Processing speed, intelligence, creativity, and school performance: Testing of causal hypotheses using structural equation models

According to mental speed theory of intelligence, the speed of information processing constitutes an important basis for cognitive abilities. However, the question, how mental speed relates to real world criteria, like school, academic, or job performance, is still unanswered. The aim of the study is to test an indirect speed-factor model in comparison to rivaling models explaining the relationships between different mental abilities and performance. In this speed-factor model, basic cognitive processing is assumed to influence higher mental abilities (IQ and creativity). Intelligence and creativity themselves should be valid predictors of school performance. We computed bivariate correlations and structural equation models to test this hypothesis, using indicators of processing speed [Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test (ZVT) and Coding Test], psychometric intelligence [Kognitiver Fähigkeits-Test (KFT) and Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM)], creativity [Verbaler Kreativitäts-Test (VKT) and Verwendungs-Test (VWT)] and school performance (grades). In a sample of 271 students from German gymnasiums (Class Levels 9 to 11) the speed-factor model can reproduce at best the empirical relationships between processing speed, intelligence, creativity, and school performance: It assumes that processing speed influences higher mental abilities (intelligence and creativity), which, in the sequel, influence school performance. Therefore, processing speed seems to have no direct effect on school performance; the effect is indirect as it operates via mediation through higher cognitive abilities.     

Latent inhibition and context change in psychometrically defined schizotypy

The disruption of latent inhibition within the schizophrenia spectrum has often been interpreted either as a result of increased attentional distractibility (attentional account) or as a result of deficient interference of past associations (associative account). The aim of the present investigation was to test competing predictions, as derived from the above theoretical accounts. In a visual search paradigm of latent inhibition, accuracy was examined as a function of prior experience with the target, and psychometrically defined schizotypy. In Experiment 1 (N=60), no context change was introduced. In accord with past evidence, latent inhibition was found to be intact in low-, but disrupted in high-schizotypy scorers, a result predicted both by attentional and associative accounts. In Experiment 2 (N=60), a context change was introduced. As predicted by past evidence, latent inhibition was disrupted in low-schizotypy scorers. However, latent inhibition was found to be intact in high-schizotypy scorers, a finding accommodated by attentional, but not associative accounts. Theoretical implications and alternative interpretations are also considered.     

Stopping rule use during information search in design problems

Information search is critical in most decision-making tasks. An important aspect of information search is the stopping rule used by the decision maker to terminate information acquisition. Decision-making problems may be usefully decomposed into design problems and choice problems. The distinction is critical because the goals of stopping behavior in the two types of problems are quite different. In design problems, the focus is on the sufficiency of information obtained for problem structuring and generating alternatives, while choice problems focus on convergence toward a solution. While previous research has studied stopping behavior in choice problems, the present research is concerned with stopping rule use during information search in design problems. To build theory in this area, we conducted two experiments. In the first, we presented professional systems analysts with an information search problem in a systems development context and asked them to gather information for a proposed system. Protocols of the search sessions were analyzed, and stopping rules used and information gathered by the analysts were identified. Results indicated that the use of certain stopping rules resulted in greater quantity and quality of information gathered. Additionally, stopping rule use, rather than analyst experience, accounted for the quantity and quality of information elicited. Finally, stopping rule use differed between more experienced and less experienced analysts. To apply our findings about stopping rules from the first experiment, we performed a second experiment in which we investigated stopping rule use in a consumer information search task on the world wide web. Results indicated the use of the same stopping rules as in the first experiment, although in different proportions. Implications for information search theory and practice are discussed.     

A general mechanism for linking personality traits to affect, motivation, and action

This article describes a general mechanism for linking personality traits to affect, motivation, and action. It is hypothesized that personality traits confer a propensity to perceive convergences and divergences between our belief that we can attain certain goals and the importance that we place on these goals (belief-importance or belimp theory). Belief and importance are conceptualized as two coordinates, together defining the belimp plane. Four distinct quadrants can be identified within the belimp plane (Hubris, Motivation, Depression, and Apathy), broadly corresponding to the personality dimensions of trait emotional intelligence, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and introversion. Strategies and requirements for testing belimp theory are presented as are a number of important theoretical and practical advantages that it can potentially offer.     

The premotor theory of attention and the Simon effect

In the paper by Hommel (2011-this issue), the roles of the theory of event coding (TEC) and the premotor theory of attention (PMTA) for the Simon effect were considered. PMTA was treated by Hommel in terms of the proposal that attentional orienting can be viewed as the preparation of a saccade towards a certain location, and was dismissed as providing no useful contribution for an attentional explanation of the Simon effect. Here we considered a more recent and broader conception of the PMTA, compared this approach with TEC, and confronted both approaches with a few studies focusing on the role of spatial attention for the Simon effect. It was argued that PMTA may account more easily for various studies examining the influence of spatial attention on the Simon effect. We concluded our paper by listing some elements that an overall encompassing theory on the Simon effect should contain.     

