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Attention control and process overlap theory: Searching for cognitive processes underpinning the positive manifold
Abstract
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.
... One factor that may underlie the incidental vocabulary learning from reading-whilelistening would be individual differences among learners in their working memory (e.g., Farshi & Tavakoli, 2019;Teng, 2024;Yi, 2018), an important component in cognitive process during language learning (Robinson, 2003). Considering that attention plays an essential role in L2 learning (Schmidt, 2001) but is constrained by the limited working memory (Mackey et al., 2022), it is important to examine how learners' working memory capacity may moderate the incidental learning of new vocabulary items from reading-whilelistening. Another potential individual difference factor is learners' ability to control their attention while engaging in cognitively complex tasks (Burgoyne et al., 2022). As claimed by Engle (2002), the ability to filter out task-irrelevant thoughts and sustain focal attention to the task at hand has been shown to account for substantial variances among individuals' performances on cognitively complex tasks (e.g., Burgoyne et al., 2021;Conway et al., 2002) or academic achievements in verbal and mathematical skills (e.g., Best et al., 2011;Ahmed et al., 2019). ...
... Notably, attention control has garnered significant attention from researchers, including Engle (2002). According to Engle, the attention control ability, independent from the short-term storage function, can account for the variances among individuals in performing cognitive tasks (Burgoyne et al., 2021(Burgoyne et al., , 2022(Burgoyne et al., , 2023Conway et al., 2002;Draheim et al., 2021Draheim et al., , 2022Engle et al., 1999;Kane et al., 2001;Unsworth et al., 2004). ...
... Attention control can be defined as the cognitive ability to regulate one's information processing to better focus on task-relevant information without being distracted by interfering thoughts or external stimuli (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Engle, 2002). The two main functions of attention control include goal maintenance and competition resolution (Burgoyne & Engle, 2020;Engle & Kane, 2004). ...
This study investigated the role of working memory and attention control in incidental L2 vocabulary learning from engaging in reading-while-listening. Fifty-nine Cantonese ESL learners engaged in reading-while-listening to two English stories in which twelve adjective-pseudonoun collocations appeared three times in meaningful contexts. Immediately after the reading-while-listening task and again one week later, participants completed unannounced posttests that measured their receptive and productive knowledge about the pseudonouns and their collocations. Their working memory was assessed with an automated operation span task, and attention control ability was measured with three squared tasks that consisted of Stroop, Flanker, and Simon squared tasks. The results indicated that attention control played a significant role in remembering the target pseudonoun forms and their collocational features for both recall and recognition. The working memory, by contrast, did not emerge as a determinant factor. The implications of the findings were discussed in the context of L2 vocabulary learning.
... Extending this argument, Burgoyne et al. (2022) recently tested whether attention control explains the positive manifold-the positive correlations observed among broad cognitive abilities. The data set included measures of attention control, working memory capacity, fluid intelligence, and sensory discrimination ability (see Tsukahara et al. 2020). ...
... The data set included measures of attention control, working memory capacity, fluid intelligence, and sensory discrimination ability (see Tsukahara et al. 2020). Using a two-step modeling approach, Burgoyne et al. (2022) found that attention control had the highest loading on the g-factor, the latent variable which provides a statistical explanation for the positive manifold. Next, the researchers specified attention control as a predictor of the other cognitive ability factors, and tested whether the correlations among their residuals were reduced to a meaningful degree. ...
... Although attention control did not fully eliminate the residual correlations, it did reduce them considerably. Burgoyne et al. (2022) interpreted this as evidence that attention control is a common element that contributes to individual differences in a variety of complex cognitive functions. That is, attention control can be seen as a bottleneck that constrains performance across cognitive domains; if one generally struggles to control their attention, performance on specific tests of reasoning, memory, perceptual speed, and so on will be negatively affected as a result. ...
Military selection tests leave room for improvement when predicting work‐relevant outcomes. We tested whether measures of attention control, working memory capacity, and fluid intelligence improved the prediction of training success above and beyond composite scores used by the U.S. Military. For student air traffic controllers, commonality analyses revealed that attention control explained 9.1% ( R = .30) of the unique variance in academic performance, whereas the Armed Forces Qualification Test explained 5.2% ( r = .23) of the unique variance. For student naval aviators, incremental validity estimates were small and nonsignificant. For student naval flight officers, commonality analyses revealed that attention control measures explained 11.8% ( R = .34) of the unique variance in aviation preflight indoctrination training performance and 4.3% ( R = .21) of the unique variance in flight performance. Although these point estimates are based on relatively small samples, they provide preliminary evidence that attention control measures might improve training outcome classification accuracy in real‐world samples of military personnel.
... intertwined and foundational to our understanding of neuroscience [1][2][3]. The advent of cognitive 45 ontology has paved the way for a structured exploration of these mental capacities, mapping their 46 intricate interrelations with a data-driven approach [4][5][6][7][8]. Despite advancements in the 47 construction of cognitive ontology, revealing its neural underpinnings remains a significant 48 challenge. ...
... These regions exhibit high levels of functional 89 connectivity, forming a densely interconnected network that supports the integration and 90 processing of information [17][18][19][20]. Moreover, the cognitive factor, as a latent variable derived 91 from diverse cognitive tasks, likely reflects a domain-general cognitive ability that underlies 92 performance across multiple domains [1,3,5,6,15]. As such, the FC networks that effectively 93 represent the cognitive factor should be able to predict individual differences in various cognitive 94 functions, including attention, working memory, executive control, and language processing. ...
... Our research not only replicated previous findings on the predictive capacity of FC edges for the 761 cognitive factor [10-12,20] but also expanded them by pinpointing a specific set of FC edges 762 within association cortex networks like the DMN, FPCN, and attention network. This discovery 763 aligns with existing findings on the necessity of coordinated activities across distributed brain 764 regions, primarily within the association cortex, for numerous cognitive functions [6,9,45,46]. 765 Moreover, our findings support the massive redeployment hypothesis [47] suggesting a universal 766 brain region framework underpinning diverse cognitive functions. 767 768 We also extended previous findings by exploring the biological foundations of these key edges, 769 encompassing aspects like FC variability, white matter integrity, and gene expression similarity. ...
Deciphering the functional architecture that underpins diverse cognitive functions is fundamental quest in neuroscience. In this study, we employed an innovative machine learning framework that integrated cognitive ontology with functional connectivity analysis to identify brain networks essential for cognition. We identified a core assembly of functional connectomes, primarily located within the association cortex, which showed superior predictive performance compared to two conventional methods widely employed in previous research across various cognitive domains. Our approach achieved a mean prediction accuracy of 0.13 across 16 cognitive tasks, including working memory, reading comprehension, and sustained attention, outperforming the traditional methods' accuracy of 0.08. In contrast, our method showed limited predictive power for sensory, motor, and emotional functions, with a mean prediction accuracy of 0.03 across 9 relevant tasks, slightly lower than the traditional methods' accuracy of 0.04. These cognitive connectomes were further characterized by distinctive patterns of resting-state functional connectivity, structural connectivity via white matter tracts, and gene expression, highlighting their neurogenetic underpinnings. Our findings reveal a domain-general functional network fingerprint that pivotal to cognition, offering a novel computational approach to explore the neural foundations of cognitive abilities.
... One factor that may underlie the incidental vocabulary learning from reading-whilelistening would be individual differences among learners in their working memory (e.g., Farshi & Tavakoli, 2019;Teng, 2024;Yi, 2018), an important component in cognitive process during language learning (Robinson, 2003). Considering that attention plays an essential role in L2 learning (Schmidt, 2001) but is constrained by the limited working memory (Mackey et al., 2022), it is important to examine how learners' working memory capacity may moderate the incidental learning of new vocabulary items from reading-whilelistening. Another potential individual difference factor is learners' ability to control their attention while engaging in cognitively complex tasks (Burgoyne et al., 2022). As claimed by Engle (2002), the ability to filter out task-irrelevant thoughts and sustain focal attention to the task at hand has been shown to account for substantial variances among individuals' performances on cognitively complex tasks (e.g., Burgoyne et al., 2021;Conway et al., 2002) or academic achievements in verbal and mathematical skills (e.g., Best et al., 2011;Ahmed et al., 2019). ...
... Notably, attention control has garnered significant attention from researchers, including Engle (2002). According to Engle, the attention control ability, independent from the short-term storage function, can account for the variances among individuals in performing cognitive tasks (Burgoyne et al., 2021(Burgoyne et al., , 2022(Burgoyne et al., , 2023Conway et al., 2002;Draheim et al., 2021Draheim et al., , 2022Engle et al., 1999;Kane et al., 2001;Unsworth et al., 2004). ...
... Attention control can be defined as the cognitive ability to regulate one's information processing to better focus on task-relevant information without being distracted by interfering thoughts or external stimuli (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Engle, 2002). The two main functions of attention control include goal maintenance and competition resolution (Burgoyne & Engle, 2020;Engle & Kane, 2004). ...
... Recently, Burgoyne et al. (2022) published a reanalysis of data originally published by Tsukahara et al. (2020), which further supports a close link between executive attention and intelligence. They derived a second-order general intelligence factor defined by the variability common to working memory capacity, attention control, and auditory discrimination ability factors. ...
... Conway (2016, 2019) noted that the ubiquitous pattern of positive correlations among cognitive tests, referred to as the positive manifold, has traditionally been explained by Spearman's g, the general factor of intelligence (Spearman, 1904). However, it is unclear whether g should be understood as a genuine psychological phenomenon or as a statistical artifact (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Hunt, 1980;Kovacs & Conway, 2016, 2019Spearman, 1904;Thomson, 1916;Thurstone, 1938). Conway's (2016, 2019) process overlap theory attempts to explain the positive manifold while dispensing with the general factor. ...
... The unitary nature of attention control has been much debated and difficult to establish (Draheim et al., 2021;Rey-Mermet et al., 2019;Weigard et al., 2021). This difficulty could be taken as support for process overlap theory, though recent evidence of attention control's generality is encouraging for the maintenance and disengagement view (Burgoyne et al., 2022;. Robinson and Steyvers (2023) substituted an attentional weight parameter from a computational model of a flanker task into a computational model of a switching task and vice versa. ...
Individual differences in processing speed and executive attention have both been proposed as explanations for individual differences in cognitive ability, particularly general and fluid intelligence (Engle et al., 1999; Kail & Salthouse, 1994). Both constructs have long intellectual histories in scientific psychology. This article attempts to describe the historical development of these constructs, particularly as they pertain to intelligence. It also aims to determine the degree to which speed and executive attention are theoretical competitors in explaining individual differences in intelligence. We suggest that attention is the more fundamental mechanism in explaining variation in human intelligence.
... More specifically, attention control allows us to maintain focus on task-relevant information while resisting distraction and interference by external events and internal thoughts. We have argued that the ability to control attention is important for a wide range of cognitive tasks, helping to explain why measures of cognitive abilities correlate positively with one another (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Kovacs & Conway, 2016). Attention control supports two distinct but complementary functions in our theoretical framework: maintenance and disengagement (Burgoyne & Engle, 2020;Shipstead et al., 2016). ...
