Measures Of Cognitive Ability Research Articles

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VIOLENT CRIME INCIDENT PROXIMITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN OLDER AFRICAN AMERICANS

Abstract Research on Area Deprivation Index (ADI) suggests that the built environment and neighborhood stressors (e.g., violent crime incidents) play a role in later-life cognitive function. However, most of the research linking ADI and cognitive function was conducted on majority White American samples. Further, while ADI is useful in facilitating efficient integration of social determinants of health (SDOH) into models of cognitive aging, it does not account for the impact of micro-level measures of neighborhood stressors on cognitive function. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to determine whether violent crime incident proximity (VCIP) contributes to later-life cognitive function above and beyond ADI in older African Americans. Participants (N=147; M= 68.34) from an ongoing study, Pathways to Healthy Aging in African Americans—a Rutgers University-Newark community partnership fostered over 16 years of community engagement, health education, and public service—responded to measures of cognitive ability, SDOH, and demographic details. The results show that VCIP is a trending predictor of cognitive performance, when adjusting for age, gender, education, depression, and ADI. The result aligns with our hypothesis that individuals living in areas with greater VCIP will have poorer performance on cognitive tasks. Our findings suggest that for African Americans in an urban setting, hyper-local VCIP appears to be more useful at capturing the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease risk. Therefore, for later-life cognitive health in African Americans, it is important to consider micro-level measures of neighborhood stressors such as VCIP.

THE EFFECT OF MOOD ON SELF-REPORTED COGNITION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH HIV

Abstract Older adults with HIV may experience cognitive changes. The Patient Assessment of Own Functioning Inventory (PAOFI) is a self-report measure of cognitive abilities with memory, language, and cognitive/intellectual functions domains. Self-reported cognition can be influenced by many factors. This study examined the relationship between demographics, performance-based cognitive tests, mood, and self-reported cognition in a sample of 23 HIV-positive individuals (mean age=56.7). The PAOFI memory domain positively correlated with depression (PHQ-9; r=.64, p=.001) and anxiety (GAD-7; r=.48, p=.019), but not tests of cognition. The PAOFI cognitive/intellectual functions domain also positively correlated with the PHQ-9 (r=.65, p=.001) and the GAD-7 (r=.66, p=.001), but not cognitive tests. Regression analysis found similar models for both domains. Both models included education, race, anxiety, and delayed recall. Depression was the only unique variable in the memory model, F(5, 17)=4.09, p=.013, R2=.55, and word reading was unique to the cognitive/intellectual functions model, F(5, 15) = 6.91, p = .002, R2 = .70. In contrast, the language domain correlated negatively with four cognitive measures: word reading (r=-.46, p=.038), learning of a word list (r=-.47, p=-.024), delayed recall of a word list (r=-.51, p=.012), and verbal fluency (r=-.49, p=.045). Regression analysis found age, gender, depression, word reading, and delayed recall predict PAOFI language scores, F(5, 15)=6.27, p=.002, R2=.68. These findings suggest mood, demographics, and performance on cognitive tests are related to self-reported cognition. Mood is likely a better predictor of self-reported memory and higher-level cognitive abilities, and cognitive tests may better predict self-reported language abilities.

Patient Self‐Reported Cognitive Ability and Self‐Reported Confidence in Symptom/Medication Management in People with Dementia Disorders: Twin Pillars of Truth or Illusion for Clinicians?

