How do use and comprehension of mental-state language relate to theory of mind in middle childhood?

This study investigates the relationship between mental-state language and theory of mind in primary school children. The participants were 110 primary school students (mean age = 9 years and 7 months; SD = 12.7 months). They were evenly divided by gender and belonged to two age groups (8- and 10-year-olds). Linguistic, metacognitive and cognitive measures were used to assess the following competencies: verbal ability, use of mental-state terms, understanding of metacognitive language, understanding of second-order false beliefs, and emotion comprehension. Correlations between children’ use of mental-state language and their performance on theory-of-mind tasks were moderate, whereas correlations between children's comprehension of such language and ToM abilities were high. In addition, regression analyses showed that comprehension of metacognitive language was the variable which best explained children's performance on both false belief tasks and an emotion comprehension test when verbal ability and age were controlled for.     

Reactive and proactive control in incarcerated and community adolescents and young adults

This study compared the cognitive control skills of male incarcerated adolescents (n = 44), male control adolescents (n = 33), male incarcerated young adults (n = 41), and male control young adults (n = 35) using the AX-continuous performance test (AX-CPT). This test measures proactive control (the ability to maintain a mental representation of goal-related information in preparation for a behavioral response) and reactive control (the ability to activate goal-related information in response to an external trigger). Incarcerated individuals had more difficulty implementing proactive control, whereas control individuals had more difficulty implementing reactive control. Adolescents had more difficulty with both reactive and proactive control compared with young adults, suggesting that both skills improve with age. Additional analyses indicated that the effect of age on proactive control was due to the presence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, whereas the effect of age on reactive control appeared to be a natural developmental trend that could not be explained by other variables. These findings are considered in relation to the dual mechanisms of control theory [Braver, T. S., Gray, J. R., & Burgess, G. C. (2007). Explaining the many varieties of working memory variation: Dual mechanisms of cognitive control. In A. R. A. Conway, C. Jarrold, M. J. Kane, A. Miyake, & J. N. Towse (Eds.), Variation in Working Memory. New York: Oxford University Press.].     

Applying the social cognitive model of career self-management to career exploration and decision-making

We present two studies applying the social cognitive model of career self-management (Lent & Brown, 2013) to career exploration and decision-making outcomes in college students. In the first study (N = 180 college students), we developed a new, brief measure of career exploration and decision-making self-efficacy for use in subsequent model testing. The measure yielded two factors, decisional self-efficacy and coping efficacy, with adequate internal consistency reliability estimates. The decisional self-efficacy factor related strongly to an established measure of career decision self-efficacy and produced theory consistent relations with measures of outcome expectations, social support, conscientiousness, exploration goals, prior engagement in career exploration, decisional anxiety, and level of career decidedness. In the second study (N = 215 college students), we re-examined the factor structure of the new self-efficacy measure and used it to assess the tenability of the self-management model in a path analysis predicting exploration goals, decisional anxiety, and career decidedness. The model fit the data well overall, though certain predictors were linked to the criterion variables only indirectly via mediated pathways. Implications of the findings for the social cognitive model as well as for future research and practice are considered.     

Social cognitive predictors of well-being in African college students

Lent and Brown's (2006, 2008) social cognitive model of work well-being was tested in two samples of African college students, one from Angola (N = 241) and one from Mozambique (N = 425). Participants completed domain-specific measures of academic self-efficacy, environmental support, goal progress, and satisfaction, along with measures of global positive affect and life satisfaction. Path analyses indicated that the model fit the data well overall, both in the full sample and in separate sub-samples by country and gender. Contrary to expectations, however, self-efficacy predicted academic satisfaction only indirectly, via goal progress; and goal progress predicted life satisfaction only indirectly, via academic satisfaction. The predictors accounted for substantial portions of the variance in both academic domain satisfaction and life satisfaction. Implications for research and practice involving the social cognitive model are considered.     

