Measures Of Cognitive Ability Research Articles

Cognitive ability impact on life insurance lapsation


 
 
 Life insurance is an important household risk management and financial tool. Policy lapsation has economic effects on life insurance companies, policyholders, and beneficiaries that may be detrimental when these lapses are unexpected. Prior literature examined several hypotheses of life insurance lapse focusing mainly on macroeconomic factors using aggregate data and household microeconomic factors using household-level data. We introduce and test individual cognitive ability variables in a model of the life insurance voluntary lapse decision by individual policyholders using household-level data from the Health and Retirement Study. We find that one measure of cognitive ability, in particular, numer- acy, is related to the voluntary lapse decision. While controlling for numeracy, we find evidence that those individuals with higher levels of net worth are less likely to voluntarily lapse a policy which is consistent with the emergency fund hypothesis. We introduce a new measure of liquidity shock, kids moving home, into the model and find it has a strong positive relationship with the decision to voluntar- ily lapse a policy. Consistent with life insurance demand theory, we find that those who have recently entered retirement are more likely to lapse their policy.
 
 

Using adaptive behavior scores to convey level of functioning in children with autism spectrum disorder: Evidence from the Study to Explore Early Development.

Autistic people are often described as "low-" or "high-functioning" based on their scores on cognitive tests. These terms are common in publications and in everyday communication. However, recent research and feedback from the autistic community suggests that relying on cognitive ability alone to describe functioning may miss meaningful differences in the abilities of autistic children and adults and in the kinds of support they may need. Additional methods are needed to describe "functioning" in autistic children. We examined whether scores from a test measuring adaptive behaviors would provide information on the functional abilities of children with autism that is different from cognitive ability and autism symptom severity. Adaptive behaviors include age-appropriate skills that allow people to function in their everyday lives and social interactions. We found that a large amount of the variation in adaptive behavior scores was not explained by cognitive development, autism symptom severity, and behavioral and emotional problems. In addition, there was a wide range of adaptive ability levels in children with autism in our study, including in those with low, average, or high cognitive scores. Our results suggest that adaptive behavior scores could provide useful information about the strengths and support needs of autistic children above and beyond measures of cognitive ability and autism symptom severity. Adaptive behavior scores provide important information on the needs of autistic people.

The association between intelligence and financial literacy: A conceptual and meta-analytic review

Financial literacy is positively associated with intelligence, with typically moderate to large effect sizes across studies. The magnitude of the effect, however, has not yet been estimated meta-analytically. Such results suggest financial literacy may be conceptualised as a possible cognitive ability within the Cattel-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of cognitive abilities. Consequently, we present a psychometric meta-analysis that estimated the true score correlation between cognitive ability and financial literacy. We identified a large, positive correlation with general intelligence (r’ = .62; k = 64, N = 62,194). We also found that financial literacy shared a substantial amount of variance with quantitative knowledge (Gq; via numeracy; r’ = .69; k = 42, N = 35,611), comprehension knowledge (crystallised intelligence; Gc; r’ = .48; k = 14, N = 10,835), and fluid reasoning (fluid intelligence; Gf; r’ = .48; k =20, N = 15,101). Furthermore, meta-analytic structural equation modelling revealed Gq partially mediated the association between cognitive ability (excluding Gq) and financial literacy. Additionally, both Gc and Gq had significant direct effects on financial literacy, whereas the total effect of Gf on financial literacy was fully mediated by a combination of Gc and Gq. While the meta-analyses provide preliminary support for the potential inclusion of financial literacy as primarily a Gc or Gq ability within the CHC taxonomy (rather than Gf), the review revealed that very few studies employed comprehensive cognitive ability measures and/or psychometrically robust financial literacy tests. Consequently, the review highlighted the need for future factor analytic research to evaluate financial literacy as a candidate for inclusion in the CHC taxonomy.