AbstractBackgroundDementia associated diseases (DAD) refers to clinical conditions characterized by progressive impairment of cognition that interferes with an individual’s ability to function independently due to such cognitive impairment (CI). Clinically, CI can vary in degree and combination across multiple important cognitive domains (CD). Clinician and patient with DAD (PwDAD) self‐awareness/recognition of such varied types/degrees of CI might not only be sub‐optimal or inaccurate, but unable to recognize subtle change or provide quantitative information across multiple CD. Patient self‐reported outcome measures (PRO) are now often incorporated into routine care to gauge cognitive impairment, disability progression and participation in self‐management of symptoms, medications and shared decision making. Clinicians rely on patient provided information/history to treatment decisions. Incorporating PRO measures into routine care has increased and impacts care plans and decision‐making. Both accurate and reliable information is needed by clinicians to improve clinical decision‐making and outcomes as well as to avoid unanticipated/adverse outcomes.MethodRetrospective cross‐sectional analysis of PwDAD who have completed PRO on the same day for both the Self‐Efficacy for PROMIS Managing Symptom s‐SF 8a (MS‐SF) and Neuro‐QOL Cognition Function‐SF (CF‐SF) in the course of routine care. Linear regression analysis of relationship was explored with significance (p<0.05)Results205 PwDaD, 65% female, average age 70 +/‐ 15 years. A significant positive correlation was found between the MS‐SF and CF‐SF reflecting the patient’s perceived cognition abilities and self‐reported self‐confidence in managing their symptoms (r2 = 0.5, p‐value<0.01).ConclusionPwDaD who report higher self‐efficacy/confidence with managing medications on MS‐SF also report higher self‐perception of cognitive functioning on CF‐SF. Low perceived cognitive ability tracks with low confidence in managing symptoms. However, CF‐SF does not track with actual measures of cognitive performance suggesting that clinicians can be misled by relying on patient self‐reported confidence of symptom management. Accurate measurements of both cognitive ability and patient ability to self‐management symptoms are needed in real world care to intervene proactively and improve outcomes.

A digital biomarker for remote self‐assessment of Alzheimer’s Diseases: development and validation

AbstractBackgroundOnline data‐collection provide an opportunity for Alzheimer’s Disease research to collect large datasets crucial for understanding important public health concerns. However, the reliability of online tasks as compared to those administered in the lab is poorly examined. Our goal is to validate an online version of the short‐term memory‐binding task (STMBT), a potential digital biomarker sensitive to Alzheimer’s Disease (Parra et al., 2010), to understand if data collected online in two environments, at‐home and in the lab, is comparable.MethodWe created an online version of the STMBT task using Psytoolkit (Stoet 2010; Stoet 2017). Development involved piloting, group and user discussions to explore how such a novel tool could be best presented for self‐assessment. Useful insights led to refinement of the online tool (i.e., instruction videos, images, and text). The validation stage involves test‐retest reliability assessment of cognitively fit participants (aged >40 years) who complete the two conditions of this paradigm (i.e., shape only and binding). Task Environment (home and in the lab) and conditions (shape and binding) were fully counterbalanced. Measures of general cognitive abilities, anxiety and at‐home environment were also taken.ResultRecruitment is on‐going, but preliminary data (n = 10) has already proved informative. A repeated measures ANOVA looking at task‐accuracy with factors of Environment (home vs. lab) and Condition (shape vs. binding) revealed no significant effects of Environment: F(1, 9) = 0.308, p = .591; Condition: F(1, 9) = 2.202, p = .172); or Interaction: F(1, 9) = 0.308, p = .591). For the shape condition, all participants performed near ceiling regardless of testing environment. In the binding condition, we observed good‐to‐excellent test‐retest reliability between environments using single measures interclass correlation (ICC = 0.954, CI 0.83‐0.99, (F(9, 9) = 39.62, p <.001).ConclusionThese preliminary results indicate the STMBT can provide reliable data when self‐administered using an online version of the task which has important implications for public health researchers. For our fully powered sample, we will provide summary of other measures.

A digital biomarker for remote self-assessment of Alzheimer's Diseases: development and validation.