... We were particularly interested in determining whether the three Squared tests of attention control could account for the positive correlations observed among cognitive ability measures (i.e., the positive manifold; Spearman, 1904) to a similar degree to the best attention control tasks to emerge from Draheim et al. (2021). Although studies have shown that attention control can partly explain the covariance between constructs such as working memory capacity, fluid intelligence, and sensory discrimination ability (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Conway et al., 2002;Draheim et al., 2021;Engle et al., 1999;Tsukahara et al., 2020;Unsworth et al., 2014), whether a similar pattern of results will be obtained using the new Squared tests remains an open question. Thus, throughout the Results sections, we report latent variable analyses in which the attention control factor is defined by either the new Squared tests of attention control or the best tests to emerge from Draheim et al. (2021). ...
... The broader purpose of these analyses was to determine the extent to which attention control explains the positive manifold-the positive correlations observed among broad cognitive abilities. We have argued that attention control is a domain-general ability that is required by a wide range of cognitive tasks, helping to explain why individuals who perform below average on one cognitive test tend to perform below average on other cognitive tests, too (Burgoyne et al., 2022). In support of this view, attention control accounted for a significant portion of the covariation between all of the broad cognitive abilities we measured (i.e., fluid intelligence, working memory capacity, and processing speed). ...
Individual differences in the ability to control attention are correlated with a wide range of important outcomes, from academic achievement and job performance to health behaviors and emotion regulation. Nevertheless, the theoretical nature of attention control as a cognitive construct has been the subject of heated debate, spurred on by psychometric issues that have stymied efforts to reliably measure differences in the ability to control attention. For theory to advance, our measures must improve. We introduce three efficient, reliable, and valid tests of attention control that each take less than 3 min to administer: Stroop Squared, Flanker Squared, and Simon Squared. Two studies (online and in-lab) comprising more than 600 participants demonstrate that the three “Squared” tasks have great internal consistency (avg. = .95) and test–retest reliability across sessions (avg. r = .67). Latent variable analyses revealed that the Squared tasks loaded highly on a common factor (avg. loading = .70), which was strongly correlated with an attention control factor based on established measures (avg. r = .81). Moreover, attention control correlated strongly with fluid intelligence, working memory capacity, and processing speed and helped explain their covariation. We found that the Squared attention control tasks accounted for 75% of the variance in multitasking ability at the latent level, and that fluid intelligence, attention control, and processing speed fully accounted for individual differences in multitasking ability. Our results suggest that Stroop Squared, Flanker Squared, and Simon Squared are reliable and valid measures of attention control. The tasks are freely available online: https://osf.io/7q598/.
... .general intelligence is but one interpretation of that primary fact" (Protzko and Colom 2021a, p. 2; emphasis added). As described later, contemporary intelligence and cognitive psychology research has provided reasonable and respected theories (e.g., dynamic mutualism; process overlap theory; wired cognition; attentional control), robust methods (psychometric network analysis), and supporting research (Burgoyne et al. 2022;Conway and Kovacs 2015;Kan et al. 2019;Kievit et al. 2016;Conway 2016, 2019;van der Maas et al. 2006van der Maas et al. , 2014van der Maas et al. , 2019 that accounts for the positive manifold of IQ test correlations in the absence of an underlying latent causal theoretical or psychometric g construct. Fried (2020) and others (Eronen and Bringmann 2021;Kovacs and Conway 2019;Colom 2021a, 2021b) have cogently explained why the cavalier use of g-like terms (e.g., g for general intelligence; p for general psychopathology) and the failure to differentiate between theoretical and psychometric models, contributes to the theory crises in psychology. ...
... Gs tests reflect the speed at which attention can be accurately and fluently directed at tasks during task completion (i.e., attentional fluency). The complex of Gwm and AC constructs collectively has been referred to as the working memory-attentional control complex (hereafter referred to as Gwm-AC; Hunt 2011) and, more recently, as simply AC (Burgoyne et al. 2022). ...
... The process overlap theory of intelligence also features multiple domain-general executive functioning, AC and Gwm-related cognitive processes in the positing of a central executive bottleneck processing explanation of psychometric g as an emergent property Conway and Kovacs 2015). Engle and colleagues' (Burgoyne et al. 2022) AC explanation of the positive manifold is also consistent with the importance of the Gwm-AC complex. ...
For over a century, the structure of intelligence has been dominated by factor analytic methods that presume tests are indicators of latent entities (e.g., general intelligence or g). Recently, psychometric network methods and theories (e.g., process overlap theory; dynamic mutualism) have provided alternatives to g-centric factor models. However, few studies have investigated contemporary cognitive measures using network methods. We apply a Gaussian graphical network model to the age 9–19 standardization sample of the Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability—Fourth Edition. Results support the primary broad abilities from the Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) theory and suggest that the working memory–attentional control complex may be central to understanding a CHC network model of intelligence. Supplementary multidimensional scaling analyses indicate the existence of possible higher-order dimensions (PPIK; triadic theory; System I-II cognitive processing) as well as separate learning and retrieval aspects of long-term memory. Overall, the network approach offers a viable alternative to factor models with a g-centric bias (i.e., bifactor models) that have led to erroneous conclusions regarding the utility of broad CHC scores in test interpretation beyond the full-scale IQ, g.
... Unraveling the complexity of the human mind necessitates an indepth examination of its cognitive functions such as attention, memory, executive functions, language, social cognition, all of which are intertwined and foundational to our understanding of neuroscience (Cosmides and Tooby, 2013;Harvey, 2019;Schöttner et al., 2023). The advent of cognitive ontology has paved the way for a structured exploration of these mental capacities, mapping their intricate interrelations with a data-driven approach (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Burkart et al., 2017;McGrew, 2009;Murtazina and Avdeenko, 2021;Poldrack and Yarkoni, 2016). Despite advancements in the construction of cognitive ontology, revealing its neural underpinnings remains a significant challenge. ...
... Further bolstering this hypothesis, studies have demonstrated the cognitive factor's predictive power across multiple cognitive domains and its correlation with individual differences in ideological preferences (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Cosmides and Tooby, 2013;McGrew, 2009;Schöttner et al., 2023). He et al.'s (2022) meta-matching framework, applying predictive models from large-scale datasets (the UK Biobank,N = 36,848) to new, smaller-scale (the Human Connectome Project, HCP, N = 1019) non-brain-imaging phenotypes, has further exemplified the predictive capacity of FC data. ...
Deciphering the functional architecture that underpins diverse cognitive functions is fundamental quest in neuroscience. In this study, we employed an innovative machine learning framework that integrated cognitive ontology with functional connectivity analysis to identify brain networks essential for cognition. We identified a core assembly of functional connectomes, primarily located within the association cortex, which showed superior predictive performance compared to two conventional methods widely employed in previous research across various cognitive domains. Our approach achieved a mean prediction accuracy of 0.13 across 16 cognitive tasks, including working memory, reading comprehension, and sustained attention, outperforming the traditional methods' accuracy of 0.08. In contrast, our method showed limited predictive power for sensory, motor, and emotional functions, with a mean prediction accuracy of 0.03 across 9 relevant tasks, slightly lower than the traditional methods' accuracy of 0.04. These cognitive connectomes were further characterized by distinctive patterns of resting-state functional connectivity, structural connectivity via white matter tracts, and gene expression, highlighting their neurogenetic underpinnings. Our findings reveal a domain-general functional network fingerprint that pivotal to cognition, offering a novel computational approach to explore the neural foundations of cognitive abilities.
... According to the executive attention view, the primary reason measures of working memory capacity predict cognitive performance or real-world outcomes is because they capture individual differences in the ability to control attention (i.e., the "central executive" in Baddeley's (1996) model). If working memory capacity reflects the interplay between attention control and short-term storage, attention control is the primary bottleneck that constrains performance across cognitive domains (Burgoyne et al., 2022). For example, studies have found that the relationships between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence, processing speed, and sensory discrimination ability can be significantly reduced or statistically eliminated by accounting for individual differences in attention control (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Burgoyne et al., 2023;Draheim et al., 2021;Tsukahara et al., 2020). ...
... If working memory capacity reflects the interplay between attention control and short-term storage, attention control is the primary bottleneck that constrains performance across cognitive domains (Burgoyne et al., 2022). For example, studies have found that the relationships between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence, processing speed, and sensory discrimination ability can be significantly reduced or statistically eliminated by accounting for individual differences in attention control (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Burgoyne et al., 2023;Draheim et al., 2021;Tsukahara et al., 2020). This suggests that attentional abilities may underpin the positive manifold (Spearman, 1904)the positive correlations observed among different broad cognitive ability factors. ...
Early work on selective attention used auditory-based tasks, such as dichotic listening, to shed light on capacity limitations and individual differences in these limitations. Today, there is great interest in individual differences in attentional abilities, but the field has shifted towards visual-modality tasks. Furthermore, most conflict-based tests of attention control lack reliability due to low signal-to-noise ratios and the use of difference scores. Critically, it is unclear to what extent attention control generalizes across sensory modalities, and without reliable auditory-based tests, an answer to this question will remain elusive. To this end, we developed three auditory-based tests of attention control that use an adaptive response deadline (DL) to account for speed–accuracy trade-offs: Auditory Simon DL, Auditory Flanker DL, and Auditory Stroop DL. In a large sample (N = 316), we investigated the psychometric properties of the three auditory conflict tasks, tested whether attention control is better modeled as a unitary factor or modality-specific factors, and estimated the extent to which unique variance in modality-specific factors contributed incrementally to the prediction of dichotic listening and multitasking performance. Our analyses indicated that the auditory conflict tasks have strong psychometric properties and demonstrate convergent validity with visual tests of attention control. Auditory and visual attention control factors were highly correlated (r = .81)—even after controlling for perceptual processing speed (r = .75). Modality-specific attention control factors accounted for unique variance in modality-matched criterion measures, but the majority of the explained variance was modality-general. The results suggest an interplay between modality-general attention control and modality-specific processing.
... Additionally, there might be additional factors that determine a person's vulnerability to a specific form of distraction. This unity/diversity specification of distractibility seems to map well onto existing theories [9,[49][50][51][52][53]. For example, it has been argued that a person's domain-general working memory capacity plays an overarching role in maintaining the task goal and avoiding distractions [51]. ...
... More broadly, the effort to characterize what the d factor represents psychologically will likely be facilitated by systematic attempts to examine the relationship between d and other psychological constructs that tap into attention and cognitive control, such as working memory capacity, general fluid intelligence, executive function, and attentional control, given that all these constructs have been theorized to play an overarching role in maintaining task focus and resisting distraction interference [48,49,51,119,120]. Also, given the prominent role of distractibility in various psychiatric disorders, it might be worthwhile examining the relationship between d and the general psychopathology factor p [99]. ...
