Cognitive specificity in emotional distress.

Cognitive approaches to emotional distress posit that specific cognitive factors are critically linked to the etiology, course, or treatment of dysfunction. Although a number of empirical studies have assessed cognitive factors in emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety, research has yet to assess these variables simultaneously and with identical cognitive measures. Using depression and test anxiety as models of dysfunctional affective states, we examined cognitive specificity on measures of information processing, attributions, automatic thinking, and cognitive interference. Results indicated a pattern of specificity showing several differences and similarities in depression and anxiety. Specifically, "purely" depressed individuals showed evidence of selectivity processing depressive information, making dysfunctional attributions, and engaging in more negative automatic thinking. "Purely" anxious individuals, on the other hand, showed evidence of selective anxious information processing and increased cognitive interference. Results are discussed in terms of a taxonomy for classifying depressive and anxious cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of computer programming on young children's cognition.

Assessed the effects of learning computer programming on the cognitive style (reflectivity, divergent thinking), metacognitive ability, cognitive development (operation competence, general cognitive measures), and ability to describe directions of 18 1st graders. Ss were pretested to assess receptive vocabulary (PPVT—R), impulsivity/reflectivity, and divergent thinking (the Figural Test of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking). Ss were randomly assigned to computer programming or computer-assisted instruction for 12 wks. Posttesting included the McCarthy Screening Test and measures of awareness of comprehension failure, operational competence, and describing directions. Results show that the programming group scored significantly higher on measures of reflectivity and divergent thinking. This group outperformed the computer-assisted group on measures of metacognitive ability and ability to describe directions. No differences were found on measures of cognitive development. It is concluded that computer programming can increase some aspects of problem-solving ability. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reasoning independently of prior belief and individual differences in actively open-minded thinking.

A sample of 349 college students completed an argument evaluation test (AET) in which they evaluated arguments concerning real-life situations. A separate regression analysis was conducted for each student predicting his or her evaluations of argument quality from an objective indicator of argument quality and the strength of his or her prior beliefs about the target propositions. The beta weight for objective argument quality was interpreted in this analysis as an indicator of the ability to evaluate objective argument quality independent of prior belief. Individual differences in this index were reliably linked to individual differences in cognitive ability and actively open-minded thinking dispositions. Further, actively openminded thinking predicted variance in AET performance even after individual differences in cognitive ability had been partialled out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fast similarities: Efficiency advantages of similarity-focused comparisons.

People constantly have to make efficient use of their limited cognitive resources. Recently, T. Mussweiler and K. Epstude (2009) demonstrated that comparative thinking simplifies information processing and increases the efficiency of judgment. However, there are different types of comparative thinking. While comparing 2 entities, people may focus on either similarities or dissimilarities between target and standard. The authors propose that these 2 comparative thinking styles differ in their efficiency. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that comparisons with a focus on similarities lead to more focused information processing and faster judgments than comparisons with a dissimilarity focus. In line with these hypotheses, the authors demonstrate that participants are indeed faster at judging the similarity of 2 stimuli (Study 1) and that they search for less target information in a comparative judgment task (Study 2) if they focus on similarities rather than dissimilarities. Focusing on similarities thus appears to be the more efficient comparative thinking style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Cognitive Development.

Comments on "The Course of Cognitive Development," by J. S. Bruner (see record 1964-06801-001). Certainly many issues to developmental psychology emerge from consideration of Bruner's genetic approach to cognitive growth. This comment seeks to clarify certain basic differences in theory and methodology between the Harvard and Genevan cognitive growth projects that have the common purpose of investigating the underlying processes which control the transition from one mode of thinking to another. Theoretical differences centering on the nature of developmental changes resulted in differences in the kind of transition studied as well as in the conclusions regarding the processes underlying the cognitive learning. The current authors share Bruner's general theoretical concept of development as an integrative process and agree that information-processing techniques are of great importance in the study of cognitive development. However, it seems necessary to emphasize that information-processing techniques have several aspects of which Bruner and his co-workers have studied only some. Information-processing techniques seem to consist, on the one hand, of selection, of storage, and of retrieval of relevant cues. On the other hand, these techniques imply transformation of information and its coordination. The latter is the fundamental concern of the Genevan project. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of external cues on the thinking behavior of obese and normal subjects.

Hypothesized that the thinking behavior of obese Ss is externally controlled to a greater extent than that of normals. 36 normal weight and 36 obese male undergraduates served as Ss. It was predicted that obese Ss would spend more time than normals thinking about an assigned topic of thought if there were topic-relevant external cues available, and less time than normals if there were no topic-relevant external cues available. With thinking measured directly by self-report and indirectly by distraction from pain, these predictions were confirmed. It is concluded that differences in eating behavior between obese and normal Ss can be explained by differences in thinking behavior. Therapeutic implications of the cognitive style of the obese are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Central and peripheral routes to persuasion: An individual difference perspective.