Intelligence indexes generalist genes for cognitive abilities

Twin research has supported the concept of intelligence (general cognitive ability, g) by showing that genetic correlations between diverse tests of verbal and nonverbal cognitive abilities are greater than 0.50. That is, most of the genes that affect cognitive abilities are highly pleiotropic in the sense that genes that affect one cognitive ability affect all cognitive abilities. The impact of this finding may have been blunted because it depends on the validity of the twin method. Although the assumptions of the twin method have survived indirect tests, it is now possible to test findings from the twin method directly using DNA alone in samples of unrelated individuals, without the assumptions of the twin method. We applied this DNA method, implemented in a software package called Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA), to estimate genetic variance and covariance for two verbal tests and two nonverbal tests using 1.7 million DNA markers genotyped on 2500 unrelated children at age 12; 1900 children also had cognitive data and DNA at age 7. Because each of these individuals is one member of a twin pair, we were able to compare GCTA estimates directly to twin study estimates using the same measures in the same sample. At age 12, GCTA confirmed the results of twin research in showing substantial genetic covariance between verbal and nonverbal composites. The GCTA genetic correlation at age 12 was 1.0 (SE = 0.32), not significantly different from the twin study estimate of 0.60 (SE = 0.09). At age 7, the genetic correlations were 0.31 (SE = 0.32) from GCTA and 0.71 (SE = 0.15).from twin analysis. The results from the larger sample and stronger measures at age 12 confirm the twin study results that the genetic architecture of intelligence is driven by pleiotropic effects on diverse cognitive abilities. However, the results at age 7 and the large standard errors of GCTA bivariate genetic correlations suggest the need for further research with larger samples.     

A study of the greater male variability hypothesis in creative thinking in Mainland China: Male superiority exists

This study tested the greater male variability hypothesis in creative thinking with a Chinese student sample in Mainland China. The Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP) was administered to 627 Chinese adolescent boys (n = 332) and girls (n = 295). Results using the boy/girl variance ratio (VR) generally supported the hypothesis that boys have greater variability than girls in creativity test performance. However, results using the boy/girl ratios from different regions of the creativity score distribution revealed a pattern of male superiority. While boys significantly outnumbered girls in the higher extremes, girls tended to outnumber boys in the central region and the lower extremes. Results from an analysis of the means lent further support to the findings of male superiority. Plausible explanations for greater male variability and male superiority in Mainland China are proposed. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

RIASEC interest and confidence cutoff scores: Implications for career counseling

One strategy commonly used to simplify the joint interpretation of interest and confidence inventories is the use of cutoff scores to classify individuals dichotomously as having high or low levels of confidence and interest, respectively. The present study examined the adequacy of cutoff scores currently recommended for the joint interpretation of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII: Donnay, Morris, Schaubhut, & Thompson, 2005) and the Skills Confidence Inventory (SCI: [Betz, Borgen et al., 1996] and [Betz et al., 2005]). Cutoff score criteria were evaluated based on a sample of college students and employed adults (n = 1000), and cross-validated with a second sample of college students (n = 1, 149) who completed an experimental measure of RIASEC interests and confidence. Results were interpreted in the context of social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) by testing predictions regarding the relative frequency of individuals with either matched or mismatched levels of interest and confidence.     

Verbal fluency and creativity: General and specific contributions of broad retrieval ability (Gr) factors to divergent thinking

The Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) model of intelligence views creativity as a first-level factor within the second-level factor of broad retrieval ability (Gr), alongside other first-level abilities such as ideational fluency and word fluency. Traditional methods of measuring creativity, however, confound idea quality with idea quantity, which might exaggerate the relationship between creativity scores and verbal fluency factors. Participants (n = 131 adults) completed two divergent thinking tasks (unusual uses for a rope and a box), which were scored using newer methods that effectively separate creativity (scored via subjective ratings) and fluency (scored as number of responses). They then completed 16 verbal fluency tasks that assessed six lower-order Gr factors: word fluency, associational fluency, associative flexibility, ideational fluency, letter fluency, and dissociative ability. Viewed singly, many of the lower-order factors significantly predicted creative quality and fluency. General Gr had substantial effects on creative quality (standardized β = .443) and fluency (β = .339) in a higher-order model as well as in a bifactor model (quality β = .380, fluency β = .327). Moreover, general Gr was the only significant predictor in the bifactor model, suggesting that it, not the specific factors, was most important. All effects were essentially the same after controlling for typing speed and vocabulary knowledge. The findings thus support the CHC view of creativity/originality as a lower-order component of Gr, illuminate the relationships between creativity and first-level Gr factors, extend the study of creativity and intelligence beyond fluid intelligence, and further indicate that creativity is more closely tied to cognitive abilities than creativity research has yet recognized.     

Trait impulsiveness and executive function in healthy young adults

Performance-based neuropsychological tests are often used to assess planning and impulse control, but the extent to which these measures reflect trait impulsiveness or specific dimensions of trait impulsiveness is not clear. This study used the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11; [Patton, J. H., Stanford, M. S., & Barratt, E. S. (1995). Factor structure of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 768–774.]) to examine the relationship between various dimensions of trait impulsiveness and performance on several executive function tests in healthy young adults. Total BIS-11 scores correlated with performance on measures of planning and impulse control. Higher non-planning impulsiveness scores, which indicate poorer self-control and lower cognitive complexity, correlated most strongly with performance on a maze test that measures planning and impulse control (r = .58). These results provide support for the convergent validity of pencil-and-paper maze-based measures of planning and impulse control.     

A pilot study of urinary peptides as biomarkers for intelligence in old age

Intelligence is an important indicator of physical, mental and social well-being. In old age, intelligence is also associated with a higher quality of life and better health. Heritability studies have shown that there are strong genetic influences, yet unknown, on intelligence, including in old age. Other approaches may be useful to investigate the biological foundations of intelligence differences. Proteomics is a proven technique in revealing biomarkers for certain illnesses. In this pilot study, forty individuals were selected as the cognitive extremes from over 750 people in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (age ~ 72 years) based on their high and low intelligence scores, as measured by a general cognitive ability factor. Urine samples were used as a stable, reliable and abundant source of proteins. Using capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry (CE-MS) technology, the proteome of the high and low intelligence groups was determined. Data were calibrated and matched against the human urinary database, to enable comparative assessment. At a nominal significance level (P < 0.05), there were several candidate proteins for association with intelligence, including a zinc finger protein (ZNF653) that has been associated with cognitive deficits, and complement C3 and collagen fragments that have been associated with Alzheimer's disease. Results are preliminary, do not survive multiple testing correction, and require validation. This pilot study shows the potential of this novel proteomics approach, and its applicability to understanding the biological foundations of intelligence differences.     

Mental abilities and school achievement: A test of a mediation hypothesis

This study analyzes the interplay of four cognitive abilities - reasoning, divergent thinking, mental speed, and short-term memory - and their impact on academic achievement in school in a sample of adolescents in grades seven to 10 (N = 1135). Based on information processing approaches to intelligence, we tested a mediation hypothesis, which states that the complex cognitive abilities of reasoning and divergent thinking mediate the influence of the basic cognitive abilities of mental speed and short-term memory on achievement. We administered a comprehensive test battery and analyzed the data through structural equation modeling while controlling for the cluster structure of the data. Our findings support the notion that mental speed and short-term memory, as ability factors reflecting basic cognitive processes, exert an indirect influence on academic achievement by affecting reasoning and divergent thinking (total indirect effects: β = .22 and .24, respectively). Short-term memory also directly affects achievement (β = .22).     

