Handbook of Individual Differences in Cognition - Attention, Memory, and Executive Control

Contents

Introduction

Aims of This Volume

Outline of the Book

The Gratefully Acknowledged

Contributors

General Models of Individual Differences in Cognition

Individual Differences in Cognition: in Search of a General Model of Behaviour Control

Introduction

Unification of Psychology

Defining Cognition

Dual Process Models

The Lateness of Conscious Experience

Martians, Phantoms and Zombies

The Problem to Be Solved

The Function of Consciousness and Its Role in Cognition

A Model of Behavioural Control

Implications of Reflexive and Reflective Processes for Individual Differences in Cognition

Conclusions

References

Individual Differences in Cognition: New Methods for Examining the Personality- Cognition Link

Overview

The ABCDs of Personality

Examples of Lab-Based Studies of the ABCD “Edges”

Synthetic Aperture Personality Assessment: Using the Web for Data Collection

Personality and Ability as Assessed by the SAPA Methodology

Summary and Conclusions

References

The Relationship Between Intelligence and Pavlovian Temperament Traits: The Role of Gender and Level of Intelligence

Introduction

Method

Results

Conclusions

References

General Models of Individual Differences in Cognition: The Commentaries

1. Which brain systems are critical for understanding systematic individual differences in cognition?

2. What is the proper direction of causation: do individual differences in traits ( personality and ability) influence cognitive processes or do variations in cognition determine traits?

3. To what extent can cognition (as a common ground) constitute a missing link between temperamental and abilities facets of “personality” as broadly understood?

4. How do individual differences in trait variables compare with individual differences in state variables as predictors of cognitive performance?

5. Should the models of individual differences in cognition differ for conscious and unconscious information processing?

References

Individual Differences in Cognition from a Neurophysiological Perspective

Neuroscientific Approaches to the Study of Individual Differences in Cognition and Personality

Neurophysiology of Intelligence: The Neural Efficiency Hypothesis

Neurophysiological Correlates of Creative Thinking

Personality and Ability

Conclusion

References

Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches to Individual Differences in Working Memory and Executive Control: Conceptual and Methodological Issues

An Overview of Individual Differences Approaches

The Relationship Between Within-Subject and Individual Differences Analyses

Methodological and Statistical Considerations

Conclusions

References

Emotional Intelligence and Gender: A Neurophysiological Perspective

Behavioral Findings

Neurophysiological Findings

Conclusion

References

Learned Irrelevance Revisited: Pathology-Based Individual Differences, Normal Variation and Neural Correlates

Introduction

Learned Irrelevance and a Visual Learning Paradigm

Pathology-Based Individual Differences in Learned Irrelevance

Normal Variation in Learned Irrelevance

Neural Correlates of Learned Irrelevance

References

Post-Soviet Psychology and Individual Differences in Cognition: A Psychophysiological Perspective

Introduction

The Most Important Contributions That Have Influenced the Development of the Psychology of Individual Differences

Soviet Period: Differential Psychophysiology and Individual Differences in Cognitive Ability and Cognition

Post-Soviet Period: Differential “Cognitology.” EEG-Research of Individual Differences in Cognitive Ability and Cognitive Function

Soroko’s Brain Plasticity Theory and Prospects for Development

Conclusion

References

Individual Differences in Cognition from a Neurophysiological Perspective: The Commentaries

1. Does the concept of general arousal have a central place in modern neuroscience theory?

2. What advances in methods may be critical for future individual differences research?

3. Can ability and personality be assigned to separate brain systems?

4. Does research in neuroscience clearly discriminate mechanisms for attention from mechanisms for executive control of attention?

5. How does work on brain motivation systems contribute to understanding individual differences in executive control?

References

Individual Differences in Attentional Mechanisms

Psychopathology and Individual Differences in Latent Inhibition: Schizophrenia and Schizotypality

Introduction

Pathology-Based Individual Differences

Theoretical Issues for Latent Inhibition and Their Implications for Schizophrenia

