Learned
Intelligence makes people think like economists: Evidence from the General Social Survey
Bryan Caplan & Stephen Miller
Intelligence, November-December 2010, Pages 636-647
Abstract:
Education is by far the strongest predictor of whether a non-economist will share the economic beliefs of the average economist. (Caplan, 2001) Is the effect of education as large as it seems? Or is education largely a proxy for cognitive ability? Using data from the General Social Survey (GSS), we show that the estimated effect of education sharply falls after controlling for intelligence. In fact, education is driven down to second place, and intelligence replaces it at the top of the list of variables that make people "think like economists." Thus, to a fair degree education is proxy for intelligence, though there are some areas - international economics in particular - where education still dominates. An important implication is that the political externalities of education may not be as large as they initially appear.
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Daniel Graham & Daniel Rockmore
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, February 2011, Pages 267-276
Abstract:
The computer metaphor has served brain science well as a tool for comprehending neural systems. Nevertheless, we propose here that this metaphor be replaced or supplemented by a new metaphor, the "Internet metaphor," to reflect dramatic new network theoretic understandings of brain structure and function. We offer a "weak" form and a "strong" form of this metaphor: The former suggests that structures and processes unique to Internet-like architectures (e.g., domains and protocols) can profitably guide our thinking about brains, whereas the latter suggests that one particular feature of the Internet-packet switching-may be instantiated in the structure of certain brain networks, particularly mammalian neocortex.
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The Italian job?: Comparing theory of mind performance in British and Italian children
Serena Lecce & Claire Hughes
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, November 2010, Pages 747-766
Abstract:
Cross-cultural research on theory of mind is relatively recent and largely restricted to comparisons of children from Western versus non-Western samples; much less is known about variation within Western cultures. This study compared 5- to 6-year-olds from Britain and Italy (matched for age, verbal age, gender, and maternal education; N=140), on tests tapping children's understanding of 1st and 2nd order false belief and mixed emotions. Overall, British children outperformed Italian children; group differences were clearest for tests of false-belief understanding. These results are discussed in relation to contrasts in family talk about mental states, schooling, language comprehension, and cultural factors in Britain and Italy.
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Can nonhuman primates use tokens to represent and sum quantities?
Theodore Evans, Michael Beran & Elsa Addessi
Journal of Comparative Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
It is unclear whether nonhuman animals can use physical tokens to flexibly represent various quantities by combining token values. Previous studies showed that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and a macaque (Macaca mulatta) were only partly successful in tests involving sets of different-looking food containers representing different food quantities, while some capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) have shown greater success in tests involving sets of various concrete objects representing different food quantities. Some of the discrepancy in results between these studies may be attributed to the different methods used. In an effort to reconcile these discrepancies, we presented two primates species, chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys, with two token tasks. The critical test in each task involved summing the value of multiple tokens of different types to make accurate quantity judgments. We found that, using either method, individuals of both species learned to associate individual tokens with specific quantities, as well as successfully compare individual tokens to one another or to sets of visible food items. However, regardless of method, only a few individuals exhibited the capacity to sum multiple tokens of different types and then use those summed values to make an optimal response. This suggests that flexible combination of symbolic stimuli in quantity judgments tasks is within the abilities of chimpanzees and capuchins but does not characterize the majority of individuals. Furthermore, the results suggest the need to carefully examine specific methodological details that may promote or hinder such possible representation.
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Mood effects on dominated choices: Positive mood induces departures from logical rules
Marieke de Vries, Rob Holland, Olivier Corneille, Eefje Rondeel & Cilia Witteman
Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, forthcoming
Abstract:
In two studies, we investigated the role of mood states in dominated behavioral choices. Past research has shown that mood effects on judgment and decision-making can be pervasive. Yet, the role of mood in dominated choices has so far been neglected. The present research represents a first empirical examination of mood effects on dominated choices. We measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2) mood states in participants who made a series of choices in a gambling game. In this choice task without trade-offs, participants were provided with information about the outcomes and probabilities associated with each choice option. The strategy to maximize the expected mean outcome implied the application of a straightforward and logical rule: Always choose the dominant option with the highest expected value. It has been argued in the literature that mood should have little or no impact when preferences are clear or strong. Still, we expected that mood states would affect even these dominated choices, building on previous work that showed that positive mood states enhance flexibility, creativity, and explorative behavior. The results showed that decisions made in a happier mood were less often in accordance with the logical rule than decisions made in a sadder mood. To conclude, happier mood states are associated to a lesser extent with decisions in accordance with a rule-based strategy that maximizes expected mean outcomes in dominated choices.
