Impulsive Cognitive Style Research Articles

WAGR syndrome: is the ‘R’ always justified?

Although mild-to-moderate intellectual disability is usually considered part of WAGR syndrome (Wilms' tumour (WT), Aniridia, Genital abnormalities, and metal Retardation, due to 11p13 deletion) the neuropsychological profile of the syndrome is little reported in the literature. We report about a 12-year-old boy presenting with WAGR syndrome (WT, right complete aniridia, bilateral cryptorchidism, interstitial deletion involving band 11p13) but with no mental retardation. An in-depth clinical evaluation revealed no behavioural or social problems and the child's neuropsychological profile was found to be within the normal range for all abilities and functions investigated (with the exception of an impulsive cognitive style and some difficulties in academic skills). This case underlines the importance of in-depth neuropsychological evaluation that includes not only IQ measurement, but also examination of attention and academic skills, in order to establish the complete phenotypical profile of WAGR patients, rather than labelling them as learning disabled (i.e. mental retardation).

The influence of emotions on inhibitory functioning in borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by an emotionally unstable and impulsive cognitive and behavioral style. Inhibitory dysfunction has been hypothesized as playing a crucial role in BPD psychopathology. This study aimed to systematically investigate differential inhibitory functions in patients with BPD as compared to healthy controls, and to investigate their expected impairment in the context of aversive emotions by comparing performances in neuropsychological tasks that present both neutral and emotional material. Unmedicated female patients with BPD (n=28) were compared with age-matched healthy female controls (n=30) in the following tasks: the emotional Stroop test (inhibition of interference), directed forgetting (intentional, resource-dependent inhibition), and an emotional variant of the negative priming task (automatic, resource-independent inhibition). In comparison with the controls, the BPD patients showed reduced inhibition of negative material in the directed forgetting task and in the negative priming task. No effect was found in the emotional Stroop test. Significant correlations with current affect as well as trait anxiety and anger (but not impulsiveness) were found in the BPD group specifically for negative stimuli, while no such correlations were found in the control group. In addition to inhibitory deficiencies, BPD patients had difficulties remembering positive words in the directed forgetting task. Our data suggest that individuals with BPD have difficulties in actively suppressing irrelevant information when it is of an aversive nature. Inhibitory dysfunction appears to be closely related to state and trait variables of unstable affect, but not to self-reported impulsiveness.

Impulsivity in depressed children and adolescents: A comparison between behavioral and neuropsychological data

Impulsivity at the neuropsychological and behavioral levels was investigated in a sample of drug-naive depressed children and adolescents. The performance of 21 patients with a current diagnosis of mood disorder was compared with that of 21 normal controls on tests of executive functions related to impulsivity (Matching Familiar Figures Test, Continuous Performance Test, Verbal Fluency, Stroop Test, and Walk–Don't Walk) and on impulsive/restless behavior on the Conners' Parent Rating Scale. Depressed children and adolescents showed a pattern of conservative response style, with slow reaction times and attentional problems, similar to that observed in adults, and a general delay/difficulty in response initiation on the Fluency Test. Depressed participants were rated by their parents as being significantly more impulsive/restless than controls. However, there was no evidence of an impulsive cognitive response style in more impulsive/restless patients. Symptom severity (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression) and subjective mood state (Children's Depression Inventory) were also taken into account.

Infants with colic: Their childhood characteristics

The purpose of this study was to compare 40 six- to eight-year-old children, 20 with prospectively ascertained infantile colic and a matched sample of 20 without colic, on characteristics of emotional regulation and on parent stress. Children completed tests of cognitive ability, and mothers completed childhood behavioral questionnaires and a parenting stress assessment. Children with colic had maternal ratings suggestive of more difficulty with emotional regulation than their noncolic matches and displayed a more impulsive cognitive style. However, the mean scores of both groups were in the normal range. Copyright 2003, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Impulsive cognitive style manifest in neuropsychological performance of patients with substance abuse disorders

Impulsive cognitive style manifest in neuropsychological performance of patients with substance abuse disorders

The pharmacology of impulsive behaviour in rats IV: the effects of selective serotonergic agents on a paced fixed consecutive number schedule.

