scholarly journals Differential and Experimental Approaches to Studying Intelligence in Humans and Non-Human Animals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Burgoyne ◽  
Jason S. Tsukahara ◽  
Christopher Draheim ◽  
Randall W Engle
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Albino Rat ◽  
General Ability

Why do some individuals learn more quickly than others, or perform better in complex cognitive tasks? In this article, we describe how differential and experimental research methods can be used to study intelligence in humans and non-human animals. More than one hundred years ago, Spearman (1904) discovered a general factor underpinning performance across cognitive domains in humans. Shortly thereafter, Thorndike (1935) discovered positive correlations between cognitive performance measures in the albino rat. Today, research continues to shed light on the underpinnings of the positive manifold observed among ability measures. In this review, we focus on the relationship between cognitive performance and attention control: the domain-general ability to maintain focus on task-relevant information while preventing attentional capture by task-irrelevant thoughts and events. Recent work from our lab has revealed that individual differences in attention control can largely explain the positive associations between broad cognitive abilities such as working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. In research on mice, attention control has been closely linked to a general ability factor reflecting route learning and problem solving. Taken together, both lines of research suggest that individual differences in attention control underpin performance in a variety of complex cognitive tasks, helping to explain why measures of cognitive ability correlate positively. Efforts to find confirmatory and disconfirmatory evidence across species stands to improve not only our understanding of attention control, but cognition in general.

scholarly journals Binding Costs in Processing Efficiency as Determinants of Cognitive Ability

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Benjamin Goecke ◽  
Florian Schmitz ◽  
Oliver Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Elementary Cognitive Tasks

Performance in elementary cognitive tasks is moderately correlated with fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. These correlations are higher for more complex tasks, presumably due to increased demands on working memory capacity. In accordance with the binding hypothesis, which states that working memory capacity reflects the limit of a person’s ability to establish and maintain temporary bindings (e.g., relations between items or relations between items and their context), we manipulated binding requirements (i.e., 2, 4, and 6 relations) in three choice reaction time paradigms (i.e., two comparison tasks, two change detection tasks, and two substitution tasks) measuring mental speed. Response time distributions of 115 participants were analyzed with the diffusion model. Higher binding requirements resulted in generally reduced efficiency of information processing, as indicated by lower drift rates. Additionally, we fitted bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis to the elementary cognitive tasks to separate basal speed and binding requirements of the employed tasks to quantify their specific contributions to working memory capacity, as measured by Recall−1-Back tasks. A latent factor capturing individual differences in binding was incrementally predictive of working memory capacity, over and above a general factor capturing speed. These results indicate that the relation between reaction time tasks and working memory capacity hinges on the complexity of the reaction time tasks. We conclude that binding requirements and, therefore, demands on working memory capacity offer a satisfactory account of task complexity that accounts for a large portion of individual differences in ability.

scholarly journals Individual differences in working memory capacity, attention control, fluid intelligence, and pupillary measures of arousal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kyle Robison ◽  
Gene Arnold Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Fluid ◽  
Thought Probes

The present study examined individual differences in three cognitive abilities: attention control (AC), working memory capacity (WMC), and fluid intelligence (gF) as they relate the tendency to experience task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) and the regulation of arousal. Cognitive abilities were measured with a battery of nine laboratory tasks, TUTs were measured via thought probes inserted into two tasks, and arousal regulation was measured via pupillometry. Recent theorizing (Robison & Unsworth, 2017a) suggests that one reason why some people experience relatively frequent TUTs and relatively poor cognitive performance - especially AC and WMC - is that they exhibit dysregulated arousal. Here, we examined how arousal regulation might predict both AC and WMC, but also higher-order cognitive abilities like gF. Further, we examine direct and indirect associations with these abilities via a mediating influence of TUT. Participants who reported more TUTs also tended to exhibit poorer AC, lower WMC, and lower gF. Arousal dysregulation correlated with more TUTs and lower AC. However there was no direct correlation between arousal regulation and WMC, nor between arousal regulation and gF. Rather, the associations between arousal regulation, WMC, and gF were indirect via TUT. We discuss the implications of the results in light of the arousal regulation theory of individual differences and directions for future research.

scholarly journals Working Memory Delay Activity Predicts Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 853-865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nash Unsworth ◽  
Keisuke Fukuda ◽  
Edward Awh ◽  
Edward K. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Memory Span ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Eeg Data ◽  
Contralateral Delay Activity