Online data-collection provide an opportunity for Alzheimer's Disease research to collect large datasets crucial for understanding important public health concerns. However, the reliability of online tasks as compared to those administered in the lab is poorly examined. Our goal is to validate an online version of the short-term memory-binding task (STMBT), a potential digital biomarker sensitive to Alzheimer's Disease (Parra et al., 2010), to understand if data collected online in two environments, at-home and in the lab, is comparable. We created an online version of the STMBT task using Psytoolkit (Stoet 2010; Stoet 2017). Development involved piloting, group and user discussions to explore how such a novel tool could be best presented for self-assessment. Useful insights led to refinement of the online tool (i.e., instruction videos, images, and text). The validation stage involves test-retest reliability assessment of cognitively fit participants (aged >40 years) who complete the two conditions of this paradigm (i.e., shape only and binding). Task Environment (home and in the lab) and conditions (shape and binding) were fully counterbalanced. Measures of general cognitive abilities, anxiety and at-home environment were also taken. Recruitment is on-going, but preliminary data (n=10) has already proved informative. A repeated measures ANOVA looking at task-accuracy with factors of Environment (home vs. lab) and Condition (shape vs. binding) revealed no significant effects of Environment: F(1, 9) = 0.308, p = .591; Condition: F(1, 9) = 2.202, p = .172); or Interaction: F(1, 9) = 0.308, p = .591). For the shape condition, all participants performed near ceiling regardless of testing environment. In the binding condition, we observed good-to-excellent test-retest reliability between environments using single measures interclass correlation (ICC = 0.954, CI 0.83-0.99, (F(9, 9) = 39.62, p <.001). These preliminary results indicate the STMBT can provide reliable data when self-administered using an online version of the task which has important implications for public health researchers. For our fully powered sample, we will provide summary of other measures.

Age Differences in Heritability of a Latent Dementia Index Score in Men and Women

AbstractBackgroundHeritability estimates of dementia are ∼50‐60% of the total variance across older adulthood. Earlier age of onset, however, might be associated with greater genetic influence whereas older age of onset might be associated with greater environmental influences. The categorical nature of dementia diagnosis outcomes has made testing the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences on dementia difficult due to low statistical power. To overcome this methodological limitation, we tested linear and quadratic effects of age on genetic and environmental variance underlying a continuous measure of dementia likelihood in men and women.MethodThe analytic sample was 5,670 (53% female) pairs of twins from 10 studies in the Interplay of Genes and Environment Across Multiple Studies (IGEMS) consortium. Dementia likelihood is quantified continuously using a latent dementia index measure that is estimated from twins’ available cognitive, memory‐specific, and functional ability measures. Linear and quadratic age differences in genetic and environmental influences on dementia likelihood were tested by modeling univariate correlation between twins’ dementia scores as a linear function of zygosity and age in Mplus. Separate models were estimated for male and female twin groups.ResultsAge moderated genetic and environmental influences on dementia likelihood scores. Both genetic and nonshared environmental variance increased as a function of age, whereas common environmental variance declined. Sex significantly moderated the effect of zygosity on the twin correlations (monozygotic male: .57, monozygotic female: .51, dizygotic male: .19, dizygotic female: .25). Notably, MZ twin correlations were consistent with previously reported heritability estimates for dementia. The pattern of age moderation was the same in men as women, although the linear effect of age on both genetic and common environmental influences was greater in men than women (see Figure 1).ConclusionAge linearly moderated genetic and environmental variance underlying dementia likelihood similarly for both men and women, despite quantitative genetic and environmental sex differences in dementia likelihood. Genetic variance accounted for similar proportions of total variance at younger ages, whereas genetic variance accounted for greater variance in men than in women at older ages.

The relationship between subconstructs of empathy and general cognitive ability in the context of policing.

