Beyond objectivity: The performance impact of the perceived ability to learn and solve problems

The purpose of this research was to develop and provide initial validation evidence for the performance impact of a measure of an individual's perceived ability to learn and solve problems (PALS). Building on the self-efficacy literature and the importance of learning and problem solving, the fundamental premise of this research was that PALS would significantly explain employee performance. In addition to demonstrating that PALS represented a distinct construct, PALS was a significant predictor of performance for managerial and entry-level employees in two different organizational contexts. Moreover, PALS explained additional variance in performance beyond general mental ability, personality, and similar constructs related to learning and problem solving.     

知情同意权中的哥德巴赫猜想--知情权与患者认知能力之间的冲突

知情同意权作为医患关系中患者一方最基本的权利正受到患者认知能力的严重影响。这一方面是原本专业化医学正在逐步走向专门化原因造成的,但与医患关系,文化传统,知识水平等因素也有千丝万缕的联系,正确处理知情权与患者认知能力之间的关系对于衡平医患关系,维护医患双方权益有着重大的现实意义。问题既有赖于医患双方的协力;更要依靠社会各方面合作,形成合力加以解决。     

Verbal fluency and creativity: General and specific contributions of broad retrieval ability (Gr) factors to divergent thinking

The Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) model of intelligence views creativity as a first-level factor within the second-level factor of broad retrieval ability (Gr), alongside other first-level abilities such as ideational fluency and word fluency. Traditional methods of measuring creativity, however, confound idea quality with idea quantity, which might exaggerate the relationship between creativity scores and verbal fluency factors. Participants (n = 131 adults) completed two divergent thinking tasks (unusual uses for a rope and a box), which were scored using newer methods that effectively separate creativity (scored via subjective ratings) and fluency (scored as number of responses). They then completed 16 verbal fluency tasks that assessed six lower-order Gr factors: word fluency, associational fluency, associative flexibility, ideational fluency, letter fluency, and dissociative ability. Viewed singly, many of the lower-order factors significantly predicted creative quality and fluency. General Gr had substantial effects on creative quality (standardized β = .443) and fluency (β = .339) in a higher-order model as well as in a bifactor model (quality β = .380, fluency β = .327). Moreover, general Gr was the only significant predictor in the bifactor model, suggesting that it, not the specific factors, was most important. All effects were essentially the same after controlling for typing speed and vocabulary knowledge. The findings thus support the CHC view of creativity/originality as a lower-order component of Gr, illuminate the relationships between creativity and first-level Gr factors, extend the study of creativity and intelligence beyond fluid intelligence, and further indicate that creativity is more closely tied to cognitive abilities than creativity research has yet recognized.     

Assessing mental flexibility with a new word recognition test

This paper presents the development and preliminary evaluation of a new word recognition test (WRT) designed to measure individual differences in mental flexibility, defined as the ability to solve novel problems in unfamiliar settings. Conceptually designed to simulate problem solving in real world performance situations, the test was developed to recruit fluid and reproductive abilities and the interplay between convergent and divergent thinking. It is based on a framework that integrates and extends previous theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of cognitive ability and creative cognition. The WRT was administered with various cognitive ability and criterion measures to an undergraduate student sample (n = 266). Results provide preliminary evidence of construct validity. WRT scores correlated as expected with reference measures of cognitive ability, creative performance, and college performance (GPA). Regression analyses showed the WRT explained an additional 4.5% of variance in college performance over and above traditional cognitive ability measures that take up to five times as long to administer. Results suggest further study is warranted given the potential for its contribution to basic research and applied use.     

The relationship between reading ability and lateralized lexical decision

Although lexical decision remains one of the most extensively studied cognitive tasks, very little is known about its relationship to broader linguistic performance such as reading ability. In a correlational study, several aspects of lateralized lexical decision performance were related to vocabulary and reading comprehension measures, as assessed using the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. This lateralized lexical decision task has been previously shown to demonstrate (1) independent contributions from both hemispheres, as well as (2) interhemispheric interactions during word recognition. Lexical decision performance showed strong relationships with both reading measures. Specifically, vocabulary performance correlated significantly with left visual field (LVF) word accuracy and LVF non-word latency, both measures of right hemisphere performance. There were also significant, though somewhat weaker, correlations between reading comprehension and RVF non-word latency. Lexicality priming, a measure of interhemispheric communication during lexical decision, was also correlated with reading comprehension. These results suggest that hemispheric interaction during word recognition is common, and that lexical processing contribution from the right hemisphere, something commonly taken as minor and inconsequential, can lead to significant performance benefits and to individual differences in reading.     