People differ substantially in their vulnerability to distraction. Yet, many types of distractions exist, from external stimulation to internal thoughts. How should we characterize individual differences in their distractibility? Two samples of adult participants (total N = 1220) completed a large battery of questionnaires assessing different facets of real-world distractibility. Latent modeling revealed that these measures could be explained by three correlated-yet-distinct factors: external distraction, unwanted intrusive thoughts, and mind-wandering. Importantly, about 80% of the total variance in these three factors could be explained by a single higher-order factor (d) that could be construed in terms of a person’s general distractibility, and this general distractibility model was replicated across the two samples. We then applied the general distractibility model to understand the nature of ADHD symptomatology and hyperfocus (an intense state of long-lasting and highly focused attention). d was substantially associated with self-reported ADHD symptoms. Interestingly, d was also positively associated with hyperfocus, suggesting that hyperfocus may, to some degree, reflect attention problems. These results also show marked consistencies across the two samples. Overall, the study provides an important step toward a comprehensive understanding of individual differences in distractibility and related constructs.
... This factor is probably associated with a complex frontoparietal network, able to cope with executive functions, language, and visuospatial integration (Bowren et al., 2020;Jung and Haier, 2007;Haier, 2017). Beyond the statistical construct, the precise nature of this latent general factor is still debated, being possibly associated with the overlap and correlation of different abilities in the cognitive tests (domain-general processes) or else to specific cognitive resources (like for example the attention control; Burgoyne et al., 2022). ...
... From a statistical perspective, we can identify this factor with general intelligence (g), as the ability to integrate together different cognitive domains (Jung and Haier, 2007;Colom et al., 2009). As mentioned, it remains to be established whether this factor might be due to the overlap of general domains influencing distinct variables or else to specific cognitive resources, like attention control (Burgoyne et al., 2022). Second, this component explains between 24% and 41% of the variance and, therefore, the remaining variance must be attributed to idiosyncratic combinations of effects that are influenced by individual features, specific skills, and particular cognitive domains. ...
... These results were unexpected but were very clear. This suggest that the reason attention control is highly predictive of a wide-range of cognitive abilities (Burgoyne et al., 2022) is NOT due to the ability to sustain the focus of attention over a relatively short period of time. Although more research will be needed to draw strong theoretical conclusions from these findings, these results require some critical thought about the mechanisms of individual differences in cognitive abilities like working memory capacity. ...
... This suggests that some other aspect of controlled attention is related to these more complex cognitive abilities. Although we have considered attention control as a fairly unitary and domain-general ability (Burgoyne et al., 2022;, these findings suggest that perhaps attention control is not as unitary as we had thought. One possibility is that the intensity with which one is able to focus attention at a given moment such as the initial encoding of the cued location, it is dissociable from sustained attention over time (i.e., consistency of attention) as suggested by Unsworth et al. . ...
As part of our efforts to improve the measurement of attention control we recently developed the sustained attention-to-cue task. This task provides a unique way to assess the ability to sustain attention over a relatively short period of time. The critical element in the task is a manipulation of the demand on how long (0 – 12 seconds) attention has to be sustained at a visually cued location. Although the first version of the task (SACT-1) was a reliable and valid indicator of attention control ability, it did not capture differences in the ability to sustain attention over time. In the current study we present our findings on a second version of the task (SACT-2). We found that 1) the SACT-2 was able to capture differences in the ability to sustain attention, 2) sustained attention performance on the SACT-2 was related to attention control ability, and 3) sustained attention performance on the SACT-2 was not related to individual differences in working memory capacity, fluid intelligence, multitasking ability, nor processing speed. Given that sustained attention is commonly used to explain differences in cognitive ability, such as working memory capacity, these findings challenge how we think the ability to sustain attention relates to performance in complex cognitive tasks.
... The map represents 58 articles grouped in six clus Core topics comprised the two clusters of education and working memory. The educa cluster with words such as IQ-achievement-aptitude tests and ability tilt included s articles (see Cave et al. 2022;Coyle 2022a;Wai et al. 2022;Zisman and Ganzach 2 Working memory included seven articles and was connected with fluid intelligence, soning, and attention (Burgoyne et al. 2022;Demetriou et al. 2022;Erceg et al. 2022; To and Spanoudis 2020). The keyword intelligence-cognitive ability had the most direct nections with other nodes and is one of the basic clusters in research in Intelligence. ...
... The education cluster with words such as IQ-achievement-aptitude tests and ability tilt included seven articles (see Cave et al. 2022;Coyle 2022a;Wai et al. 2022;Zisman and Ganzach 2022). Working memory included seven articles and was connected with fluid intelligence, reasoning, and attention (Burgoyne et al. 2022;Demetriou et al. 2022;Erceg et al. 2022;Tourva and Spanoudis 2020). The keyword intelligence-cognitive ability had the most direct connections with other nodes and is one of the basic clusters in research in Intelligence. ...
What are the current trends in intelligence research? This parallel bibliometric analysis covers the two premier journals in the field: Intelligence and the Journal of Intelligence (JOI) between 2013 and 2022. Using Scopus data, this paper extends prior bibliometric articles reporting the evolution of the journal Intelligence from 1977 up to 2018. It includes JOI from its inception, along with Intelligence to the present. Although the journal Intelligence’s growth has declined over time, it remains a stronghold for traditional influential research (average publications per year = 71.2, average citations per article = 17.07, average citations per year = 2.68). JOI shows a steady growth pattern in the number of publications and citations (average publications per year = 33.2, average citations per article = 6.48, total average citations per year = 1.48) since its inception in 2013. Common areas of study across both journals include cognitive ability, fluid intelligence, psychometrics–statistics, g-factor, and working memory. Intelligence includes core themes like the Flynn effect, individual differences, and geographic IQ variability. JOI addresses themes such as creativity, personality, and emotional intelligence. We discuss research trends, co-citation networks, thematic maps, and their implications for the future of the two journals and the evolution and future of the scientific study of intelligence.
... The attention system might be considered a key component of human general cognitive ability (aka, intelligence) (Burgoyne, Mashburn, Tsukahara, & Engle, 2022;Esterman & Rothlein, 2019;Fiebelkorn & Kastner, 2020;Song, 2019). The definition and measurement of attentional control is intensely debated (Cowan, 2022), but an international consortium has recently defined it as "maintaining an operative goal, and goal-relevant information, in the face of distraction caused by the perceived environment, by self-generated information, or by habits" (Von et al., 2020). ...
... The definition and measurement of attentional control is intensely debated (Cowan, 2022), but an international consortium has recently defined it as "maintaining an operative goal, and goal-relevant information, in the face of distraction caused by the perceived environment, by self-generated information, or by habits" (Von et al., 2020). Several cognitive and neural features associated with attention are also involved in general intelligence (Bowren et al., 2020;Colom et al., 2013;Haier, 2017;Jung & Haier, 2007) and, in fact, attentional control may be responsible of a noteworthy part behind the positive manifold within the cognitive domain (Burgoyne et al., 2022). Similarly, it has a consistent relationship with fluid ability and working memory (Colom, Abad, Quiroga, Shih, & Flores-Mendoza, 2008;Kane & Engle, 2002;Oberauer, 2019;Tsukahara & Engle, 2021;Tullo, Faubert, & Bertone, 2018;Unsworth, 2015). ...
Attention might be considered a key component of intelligence, and its cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms probably underwent profound changes in the course of human evolution. Attention can be conceived as a “limiting factor” for general intelligence (g), as the ability to maintain a selective coordination of specific cognitive processes through time regardless of conflicting stimuli. In this perspective review, we consider the paleontological and archaeological evidence that may supply information on the evolution of the attention system in the human genus. In terms of anatomy, the paleoneurological record suggests that the parietal cortex experienced a relative enlargement in Neandertals and, most prominently, in modern humans. These anatomical variations match cultural changes associated with technological and social complexity. Inferences in cognitive archaeology indicate that Homo sapiens is also specialized for working memory and visuospatial integration, when compared with extinct human taxa. These features are likely associated with changes in the attention system, and in cognitive processes dealing with meta-awareness, conscious control of mind wandering, resistance to distractors, and management of emotional clues. Although these inferences are inevitably speculative, they might stimulate a comprehensive interpretation of the technological and social behaviours associated with the evolution of the human genus, bridging together psychology and evolutionary anthropology.
... Jung et al. (2025) examined the moderating role of attention control, in addition to working memory, in incidental L2 collocation learning from reading-while-listening. In this study, attention control was defined as the ability to maintain focus on task-relevant information while filtering out task-irrelevant thoughts or external distractions (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Engle, 2002). Participants' working memory was measured with the automated operation span task, whereas attention control was measured with the Three Squared tasks that consisted of Stroop, Flanker, and Simon squared tasks. ...
This study investigated whether second language (L2) learners' incidental collocation learning from engaging in task-based reading would be moderated by their individual differences in cognitive abilities. Eighty-one Cantonese speakers were invited to review three English articles and determine if they were acceptable for publication in a lifestyle magazine. Half of the participants had to make the acceptance decision independently, whereas the other half received structural support containing a list of reviewing criteria. Each article contained four target collocations, and participants' knowledge about them was measured with immediate and two-week delayed form recall and recognition tests. Participants' cognitive abilities were measured in terms of their language aptitude (LLAMA B and F tests), working memory, and attentional control (operation span task, forward digit span task, and three-squared tasks). The results revealed that structural support did not affect reading comprehension scores. It was also found that higher scores in the LLAMA B test and the three-squared task significantly promoted collocation recall and recognition scores. Additionally, structural support was shown to neutralize the role of learners' phonological short-term memory in the immediate collocation recall test. The findings indicate that careful task design is important to help learners overcome their limited phonological memory in acquiring new L2 features from engaging in L2 reading tasks.
... In this study we primarily focused on working memory (Beckers et al., 2023;Bosen et al., 2021;Holden et al., 2013;Luo et al., 2022;Moberly et al., 2021;Moberly, Harris, et al., 2017;Moberly, Pisoni, et al., 2017;Skidmore et al., 2020;Tamati et al., 2020;Zhan et al., 2020). Working memory has been closely linked to general or fluid intelligence and seems valuable for many cognitive processes (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Jaeggi et al., 2008). As working memory is involved in these different processes, it is sometimes categorised according to the type of stimuli that are being processed. ...
... The SART and RVP, like all sustained attention tasks, are unavoidably influenced to some degree by other cognitive demands due to the functional overlap that exists across the cognitive constructs of attention, working memory and executive control, making behavioural measurement inherently complex. Process overlap theory demonstrates this, confirming that cognitive tasks engage both domain-general executive processes as well as having domain-specific demands (Burgoyne et al., 2022). From a neural perspective, fMRI studies indicate that the thalamocortical system (including the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) subserves sustained attention, whilst the fronto-parietal network is the core system engaged in inhibition (clusters in the frontal cortex, angular gyrus and supplementary motor area, see Zhang et al., 2017) and working memory (involving the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and parietal cortex, see Kim et al., 2015 andOwen et al., 2005). ...
