The Self Between Cacophony and Monologue: A Conceptualization and Empirical Examination of Dialogical Complexity

Theory of dialogical self distinguishes between cacophonous, monological, and dialogical structure of the self. So far these structures have not been examined within systematic quantitative studies. Focusing on this issue, we conceptualized the three structures as degrees on a dimension of dialogical complexity. To assess dialogical complexity, we proposed a numerical index derived from the personal position repertoire and examined it empirically. We compared the index of dialogical complexity with indices of cognitive complexity (derived from the repertory grid technique), integrative complexity, and presence of dialogical relationships in narratives (both derived from the thematic apperception test). In our sample of a total of 60 nonclinical respondents, the index of dialogical complexity was not correlated with cognitive complexity. It was weakly negatively but significantly correlated with integrative complexity. Respondents who yielded a higher score of dialogical relationships in narratives formed the dialogical structure of the self according to the dialogical complexity index. Respondents who yielded less dialogical relationships in narratives obtained a wider range of dialogical complexity scores that indicated more cacophonous or monological structures. We conclude that the relationships with integrative complexity and with presence of dialogical relationships in narratives support the original conceptualization of dialogical complexity. However, due to limitations of the study, the results are not decisive, and further examination of dialogical complexity including clinical samples is needed.     

Everyday value conflicts and integrative complexity of thought

This study examined the value pluralism model in everyday value conflicts, and the effect of issue context on complexity of thought. According to the cognitive manager model we hypothesized that respondents would obtain a higher level of integrative complexity on personal issues that on professional and general issues. We also explored the relations of integrative complexity to value priorities, measured by the Schwartz Value Survey, and to emotional empathy. The value pluralism model was not supported by the data collected from 126 university students from social science, business and technology. The cognitive manager model was partially confirmed by data from females but not from males. Concerning value priorities, more complex respondents had higher regard for self-transcendence values, and less complex respondents for self-enhancement values Emotional empathy was also significantly related to complexity score.     

Will Bootstrap Clustering Resuscitate Repertory Grid Assessment of Cognitive Complexity? Convergence with Integrative and Dialogical Complexity Suggests It Could

This article is concerned with an introduction and examination of a new cognitive complexity index derived from repertory grid data. Our approach follows Heckmann's and Bell’s introduction of bootstrap clustering of grid data. In order to examine the validity of the new index, we reanalyze data from an older study. The reanalysis showed that the new index correlated significantly with other independent complexity indices: integrative complexity and dialogical complexity. The directions of correlations were in accordance with complexity theories that underlie the indices. These findings support the validity of the cognitive complexity index based on bootstrap clustering.     

Flight-skill decay and recurrent training

This article addresses the problem of flight-skill decay. The complexity of the problem is outlined with regard to identifying the nature and extent of decayed skills. It is suggested that cognitive/procedural skills are more prone than control-oriented skills to decay over periods of disuse. Effective recurrent training methods offer the most promise in forestalling loss of proficiency. Several such methods are described, and the importance of cognitive training is emphasized. Finally, criteria are noted for evaluating the utility of recurrent training media. The theories and practical measures discussed apply to many skills other than those of flying.     

舞动治疗：一种自下而上的精神分裂症干预探索

皮层-基底节-丘脑网络与脑岛网络属于感觉运动相关网络, 这两个网络的改变可能是导致精神分裂症的重要原因。目前主流研究与临床干预聚焦于患者的高级脑区异常, 对感觉运动系统的关注不足。对健康个体的研究发现舞蹈训练对感觉运动相关脑网络具有显著提升作用, 并自下而上地促进高级功能。以上研究提示舞蹈训练可能是干预精神分裂症、改善患者认知功能的新途径。本研究拟借助多模态磁共振成像技术, 以精神分裂症感觉运动相关网络为着力点, 通过分析精神分裂症患者在舞蹈训练前后的脑影像、临床症状及认知行为的改变, 揭示舞蹈训练临床干预的神经机制。     

Complexity Training and Prejudice Reduction

It was argued that prejudicc is a likely outcome of simple cognitive structures, and that if a training procedure could be devised which would increase conccptual complexity in the xea of interracial affairs, thcn prejudice would be reduced. Accordingly, a complexity training task was developed which required Ss to engage in uniconceptual or multiconceptual thinking about videotaped stimulus persons who varied in race (black and white) and competence. Ss were 64 paid, white, high school students. Results showed that both complexity training procedures were effective in reducing prejudice and increasing complexity of thinking, but the multiconceptual training group failcd to signiticantly outpcrform the uniconceptual group. This latter result was interprctcd in tcrins of cognitive matching model.     

