTs) for perceiving set similarity (rather than span) and for including cards sharing the most abundant value in the display, suggesting that these are searched preferentially (perhaps by mutual enhancement). RT decreases with number of sets in the display according to a horse race model, implying independence of simultaneous searches. Central cards are included slightly more often, but set card proximity seems irrelevant. A supplementary experiment determining dimensional salience showed consistent but individual preferences, yet these seemed not to affect set identification. Training induced gradual improvement, which generalized to a new version of the game, suggesting high-level learning. We conclude that elements of perception such as similarity detection are basic for finding sets in this task, as in other real-world perceptual and cognitive tasks, suggesting the presence of basic similarity-perceiving mechanisms. The findings confirm the conclusion that conceptual processes are affected by perception.