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Polite Web-Based Intelligent Tutors: Can They Improve Learning in Classrooms?
Bruce McLaren, Krista DeLeeuw & Richard Mayer
Computers & Education, forthcoming
Abstract:
Should an intelligent software tutor be polite, in an effort to motivate and cajole students to learn, or should it use more direct language? If it should be polite, under what conditions? In a series of studies in different contexts (e.g., lab versus classroom) with a variety of students (e.g., low prior knowledge versus high prior knowledge), the politeness effect was investigated in the context of web-based intelligent tutoring systems, software that runs on the Internet and employs artificial intelligence and learning science techniques to help students learn. The goal was to pinpoint the appropriate conditions for having the web-based tutors provide polite feedback and hints (e.g., "Let's convert the units of the first item") versus direct feedback and hints (e.g., "Convert the units of the first item now"). In the study presented in this paper, 132 high school students in a classroom setting did not benefit more from polite feedback and hints, on either an immediate or delayed posttest, both containing near transfer and conceptual test items, than they did from direct feedback and hints, according to low versus high prior knowledge groupings. Of particular interest and contrary to an earlier lab study, low prior knowledge students, as measured by questions in a questionnaire administered before the intervention, did not benefit more from using the polite version of a tutor. On the other hand, a politeness effect was observed for the students who made the most errors during the intervention, a different proxy for low prior knowledge, hinting that even in a classroom setting, politeness may be motivating for more needy students. This article presents and discusses these results, as well as discussing the politeness effect more generally, its theoretical underpinnings, and future directions.
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Chad Forbes & Toni Schmader
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, November 2010, Pages 740-754
Abstract:
In a series of experiments, a retraining paradigm was used to test the effects of attitudes and stereotypes on individuals' motivation and cognitive capacity in stereotype-threatening contexts. Women trained to have a more positive math attitude exhibited increased math motivation (Study 1). This effect was not observed for men but was magnified among women when negative stereotypes were either primed subtly (Study 2) or indirectly reinforced (Study 3). Although attitudes had no effect on working memory capacity, women retrained to associate their gender with being good at math exhibited increased working memory capacity (Studies 3 and 4), which in turn mediated increased math performance (Study 4) in a stereotype-threatening context. Results suggest that although positive attitudes can motivate stigmatized individuals to engage with threatening domains, stereotypes need to be retrained to give them the cognitive capacity critical for success. Implications for interventions to reduce stereotype threat are discussed.
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The relationships between cognitive ability and dental status in a national sample of USA adults
Wael Sabbah & Aubrey Sheiham
Intelligence, November-December 2010, Pages 605-610
Abstract:
There are very few studies on the relationship between cognitive ability and dental status in middle aged and younger adults. We postulate that lower cognitive ability is directly related to poorer dental status and that this relationship operates through the relationship between cognitive ability and health-related behaviors. The objectives of this study are (1) to examine the relationship between two measures of cognitive ability, Symbol Digit Substitution Test (SDST) and Serial Digit Learning Test (SDLT) and decayed, missing, filled and sound tooth surfaces, (2) to examine the relationship between cognitive ability and two health-related behaviors, dental visits and smoking, (3) and to test if the aforementioned relationship is independent of socioeconomic position. Data were from the Third National Health and Examination Survey. We examined the relationship between SDST and SDLT, and the oral health indicators and the behavioral factors using a series of regression models. Individuals with lower cognitive ability had higher means of decayed and missing tooth surfaces and lower means of sound and filled tooth surfaces. Poorer cognitive ability was associated with poorer behaviors; lower levels of dental attendance and higher levels of smoking. The relationship between cognitive ability and dental status was further demonstrated in the regression analysis. For a higher unit of SDST the rate ratio for decayed tooth surfaces was 1.91 (CI 1.53-2.38) which attenuated to 1.40 (CI 1.13-1.73) after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, income, dental attendance and smoking, but remained significant. Similar results were obtained for all oral health outcomes. This study found a relationship between cognitive ability and dental status and related behaviors among middle aged and younger adults. The relationship was independent of income and ethnicity. These findings support the theories put forward on a relationship between cognitive ability and health operating through health-related behaviors.