Combined Medication and CBT for Generalized Anxiety Disorder With African American Participants: Reliability and Validity of Assessments and Preliminary Outcomes

Using data from a study of combined cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and venlafaxine XR in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), the current article examines the reliability and convergent validity of scales, and preliminary outcomes, for African American compared with European American patients. Internal consistency and short-term stability coefficients for African Americans (n = 42) were adequate and similar or higher compared with those found for European Americans (n = 164) for standard scales used in GAD treatment research. Correlations among outcome measures among African Americans were in general not significantly different for African Americans compared with European Americans. A subset of patients with DSM-IV–diagnosed GAD (n = 24 African Americans; n = 52 European Americans) were randomly selected to be offered the option of adding 12 sessions of CBT to venlafaxine XR treatment. Of those offered CBT, 33.3% (n = 8) of the African Americans and 32.6% (n = 17) of the European Americans accepted and attended at least one CBT treatment session. The outcomes for African Americans receiving combined treatment were not significantly different from European Americans receiving combined treatment on primary or secondary efficacy measures.     

On the validity of implicit association measures of personality traits

Participants (N = 200) completed self-report and implicit association (IAT) measures of Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability. Peer trait ratings and supervisor ratings of job performance were also collected. Results suggested low convergence between IAT and self-report trait measures. Cognitive ability and self-positive bias both explained significant portions of the method variance expressed by IAT measures. Correlations between IAT trait measures and job performance were statistically non-significant, of similar magnitudes to their self-report counterparts, and of magnitudes consistent with past research on criterion validities of self-report trait measures. The results offer only very limited support for the use of IAT trait measures in applied assessment settings.     

Intrusive thoughts mediate the association between neuroticism and cognitive function

Although research has established a negative association between trait neuroticism and cognition, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie this relationship. We examined the tendency to experience intrusive thoughts and negative affect as potential mediators of the relationship between neuroticism and cognitive performance. We hypothesized that the tendency to experience intrusive thoughts reflects ineffective attentional control and would account for the relationship between neuroticism and cognitive performance over and above the mediating effect of negative affect. Three hundred seventeen adults (M_age = 49.43) completed a series of attention-demanding cognitive tasks as well as self-report measures of intrusive thoughts, negative affect, and neuroticism. Intrusive thoughts mediated the association between trait neuroticism and cognitive performance beyond negative affect. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the tendency to experience intrusive thoughts is a mechanism through which trait neuroticism influences cognitive performance.     

Four successful tests of the Cognitive Differentiation–Integration Effort hypothesis

The Cognitive Differentiation–Integration Effort (CD–IE) hypothesis predicts that the dimension of life history speed (K) regulates the strength of the correlation among cognitive abilities, such that individuals with higher K exhibit more weakly integrated abilities than those with lower K. It is predicted that this effect takes place independently of the level of g owing to the absence of an individual differences level correlation between K and g. CD–IE was examined using two student samples: (1) an all female sample (N = 121), using the ALHB as a measure of K and the two SILS subtests of g; and (2) a combined male and female sample (N = 346), using a shorter three-indicator (“Trifecta”) measure of K, a general creativity measure comprised of two subscales (writing and drawing “creative performance”), and the APM-18 measure of fluid cognition. A third, population-representative sample was obtained from the NLSY (N = 11,907). A K-Factor was constructed from convergent measures of subjective well-being, sociability, interpersonal trust, internal locus of control, and delay of gratification, and a g-factor was constructed from the 10 subscales of the ASVAB. A fourth sample, addressing the question of ethnic differences was collected encompassing eight different ethnic groups with a combined 107 specific ability correlations with g. An aggregate K-Factor was constructed for this sample based on convergent population-level indicators of longevity, total fertility rates and infant mortality. Utilizing the Continuous Parameter Estimation Model, in student sample 1 a significant CD–IE effect was found on the SILS Abstract subtest (β = − .215), but not on the SILS Verbal subtest (β = .069). In student sample 2, CD–IE was observed on the general creativity measure (β = − .127), but not on the fluid cognitive ability measure (β = − .057). Significant effects were also observed on both the written and drawing creative output subscales (β = − .189 and − .183 respectively). In sample 3 (the NLSY), generally statistically significant but small-magnitude CD–IE effects were observed among all 10 ASVAB subtests (mean effect size β = − .032). In sample four, a near-significant CD–IE effect was detected (β = − .167). Controlling for subtest skew reduces the mean effect sizes across individual differences samples (β = − .071 in the student samples, − .027 in the NLSY), but boosted it to significance in the ethnic differences sample (β = − .179). Controlling for the skew of residuals reversed the signs of the CD–IE effects on the ASVAB Words and Comprehension subscales, and also on the SILS Verbal subscale, but amplified the magnitudes of the mean effects in the student and NLSY samples (β = − .036 and − .131), while reducing the effect size slightly in the ethnic-differences sample (β = − .172). In the individual differences samples, these effects were demonstrated to be unconfounded with sex of respondent and also unrelated to the Jensen effect. The apparent independence of the effect from both level of g and subtest g-loading suggests intriguing commonalities with the Lynn–Flynn effect.     