Evaluation de la capacité de travail des seniors : l’apport des compétences perçues

The Work Ability Index (Ilmarinen, Tuomi, & Klockars, 1997; Ilmarinen, 2007) is a validated tool extensively used in epidemiological studies to measure older workers work ability. The WAI is relatively focused on health. The VOW/QFT (Hellemans, 2010, 2011, 2013) proposes to expand the notion of work ability with these competences, beyond the issue of functional ability. This contribution aims to test convergences and divergences between the WAI and the two work ability indices of the VOW/QFT, and also their respective predictors. Analyzes, conducted with 254 workers subject to medical visits, have shown especially that WAI scores and evolution of ability scores from the VOW/QFT are highly correlated, generally and among laborers, but not among employees. The results highlight the interest accounting for perceived competence for assessing work capacity among employees.     

Individual differences in reappraisal ability: Links to reappraisal frequency, well-being, and cognitive control

Reappraisal is generally viewed as an adaptive emotion regulation strategy. Reappraisal frequency has been associated with greater well-being, and reappraisal ability is thought to be composed of several crucial cognitive control processes. However, the relationships among reappraisal ability, reappraisal frequency, well-being, and various cognitive control processes have not yet been determined. In this study, we experimentally examined individual differences in reappraisal ability (RA), and also assessed reappraisal frequency, well-being, and several cognitive control processes. We observed a positive relationship between RA, reappraisal frequency, and well-being. RA was also related positively to working memory capacity and set-shifting costs, and marginally related to abstract reasoning. These findings have important implications for understanding the cognitive components and affective outcomes of RA.     

The role of phonological activation in the visual semantic retrieval of Chinese characters

The Stroop paradigm was used to examine the role of phonological activation in semantic access and its development in reading Chinese characters. Subjects (age 7-23 years) of different reading ability were asked to name the display color of Chinese characters. The characters were displayed in four different colors: red, yellow, blue and green. There were five types of relationships between a character and its display color: semantically congruent, phonologically congruent, semantically incongruent, phonologically incongruent and neutral. In addition to the classical Stroop effects, interference and facilitation effects from the homophones of color characters were also observed. The younger children and those with lower reading ability exhibited stronger Stroop effects. These findings suggest that phonological codes are activated automatically in Chinese character recognition. Furthermore, there is more phonological activation in the semantic retrieval of children in lower grades and those with lower reading ability.     

Training and transfer effects of long-term memory retrieval training

ABSTRACT

Long-term memory retrieval ability and working memory can share attention control ability. Based on cognitive plasticity, a hypothesis that cognitive training could improve long-term memory retrieval efficiency and that this could transfer to retrieval involving working memory was proposed. 60 undergraduates were randomly assigned to a group of training and an active control group; all the participants completed the same tasks in the same order before and after the training, the tasks included a long-term memory retrieval access task, a intelligence test, a switching task, a working memory updating task, a response inhibition task and an interference control task. The statistics results indicate that cognitive training can improve long-term memory retrieval efficiency and has a transfer effect on working memory updating, interference control and switching ability, but not on response inhibition or intelligence. This reveal the plasticity of long-term memory retrieval and its influence on working memory.     

住院医师规范化培训中辩证思维能力的培养

精湛的临床思维能力和良好的辩证思维能力是住院医师岗位胜任能力的根本要求。如何切实提升住院医师的辩证思维意识和思维习惯是现阶段住院医师规范化培训中一个亟待解决的现实难题。阐述了培养住院医师辩证思维能力的必要性和重要性,重点分析了住院医师规范化培训中应着力掌握的几种思维素养和能力。在规范化培训阶段,应以提升住院医师的辩证思维素养、强化辩证思维意识和思维习惯的养成教育、注重临床诊治实践能力的培养等为着力点培养住院医师辩证思维能力。