The heritability of ability tilts

Tilts arise from within-subject differences in performance between two distinct cognitive ability measures (e.g., verbal minus quantitative). These are independent of general cognitive ability (GCA) and are likely a function of differential investment of time and other resources into the cultivation of one ability, at the expense of another. There is some debate about the meaning and measurement of tilts among psychometricians, but a body of research is emerging demonstrating that these are predictive of real-world outcomes independent of GCA. An open question concerns the heritability of tilts. Since nearly all phenotypic individual differences are heritable, tilts, if substantive, should not be an exception. It was found that tilts are modestly heritable (after controlling for participant age and residual correlations with GCA) in three samples (US children, Georgia Twin Study; Swedish adults, Swedish Twin Registry; US adults, MIDUS II). AE models better fit the tilt data in all but one case (Verbal - Reasoning, in the GTS, where an ACE model better fit the data). Comparatively large (non-shared) environmentalities were noted in all cases, potentially consistent with models predicting a role for niche-picking and experience-producing-drive dynamics in generating tilts. A Wilson-like effect was observed when the tilt heritabilities in the GTS were compared with their equivalent parameters in the other two (older) samples. The finding that tilts exhibit non-zero heritability in different age ranges and in two countries strengthens their external validity, and weakens claims that they are measurement artifacts, as predisposing genetic and environmental factors are part of their nomological network.

Cross-National Generalizability of WISC-V and CHC Broad Ability Constructs across France, Spain, and the US.

The Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model is based on psychometric cognitive ability research and is the most empirically supported model of cognitive ability constructs. This study is one in a series of cross-national comparisons investigating the equivalence and generalizability of psychological constructs which align with the CHC model. Previous research exploring the cross-cultural generalizability of cognitive ability measures concluded that the factor analytic models of cognitive abilities generalize across cultures and are compatible with well-established CHC constructs. The equivalence of the psychological constructs, as measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V), has been established across English-speaking samples. However, few studies have explored the equivalence of psychological constructs across non-English speaking, nationally representative samples. This study explored the equivalence of the WISC-V five-factor model across standardization samples from France, Spain, and the US. The five-factor scoring model demonstrated excellent fit across the three samples independently. Factorial invariance was investigated and the results demonstrated strict factorial invariance across France, Spain, and the US. The results provide further support for the generalizability of CHC constructs across Western cultural populations that speak different languages and support the continued use and development of the CHC model as a common nomenclature and blueprint for cognitive ability researchers and test developers. Suggestions for future research on the CHC model of intelligence are discussed.

Three year outcomes in infants with a family history of autism and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Most research on early outcomes in infants with a family history (FH) of autism has focussed on categorically defined autism, although some have language and developmental delays. Less is known about outcomes in infants with a FH of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Infants with and without a FH of autism and/or ADHD, due to a first-degree relative with either or both conditions, were recruited at 5 or 10months. Three year outcomes were characterised using latent profile analysis (LPA) across measures of cognitive ability, adaptive functioning and autism, ADHD and anxiety traits (n=131). We additionally ran an LPA using only autism and ADHD measures, and the broader LPA in an independent cohort (n=139) and in both cohorts combined (n=270). A Low Developmental Level+High Behavioural Concerns class had elevated autism, ADHD and anxiety scores, low cognitive and adaptive function, and included all but one child with autism. A Low Developmental Level+Typical Behaviour class had average cognitive ability and typical behaviour but low adaptive function. A Typical Developmental Level+Some Behavioural Concerns class had average cognitive and adaptive function but slightly elevated behaviour scores. A High Developmental Level+Typical Behaviour class had above average cognitive ability and typical behaviour. All four LPAs identified classes characterised by combinations of either, or both, Low Development Level and elevated behaviour scores, as well as a typically developing class. No classes had elevated autism or ADHD traits in isolation. Some infants with a FH of autism or ADHD have atypical developmental and behavioural outcomes, but do not show strong autism or ADHD traits in isolation. The field needs to recalibrate aims and methods to embrace the broader transdiagnostic pattern of outcomes seen in these infants.