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Gabriell Prinsloo et al.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of 10 minutes of heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback on cognitive performance and affect scores during induced stress. Eighteen healthy male volunteers (aged 23-41 years) exposed to work-related stress, were randomised into an HRV biofeedback intervention (BIO) and a comparative intervention group (COM). Subjects completed a modified Stroop task, which included having to mentally count 18 white squares randomly presented between colour words, before and after a 10-minute intervention. Subjects also completed questionnaires to rate their anxiety. BIO subjects improved their reaction times and consistency of responses, and made fewer mistakes in counting squares during the modified Stroop task. They also felt more relaxed, less anxious and less sleepy than the COM subjects. In conclusion our results suggest that short duration HRV biofeedback is associated with improved cognitive performance while concurrently aiding relaxation.
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Do Babies Learn From Baby Media?
Judy DeLoache et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
In recent years, parents in the United States and worldwide have purchased enormous numbers of videos and DVDs designed and marketed for infants, many assuming that their children would benefit from watching them. We examined how many new words 12- to 18-month-old children learned from viewing a popular DVD several times a week for 4 weeks at home. The most important result was that children who viewed the DVD did not learn any more words from their monthlong exposure to it than did a control group. The highest level of learning occurred in a no-video condition in which parents tried to teach their children the same target words during everyday activities. Another important result was that parents who liked the DVD tended to overestimate how much their children had learned from it. We conclude that infants learn relatively little from infant media and that their parents sometimes overestimate what they do learn.
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Home Media and Children's Achievement and Behavior
Sandra Hofferth
Child Development, September/October 2010, Pages 1598-1619
Abstract:
This study provides a national picture of the time American 6- to 12-year-olds spent playing video games, using the computer, and watching TV at home in 1997 and 2003, and the association of early use with their achievement and behavior as adolescents. Girls benefited from computer use more than boys, and Black children benefited more than White children. Greater computer use in middle childhood was associated with increased achievement for White and Black girls, and for Black but not White boys. Increased video game play was associated with an improved ability to solve applied problems for Black girls but lower verbal achievement for all girls. For boys, increased video game play was linked to increased aggressive behavior problems.
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Linda Jackson, Alexander von Eye, Edward Witt, Yong Zhao & Hiram Fitzgerald
Computers in Human Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
In this research we examined the effects of Internet use and videogame playing on children's academic performance. Gender, race, and income were also considered. Participants were 482 youth, average age 12 years old. One-third were African American and two-thirds were Caucasian American. All measures were completed twice, first in Year 1 and then one year later, Year 2. Results indicated that greater Internet use was associated with better reading skills, but only for youth initially low in reading skills. Videogame playing was associated with better visual-spatial skill but also with lower GPAs. Gender, race and income influenced Internet use, videogame playing and academic performance but not the relationships between using these technologies and academic performance. Implications of the results for increasing the benefits of technology use are discussed.
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Unfulfilled goals interfere with tasks that require executive functions
E.J. Masicampo & Roy Baumeister
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Even after one stops actively pursuing a goal, many mental processes remain focused on the goal (e.g., the Zeigarnik effect), potentially occupying limited attentional and working memory resources. Five studies examined whether the processes associated with unfulfilled goals would interfere with tasks that require the executive function, which has a limited focal capacity and can pursue only one goal at a time. In Studies 1 and 2, activating a goal nonconsciously and then manipulating unfulfillment caused impairments on later tasks requiring fluid intelligence (solving anagrams; Study 1) and impulse control (dieting; Study 2). Study 3 showed that impairments were specific to executive functioning tasks: An unfulfilled goal impaired performance on logic problems but not on a test of general knowledge (only the former requires executive functions). Study 4 found that the effect was moderated by individual differences; participants who reported a tendency to shift readily amongst their various pursuits showed no task interference. Study 5 found that returning to fulfill a previously frustrated goal eliminated the interference effect. These findings provide converging evidence that unfulfilled goals can interfere with later tasks, insofar as they require executive functions.