Empathy has been widely theorized as an important ability in professions such as policing, in which to perform well individuals require multiple and interacting abilities, not least when resolving conflict situations. Even so, there are few studies investigating how subconstructs of empathy relate to other constructs such as general cognitive ability. The purpose of this paper is to establish, after evaluating psychometric properties, relationships among measures of empathy and cognitive ability in a sample of Swedish police students (n = 157). Multiple latent variable models of how the different measures work to predict tasks that can be seen as proxies for the ability to understand another person's situation and intentions are evaluated to determine the most robust relationship(s) within the data. We find support for the psychometric properties reported in previous studies with the used instruments. We also find support for perspective-taking, a cognitive empathy subconstruct predicting the ability to recognize emotions, and also the affective part of empathy, predicting general cognitive ability. These findings are discussed at length in the paper. This research adds more knowledge to the issue of how general cognitive ability relates to cognitive empathy and other subconstructs of empathy or Theory of Mind.

The Gifted Rating Scales-Preschool/Kindergarten Form (GRS-P): A Preliminary Examination of Their Psychometric Properties in Two Greek Samples.

The present paper is based on data of two samples concerning the Gifted Rating Scales-Preschool/Kindergarten Form (GRS-P) that aimed to gain insight into the psychometric properties (internal consistency reliability, structural and convergent validity) of the Greek version of the GRS-P. In both studies, teachers estimated their students' giftedness with the GRS-P and executive functions with the Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (Study 1). In Study 2, kindergarteners were examined in cognitive measurements which included the colored progressive matrices, the children category test, the Athena test, and the mini-mental state examination. Statistical analyses (EFA, CFA, Cronbach's α, and Pearson's r coefficients) revealed the excellent internal consistency of the scales as well as their good factorial and convergent/discriminant validity. In relation to the children's cognitive ability measures, it emphasized the fact that the GRS-P is a reliable and valid tool for teachers to assess their gifted students in a Greek cultural context.

Exploring communicative competence in autistic children who are minimally verbal: The Low Verbal Investigatory Survey for Autism (LVIS).

Approximately one in three autistic children is unable to communicate with language; this state is often described as minimally verbal. Despite the tremendous clinical implications, we cannot predict whether a minimally verbal child is simply delayed (but will eventually develop spoken language) or will continue to struggle with verbal language, and might therefore benefit from learning an alternative form of communication. This is important for clinicians to know, to be able to choose the most helpful interventions, such as alternative forms of communication. In addition, the field lacks a standard definition of "minimally verbal." Even when we do agree on what the term means (e.g. fewer than 20 words), describing a child based on their lack of words does not tell us whether that child is communicating in other ways or how they are using those 20 words. To address these concerns, we developed the Low Verbal Investigatory Survey (LVIS), a one-page parent-report measure designed to help us characterize how minimally verbal autistic children are communicating. Parents of 147 children (aged 1-8 years) completed the LVIS. Here, we ask (1) whether the survey measures what it was designed to measure, that is, communicative ability in children without much spoken language, and (2) how the LVIS relates to cognitive and language ability, and symptoms of autism. Results suggest that this survey, which takes only 5 min to complete, is a good estimate of the child's communication skills. Furthermore, LVIS survey scores are correlated with other measures of language and cognitive abilities as well as autism symptomatology. The LVIS has the potential to save time and money in both clinical and research efforts to assess communication skills in minimally verbal autistic children.

Individual differences in musical ability among adults with no music training.

Good musical abilities are typically considered to be a consequence of music training, such that they are studied in samples of formally trained individuals. Here, we asked what predicts musical abilities in the absence of music training. Participants with no formal music training (N = 190) completed the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index, measures of personality and cognitive ability, and the Musical Ear Test (MET). The MET is an objective test of musical abilities that provides a Total score and separate scores for its two subtests (Melody and Rhythm), which require listeners to determine whether standard and comparison auditory sequences are identical. MET scores had no associations with personality traits. They correlated positively, however, with informal musical experience and cognitive abilities. Informal musical experience was a better predictor of Melody than of Rhythm scores. Some participants (12%) had Total scores higher than the mean from a sample of musically trained individuals (⩾6 years of formal training), tested previously by Correia et al. Untrained participants with particularly good musical abilities (top 25%, n = 51) scored higher than trained participants on the Rhythm subtest and similarly on the Melody subtest. High-ability untrained participants were also similar to trained ones in cognitive ability, but lower in the personality trait openness-to-experience. These results imply that formal music training is not required to achieve musician-like performance on tests of musical and cognitive abilities. They also suggest that informal music practice and music-related predispositions should be considered in studies of musical expertise.

