The cultural mediation hypothesis: A critical examination

A fascinating hypothesis has been proposed by Woodley (2010, Intelligence, 38: 471–480) to explain why intelligence, in contemporary Western countries, appears to be positively associated with left wing political attitudes. According to the hypothesis, the current Western ‘norm’ is relatively left-wing values, the intelligent are better at norm-mapping and better at perceiving the benefits of conforming to the dominant set of values and this explains why they are more likely, in this context, to be relatively left wing. This article will critically examine this hypothesis. It will argue that the evidence for it is questionable and open to different interpretations, there is evidence that contradicts it, and it leaves key questions unanswered. The article will propose that a simpler explanation for the association is that intelligence is positively associated with openness-intellect, low time preference and agreeableness.     

Is there any evidence of historical slowing of reaction time? No,unless we compare apples and oranges

In this paper, we reconsider a tendency of historical slowing of simple reactions to visual stimuli declared by Woodley et al. (in press). We begin by reconstructing a pendulum similar to that used by Galton and question whether such an instrument could indeed be appropriate for purposes of RT measurement. Next, we screened the other studies used in Woodley's meta-analysis and note the important properties of these studies that make the RTs that they report incomparable to each other. We claim that there is no evidence of the trend of historical increase in RT after these differences between studies are taken into account. Overall, we conclude that any cross-study comparison of RTs is uninformative and cannot provide any evidence for speculating on the topic of historical change in intelligence.     

Intelligence is differentially related to neural effort in the task-positive and the task-negative brain network

Previous studies on individual differences in intelligence and brain activation during cognitive processing focused on brain regions where activation increases with task demands (task-positive network, TPN). Our study additionally considers brain regions where activation decreases with task demands (task-negative network, TNN) and compares effects of intelligence on neural effort in the TPN and the TNN. In a sample of 52 healthy subjects, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to determine changes in neural effort associated with the processing of a working memory task. The task comprised three conditions of increasing difficulty: (a) maintenance, (b) manipulation, and (c) updating of a four-letter memory set. Neural effort was defined as signal increase in the TPN and signal decrease in the TNN, respectively. In both functional networks, TPN and TNN, neural effort increased with task difficulty. However, intelligence, as assessed with Raven's Matrices, was differentially associated with neural effort in the TPN and TNN. In the TPN, we observed a positive association, while we observed a negative association in the TNN. In terms of neural efficiency (i.e., task performance in relation to neural effort expended on task processing), more intelligent subjects (as compared to less intelligent subjects) displayed lower neural efficiency in the TPN, while they displayed higher neural efficiency in the TNN. The results illustrate the importance of differentiating between TPN and TNN when interpreting correlations between intelligence and fMRI measures of brain activation. Importantly, this implies the risk of misinterpreting whole brain correlations when ignoring the functional differences between TPN and TNN.     

Intelligence and religiosity: Within families and over time

We study the effect of intelligence (General Mental Ability) on religiosity using research designs that allow for stronger causal inferences compared to previous research in this area. First, we examine how between-siblings differences in intelligence are related to differences in their religiosity. Second, we examine how intelligence is related to changes in religiosity over time. The results of both designs suggest that intelligence has a strong negative effect on religiosity. In addition, our results also suggest that intelligence interacts with age in determining religiosity: the more intelligent the person, the stronger the negative effect of age on religiosity.     

An increase of intelligence in China 1986–2012

The Flynn effect has been widely researched in Western and European nations, while it has been comparatively understudied in Asian countries. This study examines possible Flynn effects in China from 1985 to 86 and to 2011–12. Results are reported for an IQ increase among 12 year olds on the Full Scale IQ WISC-R (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised) of 6.19 IQ points, a gain on the Performance IQ of 6.55 IQ points, and a gain on the Verbal IQ of 1.91 IQ points.     