Sustained attention is important for maintaining cognitive function and autonomy during ageing, yet older people often show reductions in this domain. The role of the underlying neurobiology is not yet well understood, with most neuroimaging studies primarily focused on fMRI. Here, we utilise sMRI to investigate the relationships between age, structural brain volumes and sustained attention performance. Eighty-nine healthy older adults (50-84 years, Mage 65.5 (SD=8.4) years, 74f) underwent MRI brain scanning and completed two sustained attention tasks: a rapid visual information processing (RVP) task and sustained attention to response task (SART). Independent hierarchical linear regressions demonstrated that greater volumes of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) were associated with worse RVP_A’ performance, whereas greater grey matter volumes were associated with better RVP_A’ performance. Further, greater cerebral white matter volumes were associated with better SART_d’ performance. Importantly, mediation analyses revealed that both grey and white matter volumes completely mediated the relationship between ageing and sustained attention. These results explain disparate attentional findings in older adults, highlighting the intervening role of brain structure.
... Based on previous findings, researchers investigated indigenous adolescence' self-identity and social intelligence separately, but the association between indigenous self-identity and social intelligence has yet to be explored. Studies found that significant relationship between rationality and identity; Especially dimensions of rationality most characterize the identity (Branchetti, 2015) and rationality correlated to social intelligence (Burgoyne et al., 2022). Previous findings supported that rationality mediates the relationship between academic procrastination, life satisfaction and achievement (Balkis, 2013), mindfulness and dental anxiety associated with ration thinking (Yao et al., 2023). ...
After Africa, India has been a home for many indigenous communities who are still untouched by modern lifestyle. In particular indigenous adolescence is the one with the least exposure to the external world. There is a huge gap between how indigenous adolescence perceives them and how they understand interpersonal relationship with the non-indigenous group. Even though Government takes many initiatives they still hesitate to come out their comfort-zone and lagging in interpersonal relationship with non-indigenous people. Results found that rationality indirectly mediates the relationship between self-identity and social intelligence. Adolescence’s who are taught to think rationally are better able to assess events using facts and evidence, which allows them to respond appropriately with a deeper comprehension of the circumstances through reasoning. So, rational thinking helps to reduce perceptual bias, conflict resolution between their group likewise improves scientific thinking and effective communication of indigenous students. Indigenous researchers should develop intervention programs to improve their rational thinking, which helps to enhance their social intelligence and most importantly they believe their own ability to make wise decisions.
... Selective attention evidenced a pattern of performance consistent with increased susceptibility to interference, manifested in specific impairment on later test trials, a segment most sensitive to accrual of interference. Since attentional abilities broadly influence cognitive processing [104,105] this suggests that BBB breakdown and exogenous A 42 may influence general cognitive abilities that extend beyond the tasks reported here. ...
Background
Increased blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides (especially Aβ1–42) (Aβ42) have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis, but the nature of their involvement in AD-related neuropathological changes leading to cognitive changes remains poorly understood.
Objective
To test the hypothesis that chronic extravasation of bloodborne Aβ42 peptide and brain-reactive autoantibodies and their entry into the brain parenchyma via a permeable BBB contribute to AD-related pathological changes and cognitive changes in a mouse model.
Methods
The BBB was rendered chronically permeable through repeated injections of Pertussis toxin (PT), and soluble monomeric, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled or unlabeled Aβ42 was injected into the tail-vein of 10-month-old male CD1 mice at designated intervals spanning ∼3 months. Acquisition of learned behaviors and long-term retention were assessed via a battery of cognitive and behavioral tests and linked to neuropathological changes.
Results
Mice injected with both PT and Aβ42 demonstrated a preferential deficit in the capacity for long-term retention and an increased susceptibility to interference in selective attention compared to mice exposed to PT or saline only. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed increased BBB permeability and entry of bloodborne Aβ42 and immunoglobulin G (IgG) into the brain parenchyma, selective neuronal binding of IgG and neuronal accumulation of Aβ42 in animals injected with both PT and Aβ42 compared to controls.
Conclusion
Results highlight the potential synergistic role of BBB compromise and the influx of bloodborne Aβ42 into the brain in both the initiation and progression of neuropathologic and cognitive changes associated with AD.
... In doing so, the specific latent constructs identified by the bifactor model call for a very different interpretation than those identified with the three-factor model, despite being given the same labels. By hypothesizing a common mechanism shared across all executive functions tasks, the bifactor model used is similar to the one often considered in studies involving adults, although the nature of this construct is still debated (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Feng et al., 2022;Friedman & Miyake, 2017;Weigard et al., 2021). Importantly, when comparing correlated models (e.g., three-factor model) with bifactor models, Sellbom and Tellegen (2019) recommend not only to merely look at their fit indices but also to carefully consider the theoretical grounds for a bifactor model, as well as the psychological meaning of the constructs that form it. ...
The multicomponent nature of executive functions (EF) has long been recognized, pushing for a better understanding of both the commonalities and the diversity between EF components. Despite the advances made, the operationalization of performance in EF tasks remains rather heterogeneous, and the structure of EF as modeled by confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) is still a topic of debate (Karr et al., 2018). The present work demonstrates these two issues are related, showing how different operationalizations in task-based performance indicators impact the resulting models of EF structure with CFA. Using bootstrapped data from 294 children (8–12 years old) and nine EF tasks (tapping inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility), we first show improved model convergence and acceptance when operationalizing EF through single tasks’ scores (e.g., incongruent trials, Flanker task) relative to difference scores (e.g., incongruent minus congruent trials, Flanker task). Furthermore, we show that response times exhibit poor model convergence and acceptance compared not only to accuracy but also drift rate. The latter, a well-known indicator in drift-diffusion models, is found to present the best trade-off between convergence and acceptance to model EF with CFA. Finally, we examine how various operationalizations of performance in EF tasks impact CFA model comparison in the assessment of EF structure and discuss the theoretical foundations for these results.
... Another key finding from Draheim et al. (2021) was that attention control, either partially or even fully (depending on which tasks were used), accounted for the relationship between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence at the latent level, supporting our theoretical position that the ability to control one's attention is the causal basis of the typically strong relationship between working memory capacity and various other higher-order cognitive behaviors (see Burgoyne & Engle, 2020;Burgoyne et al., 2022;Draheim et al., 2022;Shipstead et al., 2016;Tsukahara et al., 2020; also see Conway et al., 2021 andRueda, 2018). 1 ...
There is an increasing consensus among researchers that traditional attention tasks do not validly index the attentional mechanisms that they are often used to assess. We recently tested and validated several existing, modified, and new tasks and found that accuracy-based and adaptive tasks were more reliable and valid measures of attention control than traditional ones, which typically rely on speeded responding and/or contrast comparisons in the form of difference scores (Draheim et al. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150(2), 242-275, 2021). With these improved measures, we found that attention control fully mediated the working memory capacity-fluid intelligence relationship, a novel finding that we argued has significant theoretical implications. The present study was both a follow-up and extension to this "toolbox approach" to measuring attention control. Here, we tested updated versions of several attention control tasks in a new dataset (N = 301) and found, with one exception, that these tasks remain strong indicators of attention control. The present study also replicated two important findings: (1) that attention control accounted for nearly all the variance in the relationship between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence, and (2) that the strong association found between attention control and other cognitive measures is not because the attention control tasks place strong demands on processing speed. These findings show that attention control can be measured as a reliable and valid individual differences construct, and that attention control shares substantial variance with other executive functions.
... Even when there are ways to promote reliability, these tasks can still be reliably measuring an irrelevant construct. If that turns out to be the case, SLA researchers might want to consider redesigning and/or developing new measures intended specifically for individual differences research (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Draheim et al., 2022;Draheim et al., 2021;Weigard et al., 2021). ...
A slowdown or a speedup in response times across experimental conditions can be taken as evidence of online deployment of knowledge. However, response-time difference measures are rarely evaluated on their reliability, and there is no standard practice to estimate it. In this article, we used three open data sets to explore an approach to reliability that is based on mixed-effects modeling and to examine model criticism as an outlier treatment strategy. The results suggest that the model-based approach can be superior but show no clear advantage of model criticism. We followed up these results with a simulation study to identify the specific conditions in which the model-based approach has the most benefits. Researchers who cannot include a large number of items and have a moderate level of noise in their data may find this approach particularly useful. We concluded by calling for more awareness and research on the psychometric properties of measures in the field.
... This makes the reactivation process an especially likely candidate as a source of adult individual differences in WMC. Indeed, the ability to control attention is a keystone of contemporary models of working memory (for a discussion, see Adams et al., 2018; for examples, see Baddeley, 2002;Cowan, 1999;Engle & Kane, 2004), and it has been argued that meaningful variability in WMC is largely driven by individual differences in attention control (Burgoyne et al., 2022;Engle, 2002;Kane et al., 2007;Kovacs & Conway, 2016). A great deal of correlational research has supported this idea in adults by demonstrating a relation between individual differences in WMC and the ability to control attention (see Engle & Kane, 2004;Kane et al., 2007;Oberauer et al., 2018). ...
Working memory performance depends on reactivating memory traces, by rapidly switching between refreshing item representations and performing concurrent cognitive processing (time-based resource sharing (TBRS) account). Prior research has suggested that variation in the effectiveness of this process could be a plausible source of developmental changes in working memory capacity. This could conceivably extend to adults, potentially bridging the barrier between developmental and adult experimental research and providing a possible functional role for attention control and processing speed in working memory tasks. The present work was designed to replicate the finding of developmental differences in reactivation in children, and to test whether the same process could be related to individual differences in adults. Experiment 1 confirmed the finding of more effective reactivation for 14-year-old children than for 8-year-old children. Experiment 2 using the same task in adults manipulated the feasibility of reactivation within an experimental-correlational approach, and failed to find more effective reactivation for individuals with high working memory capacity, contrary to our predictions. Overall, our results support the role of reactivation as defined by the TBRS model as an important process in working memory tasks, and as a possible source of developmental increase in working memory capacity; however, they rule out the possibility that adult individual differences in the effectiveness of this process are a major cause of variability in working memory capacity, suggesting that differences between adults are of a different nature.
... The attention control supports maintenance of attention on the task being performed and adaptive control (responding to prompts, feedback, and constant behavior correction). To elucidate the processes underlying performance in working memory tasks, it is essential to examine the links between the components of attention and working memory [7]. Despite extensive research, the literature is inconsistent on this matter [8][9][10]. ...
Working memory and attention are interrelated constructs that are sometimes even considered indistinguishable. Since attention is not a uniform construct, it is possible that different types of attention affect working memory capacity differently. To clarify this issue, we investigated the relationship between working memory capacity and various components of attention. The sample consisted of 136 healthy adult participants aged 18 to 37 years (M = 20.58, SD = 2.74). Participants performed tasks typically used to assess working memory (operation span, change detection, simple digit span, and adaptive digit span tasks), selective attention (visual search task), and attention control (Stroop and antisaccade tasks). We tested several models with working memory and attention, either as a unitary factor or being divided into selective attention and attention control factors. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model with three latent variables—working memory capacity, attention control, and selective attention—fit the data best. Results showed that working memory and attention are distinct but correlated constructs: working memory capacity was only related to attention control, whereas attention control was related to both constructs. We propose that differences in working memory capacity are determined only by the ability to maintain attention on the task, while differences in the ability to filter out non-salient distractors are not related to working memory capacity.
