Keeping it dull or making it fun: Task variation as a function of promotion versus prevention focus

The self-regulation of motivation model suggests that under certain circumstances, people will strategically vary a boring task to enhance their motivational experience. In three experiments we tested whether the likelihood of this task variation depends on a person’s orientation to promote success or prevent failure. Across studies, all participants engaged in a boring letter-copying task which was coded for task variation. Results showed that a promotion focus led to greater task variation, whereas a prevention focus led to lesser task variation. Furthermore, for those people who varied the task under a promotion focus, greater intrinsic motivation (defined as intent for future task-related behavior and as self-reported immediate task interest) was observed. Results were evident when the foci were induced below conscious awareness (Experiment 1), subtly (Experiment 2), and overtly (Experiment 3). Implications for academic and work-related tasks are discussed.     

“Intelligence and Civilisation”: A Ludwig Mond lecture delivered at the University of Manchester on 23rd October 1936 by Godfrey H. Thomson. A reprinting with background and commentary

Here we reprint, and provide background and a commentary on, a recently-rediscovered lecture by Godfrey H. Thomson entitled, “Intelligence and civilisation.” It was delivered at the University of Manchester, UK, on 23rd October, 1936, printed in 1937 in the short-lived Journal of the University of Manchester and as a pamphlet in Edinburgh. It was one in the series of lectures supported by the industrialist and philanthropist Ludwig Mond. The lecture is unusually valuable in that it places the theory, testing and practical application of intelligence against the background of the rise of fascism and its threat to civilisation. The lecture is a candid and accessible ‘confession and contemplation'; the frank thoughts of a person committed to, but critical of, intelligence testing and theory, but convinced of the power and place of intelligence differences in people's lives and in civilisation. It comes at an important time for Thomson, with regard to three of his major achievements: his Moray House Test series, the Scottish Mental Survey of 1932 (and the Northumbrian testing exercise that preceded it), and the preparation of his book The Factorial Analysis of Human Ability. The understanding of the lecture is enhanced by recently-discovered archive materials on Thomson and his circle. ([Thomson, G.H. (1937a). Intelligence and civilisation: A Ludwig Mond lecture delivered at the University of Manchester on October 23rd, 1936. Journal of the University of Manchester, 1, 18–38], from the Ludwig Mond lecture).     

IQ in childhood and the metabolic syndrome in middle age: Extended follow-up of the 1946 British Birth Cohort Study

IQ in early adulthood has been inversely associated with risk of the metabolic syndrome in midlife. We tested this association in the British 1946 birth cohort, which assessed IQ at age eight years and ascertained the metabolic syndrome at age 53 years based on modified (non-fasting blood) ATPIII criteria. Childhood IQ was inversely associated with risk of the metabolic syndrome, but this association was almost entirely mediated by educational attainment and achieved occupational social class. This may be consistent with a pattern where childhood IQ is strongly associated with outcomes that reflect neurological disorder, such as the degenerative dementias, but less so with common chronic physical diseases of ageing.     

Recruitment modeling applied to longitudinal studies of group differences in intelligence

In longitudinal studies data is collected in a series of waves. Each wave after the first suffers from attrition. Therefore it can be difficult to discriminate between changes in sample parameters due to a longitudinal process (e.g. ageing) and changes due to attrition. The problem is particularly vexing if one of the purposes is to compare differences between two or more groups over time, because there may be differential attrition across groups. We refer to this as a recruitment problem, because the sample studied in any wave after the first can be thought of as having been recruited from a preceding wave. We present a mathematical model of the recruitment process. We then apply it to two large longitudinal studies, the British Cohort Survey 1970 and the National Child Development Study (1958), to demonstrate how we can identify effects expected from recruitment alone. As an illustration we show that differential recruitment would predict increasing differences between estimates of men's and women's intelligence as the studied sample ages.     

Anchoring in a novel bimanual coordination pattern

Anchoring in cyclical movements has been defined as regions of reduced spatial or temporal variability [Beek, P. J. (1989). Juggling dynamics. PhD thesis. Amsterdam: Free University Press] that are typically found at movement reversal points. For in-phase and anti-phase movements, synchronizing reversal points with a metronome pulse has resulted in decreased anchor point variability and increased pattern stability [Byblow, W. D., Carson, R. G., & Goodman, D. (1994). Expressions of asymmetries and anchoring in bimanual coordination. Human Movement Science, 13, 3-28; Fink, P. W., Foo, P., Jirsa, V. K., & Kelso, J. A. S. (2000). Local and global stabilization of coordination by sensory information. Experimental Brain Research, 134, 9-20]. The present experiment examined anchoring during acquisition, retention, and transfer of a 90 degrees phase-offset continuous bimanual coordination pattern (whereby the right limb lags the left limb by one quarter cycle), involving horizontal flexion about the elbow. Three metronome synchronization strategies were imposed: participants either synchronized maximal flexion of the right arm (i.e., single metronome), both flexion and extension of the right arm (i.e., double metronome within-limb), or flexion of each arm (i.e., double metronome between-limb) to an auditory metronome. In contrast to simpler in-phase and anti-phase movements, synchronization of additional reversal points to the metronome did not reduce reversal point variability or increase pattern stability. Furthermore, practicing under different metronome synchronization strategies did not appear to have a significant effect on the rate of acquisition of the pattern.     