Type A behavior and processing of social conflict information

Research suggests that the Type A pattern as assessed by the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) involves a number of stress-engendering cognitive/social responses. To identify potential responses responsible for social stress, the study tested the relationship between JAS Type A behavior and several cognitive/social variables relevant to assertiveness situations. Male undergraduates completed two measures of cognitive complexity and rated the reasonableness of another's request. Also, subjects were evaluated for positive content (i.e., consideration of the other) in role-played assertion responses. Type A behavior correlated with lower differentiation when sorting aspects of an assertion situation, lower integrative complexity when thinking about conflict topics, and less inclusion of consideration content.     

Thinking graphically: Connecting vision and cognition during graph comprehension

Task analytic theories of graph comprehension account for the perceptual and conceptual processes required to extract specific information from graphs. Comparatively, the processes underlying information integration have received less attention. We propose a new framework for information integration that highlights visual integration and cognitive integration. During visual integration, pattern recognition processes are used to form visual clusters of information; these visual clusters are then used to reason about the graph during cognitive integration. In 3 experiments, the processes required to extract specific information and to integrate information were examined by collecting verbal protocol and eye movement data. Results supported the task analytic theories for specific information extraction and the processes of visual and cognitive integration for integrative questions. Further, the integrative processes scaled up as graph complexity increased, highlighting the importance of these processes for integration in more complex graphs. Finally, based on this framework, design principles to improve both visual and cognitive integration are described.     

Two ways to be complex and why they matter: implications for attitude strength and lying

Integrative complexity broadly measures the structural complexity of statements. This breadth, although beneficial in multiple ways, can potentially hamper the development of specific theories. In response, the authors developed a model of complex thinking, focusing on 2 different ways that people can be complex within the integrative complexity system and subsequently developed measurements of each of these 2 routes: Dialectical complexity focuses on a dialectical tension between 2 or more competing perspectives, whereas elaborative complexity focuses on complexly elaborating on 1 singular perspective. The authors posit that many variables have different effects on these 2 forms of complexity and subsequently test this idea in 2 different theoretical domains. In Studies 1a, 1b, and 2, the authors demonstrate that variables related to attitude strength (e.g., domain importance, extremism, domain accessibility) decrease dialectical complexity but increase elaborative complexity. In Study 3, the authors show that counterattitudinal lying decreases dialectical complexity but increases elaborative complexity, implicating a strategic (as opposed to a cognitive strain) view of the lying-complexity relationship. The authors argue that this dual demonstration across 2 different theoretical domains helps establish the utility of the new model and measurements as well as offer the potential to reconcile apparent conflicts in the area of cognitive complexity.     

EFFECTS OF RATER TRAINING AND PARTICIPATION ON COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY: AN EXPLORATION OF SCHNEIER'S COGNITIVE REINTERPRETATION

Schneier (1977) proposed that rater cognitive complexity interacts with format to affect the psychometric soundness of ratings. He also speculated that cognitive complexity may be enhanced by having raters participate in training and/or scale construction programs. This study was designed to test these latter hypotheses, while also providing a partial replication of Schneier's original research. Ninety-six undergraduate students were assigned to four groups. One participated in the construction of a set of BARS and was trained in their use, a second participated in BARS construction only, a third received training only, and the fourth served as a control group. All subjects were administered a measure of cognitive complexity before and after the experimental treatments. Also, all subjects evaluated five simulated ratees using the BARS. A training × participation (2 × 2) ANOCOV indicated no change in cognitive complexity scores as a result of the experimental treatments. A training × participation × (nominalized) cognitive complexity (2 × 2 × 2) MANOVA on mean ratings for the five stimuli found no effects on leniency error. A similar MANOVA on variances of ratings provided little evidence for effects on halo error. These results, taken in conjunction with those of other investigators who have failed to replicate Schneier's findings, suggest that the cognitive reinterpretation should be accepted with caution at best.     

