Understanding the genomic architecture and molecular mechanisms of cognitive functioning in healt... more Understanding the genomic architecture and molecular mechanisms of cognitive functioning in healthy individuals is critical for developing tailored interventions to enhance cognitive functioning, as well as for identifying targets for treating impaired cognition. There has been substantial progress in uncovering the genetic composition of the general cognitive ability (g). However, there is an ongoing debate whether executive functioning (EF)–another key predictor of cognitive health and performance, is separable from general g. To provide an analytical review on existing findings on genetic influences on the relationship between g and EF, we re-analysed a subset of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) from the GWAS catalogue that used measures of g and EF as outcomes in non-clinical populations. We identified two sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with g (1,372 SNPs across 12 studies), and EF (300 SNPs across 5 studies) at p<5x10-6. A comparative analysi...
How and why do people comply with protective behaviours during COVID-19? The emerging literature ... more How and why do people comply with protective behaviours during COVID-19? The emerging literature employs a variable-centered approach, typically using a narrow selection of constructs within a study. This study is the first to adopt a person-centred approach to identify complex patterns of compliance, and holistically examine underlying psychological differences, integrating multiple psychology paradigms and epidemiology. 1575 participants from Australia, US, UK, and Canada indicated their behaviours, attitudes, personality, cognitive/decision-making ability, resilience, adaptability, coping, political and cultural factors, and information consumption during the pandemic's first wave. Using Latent Profile Analysis, two broad groups were identified. The compliant group (90%) reported greater worries, and perceived protective measures as effective, whilst the non-compliant group (about 10%) perceived them as problematic. The non-compliant group were lower on agreeableness and cultural tightness-looseness, but more extraverted, and reactant. They utilised more maladaptive coping strategies, checked/trusted the news less, and used official sources less. Females showed greater compliance than males. By promoting greater appreciation of the complexity of behaviour during COVID-19, this research provides a critical platform to inform future studies, public health policy, and targeted behaviour change interventions during pandemics. The results also challenge age-related stereotypes and assumptions.
This study aimed to examine the role of socio‐political attitudes and motivational tendencies sup... more This study aimed to examine the role of socio‐political attitudes and motivational tendencies supposed to mark closed‐mindedness, as well as other relevant variables of individual differences (Disintegration, i.e., proneness to psychotic‐like experiences/behaviors and Death Anxiety), in the Militant Extremist Mindset (MEM). A community sample of 600 young respondents (Serbs, Bosniaks, and Albanians, aged 18–30) was recruited within a multiethnic region of Serbia that experienced armed conflict during the break‐up of the former Yugoslavia. The best‐fitted SEM model, incorporating measurement and structural relationships between the variables, showed that the latent factor of Closed‐mindedness predicted all three aspects of MEM as well as Neighborhood Grudge, that is, resentment toward neighboring ethnicities. The effects of Disintegration and Death Anxiety on MEM were entirely mediated by Closed‐mindedness. Compared to previous findings, Closed‐mindedness appears to represent the most important set of cognitive and motivational tendencies that channel protracted intergroup tensions into militant extremism.
This article reviews empirical evidence to show that two conceptsattention and intelligenceare ... more This article reviews empirical evidence to show that two conceptsattention and intelligenceare related at the empirical level. Data are presented to demonstrate that intelligence correlates with different types of attention, in-cluding sustained attention, search, ...
This study investigates group differences in Militant Extremist Mindset (MEM) measures of Pro-vio... more This study investigates group differences in Militant Extremist Mindset (MEM) measures of Pro-violence, Divine Power, Utopianism, Vile World, and West, together with several variables building its nomological network. The study was based on groups from domicile population living within and outside the conflict zone and a sample of refugees/asylum seekers. We hypothesize that refugees as a group do not present a higher risk for engagement in militant extremism and, consequently, terrorism. Therefore, they do not present security risks for the host countries. Findings show that groups living in a conflict zone tend to endorse all aspects of militant extremism and conservative ideology. Furthermore, our results do not support the widely held belief that refugees are a security threat, as they tend to reject violent extremism as a means to achieve goals.
We examined the predictability of non-cognitive variables for students' mathematics achievement, ... more We examined the predictability of non-cognitive variables for students' mathematics achievement, based on large-scale international databases of the TIMSS 2003, 2007, and 2011, and the PISA 2003 and 2012. We synthesized empirical evidence about 65 non-cognitive variables, which were categorized into 13 research domains of educational psychology-affect, curriculum/content exposure, homework, learning and instructional time, motivation, personality traits, planned behavior, school climate, self-beliefs/social-cognitive theory, self-regulatory learning style/strategies, teacher behavior, value, and vocational interest. Our analyses showed that a group of selfbeliefs constructs, in particular, self-efficacy in PISA, confidence in TIMSS, and educational aspiration, in both TIMSS and PISA, were the best predictors of individual-level student achievement in mathematics. The present review supports the claim that students' projective judgements about their own ability and future selves are particularly important for their academic achievement. We discuss potential educational initiatives to maximize educational outcomes of students from diverse cultural and national backgrounds.