The gender gap in top jobs – The role of overconfidence

There is a large gender gap in the probability of being in a “top job” in mid-career. Top jobs bring higher earnings, and also have more job security and better career trajectories. Recent literature has raised the possibility that some of this gap may be attributable to women not “leaning in” while men are more overconfident in their abilities. We use longitudinal data from childhood into mid-career and construct a measure of overconfidence using multiple measures of objective cognitive ability and subjective estimated ability. Our measure confirms previous findings that men are more overconfident than women. We then use linear regression and decomposition techniques to account for the gender gap in top jobs including our measure of overconfidence. Our results show that men being more overconfident explains 5–11 percent of the gender gap in top job employment. This indicates that while overconfidence matters for gender inequality in the labor market and has implications for how firms recruit and promote workers, other individual, structural, and societal factors play a larger role.

Cognitive and non-cognitive abilities of immigrants: New perspectives on migrant quality from a selective immigration country

We study innate ability – a traditionally unobserved component of migrant quality – in Australia, one of the top six destination countries worldwide. We proxy innate ability with validated and widely used measures of non-cognitive (personality) and cognitive (task performance) skills. We find that both first- and second-generation immigrants consistently outperform Australian-born residents with no immediate migration background (natives) on socially beneficial personality traits (Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience) and cognitive ability measures associated with high levels of executive function (coding speed), independent of their gender. The migrant pool resulting from the phase in of a selective immigration policy since 1974 was significantly better educated and more diversified in terms of language background relative to earlier arrivals. Although this meant that the point system attracted migrants with poorer English-language skills relative to natives with equal educational attainment, it did not change their innate ability composition or labor market outcomes. We conclude that selecting migrants based on observable quality characteristics did not lead to a migrant pool of lower quality in traditionally unobservable characteristics in the Australian immigration context.

Estimation of Person Ability under Rapid and Effortful Responding.

The goal of the present study was to extend earlier work on the estimation of person theta using maximum likelihood estimation in R by accounting for rapid guessing. This paper provides a modified R function that accommodates person thetas using the Rasch or 2PL models and implements corrections for the presence of rapid guessing or informed guessing behaviors. Initially, a sample of 200 participants was generated using Mplus in order to demonstrate the use of the function with the full sample and a single participant in particular. Subsequently, the function was applied to data from the General Aptitude Test (GAT) and the measurement of cognitive ability. Using a sample of 8500 participants, the present R function was demonstrated. An illustrative example of a single participant, assumed to be either a rapid responder or a successful guesser, is provided using MLE and BME. It was concluded that the present function can contribute to a more valid estimation of person ability.

Alta capacidad intelectual desde la neuroimagen y la pedagogía diferencial. ¿Hablamos de lo mismo?

Advances in neuroimaging techniques have significantly enhanced our ability to study differences in cognitive efficiency in children and adolescents. However, these studies have traditionally used intelligence quotient (IQ) as the sole measure of cognitive ability. Talent development experts are increasingly drawing attention to the major limitations of exclusively using this measure to identify the variables associated with giftedness, in terms of the validity of the construct they intend to measure and in respect of the measurement’s reliability and stability. The aim of this study is to analyse whether the construct of intelligence on which recent neuroimaging studies are based, the type of instrument used to quantify giftedness and the corresponding neurobiological results are consistent with the advances made by differential pedagogy in respect of the multidimensional construct of intelligence. To this end, a systematic review both of neuroimaging research that seeks to explain the neural correlates of giftedness in children and adolescents, on the one hand, and of research focussing more prominently on the field of giftedness development, on the other, has been carried out. The findings suggest that brain networks and dynamics associated with creativity and motivation may have a bearing on cognitive performance variability. However, as the majority of neuroimaging studies continue to use IQ as the sole measure of intellectual ability, most of the data produced by these studies cannot be generalised for the purpose of determining what differential pedagogy experts refer to as “giftedness”.