An impulsive cognitive style may affect behaviour in several different ways, including rapid decision making, intolerance of the delay of reward and a tendency to terminate chains of responses prematurely. It has been proposed to measure the last of these in rats using fixed consecutive number (FCN) schedules. The present study uses a modified version of the FCN procedure in which responding was paced by retracting the response lever for short periods between presses. In this way, the experimenter can control the maximum rate of responding. The procedure was made up of two components. In both, the schedule requirement was FCN 8, but in the Fast component lever presses were spaced by a minimum of 2.5 s and in the Slow component by a minimum of 5 s. Alterations in impulsivity were inferred from changes in the mean chain length and the distribution of chain lengths. The 5-HT1A agonist, 8-OH-DPAT (0.03-0.3 mg/kg), increased chain lengths within a narrow dose range, whereas the 5-HT1A antagonist, WAY 100 635 (0.03-0.3 mg/kg), reduced chain lengths. The 5-HT2 agonist, DOI (0.1-1.0 mg/kg), markedly reduced chain lengths, whereas the 5-HT2 antagonist, ritanserin (0.03-0.3 mg/kg), had no effect. The 5-HT1A/1b agonist, RU 24969 (0.03-0.3 mg/kg), reduced chain lengths. The 5-HT releaser, p-chloramphetamine (0.1-1.0 mg/kg), had a weak, biphasic effect, slightly reducing the number of short chains at the lowest dose tested and slightly increasing this number at the highest dose. Other drugs tested, citalopram (1.0-10.0 mg/kg), metergoline (0.3-3.0 mg/kg) and MDL-72222 (0.1-3.0 mg/kg), had no significant effects. These results suggest that stimulation of 5-HT1A receptors reduces impulsivity, whereas stimulation of 5-HT2 receptors increases it. These data are in agreement with previous results using the DRL-72 schedule, and indicate that there is no simple role for serotonin in the control of impulsivity.

Impulsive-reflective cognitive style, metacognition, and emotion in adolescence.

The study investigated the relationship between reflective or impulsive cognitive style, metacognitive functioning, and depression in young adolescents. Metacognitive functioning (metacognitive knowledge about reading and memory, monitoring of text comprehension) and self-reported depressive feelings were analyzed in a group of subjects who showed a Reflective or Impulsive cognitive style. The sample consisted of 56 junior high-school students (Grades 6, 7, and 8) selected from a larger original group of 61 subjects. We excluded from the original group those with an IQ below 75 on both the Verbal and Performance subscales on the short form of the WISC-R, those reported by teachers to have a severe learning disability, and those that did not complete the test battery due to long absences from school. The reflective-impulsive cognitive style was identified with the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20. Using the median of the distribution for both Latency (17 sec. per item) and Errors (9 errors) on this task, the sample was divided in four partially overlapping subgroups: 16 with Impulsive cognitive style (Latency below the median, Errors above the median), 13 with Reflective cognitive style (Latency above the median, Error below the median), 4 fast and accurate (both scores below the median), and 11 slow and inaccurate (both scores above the median). Twelve subjects with one or both scores coinciding with the critical value (median) were excluded. Analysis showed that subjects with Impulsive cognitive style had significantly lower scores than those with Reflective cognitive style in monitoring of comprehension of text. No differences were found on monitoring by eighth graders, irrespective of cognitive style. No differences between the two groups were found in metacognitive knowledge. Subjects with Impulsive cognitive style had significantly higher scores than subjects with Reflective cognitive style on a self-rating scale for childhood depression, the Children's Depression Inventory. The implications of these data are discussed.

Cognitive Style and Learner Strategy Interaction in the Performance of Primary and Related Maze Tasks

Abstract The effect of designated learning strategies and reflective versus impulsive cognitive styles on performance in a maze learning task was investigated. Twenty-four female subjects were randomly assigned to a strategy or control group. The strategies group was provided with three potentially effective strategies (imagery, rhythm, and feedback) as identified by an information processing task analysis procedure. The Matching Familiar Figures test further classified subjects within the two groups according to their preferred styles of responding. Eleven primary task trials were administered with direct view of maze and four related task trials were completed with an indirect view of it. Traversal speed and time in the incorrect pathways were analyzed with a 2 × 2 × 7 (Strategies × Cognitive Styles × Trial Blocks) repeated measures ANOVA. A significant three-way interaction was found for both dependent measures. As hypothesized, during the primary task the control reflective subjects traversed the maze more slowly than the control impulsive subjects. However, the strategies reflective subjects completed the maze with the same speed as strategies impulsives. The incorrect pathways × time interaction revealed that the control reflective subjects spent less time in the incorrect pathways during the related task than the control impulsives. No significant differences were found for strategies reflectives or impulsives. These findings indicate that, for this maze task that emphasized speed, the performance of reflective and impulsive subjects was facilitated by appropriate learning strategies.

