How does attention spread across objects oriented in depth?

Previous evidence suggests that attention can operate on object-based representations. It is not known whether these representations encode depth information and whether object depth, if encoded, is in viewer- or objectcentered coordinates. To examine these questions, we employed a spatial cuing paradigm in which one corner of a 3-D object was exogenously cued with 75% validity. By rotating the object in depth, we can determine whether validity effects are modulated by 2-D or 3-D cue-target distance and whether validity effects depend on the position of the viewer relative to the object. When the image of a 3-D object was present (Experiments 1A and 1B), validity effects were not modulated by changes in 2-D cue-target distance, and shifting attention toward the viewer led to smaller validity effects than did shifting attention away from the viewer. When there was no object in the display (Experiments 2A and 2B), validity effects increased linearly as a function of 2-D cue-target distance. These results demonstrate that attention spreads across representations of perceived objects that encode depth information and that the object’s orientation in depth is encoded in viewer-centered coordinates.     

An examination of the structural, discriminant, nomological, and incremental predictive validity of the MSCEIT© V2.0

We examined the structural, discriminant, nomological, and incremental predictive validity of a behavioral measure of emotional intelligence, using data from two undergraduate student samples. Covariance structure modeling indicated that the eight subscales of the MSCEIT© V2.0 were best modeled with a solution consisting of three first-order factors, and supported the existence of one higher-order factor of overall emotional intelligence. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the higher-order factor had discriminant validity from personality and conformity. Contrary to prediction, the higher-order factor was more highly correlated to social desirability than to general mental ability or long term affect. Finally, hierarchical regression results indicated that overall emotional intelligence did not predict incremental variance in either GPA or life satisfaction.     

Elimination problems in logic: a brief history

A common aim of elimination problems for languages of logic is to express the entire content of a set of formulas of the language, or a certain part of it, in a way that is more elementary or more informative. We want to bring out that as the languages for logic grew in expressive power and, at the same time, our knowledge of their expressive limitations also grew, elimination problems in logic underwent some change. For languages other than that for monadic second-order logic, there remain important open problems.     

Rules and more rules: The effects of multiple tasks, extensive training, and aging on task-switching performance

Task-switching performance was assessed in young and older adults as a function of the number of task sets to be actively maintained in memory (varied from 1 to 4) over the course of extended training (5 days). Each of the four tasks required the execution of a simple computational algorithm, which was instantaneously cued by the color of the two-digit stimulus. Tasks were presented in pure (task set size 1) and mixed blocks (task set sizes 2, 3, 4), and the task sequence was unpredictable. By considering task switching beyond two tasks, we found evidence for a cognitive control system that is not overwhelmed by task set size load manipulations. Extended training eliminated age effects in task-switching performance, even when the participants had to manage the execution of up to four tasks. The results are discussed in terms of current theories of cognitive control, including task set inertia and production system postulates.     

Academic Achievement Over 8 Years Among Children Who Met Modified Criteria for Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder at 4–6 Years of Age

The predictive validity of symptom criteria for different subtypes of ADHD among children who were impaired in at least one setting in early childhood was examined. Academic achievement was assessed seven times over 8 years in 125 children who met symptom criteria for ADHD at 4–6 years of age and in 130 demographically-matched non-referred comparison children. When intelligence and other confounds were controlled, children who met modified criteria for the predominantly inattentive subtype of ADHD in wave 1 had lower reading, spelling, and mathematics scores over time than both comparison children and children who met modified criteria for the other subtypes of ADHD. In some analyses, children who met modified criteria for the combined type had somewhat lower mathematics scores than comparison children. The robust academic deficits relative to intelligence in the inattentive group in this age range suggest either that inattention results in academic underachievement or that some children in the inattentive group have learning disabilities that cause secondary symptoms of inattention. Unexpectedly, wave 1 internalizing (anxiety and depression) symptoms independently predicted deficits in academic achievement controlling ADHD, intelligence, and other predictors.     