More frequent naps are associated with lower cognitive development in a cohort of 8-38-month-old children, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

How often a child naps, during infancy, is believed to reflect both intrinsic factors, that is, the need of an immature brain to consolidate information soon after it is acquired, and environmental factors. Difficulty accounting for important environmental factors that interfere with a child's sleep needs (e.g., attending daycare) has clouded our ability to understand the role of intrinsic drivers of napping frequency. Here we investigate sleep patterns in association with two measures of cognitive ability, vocabulary size, measured with the Oxford-Communicative Development Inventory (N=298) and cognitive executive functions (EF), measured with the Early EF Questionnaire (N=463), in a cohort of 8-38-month-olds. Importantly, because of the social distancing measures imposed during the Covid-19 Spring 2020 lockdown, in the UK, measures of sleep were taken when children did not access daycare settings. We find that children with more frequent but shorter naps than expected for their age had lower concurrent receptive vocabularies, lower cognitive EF and a slower increase in expressive vocabulary from spring to winter 2020, when age, sex, and SES were accounted for. The negative association between vocabulary and frequency of naps became stronger with age. These findings suggest that the structure of daytime sleep is an indicator of cognitive development and highlight the importance of considering environmental perturbations and age when investigating developmental correlates of sleep.

Pre-pandemic family resources and child self-regulation in children's internalizing problems during COVID-19: a multi-level social-ecological framework for emotional resilience.

Children's psychological adjustment to adverse events can be determined by multiple risk and resilience factors. This study explored multi-level protective factors against children's internalizing problems and investigated the mechanism regarding how diverse environmental and child-level resources influence children's mental health in the context of COVID-19. Our participants included a nationally representative sample of 2,619 young children (48.3% girls) and their primary caregivers (95.1% mothers) in Singapore. They were a subset of the participants in the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study (SG LEADS). Data were collected over two waves-before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (Wave 1) when these children aged 3 to 6, and during the second year of the pandemic (Wave 2). Primary caregivers completed measures of verbal cognitive ability, self-control, economic stress, and positive and negative parental control in Wave 1. Children's self-regulation was assessed by the Delay of Gratification task in Wave 1, and their internalizing problems were rated by their primary caregivers in both waves. Other pre-pandemic family and community characteristics were collected as covariates. Structural equation modeling was performed. Pre-pandemic parental resources (i.e., verbal cognitive ability, self-control, and low economic stress) predicted children's fewer internalizing problems during the pandemic and less aggravation of internalizing problems from before to during the pandemic, through more positive parental control (i.e., limit setting) and less negative parental control (i.e., harsh discipline). Moreover, children's self-regulation during early childhood was predicted by their primary caregivers' verbal cognitive ability and self-control, as well as positive parental control. Early childhood self-regulation further alleviated the aggravation of internalizing problems over time. Among the covariates, parental education, family income, parental psychological well-being, living with both parents, having a live-in domestic helper, and neighborhood quality also longitudinally predicted fewer child internalizing problems. Our findings underscore the importance of nurturing children's emotional resilience under adverse and uncertain circumstances by boosting protective factors in their social-ecological system, including community-, family-, parent-, and child-level resources.

A Clinic-Based Measure of Everyday Planning Ability: The Overnight Trip Task.

Traditional measures of cognitive abilities most used by neuropsychologists are generally low in ecological validity and only capture a small proportion of the variance of a person's true functional capacity. This study evaluates the association between clinic-based performance and parallel real-world completion of an everyday planning test, the Overnight Trip Task (OTT). A cross-sectional cohort of 65 community-dwelling older adults completed a battery of cognitive assessments and two formats of the OTT: the paper-and-pencil clinic OTT, which was completed remotely through video conferencing (Zoom), and the parallel real-world OTT (RW-OTT), which was completed at home between sessions. Both formats required participants to plan for what they would pack and prepare for a hypothetical overnight trip based on a provided story that included rules and embedded contingencies. The clinic OTT demonstrated a small-to-moderate relationship with the RW-OTT (r = 0.35) and no relationship with measures of learning, long delay recall, an executive function composite, and a measure of everyday planning. Hierarchical regressions indicated that the clinic OTT demonstrated incremental validity above an executive function composite measure and global cognition when predicting self-reported everyday functioning and RW-OTT performance. The clinic OTT showed only modest association with the RW-OTT and discriminate but not convergent validity was demonstrated. The clinic OTT showed incremental validity when predicting self-reported everyday functioning and RW-OTT performance above more traditional measures. Before the clinic OTT could be considered a reliable and valid clinic-based measure for predicting real-world behavior, additional research would be needed.