The Influence of Social and Economic Background on Stanford-Binet Performance

Summary

The relationship of integrative complexity to the favorability of impressions was investigated. It was hypothesized that (a) favorability of impressions of subjects of high integrative complexity would be less affected by a positive or negative set than the favorability responses of subjects low in integrative complexity, and (b) when no set was induced, that subjects of high integrative complexity would form more favorable impressions of an inconsistently behaving target person than subjects of low integrative complexity. The hypotheses were basically supported for female subjects, but not for male subjects.     

Toward an integrative theory of training motivation: a meta-analytic path analysis of 20 years of research

This article meta-analytically summarizes the literature on training motivation, its antecedents, and its relationships with training outcomes such as declarative knowledge, skill acquisition, and transfer. Significant predictors of training motivation and outcomes included individual characteristics (e.g., locus of control, conscientiousness, anxiety, age, cognitive ability, self-efficacy, valence, job involvement) and situational characteristics (e.g., climate). Moreover, training motivation explained incremental variance in training outcomes beyond the effects of cognitive ability. Meta-analytic path analyses further showed that the effects of personality, climate, and age on training outcomes were only partially mediated by self-efficacy, valence, and job involvement. These findings are discussed in terms of their practical significance and their implications for an integrative theory of training motivation.     

Learning mnemonics: roles of aging and subtle cognitive impairment

Previously validated methods of memory training were used in conjunction with the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to explore the relationship between complexity of learned mnemonic, aging, and subtle cognitive impairment. Subjects were 218 community-dwelling elderly. Treatment included imagery mnemonics for remembering names and faces and lists. There was a significant interaction among age, type of learning task (face-name vs. list), and improvement when controlling for MMSE score. There was also a significant interaction among MMSE score, type of learning task, and improvement when controlling for age. Scores on the more complex list-learning mnemonic were more affected by age and MMSE scores than were scores on the face-name mnemonic. Implications of the findings for cognitive training of the old old and the impaired are discussed.     

Automated Integrative Complexity

Integrative complexity is a conceptually unique and very popular measurement of the complexity of human thought. We believe, however, that it is currently being underutilized because it takes quite a bit of time to score. More time‐efficient computer‐based measurements of complexity that are currently available are correlated with integrative complexity at fairly low levels. To help fill in this gap, we developed a novel automated integrative complexity system designed specifically from the integrative complexity theoretical framework. This new automated IC system achieved an alpha of .72 on the standard integrative complexity coding test. In addition, across nine datasets covering over 1,300 paragraphs, this new automated system consistently showed modest relationships with human‐scored integrative complexity (average alpha = .62; average r = .46). Further analyses revealed that this relationship consistently remained significant when controlling for superficial markers of complexity and that the new system accounted for both the differentiation and integration components of integrative complexity. Although the overlap between the automated and human‐scored systems is only modest (and thus suggests the continued usefulness of human scoring), it nonetheless provides the best automated integrative complexity measurement to date.     

Integrative Complexity of 41 U.S. Presidents

Although U.S. presidents are one of the most studied groups of political figures and integrative complexity is one of the most widely used constructs in political psychology, no study to date has fully examined the integrative complexity of all U.S. presidents. The present study helps fill in that gap by scoring 41 U.S. presidents' first four State of the Union speeches for integrative complexity and then comparing these scores with a large range of available situational and personality variables. Results suggest a tendency for presidents' integrative complexity to be higher at the beginning of their first term and drop at the end. This pattern was pronounced for presidents who eventually won reelection to a second term and was markedly different for presidents who tried to gain reelection but lost. Additional analyses suggested that presidents' overall integrative complexity scores were in part accounted for by chronic differences between presidents' complexity levels. Further analyses revealed that this overall integrative complexity score was positively correlated to a set of interpersonal traits (friendliness, affiliation motive, extraversion, and wittiness) and negatively correlated with inflexibility. Discussion centers upon the causes and consequences of presidential complexity.     

