Exploring the relationships between trait emotional intelligence and objective socio‐emotional outcomes in childhood

Background Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI or trait emotional self‐efficacy) is a constellation of emotion‐related self‐perceptions and dispositions located at the lower levels of personality hierarchies. This paper examines the validity of this construct, as operationalized by the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire‐Child Form (TEIQue‐CF), in primary schoolchildren. Aims The main aim was to examine the construct validity of trait EI in middle and late childhood by exploring its relationships with cognitive ability, emotion perception, and social behaviour. Sample The sample comprised 140 children aged between 8 and 12 years (M = 9.26 years, SD = 1.00 year; 63 girls) from two English state primary schools. Method Pupils completed the TEIQue‐CF, the standard progressive matrices (SPM), the guess who peer assessment, the social skills training (SST) test, and the assessment of children's emotion skills (ACES) during formal class periods. The procedure took approximately two hours with a short break between assessments. Results Trait EI scores were positively related both to peer‐rated prosocial behaviour and to overall peer competence. They also predicted emotion perception accuracy beyond overall peer competence. As hypothesized in trait EI theory, the construct was unrelated to IQ (Raven's matrices) and academic performance. Conclusions Trait EI is successfully operationalized through the TEIQue‐CF and has important and multifaceted implications for the socialization of primary schoolchildren.     

Is control a viable goal in the treatment of pathological gambling?

According to a report of National Gambling Impact Study Commission (National Gambling Impact Study Commission (1999). Final report. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.), 97% of problem gamblers in the United States do not seek treatment. Within the small proportion of problem gamblers who enter into treatment, a high percentage drops out. Despite the fact that some researchers argue against abstinence as the only acceptable treatment goal and that regaining control over gambling behaviour appears to be possible for some pathological gamblers (PG), abstinence has been the only gambling intervention treatment goal. The primary goal of this study was to verify whether controlled gambling is a viable goal for pathological gamblers. The second goal was to identify the characteristics that predicted a successful outcome for treatment with a controlled gambling goal. Eighty-nine PGs were enrolled in cognitive-behavioural treatment aimed at controlled gambling. Six and twelve month follow-ups were conducted in order to evaluate the maintenance of therapeutic gains and to identify significant predictors of successful controlled gambling. Results showed that using the intent-to-treat procedure, 63% had a score of 4 or less on the DSM-IV at the end of treatment. That proportion was 56% and 51% at the 6- and 12-month follow-ups. If we retain only those who completed the treatment, these proportions increased to 92%, 80% and 71% at post-treatment, 6- and 12-month follow-ups, respectively. On the majority of the measures, significant improvements were found at post-treatment and the therapeutic gains were maintained at the 6- and 12-month follow-ups. However, few variables were identified to predict who would benefit from control rather than abstinence. The clinical and philosophical implications of these results are discussed in this paper.     

Left gaze bias in humans, rhesus monkeys and domestic dogs

While viewing faces, human adults often demonstrate a natural gaze bias towards the left visual field, that is, the right side of the viewee’s face is often inspected first and for longer periods. Using a preferential looking paradigm, we demonstrate that this bias is neither uniquely human nor limited to primates, and provide evidence to help elucidate its biological function within a broader social cognitive framework. We observed that 6-month-old infants showed a wider tendency for left gaze preference towards objects and faces of different species and orientation, while in adults the bias appears only towards upright human faces. Rhesus monkeys showed a left gaze bias towards upright human and monkey faces, but not towards inverted faces. Domestic dogs, however, only demonstrated a left gaze bias towards human faces, but not towards monkey or dog faces, nor to inanimate object images. Our findings suggest that face- and species-sensitive gaze asymmetry is more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously recognised, is not constrained by attentional or scanning bias, and could be shaped by experience to develop adaptive behavioural significance.     

Investigating naturalistic decision making in a simulated microworld: What questions should we ask?

Computer-simulated microworlds can provide a controlled method for investigating concepts related to naturalistic decision making (NDM). However, the extent to which these tools can be used to generate meaningful outcomes is unknown. The current study used a microworld called Networked Fire Chief (NFC) to explore the range of skills and knowledge acquired as participants gained practice on the program. The complexity of the NFC NDM environment was also explored. Twenty participants each completed 20 equivalent 5-min scenarios on NFC. Interview data, behavioral data and performance scores were collected across the trials. Results confirmed that NFC provides an environment that promotes appropriate perceptual-cognitive processing for NDM. However, performance improved to only a small extent across the 20 trials in four performance areas: speed, accuracy, efficiency and planning. In addition, the number of personal and situational factors to be considered when decision making on NFC was not comparable with real-world NDM environments. Overall, results indicated that the use of microworlds for research should be regulated by an understanding of the limitations of their applicability.     

Experimental effects of receiving negative weight-related feedback: a weight guessing study

The effects of receiving negative verbal weight-related feedback on the mood, self-esteem, and body image of restrained and unrestrained eaters were investigated. Female undergraduate students either reported their current weight (no feedback) or had their weight guessed as 15 lb higher than their actual weight (negative feedback) by an experimenter who presented herself as either an undergraduate (peer) or graduate student (non-peer). Participants overall had higher anxiety and felt “fatter” in the negative feedback condition. When this feedback came from a peer they felt fatter, more dissatisfied with their bodies, and, for restrained eaters, more depressed, as compared to when it came from a non-peer. These results provide empirical evidence that negative weight-related feedback produces adverse psychological consequences for young women, especially restrained eaters, and suggest the importance of peers’ perceptions of weight.     

Developmental changes in neural activity to familiar words and gestures

Infants younger than 20 months of age interpret both words and symbolic gestures as object names. Later in development words and gestures take on divergent communicative functions. Here, we examined patterns of brain activity to words and gestures in typically developing infants at 18 and 26 months of age. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a match/mismatch task. At 18 months, an N400 mismatch effect was observed for pictures preceded by both words and gestures. At 26 months the N400 effect was limited to words. The results provide the first neurobiological evidence showing developmental changes in semantic processing of gestures.     

Does Global Context Modulate Cerebral Asymmetries? A Review and New Evidence on Word Imageability Effects

In this article we examine whether the distribution of function across the right and left cerebral hemispheres for lexical processing is influenced by the global context within which words are presented. A review of previously published studies indicates that the ubiquitous right visual field (RVF)/left hemisphere advantage for word recognition may be reduced or eliminated for nouns, content words, or high image words, but only when such items are presented along with verbs, function words, or low image words. However, paradoxically, when the former items are presented in more homogeneous contexts, the RVF advantage is uniformly observed. We propose that the processing efficiency of a hemisphere for a given stimulus depends on that item's relation to the other stimuli provided, that is, the global context. This was examined in a visual half-field experiment that varied whether high and low image nouns were presented in homogeneous (blocked lists) or heterogeneous (mixed lists) contexts. An unvarying RVF advantage was observed for high image words in homogeneous contexts, but this advantage was eliminated when the same items were presented in heterogeneous contexts. We suggest that stimulus heterogeneity maximizes reliance on differing, but complementary, computational biases across hemispheres. Hence, the extent to which the left and right hemispheres are recruited for the recognition of individual word types can vary dynamically with variation in the stimulus environment.