Spiritual robots: Religion and our scientific view of the natural world

Religion plays a powerful role in the formation of scientific theories. By comparing the goals and practice of robotics and artificial intelligence in the US and Japan, differences between the two countries can be traced to their religious environments. Christian expectations of cosmic purpose and hope for salvation in purified, unearthly bodies leads to US researchers' preference for artificial intelligence over humanoid robots, a desire to see cosmic meaning in the development of that intelligence, and salvation of human minds in virtual, non-biological bodies. In Japan, robots, which have been the subjects of ritual consecrations and religious transcendence, participate in a fundamental sanctity of the natural world. A positive outlook on being human promotes a preference for humanoid robots and a future in which robots serve human beings, who do not forsake their bodies for virtual lives. Divergent scientific strategies cannot be separated from the religious worlds of their practitioners.     

乐商:一个比智商和情商更能决定命运的因素

乐商(或乐观智力)是指人乐观的能力,它既包括一个人乐观水平的高低,也包括个体从所经历的消极事件中获取积极成分的能力,以及影响或感染他人的能力.“杜乡微笑”是高乐商的一种主要外在表现形式.心理学过去的有关研究证实,高乐商不仅有利于个体的社会性发展、获得稳定的幸福婚姻、提高人的生理健康水平、提高学业成绩和减少坏事情的发生,而且高乐商还有利于促使个体寻求社会支持和社会交往.这些研究结果表明,乐商可能是一个比智商和情商更能决定人未来发展命运的因素.     

Evaluation of the effect of Spiritual care on patients with generalized anxiety and depression: a randomized controlled study

The present study was conducted to assess the effect of spiritual care in patients with depression, anxiety or both in a randomized controlled design. The participants were randomized either to receive spiritual care or not and Hamilton anxiety rating scale-A (HAM-A), Hamilton depression rating scale-D (HAM-D), WHO-quality of life-Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) and Functional assessment of chronic illness therapy – Spiritual well-being (FACIT-Sp) were assessed before therapy and two follow-ups at 3 and 6 week. However, with regard to the spiritual care therapy group, statistically significant differences were observed in both HAM-A and HAM-D scales between the baseline and visit 2 (p < 0.001), thus significantly reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, respectively. No statistically significant differences were observed for any of the scales during the follow-up periods for the control group of participants. When the scores were compared between the study groups, HAM-A, HAM-D and FACIT-Sp 12 scores were significantly lower in the interventional group as compared to the control group at both third and sixth weeks. This suggests a significant improvement in symptoms of anxiety and depression in the spiritual care therapy group than the control group; however, large randomized controlled trials with robust design are needed to confirm the same.     

Response inhibition in the parametric go/no-go task and its relation to impulsivity and subclinical psychopathy

The current study utilizes the parametric go/no-go task (PGNG), a task that examines changes in inhibitory performance as executive function load increases, to examine the link between psychopathic traits, impulsivity, and response inhibition in a cohort of healthy participants. The results show that as executive function load increased, inhibitory ability decreased. High scores on the Cognitive Complexity subscale of the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS–11) predict poor inhibitory ability in the PGNG. Similarly, high scores on the Psychopathy Personality Inventory–Revised (PPI–R) Blame Externalization subscale predict response inhibition deficits in the PGNG, which loads more on the executive functions than the standard go/no-go task. The remaining BIS–11 as well as PPI–R subscales did not interact with inhibitory performance in the PGNG highlighting the specificity of associations between aspects of personality and impulsivity with inhibitory performance as cognitive load is increased. These data point towards the sensitivity of the PGNG in studying response inhibition in the context of highly impulsive populations and its utility as a measure of impulsivity.     

The role of intelligence and feedback in children’s strategy competence

A test-intervention-test study was conducted investigating the role of intelligence on four parameters of strategy competence in the context of a numerosity judgment task. Moreover, the effectiveness of two feedback types on these four parameters was tested. In the two test sessions, the choice/no-choice method was used to assess the strategy repertoire, frequency, efficiency, and adaptivity of a group of low-, average-, and high-intelligence children. During the intervention, half of the participants from each intelligence group were given outcome feedback (OFB), whereas the other half received strategy feedback (SFB). The pretest data showed large differences among the three intelligence groups on all four strategy parameters. These differences had disappeared at the posttest due to a particularly strong improvement on all strategy parameters in the low-intelligence group. Furthermore, it was found that SFB was more beneficial than OFB for all parameters involving strategy selection. These results indicate that intelligence plays an important role in children’s strategy use and suggest that strategy feedback can be a powerful instructional tool, especially for low-intelligence children.