Impulsive Cognitive Style and Impulsive Behavior in Emotionally Disturbed Children

Impulsive Cognitive Style and Impulsive Behavior in Emotionally Disturbed Children

Auditory and visual cognitive styles and adult reading performance.

College students performed match-to-sample tasks in the visual and auditory modalities. These tasks assessed reflective and impulsive cognitive styles. Cognitive style performance was related to achievement on a standardized test that measured Comprehension, Rate, Vocabulary, and Total reading achievement. Differential performance on several of these reading measures was a function of classification by auditory cognitive style, but not for visual style. Auditory assessment of cognitive style may have important implications for adults' as well as children's reading.

The Relationship of Cognitive Style and Phonics Instruction

AbstractThis study examined the reading achievement patterns of impulsives and reflectives under varying phonics approaches in beginning reading instruction. The study used 170 second grade students who were classified as having an impulsive or reflective cognitive style and as receiving phonics instruction via an analytic or synthetic approach. Achievement in vocabulary and comprehension was measured by the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test. As such, the investigation was a post-hoc aptitude-treatment interaction study employing a step- down analysis model. Results supported the existing body of research which indicates that reflectives tend to be better readers than impulsives. However, multivariate analyses indicated reflectives in the synthetic approach performed significantly better than impulsives only in vocabulary. Under an analytic approach, the reverse was true; reflectives were significantly better only on the variable of comprehension. While the limitations of the study should be considered, it wa...

Modification of Impulsive Cognitive Style: A Survey of the Literature

Cognitive style, in particular, the dimension of reflection-impulsivity, is a significant characteristic of subjects in learning. Previous investigations suggest that learners of an impulsive cognitive style are at a seeming disadvantage in problem-solving situations. Surveyed are investigations of procedures designed to alter an impulsive problem-solving disposition. Among the conclusions are: (1) reinforcement techniques induce short-term change in an impulsive cognitive style; (2) reflective modeling significantly modifies impulsive behavior; (3) instruction in scanning strategies alters impulsiveness on problem-solving tasks; and, (4) training in discrimination of distinctive features aids impulsive learners. As an alternative to modifying impulsiveness in learners, the authors propose that explorations of how the environment may be made compatible with the child be undertaken.

Impulsive cognitive style: Three modification techniques

Fifty-five boys aged 8-11, categorized as impulsives by means of the Matching Familiar Figures test, participated in a study comparing the effects of three different techniques, designed to change an impulsive cognitive style on response accuracy and response latency. One group of impulsives was trained to increase response latency by means of modeling and instructions. A second group was trained to increase response accuracy by a strategy of visual detailing. The third group was trained to increase response accuracy by a strategy of visual discrimination. The two groups trained to increase response accuracy showed a significant decrease in errors, as well as an increase in response latency. The “visual discrimination” group had a significantly shorter response latency than the “visual detailing” group. Subjects trained only to increase response latency did show a significant increase in latency; however, there was no decrease in errors.

The functional independence of response latency and accuracy: implications for the concept of conceptual tempo.

Kagan (1965a) developed the concepts of impulsive and reflective cognitive styles (conceptual tempo) to add a new dimension to the understanding and assessment of human intelligence. Although latency (the principal component of conceptual tempo) is negatively correlated with academic performance, it may not be necessary to modify latency in order to modify accuracy.. With 40 disadvantaged preschool children, it was found that reinforcing long latencies in choice tasks did not increase accuracy and vice versa, and that reinforcing both long latencies and accuracy was no more effective than reinforcing accuracy alone. These data were used to question the usefulness of the construct of conceptual tempo.

Modification of an impulsive cognitive tempo in emotionally disturbed boys

In order to determine the relative effectiveness of verbal self-instructions and training to delay before responding in modifying an impulsive cognitive style, 15 impulsive emotionally disturbed boys were assigned to one of three groups. The cognitive-training group was given practice in verbal self-instructions, the delay-training group received practice in delaying before responding, and the control group received no training. Posttreatment scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test showed a significant increase in latencies for both the cognitive and delay-training groups. However, only the cognitive-training group, which had received practice in verbal self-instructions, made fewer errors following training. Implications for future research and potential treatment strategies for verbal self-instructions are discussed.