Calibration curves and other methods of description and analysis (such as scatterplots and correl... more Calibration curves and other methods of description and analysis (such as scatterplots and correlations) which derive from the individual differences tradition in psychology are examined in this article. Three tasks covering a range of cognitive ability were employed: the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) test, a multiple choice synonyms Vocabulary test, and a perceptual test of Line Length. Scatterplots of accuracy and confidence ratings reveal that (a) the overconfidence that characterizes Vocabulary tasks is due to a small number of items containing a "familiar attractor" alternative answer; (b) the RPM shows good calibration; and (c) the underconfidence phenomena in the perceptual task is due to a tendency to ascribe essentially the same confidence rating to a number of items that differ in difficulty. The results of correlational analyses support the view that there exists a trait of self-confidence that is separate from traits based on accuracy measures. Overall, males show a somewhat higher degree of self-confidence. Finally, practice has a negligible effect on confidence ratings. Psychological theory has been enriched by empirical evidence stemming from calibration studies. Conceptualizations of the structure of mental abilities may be viewed as abstract conjectures without supportive experimental findings. Factor analytic research has identified a distinction between crystallized intelligence, represented by 'general knowledge' tasks and visualization or spatial abilities which
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, Jun 12, 2015
This paper investigated decision pattern analysis (DPA) as a general and standard framework for s... more This paper investigated decision pattern analysis (DPA) as a general and standard framework for studying individuals' consistent decision making behavior within and between contexts. DPA classifies decisions on the basis of judgement accuracy and the goal orientation of the decided-upon action. Over repeated decisions, patterns of individuals' decision behavior are described by five variables: competence, optimality, recklessness, hesitancy and decisiveness. A fictitious medical decision making test and three standard cognitive ability tests (extended with confidence ratings and a 'submit answer for marking' decision) were used to investigate the psychometric properties of these DPA variables. Internal consistency of the decision patterns ranged from good to excellent. Convergent validity was assessed via cognitive abilities, metacognitive confidence and a control criterion imposed on confidence that determines the decision to be made: the point of sufficient certainty. Personality variables were included to assess discriminant validity. As hypothesised, cognitive abilities showed positive correlations with competence and optimality. High confidence, low points of sufficient certainty and a greater discrepancy between them were associated with higher decisiveness and recklessness, and lower hesitancy. Personality measures showed mixed and generally weak correlations with the DPA variables. These convergent and discriminant results also held after controlling for all variables in regression. The results provide preliminary psychometric support for DPA as a general framework of behavioral decision making. DPA has the potential to be exploited in many contexts for uses that, to date, have been unachievable in a psychometrically valid manner.
This study investigated the relationship between students' actual performance (accuracy) and thei... more This study investigated the relationship between students' actual performance (accuracy) and their subjective judgments of accuracy (confidence) on selected English language proficiency tests. The unidimensional and multidimensional IRT Rasch approaches were used to model the discrepancy between confidence and accuracy at the item and test level and to assess disattenuated strength of association between accuracy and confidence. The analysis results indicate a pattern of overconfidence bias (i.e., overestimation of success rate), which was related to item difficulty. In addition, the strength of association between accuracy and confidence dimension was relatively high: The confidence dimension explained 45% and 52% of the variability in the accuracy dimension for the two tests employed in this study.
... of course, not only to hypothesize causes for the peculiar kind of IQ rises America ... A bas... more ... of course, not only to hypothesize causes for the peculiar kind of IQ rises America ... A basketballculture emerged, plenty of people to play with, ever-more skilled ... Patricia Greenfield (1998) has argued that video games, popular electronic games, and computer applications have ...
Different procedures have been proposed for scoring working memory (WM) tasks. The Absolute Credi... more Different procedures have been proposed for scoring working memory (WM) tasks. The Absolute Credit Score (ACS) only considers performance in perfectly recalled trials, while the Partial Credit Score (PCS) considers imperfectly recalled ones too. Research indicates that different relationships between WM and general intelligence (the g-factor) may emerge using the ACS or the PCS. We reanalyzed the ACS and PCS obtained in a sample of 176 children in the 4th and 5th grades, and found that the PCS strengthened the relationship between WM and intelligence, and the relationships between visuospatial short-term memory (STM-VS), active WM and intelligence. When the number of items to be remembered (set size) was considered, however, the PCS only strengthened the relationship between STM-VS, active WM and intelligence in the case of larger set sizes. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
Page 1. MODELS AND PARADIGMS IN PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH LazarStankov Department of ... more Page 1. MODELS AND PARADIGMS IN PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH LazarStankov Department of Psychology ... by Lazar Stankov, Gregory J. Boyle, and Raymond B. Cattell Central Position of Personality and Intelligence Research in Psychology ...