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Katie Cherry et al.
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, October 2010, Pages 2463-2487
Abstract:
This study examined the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on cognitive and psychosocial functioning among middle-aged (45-64 years), older (65-89 years), and oldest-old adults (90 years and over) in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS). Analyses of pre- and post-disaster cognitive data showed storm-related decrements in working memory for the middle-aged and older adults, but not for the oldest-old adults. Regression analyses confirmed that measures of social engagement and storm-related disruption significantly predicted pre- to post-disaster differences in short-term and working memory performance for the middle-aged and older adults only. These results are consistent with a burden perspective on post-disaster psychological reactions. Implications for current views of disaster reactions are discussed.
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Mental models and human reasoning
Philip Johnson-Laird
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
To be rational is to be able to reason. Thirty years ago psychologists believed that human reasoning depended on formal rules of inference akin to those of a logical calculus. This hypothesis ran into difficulties, which led to an alternative view: reasoning depends on envisaging the possibilities consistent with the starting point-a perception of the world, a set of assertions, a memory, or some mixture of them. We construct mental models of each distinct possibility and derive a conclusion from them. The theory predicts systematic errors in our reasoning, and the evidence corroborates this prediction. Yet, our ability to use counterexamples to refute invalid inferences provides a foundation for rationality. On this account, reasoning is a simulation of the world fleshed out with our knowledge, not a formal rearrangement of the logical skeletons of sentences.
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E. Kajantie et al.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, November 2010, Pages 963-969
Background: People who score poorly in intellectual ability tests have shorter life expectancy. A study was undertaken to determine whether this association is different in people from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Methods: The mortality of 2786 men born in Helsinki, Finland during 1934-1944 who, as military conscripts, underwent a standardised intellectual ability test comprising verbal, visuospatial and arithmetic reasoning subtests was studied. Mortality data came from the Finnish Death Register.
Results: Comparing men in the lowest and highest test score quartiles, HRs for all-cause mortality were 1.9 (95% CI 1.4 to 2.5) for verbal reasoning, 2.2 (95% CI 1.6 to 3.0) for visuospatial reasoning and 1.9 (95% CI 1.4 to 2.5) for arithmetic reasoning, corresponding to 2.6, 3.4 and 2.6 excess years of life lost, respectively. Associations were similar for cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality. Intellectual ability scores were stronger predictors in men who grew up in middle-class families. Compared with middle-class men in the highest quartile of the visuospatial reasoning score, middle-class men in the lowest quartile lost 6.5 years of life while men from families of manual workers in the highest quartile lost 2.8 years and men in the lowest quartile lost 5.6 years.
Conclusions: High intellectual ability in men aged 20 protects them from mortality in later life. This effect is stronger in men who grew up in middle-class families than in those who grew up in manual worker families. This finding suggests that early life conditions that are unfavourable to the development of cognitive abilities negate the life expectancy benefits of being born into a more affluent family.
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Repeated Testing Produces Superior Transfer of Learning Relative to Repeated Studying
Andrew Butler
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, September 2010, Pages 1118-1133
Abstract:
The present research investigated whether test-enhanced learning can be used to promote transfer. More specifically, 4 experiments examined how repeated testing and repeated studying affected retention and transfer of facts and concepts. Subjects studied prose passages and then either repeatedly restudied or took tests on the material. One week later, they took a final test that had either the same questions (Experiment 1a), new inferential questions within the same knowledge domain (Experiments 1b and 2), or new inferential questions from different knowledge domains (Experiment 3). Repeated testing produced superior retention and transfer on the final test relative to repeated studying. This finding indicates that the mnemonic benefits of test-enhanced learning are not limited to the retention of the specific response tested during initial learning but rather extend to the transfer of knowledge in a variety of contexts.