A great deal of prior research has examined the relation between estimates of working memory and cognitive abilities. Yet, the neural mechanisms that account for these relations are still not very well understood. The current study explored whether individual differences in working memory delay activity would be a significant predictor of cognitive abilities. A large number of participants performed multiple measures of capacity, attention control, long-term memory, working memory span, and fluid intelligence, and latent variable analyses were used to examine the data. During two working memory change detection tasks, we acquired EEG data and examined the contralateral delay activity. The results demonstrated that the contralateral delay activity was significantly related to cognitive abilities, and importantly these relations were because of individual differences in both capacity and attention control. These results suggest that individual differences in working memory delay activity predict individual differences in a broad range of cognitive abilities, and this is because of both differences in the number of items that can be maintained and the ability to control access to working memory.

scholarly journals BAT-7, BATERÍA DE APTITUDES DE TEA: DESCRIPCIÓN Y DATOS PSICOMÉTRICOS

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Fernando Sánchez Sánchez ◽  
David Arribas Águila
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Model Fitting ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Chc Theory ◽  
Crystallized Intelligence ◽  
General Ability ◽  
Factor G

Abstract:BAT-7, TEA ABILITIES BATTERY: DESCRIPTION AND PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIESBAT-7 is a new psychometric tool for assessing three intellectual domains, general factor (g), fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc), and eight cognitive abilities: Verbal (V), Spatial (E), Attention (A) and Concentration (CON), Reasoning (R), Numerical (N), Mechanical (M) and Orthography (O). It consists of three forms of increasing difficulty (E, M and S) and it is focused on the assessment of school and college students, as well as adults with different educational background. The present study aims to provide a description of the BAT-7 development and the main features of it, and a summary of its psychometric properties, mainly its reliability and validity. BAT-7 was administered to a Spanish standardization sample of 4,263 students (age between 12 and 18) and 1,507 adults. Reliability was studied with ordinal alpha, Cronbach’s alpha and tests information functions. Validity was explored by multigroup CFA. 3P IRT model showed a statistical fit for all items. Ordinal alpha ranged from .79 to .91 for test scores and from .91 to .97 for composite scores. The model based on CHC theory showed a good fit to the observed data (RMSEA=.034; SRMR=.026; CFI=.981). The results, in terms of TRI model fitting, reliability and validity, suggest that the BAT-7 is a useful, flexible and highly reliable test for assessing the cognitive abilities, and provide evidences supporting the use of the battery for the assessment of intellectual abilities in children and adults. An estimate of general ability (g), fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc) also can be obtained by applying the BAT-7.Keywords: Intelligence, cognitive abilities, assessment, g factor.Resumen:El BAT-7 es una nueva batería que permite estimar la inteligencia (factor general, g; inteligencia fluida, Gf; e inteligencia cristalizada, Gc) y evaluar 8 aptitudes cognitivas: razonamiento verbal (V), de razonamiento espacial (E), atención (A) y Concentración (Con), razonamiento abstracto (R), razonamiento numérico (N), razonamiento mecánico (M) y ortografía (O). Se compone de tres formas o niveles de dificultad creciente (Elemental, Medio y Superior) y está diseñada para la evaluación intelectual colectiva e individual de los estudiantes de E. Secundaria y universitarios, así como adultos con diferentes niveles educativos. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo ofrecer una descripción del desarrollo de la prueba y de las principales características de la misma así como un resumen de sus propiedades psicométricas, fundamentalmente de su fiabilidad y validez. La muestra de tipificación española estuvo formada por 4.263 alumnos (de 1.º de ESO hasta 2.º de Bachillerato) y 1.507 adultos de diferente nivel educativo y edad. La fiabilidad fue estudiada por medio de las funciones de información y de los coeficientes alfa de Cronbach y alfa ordinal. La validez se exploró mediante análisis factoriales confirmatorios multigrupo (ACF). Los ítems que componen cada prueba muestran un buen ajuste al modelo TRI de tres parámetros utilizado. Los valores del alfa ordinal variaron de 0,79 hasta 0,91 para las puntuaciones de la prueba y 0,91-0,97 para las puntuaciones compuestas o índices. El modelo factorial basado en la teoría CHC mostró un buen ajuste a los datos observados (RMSEA = 0,034 ; SRMR = 0,026 ; CFI = 0,981). Los resultados obtenidos en términos de ajuste al modelo de TRI, fiabilidad y validez indican que el BAT-7 es una medida útil, flexible y altamente fiable para la evaluación de las aptitudes cognitivas y aportan evidencias que apoyan el uso de la batería para la evaluación de las aptitudes intelectuales en escolares y adultos. Igualmente, mediante su aplicación puede obtenerse una estimación de la capacidad general (g), de la inteligencia fluida (Gf) y de la inteligencia cristalizada (Gc).Palabras clave: Inteligencia, aptitudes intelectuales, evaluación, factor g.