Self-care or assisted PD: development of a new approach to evaluate manual peritoneal dialysis practice ability

Background Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a home-based therapy which requires the patients or their caregivers to perform the practice. We aimed to develop a practical approach to evaluate PD practice ability of the patients and to identify berries to self-care PD. Methods A structural form was designed comprising measures of physical, cognitive, and operational abilities which were required to perform manual PD independently. The evaluation was jointly conducted by a PD nurse, a nephrologist and a close family member of the patient. Patients who met all the requirements were deemed as capable of performing PD independently (self-care PD) and others were deemed as needing an assistant (assisted PD). Results The evaluation form was applied in 280 prevalent PD patients and 33.9% of them were assessed as needing assisted PD, mainly due to physical (62.1%) or operational (66.3%) disabilities. The evaluation result was consistent with current dialysis status in 79.3% patients and it matched better in patients who performed PD with the help of an assistant (93.0 vs. 76.8%, p = 0.014). Patients who were evaluated as having barriers to self-care PD but still performed PD without an assistant were older and demonstrated higher prevalence of diabetic nephropathy and PD-related infection, lower education level, and lower serum albumin (p < 0.05). Conclusions The PD practice ability assessment form is useful to identify patients with barriers to self-care PD. It provides objective information to the patients and their family to choose feasible PD practice modality, self-care, or assisted PD.

Investigating cognitive ability using action-based models of structural brain networks

Abstract Recent developments in network neuroscience have highlighted the importance of developing techniques for analysing and modelling brain networks. A particularly powerful approach for studying complex neural systems is to formulate generative models that use wiring rules to synthesize networks closely resembling the topology of a given connectome. Successful models can highlight the principles by which a network is organized (identify structural features that arise from wiring rules versus those that emerge) and potentially uncover the mechanisms by which it grows and develops. Previous research has shown that such models can validate the effectiveness of spatial embedding and other (non-spatial) wiring rules in shaping the network topology of the human connectome. In this research, we propose variants of the action-based model that combine a variety of generative factors capable of explaining the topology of the human connectome. We test the descriptive validity of our models by evaluating their ability to explain between-subject variability. Our analysis provides evidence that geometric constraints are vital for connectivity between brain regions, and an action-based model relying on both topological and geometric properties can account for between-subject variability in structural network properties. Further, we test correlations between parameters of subject-optimized models and various measures of cognitive ability and find that higher cognitive ability is associated with an individual’s tendency to form long-range or non-local connections.

An examination of relations between baseline pupil measures and cognitive abilities.

Examining individual differences in pupil size and pupillary dynamics have revealed important insights into the nature of individual differences in cognitive abilities like working memory capacity, long-term memory, attention control, and fluid intelligence. These findings are often tied to the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system, as this system has a tight temporal correlation with pupil diameter. Some recent research has demonstrated positive correlations between resting pupil size and cognitive ability, specifically fluid intelligence. The present study attempted to replicate such relations. Across three studies, a large sample of participants (N = 845) completed batteries of cognitive ability measures and measures of resting pupil size and pupillary hippus (fluctuations in pupil diameter). The cognitive measures comprised tasks previously used to measure attention control, visual short-term memory capacity, fluid intelligence, working memory capacity, and visuospatial ability. At the factor level, cognitive ability and pupil size correlated near zero. We did observe some limited evidence for a negative correlation between resting pupillary hippus and cognitive ability. Given the null findings in the present data, we encourage further replication of relations between resting pupil measures and cognitive abilities before making any strong theoretical conclusions about such relations.