Crosswords to Computers: A Critical Review of Popular Approaches to Cognitive Enhancement

Cognitive enhancement strategies have gained recent popularity and have the potential to benefit clinical and non-clinical populations. As technology advances and the number of cognitively healthy adults seeking methods of improving or preserving cognitive functioning grows, the role of electronic (e.g., computer and video game based) cognitive training becomes more relevant and warrants greater scientific scrutiny. This paper serves as a critical review of empirical evaluations of publically available electronic cognitive training programs. Many studies have found that electronic training approaches result in significant improvements in trained cognitive tasks. Fewer studies have demonstrated improvements in untrained tasks within the trained cognitive domain, non-trained cognitive domains, or on measures of everyday function. Successful cognitive training programs will elicit effects that generalize to untrained, practical tasks for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, many studies of electronic cognitive training programs are hindered by methodological limitations such as lack of an adequate control group, long-term follow-up and ecologically valid outcome measures. Despite these limitations, evidence suggests that computerized cognitive training has the potential to positively impact one’s sense of social connectivity and self-efficacy.     

Complexity science: A framework for psychotherapy integration

The paradigm of complexity science provides a new way to address the problem of psychotherapy integration and allows us to bypass the various shortcomings of the linear-interventionist perspective. Nine criteria are outlined, which should be satisfied by any integrative approach to psychotherapy: (a) the use of complexity science to provide a meta-theoretical and generic understanding of change processes (from neuronal to social system levels); (b) a comprehensive and formalised modelling of change processes and personality development; (c) an integrative method of case formulation; (d) the ability to understand a variety of techniques in terms of basic change principles; (e) criteria to guide microdecisions; (f) the application of data-driven feedback and real-time monitoring of change dynamics; (g) standardised assessment of outcomes in naturalistic settings; (h) guidelines for training; and (i) strategies that are well-suited to science–practice integration. Using these criteria as a framework for evaluation, one may grasp the potential of complexity science to drive innovation in the pursuit of psychotherapy integration.     

Cognitive appraisal,vulnerability and coping: An integrative analysis of appraisal and coping mechanisms

Research on stress has generally concluded that stress occurs within the person as a result of their cognitive appraisal of experience. However although a number of cognitive theories of emotion exist, an integrative analysis of cognitive appraisal and vulnerability to stress has not been produced. This report contains two studies. Study 1 draws together the major variables identified in the literature in an analysis of their power to differentiate between a clinical sample (n = 48), a self-help group (n = 54), and a control sample (n = 509). The analysis shows that achievement motivation, attributional style, problem-solving style, emotional reactivity; hopelessness, perceived control and perceived social support are significant discriminators. In a second study the relationship between these variables and aspects of life stress, work stress, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and positive affect were investigated. Again the data support an explanatory role for these variables. The suggestion is that these variables can be utilized in an integrative model of cognitive appraisal in the stress process to guide intervention.     

促进被拒绝和被忽视幼儿的同伴交往的三种训练法

本研究在测查了4-6岁幼儿在幼儿园的社交地位的基础上,对筛选出的被拒绝和被忽视幼儿进行干预训练,探讨行为训练、认知训练和情感训练对不同类型的同伴交往不良幼儿干预的有效性,并对被拒绝型和被忽视型幼儿同伴交往不良的可能成因做了分析。结果表明:行为训练法、认知训练法、情感训练法都可以促进同伴交往水平,三种方法之间的效果无显著差异。对被拒绝儿童采用认知训练法效果较好,对被忽视儿童采用行为训练法更好。从4岁到6岁,行为训练法的效果逐渐减弱、而认知和情感训练法的效果则逐渐提高。     

Intimations of mortality: integrative simplification as a precursor of death

This article tested the hypothesis that a "terminal drop" in cognitive functioning occurs a few years prior to death. Letters written during the last 10 years of life were selected from the published correspondence of 18 eminent individuals and scored for integrative complexity--a variable which is related to the degree of integration and differentiation in information processing. The overall analysis supported the terminal drop hypothesis. The predicted decline in complexity was found during the five years prior to death among subjects who died of protracted illness or old age but only in the year immediately prior to death among subjects who died suddenly. There was no relation between complexity and age; the mean complexity scores of men were higher than those of women. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.