... sensory discrimination ability (see Tsukahara et al., 2020). Using a two-step modeling approach, we (Burgoyne et al., 2022) found that attention control had the highest loading on the g-factor of general intelligence, the latent variable which provides a statistical explanation for the positive manifold by accounting for the shared variance among cognitive ability factors. Next, we specified attention control as a predictor of the other cognitive ability factors, and tested whether the correlations among the residuals were reduced to a meaningful degree. ...
Pending approval for public release.
... Although there are other theories as to the nature of individual differences in intelligence, most of them agree that the executive control of attention (and other domaingeneral executive processes) is central to understanding differences in intelligence and other cognitive abilities. See Burgoyne et al. (35) for a comparison of our perspective with process overlap theory. ...
The locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system is uniquely situated to influence a wide-array of brain and cellular processes at all levels of brain functions. We review the literature on the locus-coeruleus-norepinephrine system in relation to fluid intelligence within the context of our executive attention theory. We discuss evidence suggesting the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system plays an important role in the functional organization of the resting-state brain and that this can explain our finding from Tsukahara et al. (2016) that higher fluid intelligence and working memory capacity is associated with a larger baseline pupil size. However, other researchers have not been able to replicate our 2016 finding – though they only measured working memory capacity and not fluid intelligence. In a reanalysis of Tsukahara et al. (2016) we show that reduced variability on baseline pupil size will result in a higher probability of obtaining smaller and non-significant correlations with working memory capacity. In two large-scale studies, we demonstrated that reduced variability in baseline pupil size values down to minimal physiological limits can be obtained if the monitor is too bright. Additionally, fluid intelligence and working memory capacity do correlate with baseline pupil size except in the brightest lighting conditions. We also investigated the relationship of higher-order cognition to baseline pupil size within the context of our executive attention theory. Therefore, we conclude that fluid intelligence does correlate with baseline pupil size and that this is related to the functional organization of the resting-state brain through the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system.
السيطرة الانتباهية - الاجهاد التعليمي - التدفق التعلمي
I develop a framework for a Theory of Intelligences (TIS) that applies across all systems from physics, to biology, humans and AI. TIS likens intelligence to a real-time calculus, differentiating, correlating and integrating information and at higher levels, anticipating or predicting future contingencies. Intelligence operates at many levels and scales and TIS distills these into a parsimonious macroscopic framework centered on solving and planning to accomplish goals.
Notably,intelligence can be expressed in informational units or in units relative to goal difficulty, the latter defined as complexity relative to an arbitrary standard, such as individual ability or a benchmark.
I present general indicators for intelligence applicable across system types, based on goal-relevant information, and a simple expression for the evolution of intelligence traits.
The International Cognitive Ability Resource, abbreviated ICAR, counters some of the practical problems researchers face when using good, but proprietary, licensed intelligence tests like the Wechsler tests, which include unfeasible administration times and financial costs. So far, ICAR has been validated for adolescents and adults in many countries, offering a viable test alternative for these populations. For use among children, however, the appropriateness of this resource was yet unknown. Therefore, we set out to develop a children’s ICAR: an instrument composed of ICAR-items, which provides a measure of cognitive ability in children between 11 and 14 years of age. The present article discusses the compilation process of the Ch-ICAR drawing from a pilot study, and evaluates its validity based on two additional studies. The pilot study involved 99 primary school pupils and aimed to select items for the Ch-ICAR instrument. Study 1 investigated the basic psychometric qualities of the Ch-ICAR in a sample of 820 secondary school pupils. Study 2 examined the construct validity by cross-validating the Ch-ICAR with on the one hand Raven’s 2 Progressive Matrices, and on the other hand the Flemish CoVaT-CHC Basic Version, relying on samples of 91 secondary and 96 primary school pupils, respectively. Results support the utility of the Ch-ICAR as a measure of children’s cognitive abilities within a research context.
This article introduces a novel
attentive driving
framework in intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to investigate the influence of cognitive behavior on distracting driving activities that lead to inattention while driving. Therefore, this work proposes a holistic computational and communication framework that can monitor on-compartment real-time multimodal sensory observation such as physiological, camera, and environmental inputs while capable of distraction detection and emotion recognition for driver's mood stabilization. In particular, this work develops a capsule network for distraction detection, a 1-D convolutional neural network for emotion recognition, an a priori algorithm for sequential context fusion, and a Bayesian network for recommending auditory stimulus content for driver mood stabilization and audio-visual safety messages for road safety. Further, an asynchronous client control scheme has developed to overcome the challenges of multitime scale sensory observations and communicate among the multimodel sensory hubs. Finally, a prototype is developed and tested in a simulation environment. The quantitative analysis results show that the proposed framework can successfully detect around 89% and 87% of distractive activities and the affective state of a driver, respectively. Finally, based on experimental results, the proposed system demonstrates the capability to sustain a driver's attention for approximately 97% of the time, with a confidence level of 95%.
هدف البحث إلى وصف ظاهرة الألعاب الرقمية لدى المراهقين، والكشف عن الخصائص الديموغرافية وخصائص اللعب المنبئة بمعدله، بالإضافة إلى الكشف عن تأثير معدل ممارسة الألعاب الرقمية في كل من الانفعالات الأكاديمية والسيطرة الانتباهية والإخفاق المعرفي والتنمر الإلكتروني. وشارك في البحث (610) من مراهقي المدارس المتوسطة والثانوية والمرحلة الجامعية بمحافظة كفر الشيخ بجمهورية مصر العربية، وتم استخدام استبيان الألعاب الرقمية، واستبيان الانفعالات الأكاديمية، ومقياس السيطرة الانتباهية، واستبيان الإخفاق المعرفي، واستبيان التنمر الإلكتروني. وأسفرت نتائج البحث عن أن (71.02%) من أفراد العينة يمارسون الألعاب الرقمية، وأن نسبة المراهقين الذين يمارسون الألعاب الرقمية القتالية والألعاب الرياضية أكبر مقارنة بمن يمارسون الألعاب الرقمية التعليمية، وأن أغلبهم يستخدمون الهواتف الذكية في ممارسة هذه الألعاب. كما أوضحت النتائج أن النوع وطريقة اللعب ونوع الجهاز المستخدم كانت متغيرات منبئة بمعدل اللعب؛ فكان معدل اللعب لدى الذكور أكبر منه لدى الإناث، ومعدل اللعب الجماعي أكبر منه في اللعب الفردي، كما ازداد معدل اللعب بسهولة حمل الجهاز المستخدم، بينما لم توجد علاقة بين أي من محل الإقامة، والعمر، والمرحلة الدراسية بمعدل اللعب. وأخيرًا أسفرت النتائج عن أن زيادة معدل ممارسة الألعاب الرقمية يزيد من الانفعالات الأكاديمية السلبية والتنمر الإلكتروني، ويسهم البحث الحالي في فهم أبعاد ظاهرة الألعاب الرقمية لدى المراهقين ، وتحديد مدى تأثيرها في الجانب الانفعالي والمعرفي والاجتماعي لديهم.
The claim that cognitive control is constrained by a general stability–flexibility tradeoff dimension has inspired research, ranging from modeling of basic control phenomena to cognitive implications for psychiatric conditions. Yet, the results with variants of the task-switching paradigm show (1) evidence of ‘anti-tradeoff’ patterns (co-occurrence of stability and flexibility), (2) that when tradeoffs do exist, they are often directly tied to highly specific memory representations, and (3) that there is little conclusive evidence of tradeoffs for naturally occurring variability within or between individuals. Instead of a general tradeoff dimension, we suggest conceptualizing cognitive task control in terms of navigating a cognitive map that represents competing states (tasks) with varying degrees of resolution (depending on top-down control), and where high-resolution encoding supports both stability and flexibility.
Every experience we have leaves an imprint in our brains. Physical and social experiences can change the brain. We refer to experience because environment (1) is a catch-all term and (2) suggests that humans are passive entities. We know that this is not the case, as carefully discussed almost a century ago by Louis Leon Thurstone (1923) during the behaviorism academic tidal wave that simplified all human behavior as comprising nothing more than responses to stimuli without any role for motivation, intention, or any other nonobservable construct (Watson, 1919). With today’s historical perspective, behaviorism was much less generalized and influential than usually discussed in textbooks about the history of psychology (Braat et al., 2020). Thurstone’s active view is illustrated in the bottom of Figure 7.1. Critiquing the passive approach of behaviorism, he wrote in “The Stimulus–Response Fallacy in Psychology,”
Introduction
Many of the studies on learning have focused on face-to-face or online learning, and information on hybrid learning is limited. The aim of this study is to examine the predictors of perceived learning in occupational therapy students in terms of different variables in the hybrid education process.
Method
This study, which was planned in descriptive cross-sectional design, was carried out online using Google Forms. Attentional Control Scale, Academic Motivation Scale, and Perceived Learning Scale were used in this study. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed with the stepwise variable selection method.
Findings
The coefficient of the Academic Motivation Scale Amotivation variable, which made the greatest contribution to the variance rate explained by the regression model, was −0.407. A one-unit increase in the Academic Motivation Scale Intrinsic Motivation and Academic Motivation Scale Extrinsic Motivation variables caused an increase in the Perceived Learning Scale total score of 0.198 and 0.364 standard deviations (SDs), and a one-unit increase in the Academic Motivation Scale_Amotivation variable caused a decrease in the Perceived Learning Scale total score of 0.407 SD.
Conclusion
The most important predictor of perceived learning is amotivation. We suggest that improving the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and reducing amotivation in students studying at universities offering hybrid learning can be used as a strategy that increases attentional control and perceived learning.
Matzel LD and Sauce B (2023) A multi-faceted role of dual-state dopamine signaling in working memory, attentional control, and intelligence. Genetic evidence strongly suggests that individual differences in intelligence will not be reducible to a single dominant cause. However, some of those variations/changes may be traced to tractable, cohesive mechanisms. One such mechanism may be the balance of dopamine D1 (D 1 R) and D2 (D 2 R) receptors, which regulate intrinsic currents and synaptic transmission in frontal cortical regions. Here, we review evidence from human, animal, and computational studies that suggest that this balance (in density, activity state, and/or availability) is critical to the implementation of executive functions such as attention and working memory, both of which are principal contributors to variations in intelligence. D1 receptors dominate neural responding during stable periods of short-term memory maintenance (requiring attentional focus), while D2 receptors play a more specific role during periods of instability such as changing environmental or memory states (requiring attentional disengagement). Here we bridge these observations with known properties of human intelligence. Starting from theories of intelligence that place executive functions (e.g., working memory and attentional control) at its center, we propose that dual-state dopamine signaling might be a causal contributor to at least some of the variation in intelligence across individuals and its change by experiences/training. Although it is unlikely that such a mechanism can account for more than a modest portion of the total variance in intelligence, our proposal is consistent with an array of available evidence and has a high degree of explanatory value. We suggest future directions and specific empirical tests that can further elucidate these relationships.