Individual differences in cognitive control: The role of psychoticism and working memory in set‐shifting

Set‐shifting refers to a process of cognitive control which is shown through flexible behavioural adaptation to changes in task parameters or demands, such as the switching of an explicit rule (extra‐dimensional rule shifting) or the reversal of a reinforcement‐contingency (reversal‐learning). Set‐shifting deficits are widely documented in specific neuropsychological disorders, but seldom investigated in relation to normally‐occurring individual differences. In a sample of healthy adults (N=78, 28% male), we demonstrate that Working Memory and trait Psychoticism have independent involvement in extra‐dimensional rule shifting as measured using an analogue of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Only Psychoticism, however, was involved in reversal‐learning, as assessed using a recent modification of the Iowa Gambling Task. Individual differences in extra‐dimensional rule shifting were explained in terms of rule abstraction speed, while individual differences in reversal‐learning were explained in terms of response perseveration. These results clarify component processes in different forms of set‐shifting, and highlight the role of individual differences, especially personality, in cognitive control.     

Cognitive constraint on the ‘automatic pilot’ for the hand: Movement intention influences the hand’s susceptibility to involuntary online corrections

Research suggests that the reaching hand automatically deviates toward a target that changes location (jumps) during the reach. In the current study, we investigated whether movement intention can influence the target jump’s impact on the hand. We compared the degree of trajectory deviation to a jumped target under three instruction conditions: (1) GO, in which participants were told to go to the target if it jumped, (2) STOP, in which participants were told to immediately stop their movement if the target jumped, and (3) IGNORE, in which participants were told to ignore the target if it jumped and to continue to its initial location. We observed a reduced response to the jump in the IGNORE condition relative to the other conditions, suggesting that the response to the jump is contingent on the jump being a task-relevant event.     

How do symbols affect 3‐ to 4‐year‐olds' executive function? Evidence from a reverse‐contingency task

In two experiments, 330 3‐ to 4‐year‐olds competed for stickers in a game in which the optimal response strategy was to point to an empty box that their opponent would receive in order to obtain a baited box for themselves. When the baited box contained stickers, children showed a strong tendency to point at the baited box and therefore lose the stickers to their opponent. In Experiment 1 children performed better when the number of stickers to be won was represented with one of five different types of symbol: numerals, number words, dots, a photograph or sweets. In Experiment 2 children transferred their improved performance in symbolic conditions to non‐symbolic conditions. These findings suggest that symbols enable children to formulate an efficient response strategy, and that this effect may be qualitatively different in children from the effect of symbols in non‐human primates.     

Perceptions of Engaging With a Super-Strengths Approach in Elite Sport

Strengths-based approaches (underpinned by positive psychology) are scarcely documented in sport. This study explored perceptions of a strengths-based approach (termed super-strengths) on psychological characteristics and performance in elite sport. Semistructured interviews were conducted with athletes (N = 12) who had previous experience of working with a sport psychology practitioner on super-strengths. Thematic analysis of the data indicated that super-strengths had a positive influence on athletes’ mind-set, confidence (e.g., self-belief), clarity of purpose (e.g., goal direction), drive, coping ability, and performance. Findings highlight the potential benefits of adopting strengths-based approaches in sport, and recommendations for future research are provided.     

The Effect of Manipulating Training Demands and Consequences on Experiences of Pressure in Elite Netball

Testing the efficacy of a pressure training framework (Stoker, Lindsay, Butt, Bawden, &; Maynard, 2016 Stoker, M., Lindsay, P., Butt, J., Bawden, M., &; Maynard, I. (2016). Elite coaches' experiences of creating pressure training environments. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 47(3), 262–281.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the present study investigated whether manipulating training demands and consequences altered experiences of pressure. Elite Netballers (M_age = 26.14 years) performed a Netball exercise in a randomized, within-subject design with four conditions: a control, consequences, demands, and demands plus consequences condition. Compared with the control, self-reported pressure was significantly higher in the consequences and demands plus consequences condition but not in the demands condition. The findings provide mixed support for manipulating demands and strong support for manipulating consequences as a means for producing pressure.