The Athletic Intelligence Quotient and performance in the National Basketball Association.

Prior to selecting an NBA player, teams consider multiple factors, including game film and tests of agility, strength, speed, anthropometry, and personality. In recent years, as the other major professional sports have begun to place greater emphasis on the measurement of cognitive abilities, so too have representatives in the NBA. In this study, the predictive validity of an empirically-supported measure of cognitive ability (AIQ) was examined vis-à-vis performance outcomes in the NBA. Specifically, AIQ scores were obtained from 356 NBA prospects prior to their draft between 2014 and 2019. The players' professional status and subsequent performance were assessed through composite and isolated NBA statistics. ANOVAs demonstrated that there were significant differences between NBA and non-NBA players, and subsequent independent samples t-tests revealed that NBA players had significantly higher AIQ scores than non-NBA players for 3 out of 4 factors and the Full Scale AIQ Score. Additionally, using hierarchical multiple regression analyses, it was demonstrated that the AIQ predicted some modest statistically significant relationships with multiple NBA stats (e.g., Player Efficiency Rating, Effective Field Goal Percentage), after controlling for the impact of draft placement. While the effect sizes for these differences and relationships were somewhat small, such findings are consistent with sport analytics and the restricted range when evaluating professional athletes. Given the expanding role of analytics and cognitive assessment in the NBA, the potential importance of the AIQ is considered in the draft process.

The Patient Generated Index (PGI) as an early-warning system for predicting brain health challenges: a prospective cohort study for people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

In research people are often asked to fill out questionnaires about their health and functioning and some of the questions refer to serious health concerns. Typically, these concerns are not identified until the statistician analyses the data. An alternative is to use an individualized measure, the PatientGenerated Index (PGI) where people are asked to self-nominate areas of concern which can then be dealt with in real-time. This study estimates the extent to which self-nominated areas of concern related to mood, anxiety and cognition predict the presence or occurrence of brain health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, psychological distress, or cognitive impairment among people aging with HIV at study entry and for successive assessments over 27months. The data comes from participants enrolled in the Positive Brain Health Now (+ BHN) cohort (n = 856). We analyzed the self-nominated areas that participants wrote on the PGI and classified them into seven sentiment groups according to the type of sentiment expressed: emotional, interpersonal, anxiety, depressogenic, somatic, cognitive and positive sentiments. Tokenization was used to convert qualitative data into quantifiable tokens. A longitudinal design was used to link these sentiment groups to the presence or emergence of brain health outcomes as assessed using standardized measures of these constructs: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Mental Health Index (MHI) of the RAND-36, the Communicating Cognitive Concerns Questionnaire (C3Q) and the Brief Cognitive Ability Measure (B-CAM). Logistic regressions were used to estimate the goodness of fit of each model using the c-statistic. Emotional sentiments predicted all of the brain health outcomes at all visits with adjusted odds ratios (OR) ranging from 1.61 to 2.00 and c-statistics > 0.73 (good to excellent prediction). Nominating an anxiety sentiment was specific to predicting anxiety and psychological distress (OR 1.65 & 1.52); nominating a cognitive concern was specific to predicting self-reported cognitive ability (OR 4.78). Positive sentiments were predictive of good cognitive function (OR 0.36) and protective of depressive symptoms (OR 0.55). This study indicates the value of using this semi-qualitative approach as an early-warning system in predicting brain health outcomes.

Evidence for an amodal domain-general object recognition ability

A general object recognition ability predicts performance across a variety of high-level visual tests, categories, and performance in haptic recognition. Does this ability extend to auditory recognition? Vision and haptics tap into similar representations of shape and texture. In contrast, features of auditory perception like pitch, timbre, or loudness do not readily translate into shape percepts related to edges, surfaces, or spatial arrangement of parts. We find that an auditory object recognition ability correlates highly with a visual object recognition ability after controlling for general intelligence, perceptual speed, low-level visual ability, and memory ability. Auditory object recognition was a stronger predictor of visual object recognition than all control measures across two experiments, even though those control variables were also tested visually. These results point towards a single high-level ability used in both vision and audition. Much work highlights how the integration of visual and auditory information is important in specific domains (e.g., speech, music), with evidence for some overlap of visual and auditory neural representations. Our results are the first to reveal a domain-general ability, o, that predicts object recognition performance in both visual and auditory tests. Because o is domain-general, it reveals mechanisms that apply across a wide range of situations, independent of experience and knowledge. As o is distinct from general intelligence, it is well positioned to potentially add predictive validity when explaining individual differences in a variety of tasks, above and beyond measures of common cognitive abilities like general intelligence and working memory.