European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 2009
Abstract. This paper addresses measurement and conceptual issues related to the realism of people... more Abstract. This paper addresses measurement and conceptual issues related to the realism of people&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27;s confidence judgments about their own cognitive abilities. We employed three cognitive tests: listening and reading subtests from the Test of English as a Foreign Language ...
During the 1990s, research within the Individual Differences Unit at the University of Sydney was... more During the 1990s, research within the Individual Differences Unit at the University of Sydney was oriented towards expanding knowledge of poorly understood domains of human cognition. The theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence (Gf/Gc) served as the overarching framework. This research has led to an improved understanding of the nature of complexity and the role of working memory in Gf. Another outcome has been the charting of factors underlying of mental speed, tactile/kinesthetic performance, and olfactory memory. Recently, there has been exploration of the``borderline area'' between abilities and personality. Our work on self-confidence and self-monitoring of cognitive performance has demonstrated excellent measurement properties of scores based on confidence ratings. We have also established a clear separation of a broad self-confidence factor from traditional intelligence and personality factors. Our research in these borderline areas has also explored the status of emotional intelligence. Results from several studies raise questions regarding the measurement of this construct.
Understanding the genomic architecture and molecular mechanisms of cognitive functioning in healt... more Understanding the genomic architecture and molecular mechanisms of cognitive functioning in healthy individuals is critical for developing tailored interventions to enhance cognitive functioning, as well as for identifying targets for treating impaired cognition. There has been substantial progress in uncovering the genetic composition of the general cognitive ability (g). However, there is an ongoing debate whether executive functioning (EF)–another key predictor of cognitive health and performance, is separable from general g. To provide an analytical review on existing findings on genetic influences on the relationship between g and EF, we re-analysed a subset of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) from the GWAS catalogue that used measures of g and EF as outcomes in non-clinical populations. We identified two sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with g (1,372 SNPs across 12 studies), and EF (300 SNPs across 5 studies) at p<5x10-6. A comparative analysi...
How and why do people comply with protective behaviours during COVID-19? The emerging literature ... more How and why do people comply with protective behaviours during COVID-19? The emerging literature employs a variable-centered approach, typically using a narrow selection of constructs within a study. This study is the first to adopt a person-centred approach to identify complex patterns of compliance, and holistically examine underlying psychological differences, integrating multiple psychology paradigms and epidemiology. 1575 participants from Australia, US, UK, and Canada indicated their behaviours, attitudes, personality, cognitive/decision-making ability, resilience, adaptability, coping, political and cultural factors, and information consumption during the pandemic's first wave. Using Latent Profile Analysis, two broad groups were identified. The compliant group (90%) reported greater worries, and perceived protective measures as effective, whilst the non-compliant group (about 10%) perceived them as problematic. The non-compliant group were lower on agreeableness and cultural tightness-looseness, but more extraverted, and reactant. They utilised more maladaptive coping strategies, checked/trusted the news less, and used official sources less. Females showed greater compliance than males. By promoting greater appreciation of the complexity of behaviour during COVID-19, this research provides a critical platform to inform future studies, public health policy, and targeted behaviour change interventions during pandemics. The results also challenge age-related stereotypes and assumptions.
This study aimed to examine the role of socio‐political attitudes and motivational tendencies sup... more This study aimed to examine the role of socio‐political attitudes and motivational tendencies supposed to mark closed‐mindedness, as well as other relevant variables of individual differences (Disintegration, i.e., proneness to psychotic‐like experiences/behaviors and Death Anxiety), in the Militant Extremist Mindset (MEM). A community sample of 600 young respondents (Serbs, Bosniaks, and Albanians, aged 18–30) was recruited within a multiethnic region of Serbia that experienced armed conflict during the break‐up of the former Yugoslavia. The best‐fitted SEM model, incorporating measurement and structural relationships between the variables, showed that the latent factor of Closed‐mindedness predicted all three aspects of MEM as well as Neighborhood Grudge, that is, resentment toward neighboring ethnicities. The effects of Disintegration and Death Anxiety on MEM were entirely mediated by Closed‐mindedness. Compared to previous findings, Closed‐mindedness appears to represent the most important set of cognitive and motivational tendencies that channel protracted intergroup tensions into militant extremism.