scholarly journals Individual differences in vigilance: Implications for measuring sustained attention and its association with other cognitive abilities and psychological constructs

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kyle Robison ◽  
Gene Arnold Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Psychological Constructs ◽  
Mixed Effects Modeling ◽  
Latent Variable Analysis ◽  
Control Fluid

Sustaining attention is notoriously difficult. Typically, when people have to sustain their attention to a single task, their performance deteriorates across time. This phenomenon isusually referred to as the vigilance decrement. However, as with most phenomena, there are substantial individual differences in the extent of this effect. That is, some people show more pronounced vigilance decrements than others. Such individual differences can potentially be leveraged to understand the cognitive mechanisms underlying sustained attention. In the present study, we combine linear mixed effects modeling and latent variable analysis to assess individual differences in vigilance and their association with other relevant psychological constructs. We analyzed six published and unpublished datasets and compared findings across studies. These studies used various combinations of working memory, attention control, fluid intelligence, and vigilance tasks. We conclude that vigilance is indeed a trait-level cognitive ability that is meaningfully related to other cognitive abilities, distinguishable yet related to attention control as it is typically measured, and correlates with other state and trait variables.

scholarly journals Binding Costs in Processing Efficiency as Determinants of Cognitive Ability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Goecke ◽  
Florian Schmitz ◽  
Oliver Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Elementary Cognitive Tasks

Performance in elementary cognitive tasks is moderately correlated with fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. These correlations are higher for more complex tasks, presumably due to increased demands on working memory capacity. In accordance with the binding hypothesis, which states that working memory capacity reflects the limit of a person’s ability to establish and maintain temporary bindings (e.g., relations between items or relations between items and their context), we manipulated binding requirements (i.e., 2, 4, and 6 relations) in three choice reaction time paradigms (i.e., two comparison tasks, two change-detection tasks, and two substitution tasks) measuring mental speed. Response time distributions of N = 115 participants were analyzed with the diffusion model. Higher binding requirements resulted in generally reduced efficiency of information processing, as indicated by lower drift rates. Additionally, we fitted bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis to the elementary cognitive tasks to separate basal speed and binding requirements of the employed tasks to quantify their specific contributions to working memory capacity, as measured by Recall-1-Back tasks. A latent factor capturing individual differences in binding was incrementally predictive of working memory capacity, over and above a general factor capturing speed. These results indicate that the theory-driven task complexity manipulation in terms of binding requirements moderated the relation of mental speed tasks with cognitive ability in the predicted way. We conclude that binding requirements and, therefore, demands on working memory capacity offer a satisfactory account of task complexity that accounts for a large portion of individual differences in ability.

scholarly journals Effects of the physical and social environment on youth cognitive performance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley J Meredith ◽  
Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez ◽  
Marc Berman ◽  
Monica Rosenberg
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
National Database ◽  
Brain Functioning ◽  
Unique Variance ◽  
Children's Home ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Caregiver Report

Individual differences in children’s cognitive abilities impact life and health outcomes. What factors influence these individual differences during development? Here we test whether children’s environments predict cognitive performance, independent of well- characterized socioeconomic effects. We analyzed data from 9002 9–10-year-olds from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, an ongoing longitudinal study with community samples across the U.S.A. Using youth- and caregiver-report questionnaires and national database registries (e.g., neighborhood crime, walkability), we defined principal components summarizing children’s home, school, neighborhood, and cultural environments. In two independent samples (ns = 3475, 5527), environmental components explained unique variance in children’s general cognitive ability, executive functioning, and learning/memory abilities. Furthermore, increased neighborhood enrichment was associated with a decreased relationship between sociodemographics and general cognitive abilities. Thus, the environment explains unique variance in cognitive performance in development and should be considered alongside sociodemographic factors to understand brain functioning and behavior.

scholarly journals The Modulatory Effect of Gender and Cytomegalovirus-Seropositivity on Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Cognitive Performance in Elderly Individuals

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana Di Benedetto ◽  
Marcel Gaetjen ◽  
Ludmila Müller
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Inflammatory Factors ◽  
Metabolic Markers ◽  
Inflammatory Status ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Potential Contributor ◽  
Anti Inflammatory ◽  
And Gender