Latent profile analysis of working memory capacity and thinking styles in adults and adolescents

This study of adults (n = 269) and adolescents (n = 308) applied latent profile analysis to preference for rational and/or experiential cognition, coupled with working memory capacity (WMC). A 4-profile solution comprising rationally dominant, experientially dominant, dual preference, and disengaged groups was retained for both adult and adolescent samples. Our solution indicated that high WMC was associated with both preference and ability to engage in rational processing. Profile membership significantly discriminated both adults and adolescents on several reasoning tasks and measures of cognitive biases. Overall our results indicate that cognitive processing styles and WMC can be combined to create a typology that distinguishes between four types of thinkers who significantly differ in their performance on reasoning tasks.     

Project DyAdd: Visual attention in adult dyslexia and ADHD

In this study of the project DyAdd, three aspects of visual attention were investigated in adults (18–55 years) with dyslexia (n = 35) or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, n = 22), and in healthy controls (n = 35). Temporal characteristics of visual attention were assessed with Attentional Blink (AB), capacity of visual attention with Multiple Object Tracking (MOT), and spatial aspects of visual attention with Useful Field of View (UFOV) task. Results showed that adults with dyslexia had difficulties performing the AB and UFOV tasks, which were explained by an impaired ability to process dual targets, longer AB recovery time, and deficits in processing rapidly changing visual displays. The ADHD group did not have difficulties in any of the tasks. Further, performance in the visual attention tasks predicted variation in measures of phonological processing and reading when all of the participants were considered together. Thus, difficulties in tasks of visual attention were related to dyslexia and variation of visual attention had a role in the reading ability of the general population.     

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.     

The association between cognitive ability across the lifespan and health literacy in old age: The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Three hundred and four participants in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 study took a validated IQ-type test at age 11 years and a battery of cognitive tests at age 70 years. Three tests of health literacy were completed at age 72 years; the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM), the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA), and the Newest Vital Sign (NVS). Participants who had a lower childhood IQ exhibited poorer performance on all three tests of health literacy taken in older adulthood. Relative cognitive change from age 11 to 70 and education were also important factors influencing performance on health literacy tasks, independent of childhood cognitive ability. It is important to understand the determinants of low health literacy in order to support individuals in managing their own health.     

Emotional self-efficacy moderates anxiety-related impairments in math performance in elementary school-age youth

Excessive anxiety is associated with impairments in academic achievement. However, not all children with elevated anxiety share an equal risk for academic difficulty. The current study investigated whether individual differences in emotional self-efficacy - confidence in one’s ability to regulate negative emotions - protected against anxiety-related impairments in a standardized math exam in a sample of elementary school youth (N = 139). Results indicated that anxiety negatively predicted math test performance only for children with low levels of emotional self-efficacy. Students reporting high levels of emotional self-efficacy did not show anxiety-related decrements on the test performance. Emotional self-efficacy appears useful in managing negative effects of anxiety.