This article reviews empirical evidence to show that two conceptsattention and intelligenceare ... more This article reviews empirical evidence to show that two conceptsattention and intelligenceare related at the empirical level. Data are presented to demonstrate that intelligence correlates with different types of attention, in-cluding sustained attention, search, ...
This study investigates group differences in Militant Extremist Mindset (MEM) measures of Pro-vio... more This study investigates group differences in Militant Extremist Mindset (MEM) measures of Pro-violence, Divine Power, Utopianism, Vile World, and West, together with several variables building its nomological network. The study was based on groups from domicile population living within and outside the conflict zone and a sample of refugees/asylum seekers. We hypothesize that refugees as a group do not present a higher risk for engagement in militant extremism and, consequently, terrorism. Therefore, they do not present security risks for the host countries. Findings show that groups living in a conflict zone tend to endorse all aspects of militant extremism and conservative ideology. Furthermore, our results do not support the widely held belief that refugees are a security threat, as they tend to reject violent extremism as a means to achieve goals.
We examined the predictability of non-cognitive variables for students' mathematics achievement, ... more We examined the predictability of non-cognitive variables for students' mathematics achievement, based on large-scale international databases of the TIMSS 2003, 2007, and 2011, and the PISA 2003 and 2012. We synthesized empirical evidence about 65 non-cognitive variables, which were categorized into 13 research domains of educational psychology-affect, curriculum/content exposure, homework, learning and instructional time, motivation, personality traits, planned behavior, school climate, self-beliefs/social-cognitive theory, self-regulatory learning style/strategies, teacher behavior, value, and vocational interest. Our analyses showed that a group of selfbeliefs constructs, in particular, self-efficacy in PISA, confidence in TIMSS, and educational aspiration, in both TIMSS and PISA, were the best predictors of individual-level student achievement in mathematics. The present review supports the claim that students' projective judgements about their own ability and future selves are particularly important for their academic achievement. We discuss potential educational initiatives to maximize educational outcomes of students from diverse cultural and national backgrounds.
Calibration curves and other methods of description and analysis (such as scatterplots and correl... more Calibration curves and other methods of description and analysis (such as scatterplots and correlations) which derive from the individual differences tradition in psychology are examined in this article. Three tasks covering a range of cognitive ability were employed: the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) test, a multiple choice synonyms Vocabulary test, and a perceptual test of Line Length. Scatterplots of accuracy and confidence ratings reveal that (a) the overconfidence that characterizes Vocabulary tasks is due to a small number of items containing a "familiar attractor" alternative answer; (b) the RPM shows good calibration; and (c) the underconfidence phenomena in the perceptual task is due to a tendency to ascribe essentially the same confidence rating to a number of items that differ in difficulty. The results of correlational analyses support the view that there exists a trait of self-confidence that is separate from traits based on accuracy measures. Overall, males show a somewhat higher degree of self-confidence. Finally, practice has a negligible effect on confidence ratings. Psychological theory has been enriched by empirical evidence stemming from calibration studies. Conceptualizations of the structure of mental abilities may be viewed as abstract conjectures without supportive experimental findings. Factor analytic research has identified a distinction between crystallized intelligence, represented by 'general knowledge' tasks and visualization or spatial abilities which
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, Jun 12, 2015
This paper investigated decision pattern analysis (DPA) as a general and standard framework for s... more This paper investigated decision pattern analysis (DPA) as a general and standard framework for studying individuals' consistent decision making behavior within and between contexts. DPA classifies decisions on the basis of judgement accuracy and the goal orientation of the decided-upon action. Over repeated decisions, patterns of individuals' decision behavior are described by five variables: competence, optimality, recklessness, hesitancy and decisiveness. A fictitious medical decision making test and three standard cognitive ability tests (extended with confidence ratings and a 'submit answer for marking' decision) were used to investigate the psychometric properties of these DPA variables. Internal consistency of the decision patterns ranged from good to excellent. Convergent validity was assessed via cognitive abilities, metacognitive confidence and a control criterion imposed on confidence that determines the decision to be made: the point of sufficient certainty. Personality variables were included to assess discriminant validity. As hypothesised, cognitive abilities showed positive correlations with competence and optimality. High confidence, low points of sufficient certainty and a greater discrepancy between them were associated with higher decisiveness and recklessness, and lower hesitancy. Personality measures showed mixed and generally weak correlations with the DPA variables. These convergent and discriminant results also held after controlling for all variables in regression. The results provide preliminary psychometric support for DPA as a general framework of behavioral decision making. DPA has the potential to be exploited in many contexts for uses that, to date, have been unachievable in a psychometrically valid manner.
