Is the Matching Familiar Figures Test a Measure of Cognitive Style?: A Warning for Users

A probabilistic model of reflection-impulsivity as measured by the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) is presented and tested on 77 fourth graders. In testing the model two groups emerged, a random response group ( n = 22) and a cognitive response group ( n = 55), who use the evaluation process. Correlations among latencies, total errors, initial errors, school-scores, and IQs were compared for our total sample and the two groups. The correlation of MFFT latencies and errors disappeared for the random-response group and new correlations with errors appeared while the cognitive response group kept a statistically significant correlation of latencies with errors and no other error correlation was shown. This last group was classified by Kagan's median-split procedure showing that most reflective subjects kept their classification. Preliminary results suggest a reinterpretation of reflection-impulsivity literature, especially as related to the impulsive style.

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Some Comments on Salkind and Wright's Model for Reflection-Impulsivity

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1981.52.3.947 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 52 (3) ◽

pp. 947-954 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Juji Miyakawa

Keyword(s):

Elementary Schools ◽

Elementary School Children ◽

First Graders ◽

Fourth Graders ◽

Efficiency Score ◽

Intelligence Test ◽

Older Children ◽

Japanese Children ◽

Matching Familiar Figures Test ◽

Reflection Impulsivity

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the Salkind and Wright model for the impulsivity and efficiency dimensions is applicable to younger children as well as to older children in Japanese elementary schools. By using the 144 fourth-graders (mean age, 9 yr. 11 mo.), the efficiency score on the Matching Familiar Figures test rather than the impulsivity score correlated negatively and significantly with both age and most of the performance scores on the Kyoto University NX Group Intelligence test. This result seems consistent with the correlational patterns predicted by the Salkind and Wright model. However, among the 80 first-graders (mean age, 7 yr. 0 mo.) correlations for the same set of variables showed opposite patterns. These results indicate that the Salkind and Wright model can be applied to older Japanese elementary school children but less so to younger Japanese children.

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DNA Methylation Signatures of Breastfeeding in Buccal Cells Collected in Mid-Childhood

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu11112804 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 2804 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Odintsova ◽

Hagenbeek ◽

Suderman ◽

Caramaschi ◽

van Beijsterveldt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Total Sample ◽

Buccal Cells ◽

Maternal Characteristics ◽

Parents And Children ◽

Median Split ◽

Duration Of Breastfeeding ◽

Stratified Analysis

Breastfeeding has long-term benefits for children that may be mediated via the epigenome. This pathway has been hypothesized, but the number of empirical studies in humans is small and mostly done by using peripheral blood as the DNA source. We performed an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) in buccal cells collected around age nine (mean = 9.5) from 1006 twins recruited by the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR). An age-stratified analysis examined if effects attenuate with age (median split at 10 years; n<10 = 517, mean age = 7.9; n>10 = 489, mean age = 11.2). We performed replication analyses in two independent cohorts from the NTR (buccal cells) and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) (peripheral blood), and we tested loci previously associated with breastfeeding in epigenetic studies. Genome-wide DNA methylation was assessed with the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) in the NTR and with the HumanMethylation450 Bead Chip in the ALSPAC. The duration of breastfeeding was dichotomized (‘never‘ vs. ‘ever’). In the total sample, no robustly associated epigenome-wide significant CpGs were identified (α = 6.34 × 10–8). In the sub-group of children younger than 10 years, four significant CpGs were associated with breastfeeding after adjusting for child and maternal characteristics. In children older than 10 years, methylation differences at these CpGs were smaller and non-significant. The findings did not replicate in the NTR sample (n = 98; mean age = 7.5 years), and no nearby sites were associated with breastfeeding in the ALSPAC study (n = 938; mean age = 7.4). Of the CpG sites previously reported in the literature, three were associated with breastfeeding in children younger than 10 years, thus showing that these CpGs are associated with breastfeeding in buccal and blood cells. Our study is the first to show that breastfeeding is associated with epigenetic variation in buccal cells in children. Further studies are needed to investigate if methylation differences at these loci are caused by breastfeeding or by other unmeasured confounders, as well as what mechanism drives changes in associations with age.