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.
Behavioral tasks (e.g., Stroop task) that produce replicable group-level effects (e.g., Stroop effect) often fail to reliably capture individual differences between participants (e.g., low test-retest reliability). This “reliability paradox” has led many researchers to conclude that most behavioral tasks cannot be used to develop and advance theories of individual differences. However, these conclusions are derived from statistical models that provide only superficial summary descriptions of behavioral data, thereby ignoring theoretically-relevant data-generating mechanisms that underly individual-level behavior. More generally, such descriptive methods lack the flexibility to test and develop increasingly complex theories of individual differences. To resolve this theory-description gap, we present generative modeling approaches, which involve using background knowledge to specify how behavior is generated at the individual level, and in turn how the distributions of individual-level mechanisms are characterized at the group level—all in a single joint model. Generative modeling shifts our focus away from estimating descriptive statistical “effects” toward estimating psychologically meaningful parameters, while simultaneously accounting for measurement error that would otherwise attenuate individual difference correlations. Using simulations and empirical data from the Implicit Association Test and Stroop, Flanker, Posner Cueing, and Delay Discounting tasks, we demonstrate how generative models yield (1) higher test-retest reliability estimates, and (2) more theoretically informative parameter estimates relative to traditional statistical approaches. Our results reclaim optimism regarding the utility of behavioral paradigms for testing and advancing theories of individual differences, and emphasize the importance of formally specifying and checking model assumptions to reduce theory-description gaps and facilitate principled theory development.
Cognitive tasks that produce reliable and robust effects at the group level often fail to yield reliable and valid individual differences. An ongoing debate among attention researchers is whether conflict resolution mechanisms are task-specific or domain-general, and the lack of correlation between most attention measures seems to favor the view that attention control is not a unitary concept. We have argued that the use of difference scores, particularly in reaction time (RT), is the primary cause of null and conflicting results at the individual differences level, and that methodological issues with existing tasks preclude making strong theoretical conclusions. The present article is an empirical test of this view in which we used a toolbox approach to develop and validate new tasks hypothesized to reflect attention processes. Here, we administered existing, modified, and new attention tasks to over 400 participants (final N = 396). Compared with the traditional Stroop and flanker tasks, performance on the accuracy-based measures was more reliable, had stronger intercorrelations, formed a more coherent latent factor, and had stronger associations to measures of working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. Further, attention control fully accounted for the relationship between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. These results show that accuracy-based measures can be better suited to individual differences investigations than traditional RT tasks, particularly when the goal is to maximize prediction. We conclude that attention control is a unitary concept. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Intelligence is correlated with the ability to make fine sensory discriminations. Although this relationship has been known since the beginning of intelligence testing, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are still unknown. In two large-scale structural equation-modelling studies, we investigated whether individual differences in attention control abilities can explain the relationship between sensory discrimination and intelligence. Across these two studies, we replicated the finding that attention control fully mediated the relationships of intelligence/working-memory capacity to sensory discrimination. Our findings show that attention control plays a prominent role in relating sensory discrimination to higher-order cognitive abilities.
General Audience Summary
There are many examples of human cognitive performance, from reading difficult texts to performing mathematical operations to solving complex problems. Success in these various activities is correlated: those who are better in one area are usually better in the rest, too. This is the most important finding in the field of human intelligence and it has led to the idea that, despite superficial dissimilarity, these cognitive activities all depend on the same general cognitive ability. However, in cognitive psychology and neuroscience there is ample evidence against this idea and for the fractionation of cognition into distinct faculties. But due to historical reasons the study of cognition mostly ignored individual differences, while the study of human intelligence was mostly uninformed by the general study of cognition and neuroscience. The question of general intelligence versus specific abilities is one of the oldest debates in psychology. In this paper we present process overlap theory (POT), which explains the correlations among performance measures from different tests without proposing a general cognitive ability. Instead, POT focuses on limitations of cognitive capacity, determined by processes involved in sustained attention, mental flexibility, planning, and the like. Limited processing capacity will affect performance in a number of areas, regardless of specific abilities. According to POT, general intelligence is a summary of different but correlated abilities rather than the reflection of a single, unitary ability. This approach has consequences for applied cognitive testing. For if the theory of general intelligence is correct then the optimal level of evaluating performance on cognitive ability tests is a global score. In contrast, if POT is correct then the focus should be on specific abilities that can provide a cognitive profile of strengths and weaknesses.
This study uses a novel framework based on work by Shipstead, Harrison, and Engle (2016) that includes measures of both working memory capacity and fluid intelligence in an attempt to better understand the processes that influence successful reading comprehension at the latent level. Further, we extend this framework to a second educationally relevant ability: second-language vocabulary learning. A large sample of young adults received a battery of working memory, fluid intelligence, language comprehension, and memory updating tasks. The results indicate that individual differences in reading comprehension and vocabulary learning benefit from the ability to maintain active information, as well as to disengage from no longer relevant information. Subsequently, we provide an interpretation of our results based on the maintenance and disengagement framework proposed by Shipstead et al. (2016). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
In modern individual-difference studies, researchers often correlate performance on various tasks to uncover common latent processes. Yet, in some sense, the results have been disappointing as correlations among tasks that seemingly have processes in common are often low. A pressing question then is whether these attenuated correlations reflect statistical considerations, such as a lack of individual variability on tasks, or substantive considerations, such as that inhibition in different tasks is not a unified concept. One problem in addressing this question is that researchers aggregate performance across trials to tally individual-by-task scores. It is tempting to think that aggregation is fine and that everything comes out in the wash. But as shown here, this aggregation may greatly attenuate measures of effect size and correlation. We propose an alternative analysis of task performance that is based on accounting for trial-by-trial variability along with the covariation of individuals’ performance across tasks. The implementation is through common hierarchical models, and this treatment rescues classical concepts of effect size, reliability, and correlation for studying individual differences with experimental tasks. Using recent data from Hedge et al. Behavioral Research Methods, 50(3), 1166–1186, 2018 we show that there is Bayes-factor support for a lack of correlation between the Stroop and flanker task. This support for a lack of correlation indicates a psychologically relevant result—Stroop and flanker inhibition are seemingly unrelated, contradicting unified concepts of inhibition.
In the last two decades, individual-differences research has put forward 3 cognitive psychometric constructs: executive control (i.e., the ability to monitor and control ongoing thoughts and actions), working memory capacity (WMC, i.e., the ability to retain access to a limited amount of information in the service of complex tasks), and fluid intelligence (gF, i.e., the ability to reason with novel information). These constructs have been proposed to be closely related, but previous research failed to substantiate a strong correlation between executive control and the other two constructs. This might arise from the difficulty in establishing executive control as a latent variable and from differences in the way the 3 constructs are measured (i.e., executive control is typically measured through reaction times, whereas WMC and gF are measured through accuracy). The purpose of the present study was to overcome these difficulties by measuring executive control through accuracy. Despite good reliabilities of all measures, structural equation modeling identified no coherent factor of executive control. Furthermore, WMC and gF-modeled as distinct but correlated factors-were unrelated to the individual measures of executive control. Hence, measuring executive control through accuracy did not overcome the difficulties of establishing executive control as a latent variable. These findings call into question the existence of executive control as a psychometric construct and the assumption that WMC and gF are closely related to the ability to control ongoing thoughts and actions.
It is well documented that figural matrices tests are harder to solve when multiple rules need to be induced because multiple rules are traditionally associated with a greater demand for dynamically managed sub-goals (goal management), which requires more working memory capacity (WMC). The current research addresses the necessity to apply selective encoding as a requirement that goes beyond the ability to manage goals when solving figural matrices. In the first study (N=38), we found that selective encoding demands are present in items with multiple rules in addition to goal management demands. Furthermore, eye movement data indicated that rule induction was hampered when selective encoding demands were present. The second study (N=127) demonstrated that individuals’ ability to filter relevant features in working memory was positively related to figural matrices items with selective encoding demands. Moreover, there was no evidence that other sources of WMC are related to goal management in
figural matrices. Hence, this study provides initial evidence that filtering of relevant information in working memory is critical for solving figural matrices with multiple rules and challenges the view that goal management is the only driver of the relationship between WMC and performance in solving figural matrices with multiple rules.
Inhibition is often conceptualized as a unitary construct reflecting the ability to ignore and suppress irrelevant information. At the same time, it has been subdivided into inhibition of prepotent responses (i.e., the ability to stop dominant responses) and resistance to distracter interference (i.e., the ability to ignore distracting information). The present study investigated the unity and diversity of inhibition as a psychometric construct, and tested the hypothesis of an inhibition deficit in older age. We measured inhibition in young and old adults with 11 established laboratory tasks: antisaccade, stop-signal, color Stroop, number Stroop, arrow flanker, letter flanker, Simon, global-local, positive and negative compatibility tasks, and n-2 repetition costs in task switching. In both age groups, the inhibition measures from individual tasks had good reliabilities, but correlated only weakly among each other. Structural equation modeling identified a 2-factor model with factors for inhibition of prepotent responses and resistance to distracter interference. Older adults scored worse in the inhibition of prepotent response, but better in the resistance to distracter interference. However, the model had low explanatory power. Together, these findings call into question inhibition as a psychometric construct and the hypothesis of an inhibition deficit in older age. (PsycINFO Database Record
Individual differences in cognitive paradigms are increasingly employed to relate cognition to brain structure, chemistry, and function. However, such efforts are often unfruitful, even with the most well established tasks. Here we offer an explanation for failures in the application of robust cognitive paradigms to the study of individual differences. Experimental effects become well established - and thus those tasks become popular - when between-subject variability is low. However, low between-subject variability causes low reliability for individual differences, destroying replicable correlations with other factors and potentially undermining published conclusions drawn from correlational relationships. Though these statistical issues have a long history in psychology, they are widely overlooked in cognitive psychology and neuroscience today. In three studies, we assessed test-retest reliability of seven classic tasks: Eriksen Flanker, Stroop, stop-signal, go/no-go, Posner cueing, Navon, and Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Code (SNARC). Reliabilities ranged from 0 to .82, being surprisingly low for most tasks given their common use. As we predicted, this emerged from low variance between individuals rather than high measurement variance. In other words, the very reason such tasks produce robust and easily replicable experimental effects - low between-participant variability - makes their use as correlational tools problematic. We demonstrate that taking such reliability estimates into account has the potential to qualitatively change theoretical conclusions. The implications of our findings are that well-established approaches in experimental psychology and neuropsychology may not directly translate to the study of individual differences in brain structure, chemistry, and function, and alternative metrics may be required.