The relationship between attentional capture and deviations in movement trajectories in a selective reaching task

According to action-centered models of attention, attention and action systems are tightly linked such that the capture of attention by an object automatically initiates response-producing processes. In support of this link, studies have shown that movements deviate towards or away from non-target stimuli. These deviations are thought to emerge because attentional capture by non-target stimuli generates responses that summate with target responses to develop a combined movement vector. The present study tested attention–action coupling by examining movement trajectories in the presence of non-target stimuli that do or do not capture attention. Previous research has revealed that non-target cue stimuli only capture attention when they share critical features with the target. Cues that do not share this feature do not capture attention. Following these studies and their findings, participants in the present study aimed to the location of a single white square (onset singleton target) or a single red square presented with two white squares (color singleton target). In separate blocks, targets were preceded by non-predictive cues that did or did not share the target feature (color or onset singleton cues). The critical finding of the present study was that trajectory effects mirrored the temporal interference effects in that deviations were only observed when cue and target properties matched. Deviations were not observed when the cue and target properties did not match. These data provide clear support for the link between attentional capture and the activation of response-producing processes.     

The forgiveness process in primary and secondary victims of violent and sexual offences

It is possible that the physical and mental health of crime victims might be improved by forgiving those who have offended against them. To date, no research has been undertaken to examine the processes that influence victims' forgiveness. The goal of this project was to examine the forgiveness process in primary and secondary victims of violent and sexual crimes. In Study 1, qualitative data were collected by interviewing 21 people who had been affected by sexual or other violent crime. Data analysis identified five themes that were common to both primary and secondary victims, namely benefit of forgiveness, self‐forgiveness, perspective taking, offender behaviour, and time. An empowerment theme was unique to primary victims, and a principal victim theme was unique to secondary victims. To further explore these qualitative findings, a quantitative survey of 60 primary and secondary victims was conducted. Results confirmed that primary victims are pragmatic forgivers who are internally focused and forgive because that will benefit their healing. Conversely, secondary victims did not think forgiveness benefited, or would impact on, their own or the primary victim's recovery process. Neither group saw forgiveness as a moral issue, nor thought that forgiveness should influence whether an offender should face court.     

Rethinking safety behaviors in insomnia: examining the perceived utility of sleep-related safety behaviors

Harvey's cognitive model of insomnia (2002a) proposes that sleep-related safety behaviors play a central role in the maintenance of insomnia because such maladaptive coping strategies are thought to reinforce threat-based appraisals of the likelihood and consequences of poor sleep. Research to date has assessed the frequency of safety behavior use in those with insomnia only; however, in addition to the frequency of occurrence, the function of safety behaviors (i.e., a belief that they will prevent a feared outcome from occurring), may be an important consideration. The purpose of this study was to examine sleep-related safety behaviors based on an expanded theoretical understanding of such behaviors across psychological disorders; that is, by examining both their frequency and perceived utility. Undergraduate students (N = 376) completed an online survey about their sleep, mood, and use of sleep-related safety behaviors. Insomnia severity was associated with a greater perceived need to use safety behaviors (i.e., utility) but not with frequency of safety behavior use. Higher perceived utility of safety behaviors was also associated with unhelpful beliefs about sleep, fear and avoidance of fatigue, and both general and sleep-specific helplessness. These results suggest that these behaviors and the associated underlying maladaptive beliefs may be important targets in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. The current study extends the existing literature and refines the concept of safety behaviors in insomnia to include both the function and frequency of these behaviors.     

How to Cook Rice: A Review of Ingredients for Teaching anti‐Prejudice

There is a pressing need to address prejudice, racism, and discrimination against marginalised groups in Australia. This involves change from the structural to the individual level. In this article, we discuss the merits of individual anti‐prejudice mechanisms within the Australian context. First, we expand on nine mechanisms described in a previous paper and then review five new mechanisms. We conclude that while some mechanisms are likely to be useful regardless of location, others need to be tailored to the local context. We also conclude that effective interventions need to utilise multiple mechanisms. It is hoped that the synthesis of the different mechanisms provided here will assist anti‐prejudice researchers, practitioners, and policymakers striving to improve relations among different groups in our society.     

Biased interpretation in perfectionism and its modification

Perfectionism is a transdiagnostic construct associated with a range of diagnoses, including depression, eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder. Treatments that directly target perfectionist cognitions have been shown to successfully reduce associated pathologies. However, the way in which they do this is not clear. We set out to assess the role of one candidate mechanism of action, namely the cognitive process of interpretation of ambiguity. In one experiment we looked for associations between biased interpretation and perfectionism. In a second, we manipulated interpretations, thereby providing a strong test of their aetiological significance. Results from the first experiment confirmed the presence of biased interpretation in perfectionism and demonstrated that these are highly specific to perfection relevant information, rather than reflecting general negativity. The second experiment succeeded in manipulating these perfection relevant interpretations and demonstrated that one consequence of doing so is a change in perfectionist behaviour. Together, these data experimentally demonstrate that biased interpretation of perfection relevant ambiguity contributes to the maintenance of perfectionism, but that it is also possible to reverse this. Clinical implications include the identification of one likely mechanism of therapeutic change within existing treatments, as well as identification of an appropriate evidence-based focus for future treatment development. Targeting underlying functional mechanisms, such as biased interpretation, has the potential to offer transdiagnostic benefits.