References

Attentional Control Theory of Anxiety: Recent Developments

Introduction

Previous Theorising of Anxiety Effects on Performance

Executive Functions of Attentional Control

Attentional Control Theory of Anxiety Effects on Performance

Conclusions and Future Research

Implications for the Cognitive System Theory

References

Task Engagement, Attention, and Executive Control

Introduction

Energetic Arousal and Attentional Efficiency

Task Engagement and Self-Regulation

Task Engagement and Performance

Theoretical Integration

Conclusions

References

Individual Differences in Resource Allocation Policy

Introduction

The Capacity Theory of Attention

Individual Differences in the Arousal State

Hypothetical Individual Differences in Resource Allocation Policy

The DIVA Test for the Effectiveness of Resource Allocation Policy

Individual Differences in DIVA Test Performance

Conclusions

References

The Relationship of Attention and Intelligence

Historical Ambiguity Due to Conceptual Variety

Towards a Conceptual Clarification Due to a Structural Framework

Arguments for an Upper-Level Relationship

Evidence Suggesting an Upper-Level Relationship of Attention and Intelligence

Conclusion

References

Intelligence and Cognitive Control

Introduction

Cognitive Control

Intelligence and Cognitive Control

Experiments on Dual Tasking

Summary and Conclusions

References

Individual Differences in Attention: The Commentaries

1. How can multiple dimensions of individual differences be mapped onto multiple executive control functions of attention?

2. Does intelligence influence attentional performance more strongly in simple attentional tasks ( according to Jensen) or rather in difficult ones ( according to Stankov)?

3. To what extent does abnormality in attentional functioning explain individual differences in traits related to psychopathology?

4. How are individual difference traits for emotionality (e.g., neuroticism, anxiety, depression) connected with qualitative individual differences in attention, such as narrowing or broadening attentional focus?

5. What are the optimal attentional tasks for investigating individual differences in attention?

References

Individual Differences in Working Memory Functioning and Higher- Order Processing

Trait and State Differences in Working Memory Capacity

Trait and State Differences in Working Memory Capacity

Processes Important in Working Memory

Working Memory Models

Working Memory Capacity

Trait WMC: The Brain Structures, Genetic Underpinnings, and Neurotransmitters

State WMC as Transient Changes from the Baseline Trait WMC

Implications

Concluding Remarks

References

Adrift in the Stream of Thought: The Effects of Mind Wandering on Executive Control and Working Memory Capacity

Our Approach to Executive Control: Variation in Working Memory Capacity

Variation in Working Memory Capacity as Variation in Executive Attention

Mind Wandering as an Executive-Control Failure

Mind Wandering as Thought Interference: A Cause of Executive Control Failures

Testing the Waters

Conclusions

References

The Unique Cognitive Limitation in Subclinical Depression: The Impairment of Mental Model Construction

Capacity Reduction Models

Initiative Deficits in Depression

Cognitive Exhaustion Model

Depression and Mental Modeling in the Social Domain

Depression and Linear Order Reasoning

Neural Correlates of Linear Order Reasoning in Depression

Depression, Syllogistic Reasoning and Operation Span of WM

Depression and Situation Models of Text Comprehension

Defocused Attention in Depression

Summary and Conclusion

References

Working Memory Capacity and Individual Differences in Higher- Level Cognition

Introduction

Working Memory

Measurement of Working Memory Capacity

Higher-Level Cognition

Working Memory Capacity and Deductive Reasoning

Working Memory Capacity and Inductive Reasoning

Conclusions

References

Motivation Towards Closure and Cognitive Resources: An Individual Differences Approach

Introduction

Individual Differences in Need for Cognitive Closure

Possible Cognitive Processes Contributing to the Need for Cognitive Closure

Motivation toward Closure and Cognitive Resources – Final Remarks

References

Mood as Information: The Regulatory Role of Personality

Basic Trends in the Study of Mood

Mood as Input Model

Context-Dependent Motivational Effect of Mood: The Modifying Role of Personality

Results and Discussion

Summary and Closing Comments

References

Autobiographical Memory: Individual Differences and Developmental Course

Some Background: Autobiographical Memory and Its Relationship to the Self

The Origin and Early Development of Autobiographical Memory

Individual Differences in Autobiographical Memory

Conclusion

References

Individual Differences in Working Memory and Higher- Ordered Processing: The Commentaries

1. What kind of brain mechanisms determine the various constraints on WM and short- term recall ( e. g., limited capacity, limited time of maintenance, etc.)?

2. Which trait and state factors are critical for understanding individual differences in WM functioning?

3. Are there any individual difference factors that affect WM but do not affect attention, and vice versa?

4. What are the most important recent methodological developments in the field of WM research and how they can be applied to study individual differences in WM?

References

Conclusion: The State of the Art in Research on Individual Differences in Executive Control and Cognition

Executive Control: The Key Research Issues

Individual Difference Factors

Towards Consensus on Individual Differences in Executive Control

Neuroscience Process Models

Information-Processing Models

Self-Regulative Models

Dynamic Processing Models

Controversies and Challenges

Conclusions

References

Author Index

Subject Index