Working memory capacity (WMC) and reasoning abilities—as assessed by figural matrices tests—are substantially correlated. It is controversially discussed whether this correlation is only caused by controlled attention or also by storage capacity. This study aims at investigating storage of partial solutions as a possible mechanism by which storage capacity may contribute to solving figural matrices tests. For this purpose, we analyzed how an experimental manipulation of storage demands changes the pattern of correlations between WMC and performance in a matrix task. We manipulated the storage demands by applying two test formats: one providing the externalization of partial solutions and one without the possibility of externalization. Storage capacity was assessed by different types of change detection tasks. We found substantial correlations between storage capacity and matrices test performance, but they were of comparable size for both test formats. We take this as evidence that the necessity to store partial solutions is not the limiting factor which causes the association between storage capacity and matrices test. It is discussed how this approach can be used to investigate alternative mechanisms by that storage may influence performance in matrices tests.
Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence have been demonstrated to be strongly correlated traits. Typically, high working memory capacity is believed to facilitate reasoning through accurate maintenance of relevant information. In this article, we present a proposal reframing this issue, such that tests of working memory capacity and fluid intelligence are seen as measuring complementary processes that facilitate complex cognition. Respectively, these are the ability to maintain access to critical information and the ability to disengage from or block outdated information. In the realm of problem solving, high working memory capacity allows a person to represent and maintain a problem accurately and stably, so that hypothesis testing can be conducted. However, as hypotheses are disproven or become untenable, disengaging from outdated problem solving attempts becomes important so that new hypotheses can be generated and tested. From this perspective, the strong correlation between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence is due not to one ability having a causal influence on the other but to separate attention-demanding mental functions that can be contrary to one another but are organized around top-down processing goals.
A study was conducted in which 133 participants performed 11 memory tasks (some thought to reflect working memory and some thought to reflect short-term memory), 2 tests of general fluid intelligence, and the Verbal and Quantitative Scholastic Aptitude Tests. Structural equation modeling suggested that short-term and working memories reflect separate but highly related constructs and that many of the tasks used in the literature as working memory tasks reflect a common construct. Working memory shows a strong connection to fluid intelligence, but short-term memory does not. A theory of working memory capacity and general fluid intelligence is proposed: The authors argue that working memory capacity and fluid intelligence reflect the ability to keep a representation active, particularly in the face of interference and distraction. The authors also discuss the relationship of this capability to controlled attention, and the functions of the prefrontal cortex.
This article presents a model for investigating the effects of general and specific processes on intelligence as criterion variable. The model enables the representation of the processes as exogenous latent variables that predict the criterion, that is, the endogenous latent variable. The representation of these processes is achieved by the decomposition of the variances of the manifest variables. The decomposition presupposes the constraint of the loadings of the manifest variables on the latent variables. Smooth functions obtained on the basis of mean scores aid the attainment of constraints for the specific processes. Several alternative types of constraints for the general process are considered. The results of an empirical investigation demonstrate that constraints according to weighted uniformity are most appropriate. An example is provided.
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This reprinted article originally appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology,
1935, Vol 18, 643–662. The following abstract of the original article appeared in PA, Vol 10:1863.) In this study pairs of conflicting stimuli, both being inherent aspects of the same symbols, were presented simultaneously (a name of one color printed in the ink of another color—a word stimulus and a color stimulus). The difference in time for reading the words printed in colors and the same words printed in black is the measure of the interference of color stimuli on reading words. The difference in the time for naming the colors in which the words are printed and the same colors printed in squares is the measure of the interference of conflicting word stimuli on naming colors. The interference of conflicting color stimuli on the time for reading 100 words (each word naming a color unlike the ink-color of its print) caused an increase of 2.3 sec or 5.6% over the normal time for reading the same words printed in black. This increase is not reliable, but the interference of conflicting word stimuli on the time for naming 100 colors (each color being the print of a word which names another color) caused an increase of 47.0 sec or 74.3% of the normal time for naming colors printed in squares.… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
"No man can be acquainted with all of psychology today." The past and future place within psychology of 2 historic streams of method, thought, and affiliation—experimental psychology and correlational psychology—is discussed in this address of the President at the 65th annual convention of the APA. "The well-known virtue of the experimental method is that it brings situational variables under tight control… . The correlation method, for its part, can study what man has not learned to control or can never hope to control… . A true federation of the disciplines is required. Kept independent, they can give only wrong answers or no answers at all regarding certain important problems… . Correlational psychology studies only variance among organisms; experimental psychology studies only variance among treatments. A united discipline will study both of these, but it will also be concerned with the otherwise neglected interactions between organismic and treatment variables. Our job is to invent constructs and to form a network of laws which permits prediction." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Individual differences in working memory capacity are related to a variety of behaviors both within and outside of the lab. Recently developed automated complex span tasks have contributed to increasing our knowledge concerning working memory capacity by making valid and reliable assessments freely available for use by researchers. Combining the samples from three testing locations yielded data from over 6,000 young adult participants who performed at least one of three such tasks (Operation, Symmetry, and Reading Span). Normative data are presented here for researchers interested in applying cutoffs for their own applications, and information on the validity and reliability of the tasks is also reported. In addition, the data were analyzed as a function of sex and college status. While automated complex span tasks are just one way to measure working memory capacity, the use of a standardized procedure for administration and scoring greatly facilitates comparison across studies.
During the past decade the Cattell–Horn Gf–Gc and Carroll Three-Stratum models have emerged as the consensus psychometric-based models for understanding the structure of human intelligence. Although the two models differ in a number of ways, the strong correspondence between the two models has resulted in the increased use of a broad umbrella term for a synthesis of the two models (Cattell–Horn–Carroll theory of cognitive abilities—CHC theory).The purpose of this editorial is three-fold. First, I will describe the CHC framework and recommend that intelligence researchers begin using the CHC taxonomy as a common nomenclature for describing research findings and a theoretical framework from which to test hypotheses regarding various aspects of human cognitive abilities. Second, I argue that the emergence of the CHC framework should not be viewed as the capstone to the psychometric era of factor analytic research. Rather, I recommend the CHC framework serve as the stepping stone to reinvigorate the investigation of the structure of human intelligence.Finally, the Woodcock-Muñoz Foundation Human Cognitive Abilities (HCA) project, which is an evolving, free, on-line electronic archive of the majority of datasets analyzed in Carroll's (1993) seminal treatise on factor analysis of human cognitive abilities, is introduced and described. Intelligence scholars are urged to access the Carroll HCA datasets to test and evaluate structural models of human intelligence with contemporary methods (confirmatory factor analysis). In addition, suggestions are offered for linking the analysis of contemporary data sets with the seminal work of Carroll. The emergence of a consensus CHC taxonomy and access to the original datasets analyzed by Carroll provides an unprecedented opportunity to extend and refine our understanding of human intelligence.
Some people are better readers than others, and this variation in comprehension ability is predicted by measures of working memory capacity (WMC). The primary goal of this study was to investigate the mediating role of mind-wandering experiences in the association between WMC and normal individual differences in reading comprehension, as predicted by the executive-attention theory of WMC (e.g., Engle & Kane, 2004). We used a latent-variable, structural-equation-model approach, testing skilled adult readers on 3 WMC span tasks, 7 varied reading-comprehension tasks, and 3 attention-control tasks. Mind wandering was assessed using experimenter-scheduled thought probes during 4 different tasks (2 reading, 2 attention-control). The results support the executive-attention theory of WMC. Mind wandering across the 4 tasks loaded onto a single latent factor, reflecting a stable individual difference. Most important, mind wandering was a significant mediator in the relationship between WMC and reading comprehension, suggesting that the WMC-comprehension correlation is driven, in part, by attention control over intruding thoughts. We discuss implications for theories of WMC, attention control, and reading comprehension.
Although previous evidence suggests that working memory capacity (WMC) is important for success at emotion regulation, that evidence may reveal simply that people with higher WMC follow instructions better than those with lower WMC. The present study tested the hypothesis that people with higher WMC more effectively engage in spontaneous emotion regulation following negative feedback, relative to those with lower WMC. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either no feedback or negative feedback about their emotional intelligence. They then completed a disguised measure of self-enhancement and a self-report measure of affect. Experimental condition and WMC interacted such that higher WMC predicted more self-enhancement and less negative affect following negative feedback. This research provides novel insight into the consequences of individual differences in WMC and illustrates that cognitive capacity may facilitate the spontaneous self-regulation of emotion.
Attentional control has been conceptualized as executive functioning by neuropsychologists and as working memory capacity by experimental psychologists. We examined the relationship between these constructs using a factor analytic approach in an adult life span sample. Several tests of working memory capacity and executive function were administered to more than 200 subjects between 18 and 90 years of age, along with tests of processing speed and episodic memory. The correlation between working memory capacity and executive functioning constructs was very strong (r = .97), but correlations between these constructs and processing speed were considerably weaker (rs ≈ .79). Controlling for working memory capacity and executive function eliminated age effects on episodic memory, and working memory capacity and executive function accounted for variance in episodic memory beyond that accounted for by processing speed. We conclude that tests of working memory capacity and executive function share a common underlying executive attention component that is strongly predictive of higher level cognition.
The cognitive processes in a widely used, nonverbal test of analytic intelligence, the Raven Progressive Matrices Test (Raven, 1962), are analyzed in terms of which processes distinguish between higher scoring and lower scoring subjects and which processes are common to all subjects and all items on the test. The analysis is based on detailed performance characteristics, such as verbal protocols, eye-fixation patterns, and errors. The theory is expressed as a pair of computer simulation models that perform like the median or best college students in the sample. The processing characteristic common to all subjects is an incremental, reiterative strategy for encoding and inducing the regularities in each problem. The processes that distinguish among individuals are primarily the ability to induce abstract relations and the ability to dynamically manage a large set of problem-solving goals in working memory.
The prefrontal cortex has long been suspected to play an important role in cognitive control, in the ability to orchestrate thought and action in accordance with internal goals. Its neural basis, however, has remained a mystery. Here, we propose that cognitive control stems from the active maintenance of patterns of activity in the prefrontal cortex that represent goals and the means to achieve them. They provide bias signals to other brain structures whose net effect is to guide the flow of activity along neural pathways that establish the proper mappings between inputs, internal states, and outputs needed to perform a given task. We review neurophysiological, neurobiological, neuroimaging, and computational studies that support this theory and discuss its implications as well as further issues to be addressed
We provide an "executive-attention" framework for organizing the cognitive neuroscience research on the constructs of working-memory capacity (WMC), general fluid intelligence, and prefrontal cortex (PFC) function. Rather than provide a novel theory of PFC function, we synthesize a wealth of single-cell, brain-imaging, and neuropsychological research through the lens of our theory of normal individual differences in WMC and attention control (Engle, Kane, & Tuholski, 1999; Engle, Tuholski, Laughlin, & Conway, 1999). Our critical review confirms the prevalent view that dorsolateral PFC circuitry is critical to executive-attention functions. Moreover, although the dorsolateral PFC is but one critical structure in a network of anterior and posterior "attention control" areas, it does have a unique executive-attention role in actively maintaining access to stimulus representations and goals in interference-rich contexts. Our review suggests the utility of an executive-attention framework for guiding future research on both PFC function and cognitive control.
