scholarly journals Attention Control and Process Overlap Theory: Searching for Cognitive Processes Underpinning the Positive Manifold

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Burgoyne ◽  
Cody Anthony Mashburn ◽  
Jason S. Tsukahara ◽  
Randall W Engle
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Discrimination Ability ◽  
Positive Correlations

Process overlap theory provides a contemporary explanation for the positive correlations observed among cognitive ability measures, a phenomenon which intelligence researchers refer to as the positive manifold. According to process overlap theory, cognitive tasks tap domain-general executive processes as well as domain-specific processes, and correlations between measures reflect the degree of overlap in the cognitive processes that are engaged when performing the tasks. In this article, we discuss points of agreement and disagreement between the executive attention framework and process overlap theory, with a focus on attention control: the domain-general ability to maintain focus on task-relevant information and disengage from irrelevant and no-longer relevant information. After describing the steps our lab has taken to improve the measurement of attention control, we review evidence suggesting that attention control can explain many of the positive correlations between broad cognitive abilities, such as fluid intelligence, working memory capacity, and sensory discrimination ability. Furthermore, when these latent variables are modeled under a higher-order g factor, attention control has the highest loading on g, indicating a strong relationship between attention control and domain-general cognitive ability. In closing, we reflect on the challenge of directly measuring cognitive processes and provide suggestions for future research.

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 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 Understanding subprocesses of working memory through the lens of model-based cognitive neuroscience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne C. Trutti ◽  
Sam Verschooren ◽  
Birte Forstmann ◽  
Russell James Boag
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Removal Processes ◽  
Back Task

Working memory (WM) refers to a set of processes that makes task-relevant information accessible to higher-level cognitive processes. Recent work suggests WM is supported by a variety of information gating, updating, and removal processes, which ensure only task-relevant information occupies WM. Current neurocomputational theory suggests WM gating is accomplished via ‘go/no-go’ signalling in basal ganglia-thalamus-prefrontal cortex pathways, but is less clear about other subprocesses and brain structures known to play a role in WM. We review recent efforts to identify the neural basis of WM subprocesses using the recently developed reference-back task as a benchmark measure of WM subprocesses. Targets for future research using the methods of model-based cognitive neuroscience and novel extensions to the reference-back task are suggested.

Attention Control: A Cornerstone of Higher-Order Cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 624-630
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Burgoyne ◽  
Randall W. Engle
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Personnel Selection ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Cognitive Domains

For years, psychologists have wondered why people who are highly skilled in one cognitive domain tend to be skilled in other cognitive domains, too. In this article, we explain how attention control provides a common thread among broad cognitive abilities, including fluid intelligence, working memory capacity, and sensory discrimination. Attention control allows us to pursue our goals despite distractions and temptations, to deviate from the habitual, and to keep information in mind amid a maelstrom of divergent thought. Highlighting results from our lab, we describe the role of attention control in information maintenance and disengagement and how these functions contribute to performance in a variety of complex cognitive tasks. We also describe a recent undertaking in which we developed new and improved attention-control tasks, which had higher reliabilities, stronger intercorrelations, and higher loadings on a common factor than traditional measures. From an applied perspective, these new attention-control tasks show great promise for use in personnel selection assessments. We close by outlining exciting avenues for future research.

scholarly journals Attention Control: A Cornerstone of Higher-Order Cognition - Burgoyne & Engle

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Burgoyne ◽  
Randall W Engle
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Personnel Selection ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Cognitive Domain ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Great Promise

For years, psychologists have wondered why people who are highly skilled in one cognitive domain tend to be skilled in other cognitive domains, too. In this article, we explain how attention control provides a common thread between higher-order cognitive abilities, including fluid intelligence, working memory capacity, and sensory discrimination. Attention control allows us to pursue our goals in spite of distractions and temptations, to deviate from the habitual, and to keep information in mind amidst a maelstrom of divergent thought. Highlighting results from our lab, we describe the role of attention control in information maintenance and disengagement, and how these functions contribute to performance in a variety of complex cognitive tasks. We also describe a recent undertaking in which we developed new and improved attention control tasks, which had higher reliabilities, stronger inter-correlations, and higher loadings on a common factor than traditional measures. From an applied perspective, these new attention control tasks show great promise for use in personnel selection assessments. We close by outlining exciting avenues for future research.

Assessing the Relationships Between Past Victimization, Perceived Risk of Future Victimization, and Controversial Criminal Justice Policies Using Structural Equation Modeling

2021 ◽  
pp. 088740342110182
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Dolliver ◽  
Jennifer L. Kenney ◽  
Lesley Williams Reid
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation Modeling ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
History Of ◽  
Three Strikes

Several decades of research show a strong relationship between past victimization and perceived risk of future victimization. Yet, few studies have explored the potential connection to individuals’ support for criminal justice policies. The purpose of this study is to better understand the relationships between past victimization, perception of risk for future victimization, and support for several criminal justice policies (e.g., stand your ground, open carry, three strikes, and the death penalty). Through structural equation modeling, the researchers examined relationships between these latent variables. Having both a history of victimization and a belief in the risk of future victimization increased one’s support for punitive and self-protective policies. Implications for future research and potential policies and services for victims/survivors are discussed.