Original research: longitudinal evaluation of cognitively demanding daily function using performance-based functional assessment highlights heterogeneous trajectories in cognitive and functional abilities in people with Parkinson's disease.

Longitudinal assessment of functional abilities in Parkinson's disease (PD) is needed to determine the efficacy of cognitive interventions in providing meaningful improvements in daily life. Additionally, subtle changes in instrumental activities of daily living may precede a clinical diagnosis of dementia and could aid earlier detection of and intervention for cognitive decline. The primary goal was to validate the longitudinal application of the University of California San Diego Performance-Based Skills Assessment (UPSA). An exploratory secondary goal was to determine whether UPSA may identify individuals at higher risk of cognitive decline in PD. Seventy participants with PD completed the UPSA with at least one follow-up visit. Linear mixed effects modeling was used to identify associations between baseline UPSA score and cognitive composite score (CCS) over time. Descriptive analysis of four heterogeneous cognitive and functional trajectory groups and individual case examples was performed. Baseline UPSA score predicted CCS at each timepoint for functionally impaired and unimpaired groups (p < 0.01) but did not predict the rate change in CCS over time (p = 0.83). Participants displayed heterogenous trajectories in both UPSA and CCS during the follow-up period. Most participants maintained both cognitive and functional performance (n = 54), though some displayed cognitive and functional decline (n = 4), cognitive decline with functional maintenance (n = 4), and functional decline with cognitive maintenance (n = 8). The UPSA is a valid measure of cognitive functional abilities over time in PD. Given the heterogeneity of functional and cognitive trajectories, this performance-based assessment did not predict cognitive decline with this relatively short follow-up. Further work is needed to understand longitudinal functional assessments in PD-associated cognitive impairment.

Visual-Motor Integration Deficits in 3q29 Deletion Syndrome

3q29 deletion syndrome (3q29del) is associated with neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental phenotypes. We previously reported that graphomotor weakness is present in up to 78% of individuals with 3q29del. We have now explored nuances of the graphomotor phenotype and its association with other comorbidities in this population. Participants were recruited from the online 3q29 registry (3q29deletion.org) for two days of deep phenotyping. 32 individuals with 3q29del (62.5% male) were evaluated with the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) to assess visual-motor integration. Participants were also evaluated with measures of cognitive ability, executive function, adaptive behavior, and school function. Males with 3q29del performed significantly worse than females on the VMI and Motor Coordination subtest. VMI performance was significantly associated with ADHD diagnosis and cognitive ability. Compared to published data from individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, individuals with 3q29del showed significantly more impairment. The 3q29 deletion is associated with substantial deficits in visual-motor integration, Visual Perception, and Motor Coordination. Our data suggests that 3q29del may qualify as a nonverbal learning disability. Future studies should assess whether individuals with 3q29del would benefit from early interventions, including occupational therapy.

Are we as intelligent as we think? Adaptation study of ICAR-16 into Turkish

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between self-estimated intelligence and cognitive ability scores in a sample of Turkish-speaking adults. A total of 278 participants (mean age = 28.6, SD = 5.76, female = 65 %) took part in the study. The International Cognitive Ability Resource 16-Item Sample Test (ICAR-16) was first translated into Turkish, and its validity and reliability were assessed using second-order confirmatory factor analysis. Additionally, we examined score differences between educational level and sex groups. Our findings indicate that the Turkish form of the ICAR-16 is a valid and reliable measure of cognitive ability in the Turkish-speaking population. Interestingly, almost 80 % of participants rated their intelligence as above average, with males reporting significantly higher self-estimated intelligence scores than females. However, we found no significant relationship between self-estimated intelligence and ICAR-16 scores. These results suggest that there may be a discrepancy between our perceived intelligence and our actual cognitive ability, or that we may have a fallacious understanding of our intelligence levels.