This study used data from 220 adults to examine the relations among 3 inhibition-related functions. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested that Prepotent Response Inhibition and Resistance to Distractor Interference were closely related, but both were unrelated to Resistance to Proactive Interference. Structural equation modeling, which combined Prepotent Response Inhibition and Resistance to Distractor Interference into a single latent variable, indicated that 1 aspect of random number generation performance, task-switching ability, and everyday cognitive failures were related to Response-Distractor Inhibition, whereas reading span recall and unwanted intrusive thoughts were related to Resistance to Proactive Interference. These results suggest that the term inhibition has been overextended and that researchers need to be more specific when discussing and measuring inhibition-related functions.
A hallmark of intelligent behavior is rationality – the disposition and ability to think analytically to make decisions that maximize expected utility or follow the laws of probability. However, the question remains as to whether rationality and intelligence are empirically distinct, as does the question of what cognitive mechanisms underlie individual differences in rationality. In a sample of 331 participants, we assessed the relationship between rationality and intelligence. There was a common ability underpinning performance on some, but not all, rationality tests. Latent factors representing rationality and general intelligence were strongly correlated (r = .54), but their correlation fell well short of unity. Rationality correlated significantly with fluid intelligence (r = .56), working memory capacity (r = .44), and attention control (r = .49). Attention control fully accounted for the relationship between working memory capacity and rationality, and partially accounted for the relationship between fluid intelligence and rationality. We conclude by speculating about factors rationality tests may tap that other cognitive ability tests miss, and outline directions for further research.
Despite a long-standing expert consensus about the importance of cognitive ability for life outcomes, contrary views continue to proliferate in scholarly and popular literature. This divergence of beliefs presents an obstacle for evidence-based policymaking and decision-making in a variety of settings. One commonly held idea is that greater cognitive ability does not matter or is actually harmful beyond a certain point (sometimes stated as > 100 or 120 IQ points). We empirically tested these notions using data from four longitudinal, representative cohort studies comprising 48,558 participants in the United States and United Kingdom from 1957 to the present. We found that ability measured in youth has a positive association with most occupational, educational, health, and social outcomes later in life. Most effects were characterized by a moderate to strong linear trend or a practically null effect (mean R ² range = .002–.256). Nearly all nonlinear effects were practically insignificant in magnitude (mean incremental R ² = .001) or were not replicated across cohorts or survey waves. We found no support for any downside to higher ability and no evidence for a threshold beyond which greater scores cease to be beneficial. Thus, greater cognitive ability is generally advantageous—and virtually never detrimental.
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 laboratory 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 dis-confirmatory evidence across species stands to improve not only our understanding of attention control, but cognition in general.
The relative importance of domain-general and domain-specific sources of variance in working memory capacity (WMC) is a matter of debate. In intelligence research, the question of domain-generality is informed by differentiation: the phenomenon that the size of across-domain correlations is inversely related to ability: the lower the ability, the more domain-general the variance. Since WMC and intelligence are related constructs, differentiation might exist in WMC, too. Differentiation in WMC is also predicted by process overlap theory, a recent model of intelligence. We used moderated factor analysis to test for differentiation. The results demonstrate the existence of differentiation in WMC: as capacity increases, variance in WMC becomes more domain-specific. Fluid reasoning (Gf) also contributes to differentiation in WMC: when Gf is lower, WMC variance is more domain-general. There was no significant moderation by crystallized (Gc) and spatial (Gv) ability and Gf only moderated differentiation in WMC but not in short-term memory.
It is well established that measures of reasoning ability and of working memory capacity (WMC) correlate positively. However, the question of what explains this relationship remains open. The purpose of this study was to investigate the capacity hypothesis, which ascribes causality to WMC. This hypothesis holds that people high in WMC are more successful in capacity-demanding cognitive tasks than people lower in WMC because they can temporarily maintain more information in the form of sub-goals, hypotheses, and partial solutions. Accordingly, this hypothesis predicts that the correlation between WMC and reasoning performance should increase as the capacity demands of the reasoning items increase. We tested this prediction using items from Raven’s Progressive Matrices and two measures of WMC, complex span and the k estimate from the Visual Arrays task. Neither WMC measure showed the effect predicted by the capacity hypothesis. Furthermore, the results cannot be attributed to restriction of range in performance on the individual reasoning items. This finding adds to existing evidence calling into question the capacity hypothesis, and, more generally, the view that WMC has a causal influence on fluid intelligence.
For more than a century, the standard view in the field of human intelligence has been that there is a “general intelligence” that permeates all human cognitive activity. This general cognitive ability is supposed to explain the positive manifold, the finding that intelligence tests with different content all correlate. Yet there is a lack of consensus regarding the psychological or neural basis of such an ability. A recent account, process-overlap theory, explains the positive manifold without proposing general intelligence. As a consequence of the theory, IQ is redefined as an emergent formative construct rather than a reflective latent trait. This implies that IQ should be interpreted as an index of specific cognitive abilities rather than the reflection of an underlying general cognitive ability.
The cognitive ability differentiation hypothesis, which is also termed Spearman's Law of Diminishing Returns, proposes that cognitive ability tests are less correlated and less g loaded in higher ability populations. In addition, the age differentiation hypothesis proposes that the structure of cognitive ability varies across respondent age. To clarify the literature regarding these expectations, 106 articles containing 408 studies, which were published over a 100-year time span, were analyzed to evaluate the empirical basis for ability as well as age differentiation hypotheses. Meta-analyses provide support for both hypotheses and related expectations. Results demonstrate that the mean correlation and g loadings of cognitive ability tests decrease with increasing ability, yet increase with respondent age. Moreover, these effects have been nearly constant throughout the century of analyzed data. These results are important because we cannot assume an invariant cognitive structure for different ability and age levels. Implications for practice as well as drawbacks are further discussed.
The most replicated result in the field of intelligence is the positive manifold, which refers to an all-positive pattern of correlations among diverse cognitive tests. The positive manifold is typically described by a general factor, or g. In turn, g is often identified as general intelligence, yet this explanation is contradicted by a number of results. Here we offer a new account of g: process overlap theory. According to the theory, cognitive tests tap domain-general executive processes, identified primarily in research on working memory, as well as more domain-specific processes. Executive processes are tapped in an overlapping manner across cognitive tests such that they are required more often than domain-specific ones. The theory provides an account of a number of findings on human intelligence. As well, it is formalized as a multidimensional item response model and as a structural model, and the neural mechanisms underlying the proposed overlapping processes are discussed.
Self-control is defined in relation to current goals of an organism. Working memory capacity (WMC) is defined as a cognitive system for maintaining access to goal representations as needed. Self-control depends on cognitive control, which depends in large part on WMC. We discuss the proposal that WMC reflects the abilities to control attention and to control retrieval from long-term memory. From within this dualcomponent framework (Unsworth & Engle, 2007) we discuss research that has examined relations between WMC and some types of mental self-control failure like over-general autobiographical memories, intrusive thoughts, and mind-wandering. We also discuss research examining the relation between WMC and delay discounting, a popular experimental paradigm for assessing self-control (Rachlin, 2000). Evidence suggests that for some of these phenomena, WMC is a more primary factor than the associated clinical disorders. In other cases, WMC appears to be secondary to other factors such as intelligence. Across these mixed findings at least two generalities can be derived. The positive findings demonstrate that individual differences in WMC can be a confounding "third variable" for a proposed relation between, for example, depression and overgeneral autobiographical memories (Dalgleish et al., 2007). On the other hand, the negative findings illustrate that individual differences in WMC can obscure more primary influences in a situation like delay discounting (Shamosh et al., 2008). In either case it would be advisable for researchers to measure WMC as a participant factor, if only to control a major source of interindividual variability in their data. Overall, we hold to our position that WMC is critically important for maintaining good self-control in support of a wide variety of goals.
Several theories have been put forth to explain the relation between working memory (WM) and gF. Unfortunately, no single factor has been shown to fully account for the relation between these two important constructs. In the current study we tested whether multiple factors (capacity, attention control, and secondary memory) would collectively account for the relation. A large number of participants performed multiple measures of each construct and latent variable analyses were used to examine the data. The results demonstrated that capacity, attention control, and secondary memory were uniquely related to WM storage, WM processing, and gF. Importantly, the three factors completely accounted for the relation between WM (both processing and storage) and gF. Thus, although storage and processing make independent contributions to gF, both of these contributions are accounted for by variation in capacity, attention control and secondary memory. These results are consistent with the multifaceted view of WM, suggesting that individual differences in capacity, attention control, and secondary memory jointly account for individual differences in WM and its relation with gF.
The present study explored individual differences in performance of a geometric analogies task. Whereas past studies employed true/false or two-alternative items, the present research included four-alternative items and studied eye movements and confidence judgements for each item performance as well as latency and error. Item difficulty proved to be a function of an interaction between the number of response alternatives and the number of elements in items, especially for subjects lower in fluid-analytic reasoning ability. Results were interpreted using two hypothesized performance strategies: constructive matching and response elimination. The less efficient of these, response elimination, seemed to be used more by lower ability subjects on more difficult items. While two previous theories resemble one or the other of these strategies, neither alone seems to capture the complexity of adaptive problem solving. It appears that a comprehensive theory should incorporate strategy shifting as a function of item difficulty and subject ability.Componential models, based in part on past research, revealed that a justification component was activated and deactivated depending upon the nature of the analogy being solved. In addition, two new components, spatial inference and spatial application, were identified as important on some items, suggesting that different geometric analogy items invoke different cognitive processing components. Thus, a comprehensive theory should also describe component activation and deactivation.
Thesis (Ph. D.)--George Peabody College for Teachers, 1933.
A pesar de la relativamente corta historia de la Psicología como ciencia, existen pocos constructos psicológicos que perduren 90 años después de su formulación y que, aún más, continúen plenamente vigentes en la actualidad. El factor «g» es sin duda alguna uno de esos escasos ejemplos y para contrastar su vigencia actual tan sólo hace falta comprobar su lugar de preeminencia en los modelos factoriales de la inteligencia más aceptados en la actualidad, bien como un factor de tercer orden en los modelos jerárquicos o bien identificado con un factor de segundo orden en el modelo del recientemente desaparecido R.B.Cattell.
Attention can be directed either voluntarily based on the goals of the individual or involuntarily "captured" by salient stimuli in the immediate environment. Although involuntary capture is a critical means of directing attention, the completion of many common tasks requires our ability to ignore salient, but otherwise irrelevant stimuli while restricting our attention to stimuli that are related to our goals. Here, we report neurophysiological measures of spatial attention in humans that gauge an individual's ability to resist attentional capture from salient but irrelevant information. By measuring the rapid reallocation of spatial attention immediately after the onset of distractors, we observe that the ability to override attentional capture varies substantially across individuals and is strongly predicted by the specific working memory capacity of each person. High-capacity individuals were much more capable of resisting attentional capture than low-capacity individuals, who involuntarily reallocated spatial attention when distractors were present in the display. These results provide evidence that the poor attentional abilities associated with low memory capacity may stem from an inability to override attentional capture in the initial moments after the onset of distracting information.