Examined individual differences in intrinsic motivation to engage in effortful cognitive endeavors in 2 experiments involving 293 undergraduates. Results of Exp I indicate that Ss high in need for cognition were more likely to think about and elaborate cognitively on issue-relevant information when forming attitudes than were Ss low in need for cognition. Analyses further indicated that Ss low in need for cognition acted as cognitive misers rather than as verbal dolts. In Exp II, individual differences in need for cognition were used to test the prediction from the elaboration likelihood model that Ss who tend to engage in extensive issue-relevant thinking when formulating their position on an issue tend to exhibit stronger attitude–behavior correspondence. Results confirm this hypothesis: The attitudes of Ss high in need for cognition, which were obtained in a survey completed approximately 8 wks before the 1984 presidential election, were more predictive of behavioral intentions and reported voting behavior than were the attitudes of Ss low in need for cognition. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internet-based health information consumer skills intervention for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Medical information can improve health, and there is an enormous amount of health information available on the Internet. A randomized clinical trial tested the effectiveness of an intervention based on social- cognitive theory to improve information use among people living with HIV/AIDS. Men and women (N = 448) were placed in either (a) an 8-session intervention that focused on Internet information consumer skills or (b) a time-matched support group and were followed to 9 months postintervention. The Internet skills group demonstrated greater Internet use for health, information coping, and social support compared with the control group. The authors conclude that people with HIV infection may benefit from increased access to health information on the Internet and that vulnerability to misinformation and fraud can be reduced through behavioral interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cognitive reserve hypothesis: A longitudinal examination of age-associated declines in reasoning and processing speed.

The term cognitive reserve is frequently used to refer to the ubiquitous finding that, during later life, those higher in experiential resources (e.g., education, knowledge) exhibit higher levels of cognitive function. This observation may be the result of either experiential resources playing protective roles with respect to the cognitive declines associated with aging or the persistence of differences in functioning that have existed since earlier adulthood. These possibilities were examined by applying accelerated longitudinal structural equation (growth curve) models to 5-year reasoning and speed data from the no-contact control group (N = 690; age 65–89 years at baseline) of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study. Vocabulary knowledge and years of education, as markers of cognitive reserve, were related to levels of cognitive functioning but unrelated to rates of cognitive change, both before and after the (negative) relations between levels and rates were controlled for. These results suggest that cognitive reserve reflects the persistence of earlier differences in cognitive functioning rather than differential rates of age-associated cognitive declines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between personality structure, structure of word meaning, and cognitive ability: A study of cultural mechanisms of personality.

Native-born Estonian men (N=912), 17-68 years old, participated in a study on relationships between personality characteristics, dominant structure of word meaning ("everyday concepts" thinking or "scientific concepts" thinking), and level of cognitive ability. Individuals who primarily used everyday concepts thinking or who possessed relatively low levels of cognitive ability did not reveal a coherent Big Five personality structure, whereas individuals who primarily used scientific concepts thinking or possessed high levels of cognitive ability did. Thus, personality may be shaped by a cultural factor--word meaning structure. Earlier studies, which seem to support the idea that Big Five personality structure is a biologically determined human universal, suffer from serious sampling problems and insufficient data analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between status variables and criminal thinking in an offender population.

The authors examined the relationship between criminal thinking factors of control, cognitive immaturity, and egocentrism, and offender characteristics (i.e., age, education, sentence length, time served, reception of mental health services) in 435 adult male offenders. Results of a canonical correlation analysis identified 1 significant and meaningful relationship between a criminal thinking set containing all 3 factors and an offender characteristic set containing all characteristics except for age. Higher levels of criminal thinking on all 3 factors were associated with more education, longer sentence length, more time served, and lack of reception of mental health services. Implications for providing treatment with offenders that targets reducing criminal recidivism and future directions for investigation into the relationship between dynamic recidivism risk factors and offender characteristics are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a cognitive therapy for suicidal individuals.

Explores whether studies of cognitive characteristics of the suicidal individual differentiated the suicidal patient from other patients sufficiently enough to warrant a distinct treatment strategy. The cognitive characteristics of suicidal patients are reviewed, and it is argued that a wide assortment of studies has consistently revealed cognitive differences between suicidal and nonsuicidal individuals that are not attributable to depth of depression or degree of psychopathology. Some of the specific observed tendencies of suicidal patients are discussed, including cognitive rigidity, dichotomous thinking, ineffective problem solving, a view of suicide as a desirable solution, hopelessness, and cognitive distortions. Possible interventions for use with suicidal patients are suggested. (63 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in rational thought.