Cognitive empathy across the lifespan.

To describe the development of cognitive empathy across the lifespan from a very large cohort using a standardized measure of cognitive empathy ability. Participants (n=4545, age bands <5y to >75y, 60% female) were a convenience sample recruited voluntarily from visitors to the Glasgow Science Centre in the UK, who completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. When compared to preceding age groups, we found significant developmental gains in empathy ability in children aged 6 to 7 years (p=0.048, d=0.45) and again at 10 to 12 years (p=0.042, d=0.23), followed by a slight reduction in ability during adolescence (p=0.087, d=-0.18), and functional maturity in those aged 19 to 25 years (p=0.001, d=0.76). Cognitive empathy abilities remained relatively stable across adulthood but gradually declined in people over 65 years, with notable decline in males over 75 years (p=0.001, d=-0.98). Females performed better than males at all ages. Understanding developmental issues in cognitive empathy could influence approaches to moral and social education for children, and health and social care support for older people. Standardized cognitive empathy tests could also provide novel approaches in the early detection of developmental vulnerabilities in a range of neurological conditions, and within neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders in which cognitive empathy is known to be impaired. Cognitive empathy is a late-developing ability and changes across the lifespan. Cognitive empathy increases during childhood but with potentially altered abilities during adolescence. Cognitive empathy matures during early adulthood and gradually declines in older age. There is a female advantage in cognitive empathy abilities.

BNT-15: Revised Performance Validity Cutoffs and Proposed Clinical Classification Ranges.

Abbreviated neurocognitive tests offer a practical alternative to full-length versions but often lack clear interpretive guidelines, thereby limiting their clinical utility. To replicate validity cutoffs for the Boston Naming Test-Short Form (BNT-15) and to introduce a clinical classification system for the BNT-15 as a measure of object-naming skills. We collected data from 43 university students and 46 clinical patients. Classification accuracy was computed against psychometrically defined criterion groups. Clinical classification ranges were developed using a z -score transformation. Previously suggested validity cutoffs (≤11 and ≤12) produced comparable classification accuracy among the university students. However, a more conservative cutoff (≤10) was needed with the clinical patients to contain the false-positive rate (0.20-0.38 sensitivity at 0.92-0.96 specificity). As a measure of cognitive ability, a perfect BNT-15 score suggests above average performance; ≤11 suggests clinically significant deficits. Demographically adjusted prorated BNT-15 T-scores correlated strongly (0.86) with the newly developed z -scores. Given its brevity (<5 minutes), ease of administration and scoring, the BNT-15 can function as a useful and cost-effective screening measure for both object-naming/English proficiency and performance validity. The proposed clinical classification ranges provide useful guidelines for practitioners.

Rethinking fast and slow processing in autism.

Following the popularity of dual process models in social and cognitive psychology, there is major interest in the possibility that autism is associated with impaired "fast" intuitive thinking but enhanced "slow" or "rational" deliberative thinking. If correct, this has great potential to help understand various strengths and difficulties characteristic of autism. Previous empirical investigations of this phenomenon, however, are marred by concerns about the measurement of intuitive and deliberative processing, as well as broader problems in clinical psychological science (e.g., small underpowered studies, lack of replication). Making a step change, we conducted four large-scale studies to examine dual processing in autism, including a preregistered comparison of 200 autistic and nonautistic adults. Participants completed contemporary cognitive and self-report measures of intuitive and deliberative processing, as well as a psychometrically robust measure of general cognitive ability. Except for lower self-reported intuitive thinking, we found no unique contributions of autism to intuitive or deliberative thinking across all four studies, as evidenced by frequentist and Bayesian analyses. Overall, these studies indicate that intuitive and deliberative thinking is neither enhanced nor particularly impaired in relation to autism. We deliberate on the implications of these findings for theories of autism and future investigation of strengths and difficulties in autistic people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).