The Effects of Incentives on Visual–Spatial Working Memory in Children with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Working memory is one of several putative core neurocognitive processes in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present work seeks to determine whether visual–spatial working memory is sensitive to motivational incentives, a laboratory analogue of behavioral treatment. Participants were 21 children (ages 7–10) with a diagnosis of ADHD-combined type. Participants completed a computerized spatial span task designed to assess storage of visual–spatial information (forward span) and manipulation of the stored information (backward span). The spatial span task was completed twice on the same day, once with a performance-based incentive (trial-wise feedback and points redeemable for prizes) and once without incentives. Participants performed significantly better on the backward span when rewarded for correct responses, compared to the no incentive condition. However, incentives had no effect on performance during the forward span. These findings may suggest the use of motivational incentives improved manipulation, but not storage, of visual–spatial information among children with ADHD. Possible explanations for the differential incentive effects are discussed, including the possibility that incentives prevented a vigilance decrement as task difficulty and time on task increased.     

Personality in middle childhood: A hierarchical structure and longitudinal connections with personality in late adolescence

Research on the structure of personality in middle childhood, while advancing, is still in the early stages of development. In this study, we employed a group of 1563 twins to elucidate the hierarchical structure of personality in middle childhood and provide connections to established personality traits in adult populations. Our results provide evidence for a higher-order structure of personality in middle childhood that maps on to recent findings in adult populations supporting hierarchical relationships among 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-factor models of personality. In addition, primary higher-order personality traits rated by parents at age 11 showed substantial predictive validity for analogous traits rated by self at age 17. We discuss our results within the context of developing a convergent hierarchical taxonomy of personality in middle childhood and the importance of multi-informant investigations.     

Survey and behavioral measurements of interpersonal trust

Although many studies treat trust as a situational construct, individual differences can be used to study and predict trusting behavior. We report two studies, the first showing the psychometric properties of a new trust inventory (the Propensity to Trust Survey or PTS), the second study validating this inventory using the standard economic task, the Investment Game. The first study utilized online survey data (N > 8000) to show that the PTS scales were reliable and measured broad constructs related to Big Five personality domains. Trust was related to extraversion and negative neuroticism, and trustworthiness was related to agreeableness and conscientiousness. The second study (N = 90) validated the PTS trust scale as a predictor of behavior in the Investment Game. These findings are evidence that trust and trustworthiness are compound personality traits, and that PTS scales are preferable to general Big Five measures for predicting trusting behavior.     

The End of the Person–Situation Debate: An Emerging Synthesis in the Answer to the Consistency Question

We review the history and current status of the person–situation debate. We propose that the person–situation debate (1) is over and (2) that it ended in a ‘Hegelian’ synthesis. Specifically, we propose the following synthesis resolution: There are multiple types of consistency; behavior is consistent for some of those types and not for others; and personality and traits exist in the forms that produce the consistent behaviors. Incorporating both personality processes and trait structures in research will move personality research forward. In this article, we summarize the advances that the two perspectives have generated by working in opposition; we explain why both sides will suffer from continuing to work independently; and we anticipate several future directions that synthesis‐informed personality research can and should take.     

Serial memory for sound-specified locations: effects of spatial uncertainty and motor suppression

According to Parmentier and Jones (2000), serial recall of locations that are specified by a sequence of sounds is prone to temporal error and is unaffected by motor suppression during retention. Experiments are reported here that show that with increased spatial uncertainty at recall (Experiment 1) and presentation (Experiment 2), spatial rather than temporal errors predominate. This is also the case when serial recall of sound-specified locations is subject to interference from a motor suppression task (Experiment 3). Contrary to Parmentier and Jones's (2000) original report, these results suggest that the memory representation for location is not necessarily amodal but is influenced by the representational requirements of the task being performed. This is consistent with recent findings that provide evidence for a distinct spatial working memory.