Much research in the last 2 decades has demonstrated that humans deviate from normative models of decision making and rational judgment. In 4 studies involving 954 participants, the authors explored the extent to which measures of cognitive ability and thinking dispositions can predict discrepancies from normative responding on a variety of tasks from the heuristics and biases literature including the selection task, belief bias in the syllogistic reasoning, argument evaluation, base-rate use, covariation detection, hypothesis testing, outcome bias, if-only thinking, knowledge calibration, hindsight bias, and on false consensus paradigm. Significant relationships involving cognitive ability were interpreted as indicating algorithmic level limitations on the computation of the normative response. Relationships with thinking dispositions were interpreted as indicating that styles of epistemic regulation can predict individual differences in performance of these tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement of individual differences in preference for numerical information.

Develops and validates a measure of preference for numerical information, defined as a proclivity toward using numerical information and engaging in thinking involving numerical information, and assesses the relationship of this construct to several constructs. Although past research has focused on ability in using numerical information, a basic attitude or proclivity toward numerical information has not been isolated and studied. This construct is argued to have applications in settings that involve the use of numerical information and to be related to several interests, temperaments, and cognitive styles. A measure of preference for numerical information is developed and tested for reliability and validity, its relationship with several constructs is examined, and its applications in various settings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scanning-control mechanism and "cognitive filtering" in paranoid and non-paranoid schizophrenia.

Recent studies of individual consistencies in cognitive behavior, termed studies of "cognitive controls," have emphasized the importance of differing characterological response dispositions which also serve ego defensive functions. This report concerned 2 such response dispositions—extensiveness of scanning and breadth of categorization. Highly significant differences in scanning behavior, inferred from performances on a certain form of size-estimation procedure, were found between paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics. Significant differences were also found between the groups on a measure of breadth of categorization. These findings were discussed in terms of some developmental aspects of the 2 cognitive controls and also in terms of the relevance of these findings to a theory of delusional thinking. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Imagery and synchronic thinking.

Argues that imagery involves synchronously organized informational structures that contribute to the richness of content, flexibility, and speed of thinking. By contrast, verbal processes are characterized by a higher degree of sequential constraint, which limits memory content and flexibility but contributes logical direction to thinking. Specific experimental evidence is presented on the implications of these views in regard to the encoding, storage, and retrieval of organized cognitive information. (11/2 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance of psychopaths on cognitive tasks related to frontal lobe function.

On the basis of their performance on several cognitive tasks, including the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the Necker Cube, and a sequential matching memory task (SMMT), E. E. Gorenstein (see record 1983-01261-001) concluded that psychopaths have specific deficits in cognitive processes associated with frontal-lobe functioning. However, it is argued that his diagnostic procedures were inadequate and his results confounded by group differences in age, education, general ability, and substance abuse. In the present study, the WCST, Necker Cube, and SMMT were administered to 46 male prison inmates divided into low-, medium-, and high-psychopathy groups on the basis of a 22-item checklist developed by the present author (see record 1982-02477-001). ANOVAs and ANCOVAs (with age, education, IQ, and substance use as covariates) failed to detect any group differences in task performance. Similar results were obtained when diagnoses were based on the Socialization scale of the California Psychological Inventory and the DSM-III criteria for antisocial personality disorder and when multiple criteria were used. Some general problems associated with attempts to explain psychopathy in terms of brain damage or dysfunction are discussed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A transactional perspective on critical thinking

The quality of thinking has received much attention within the last decade. The scientific inquiry models introduced by Dewey, Dressel and Mayhew, and Watson-Glaser have been expanded to incorporate such aspects as reflection, development, attitude, skill, and knowledge domain. Dichotomies between critical and creative thinking have been eased. While this scholarship on thinking has been impressive, current pedagogy remains focused on scientific inquiry and on received knowledge. In nursing the learning paradigm has been similarly focused for the past 3 decades on a scientific inquiry model and received knowledge. The major cognitive approach to education and practice has been the nursing process, a linear problem-solving paradigm equivalent to the scientific method. This linear approach does not fully account for how nurses think and make judgments in clinical practice. The Transactional Model of Critical Thinking presented in this paper addresses the complexity of critical thinking in nursing. The model provides an educative and novel vision of thinking based on a transactional view of the individual, personal attributes, and the environment. Components and elements of the model are described and suggestions made for teaching-learning and for evaluation of critical thinking in nursing.