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Influence of the difficulty of the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 on the assessment of reflection–impulsivity: An item analysis

Learning and Individual Differences ◽

10.1016/j.lindif.2007.10.001 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 505-508 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Hugo Carretero-Dios ◽

De los Santos-Roig Macarena ◽

Gualberto Buela-Casal

Keyword(s):

Item Analysis ◽

Matching Familiar Figures Test ◽

Reflection Impulsivity

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Reflection-Impulsivity and the Evaluation Process

Child Development ◽

10.2307/1129330 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 1043 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Christine Mitchell ◽

Ruth L. Ault

Keyword(s):

Evaluation Process ◽

Reflection Impulsivity

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The Porteus Maze Test in the Measurement of Reflection/Impulsivity

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1982.54.3c.1043 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 54 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1043-1052 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Lyn Gow ◽

James Ward

Keyword(s):

Rating Scale ◽

Adolescent Students ◽

Regular School ◽

Maze Test ◽

Average Group ◽

Sample Data ◽

Quantitative Scoring ◽

Matching Familiar Figures Test ◽

Reflection Impulsivity ◽

Average Average

This study investigated the use of the Porteus Maze test as a measure of reflection/impulsivity when used with both normal and retarded subjects. Study 1 ( N = 90) provided sample data for three equal groups of 30 adolescent students in the regular school. These were defined as above average, average, and below average in general intelligence. In addition to measures of qualitative and quantitative scoring, data were also available from Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test and a specially constructed Teachers' Rating Scale. The below-average group showed a significantly more impulsive approach. There was evidence of the concurrent validity of Porteus Maze as shown in substantial correlations with the other variables. Study 2 investigated the use of the Porteus Maze with 41 mildly intellectually handicapped adolescents. The data were in keeping with those obtained from a below-average group in Study 1.

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Correlates of Reflection-Impulsivity in Kindergarten Males: Intelligence, Socioeconomic Status, Race, Fathers' Absence, and Teachers' Ratings

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1980.47.3f.1187 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 47 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1187-1191 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Trina Plakosh Smith ◽

Sheila C. Ribordy

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Cognitive Style ◽

Socioeconomic Groups ◽

Matching Familiar Figures Test ◽

Reflection Impulsivity

72 kindergarten males were assessed for reflection-impulsivity with the Matching Familiar Figures test. Cognitive style on this test was examined in relation to intelligence, socioeconomic status, race, fathers' absence, and teachers' ratings of impulsivity. Significant findings included boys whose fathers were absent from the home made more errors on the test than boys whose fathers were present in the home. Teachers rated more intelligent boys as more impulsive, and these teachers' ratings were positively correlated with errors but not latencies. No significant differences in cognitive style were found for race or socioeconomic groups.

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Cognitive Impulsivity and Role-Taking Skills in Elementary School Children

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1975.41.2.547 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 547-552 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

David S. Glenwick ◽

Aden A. Burka

Keyword(s):

Perspective Taking ◽

Fourth Graders ◽

Private Speech ◽

Role Taking ◽

Personality Variables ◽

Cognitive Impulsivity ◽

Matching Performance ◽

The Relationship ◽

Accurate Matching ◽

Matching Familiar Figures Test

The relationship between cognitive impulsivity and perspective-taking ability was examined in 53 fourth-graders. Significant correlations were found between boys' (but not girls') perspective-taking skills (assessed by Chandler's test of egocentrism) and both dimensions of impulsivity, i.e., accuracy and latency, on Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test. Self-regulatory private speech is postulated as a possible construct mediating the development of role-taking skill, accurate matching performance, and a reflective tempo. Implications of the present results for programs attempting to modify cognitive style and future investigations of the development of other cognitive and personality variables are discussed.

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