Aging is characterized by a chronic increase in the systemic levels of inflammatory cytokines even in ostensibly healthy individuals. The drivers of age-related increase in systemic inflammation are unclear but one potential contributor may be a persistent infection with Cytomegalovirus (CMV). In this study, we characterized the inflammatory status of 161 older participants recruited to undergo a six-month training intervention. We investigated the influence of gender and CMV-seropositivity on the main inflammatory and anti-inflammatory circulating biomarkers, such as cytokines, receptor antagonist, soluble receptor, immune cells, and relevant metabolic markers. We found that both gender and CMV-seropositivity modulate circulating peripheral biomarkers, and that CMV-infection modifies associations among the latter. Moreover, we observed an interaction between CMV-serostatus and gender associations with cognitive abilities: gender differences in fluid intelligence (Gf) and working memory (WM) were noted only in CMV-negative individuals. Finally, we found that in the CMV-seronegative participants Gf, episodic memory (EM), and WM correlated negatively with pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor (TNF); and EM correlated positively with anti-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-10. In CMV-seropositive individuals EM and Gf correlated negatively with pro-inflammatory IL-6, while EM, Gf, and WM correlated negatively with anti-inflammatory IL-1RA. We conclude that both CMV-serostatus and gender may modulate neuroimmune factors, cognitive performance and the relationship between the two domains and should therefore be considered in comparative and interventional studies with elderly people.

scholarly journals The repeatability of cognitive performance: a meta-analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1756) ◽  
pp. 20170281 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Cauchoix ◽  
P. K. Y. Chow ◽  
J. O. van Horik ◽  
C. M. Atance ◽  
E. J. Barbeau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Extrinsic Factors ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Taxonomic Class ◽  
Vast Literature

Behavioural and cognitive processes play important roles in mediating an individual's interactions with its environment. Yet, while there is a vast literature on repeatable individual differences in behaviour, relatively little is known about the repeatability of cognitive performance. To further our understanding of the evolution of cognition, we gathered 44 studies on individual performance of 25 species across six animal classes and used meta-analysis to assess whether cognitive performance is repeatable. We compared repeatability ( R ) in performance (1) on the same task presented at different times (temporal repeatability), and (2) on different tasks that measured the same putative cognitive ability (contextual repeatability). We also addressed whether R estimates were influenced by seven extrinsic factors (moderators): type of cognitive performance measurement, type of cognitive task, delay between tests, origin of the subjects, experimental context, taxonomic class and publication status. We found support for both temporal and contextual repeatability of cognitive performance, with mean R estimates ranging between 0.15 and 0.28. Repeatability estimates were mostly influenced by the type of cognitive performance measures and publication status. Our findings highlight the widespread occurrence of consistent inter-individual variation in cognition across a range of taxa which, like behaviour, may be associated with fitness outcomes. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities’.

scholarly journals Making Cognitive Latent Variables Manifest: Distinct Neural Networks for Fluid Reasoning and Processing Speed

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1249-1258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Habeck ◽  
Jason Steffener ◽  
Daniel Barulli ◽  
Yunglin Gazes ◽  
Qolamreza Razlighi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Neural Activation ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Fluid Reasoning

Cognitive psychologists posit several specific cognitive abilities that are measured with sets of cognitive tasks. Tasks that purportedly tap a specific underlying cognitive ability are strongly correlated with one another, whereas performances on tasks that tap different cognitive abilities are less strongly correlated. For these reasons, latent variables are often considered optimal for describing individual differences in cognitive abilities. Although latent variables cannot be directly observed, all cognitive tasks representing a specific latent ability should have a common neural underpinning. Here, we show that cognitive tasks representing one ability (i.e., either perceptual speed or fluid reasoning) had a neural activation pattern distinct from that of tasks in the other ability. One hundred six participants between the ages of 20 and 77 years were imaged in an fMRI scanner while performing six cognitive tasks, three representing each cognitive ability. Consistent with prior research, behavioral performance on these six tasks clustered into the two abilities based on their patterns of individual differences and tasks postulated to represent one ability showed higher similarity across individuals than tasks postulated to represent a different ability. This finding was extended in the current report to the spatial resemblance of the task-related activation patterns: The topographic similarity of the mean activation maps for tasks postulated to reflect the same reference ability was higher than for tasks postulated to reflect a different reference ability. Furthermore, for any task pairing, behavioral and topographic similarities of underlying activation patterns are strongly linked. These findings suggest that differences in the strengths of correlations between various cognitive tasks may be because of the degree of overlap in the neural structures that are active when the tasks are being performed. Thus, the latent variable postulated to account for correlations at a behavioral level may reflect topographic similarities in the neural activation across different brain regions.

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