This study investigated the relationship between students' actual performance (accuracy) and thei... more This study investigated the relationship between students' actual performance (accuracy) and their subjective judgments of accuracy (confidence) on selected English language proficiency tests. The unidimensional and multidimensional IRT Rasch approaches were used to model the discrepancy between confidence and accuracy at the item and test level and to assess disattenuated strength of association between accuracy and confidence. The analysis results indicate a pattern of overconfidence bias (i.e., overestimation of success rate), which was related to item difficulty. In addition, the strength of association between accuracy and confidence dimension was relatively high: The confidence dimension explained 45% and 52% of the variability in the accuracy dimension for the two tests employed in this study.
... of course, not only to hypothesize causes for the peculiar kind of IQ rises America ... A bas... more ... of course, not only to hypothesize causes for the peculiar kind of IQ rises America ... A basketballculture emerged, plenty of people to play with, ever-more skilled ... Patricia Greenfield (1998) has argued that video games, popular electronic games, and computer applications have ...
Different procedures have been proposed for scoring working memory (WM) tasks. The Absolute Credi... more Different procedures have been proposed for scoring working memory (WM) tasks. The Absolute Credit Score (ACS) only considers performance in perfectly recalled trials, while the Partial Credit Score (PCS) considers imperfectly recalled ones too. Research indicates that different relationships between WM and general intelligence (the g-factor) may emerge using the ACS or the PCS. We reanalyzed the ACS and PCS obtained in a sample of 176 children in the 4th and 5th grades, and found that the PCS strengthened the relationship between WM and intelligence, and the relationships between visuospatial short-term memory (STM-VS), active WM and intelligence. When the number of items to be remembered (set size) was considered, however, the PCS only strengthened the relationship between STM-VS, active WM and intelligence in the case of larger set sizes. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
Page 1. MODELS AND PARADIGMS IN PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH LazarStankov Department of ... more Page 1. MODELS AND PARADIGMS IN PERSONALITY AND INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH LazarStankov Department of Psychology ... by Lazar Stankov, Gregory J. Boyle, and Raymond B. Cattell Central Position of Personality and Intelligence Research in Psychology ...
European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 2009
Abstract. This paper addresses measurement and conceptual issues related to the realism of people... more Abstract. This paper addresses measurement and conceptual issues related to the realism of people&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27;s confidence judgments about their own cognitive abilities. We employed three cognitive tests: listening and reading subtests from the Test of English as a Foreign Language ...
During the 1990s, research within the Individual Differences Unit at the University of Sydney was... more During the 1990s, research within the Individual Differences Unit at the University of Sydney was oriented towards expanding knowledge of poorly understood domains of human cognition. The theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence (Gf/Gc) served as the overarching framework. This research has led to an improved understanding of the nature of complexity and the role of working memory in Gf. Another outcome has been the charting of factors underlying of mental speed, tactile/kinesthetic performance, and olfactory memory. Recently, there has been exploration of the``borderline area'' between abilities and personality. Our work on self-confidence and self-monitoring of cognitive performance has demonstrated excellent measurement properties of scores based on confidence ratings. We have also established a clear separation of a broad self-confidence factor from traditional intelligence and personality factors. Our research in these borderline areas has also explored the status of emotional intelligence. Results from several studies raise questions regarding the measurement of this construct.
Prior research within the area of metacognition indicates that a Self-confidence construct exists... more Prior research within the area of metacognition indicates that a Self-confidence construct exists among both adults and primary school children aged 9–12. In this chapter, we review findings from several recent studies that demonstrate good predictive validity of the Self-confidence construct and examine the predictors of this construct. In these studies, the students’ academic, non-academic and metacognitive self-concepts were assessed. We also assessed students’ perceptions of their key environments: classroom and family. The results from these studies demonstrate stable individual differences in confidence ratings. Higher levels of Self-confidence predicted greater school achievement, irrespective of a student’s cognitive ability, age and gender. Metacognitive and academic self-concept acted as both important predictors of the students’ levels of confidence and as mediators of the predictions that other variables had on Self-confidence. Classroom factors (goal orientation) were linked to metacognitive and academic self-concepts, which in turn positively predicted academic outcomes and Self-confidence. Such results support the claim for the existence of a broad Self-confidence construct, signifying its pertinence for school achievement. The results also suggest that a student’s perception of classroom and family dynamics has an important influence on both confidence and achievement. We discuss the implications of our findings for both parents and teachers and we consider ways to improve academic outcomes for students.
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Papers by Lazar Stankov