Differential Effects of Executive Processes on Working Memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-249
Author(s):  
Xuezhu Ren ◽  
Tengfei Wang ◽  
Karl Schweizer ◽  
Jing Guo
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Executive Processes ◽  
Differential Effects ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Two Measures

Abstract. Although attention control accounts for a unique portion of the variance in working memory capacity (WMC), the way in which attention control contributes to WMC has not been thoroughly specified. The current work focused on fractionating attention control into distinctly different executive processes and examined to what extent key processes of attention control including updating, shifting, and prepotent response inhibition were related to WMC and whether these relations were different. A number of 216 university students completed experimental tasks of attention control and two measures of WMC. Latent variable analyses were employed for separating and modeling each process and their effects on WMC. The results showed that both the accuracy of updating and shifting were substantially related to WMC while the link from the accuracy of inhibition to WMC was insignificant; on the other hand, only the speed of shifting had a moderate effect on WMC while neither the speed of updating nor the speed of inhibition showed significant effect on WMC. The results suggest that these key processes of attention control exhibit differential effects on individual differences in WMC. The approach that combined experimental manipulations and statistical modeling constitutes a promising way of investigating cognitive processes.

Investigating the Ease-of-Retrieval Effect in an Eyewitness Context

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Groncki ◽  
Jennifer L Beaudry ◽  
James D. Sauer
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Perceived Quality ◽  
Expected Effect ◽  
Bayesian Testing ◽  
Finding Study ◽  
Identification Confidence

The way in which individuals think about their own cognitive processes plays an important role in various domains. When eyewitnesses assess their confidence in identification decisions, they could be influenced by how easily relevant information comes to mind. This ease-of-retrieval effect has a robust influence on people’s cognitions in a variety of contexts (e.g., attitudes), but it has not yet been applied to eyewitness decisions. In three studies, we explored whether the ease with which eyewitnesses recall certain memorial information influenced their identification confidence assessments and related testimony-relevant judgements (e.g., perceived quality of view). We manipulated the number of reasons participants gave to justify their identification (Study 1; N = 343), and also the number of instances they provided of a weak or strong memory (Studies 2a & 2b; Ns = 350 & 312, respectively). Across the three studies, ease-of-retrieval did not affect eyewitnesses’ confidence or other testimony-relevant judgements. We then tried—and failed—to replicate Schwarz et al.’s (1991) original ease-of-retrieval finding (Study 3; N = 661). In three of the four studies, ease-of-retrieval had the expected effect on participants’ perceived task difficulty; however, frequentist and Bayesian testing showed no evidence for an effect on confidence or assertiveness ratings.

Focused Tasks, Mental Actions and Second Language Learning. Cognitive and Connectionist Accounts of Task Effectiveness

2006 ◽  
Vol 152 ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Machteld Moonen ◽  
Rick de Graaff ◽  
Gerard Westhoff
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Depth Of Processing ◽  
Mental Actions ◽  
Involvement Load Hypothesis

Abstract This paper presents a theoretical framework to estimate the effectiveness of second language tasks in which the focus is on the acquisition of new linguistic items, such as vocabulary or grammar, the so-called focused tasks (R. Ellis, 2003). What accounts for the learning impact offocused tasks? We shall argue that the task-based approach (e.g. Skehan, 1998, Robinson, 2001) does not provide an in-depth account of how cognitive processes, elicited by a task, foster the acquisition of new linguistic elements. We shall then review the typologies of cognitive processes derived from research on learning strategies (Chamot & O'Malley, 1994), from the involvement load hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001), from the depth of processing hypothesis (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) and from connectionism (e.g Broeder & Plunkett, 1997; N. Ellis, 2003). The combined insights of these typologies form the basis of the multi-feature hypothesis, which predicts that retention and ease of activation of new linguistic items are improved by mental actions which involve a wide variety of different features, simultaneously and frequently. A number of implications for future research shall be discussed.

If Eyes are the Window to Our Soul, What Role does Eye-Tracking Play in Accounting Research?

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward J. Lynch ◽  
Lindsay M. Andiola
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Research Tool ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Behavioral Accounting ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Psychological Constructs ◽  
Instructional Resource ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Research Domains

ABSTRACT Recent advances in technology have increased the accessibility and ease in using eye-tracking as a research tool. These advances have the potential to benefit behavioral accounting researchers' understanding of the cognitive processes underlying individuals' judgments, decisions, and behaviors. However, despite its potential and wide use in other disciplines, few behavioral accounting studies use eye-tracking. The purpose of this paper is to familiarize accounting researchers with eye-tracking, including its advantages and limitations as a research tool. We start by providing an overview of eye-tracking and discussing essential terms and useful metrics, as well as the psychological constructs they proxy. We then summarize eye-tracking research across research domains, review accounting studies that use eye-tracking, and identify future research directions across accounting topics. Finally, we provide an instructional resource to guide those researchers interested in using eye-tracking, including important considerations at each stage of the study. JEL Classifications: M41; C91.

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