Dual Task Performance in Adolescents With Idiopathic Scoliosis.

Daily life activities commonly include many combinations of dual tasks. Although dual task ability has been studied in healthy young adults, dual task performance in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis (IS) has not been explored. Our objective in this study was to investigate dual task performance in adolescents with IS. We paired 33 adolescents diagnosed with IS and 33 healthy control participants (age range: 11-17years) and administered to both groups the Stroop Color and Word test as a measure of cognitive ability, and both the Expanded Timed Up and Go (ETUG) test and the Tandem Gait test as measures of motor tasks. During the motor tasks, we had participants spell five-letter words in reverse and count down by seven from a randomly presented number between 50 and 100 to assess their dual task (cognitive-motor) performance. All cognitive, motor, and dual cognitive-motor test scores differed significantly between the IS and healthy control groups. The time taken to complete all these tasks was longer for participants with IS compared with controls (p < .05). These results revealed diminished performances on dual cognitive-motor tasks among adolescents with IS when compared to peers without IS. Dual task performance is a new research paradigm in the scoliosis rehabilitation field, and it should be further investigated in future studies.

Translocation of bacterial LPS is associated with self-reported cognitive abilities in men living with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy

BackgroundGut damage allows translocation of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and fungal β-D-glucan (BDG) into the blood. This microbial translocation contributes to systemic inflammation and risk of non-AIDS comorbidities in people living with HIV, including those receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). We assessed whether markers of gut damage and microbial translocation were associated with cognition in ART-treated PLWH.MethodsEighty ART-treated men living with HIV from the Positive Brain Health Now Canadian cohort were included. Brief cognitive ability measure (B-CAM) and 20-item patient deficit questionnaire (PDQ) were administered to all participants. Three groups were selected based on their B-CAM levels. We excluded participants who received proton pump inhibitors or antiacids in the past 3 months. Cannabis users were also excluded. Plasma levels of intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP), regenerating islet-derived protein 3 α (REG3α), and lipopolysaccharides (LPS = were quantified by ELISA, while 1–3-β-D-glucan BDG) levels were assessed using the Fungitell assay. Univariable, multivariable, and splines analyses were performed.ResultsPlasma levels of I-FABP, REG3α, LPS and BDG were not different between groups of low, intermediate and high B-CAM levels. However, LPS and REG3α levels were higher in participants with PDQ higher than the median.Multivariable analyses showed that LPS association with PDQ, but not B-CAM, was independent of age and level of education. I-FABP, REG3α, and BDG levels were not associated with B-CAM nor PDQ levels in multivariable analyses.ConclusionIn this well characterized cohort of ART-treated men living with HIV, bacterial but not fungal translocation was associated with presence of cognitive difficulties. These results need replication in larger samples.

The problem with confidence: too much and too little results in poorer achievement, inner conflict, and social inhibition.

Confidence is defined as the feelings and thoughts people have during a task that result in judgments about their performance. Evidence suggests that confidence is trait-like, but thus far research on the relative match between confidence and accuracy has been primarily restricted to over-confidence effects, and subject to the methodological flaws involved with using difference scores. We sought to answer an exploratory question in this research, whether discrepancies in ability and confidence in either direction reliably predicted individual differences on a broad-spectrum and commercially available personality test, the California Psychological Inventory (CPI260). Participants were 220 employed adults who had previously taken the CPI260 for career development purposes. They were invited to complete a measure of cognitive ability and confidence in return for feedback on the same. Data were modeled using polynomial regression and response surface analysis, to determine whether and how CPI260 personality traits were associated with matches or mismatches between accuracy and confidence in the same test. We identified negative curvilinear effects along the line of disagreement for four CPI260 scales, suggesting that both under- and over-confidence were associated with personality. In contrast to our expectations, individuals who were under-confident and those who were over-confident had lower achievement potential, less social confidence, and more inner conflict than other individuals in this sample. Although preliminary, these findings suggest that both over-confident and under-confident individuals are aware of potential weaknesses that impede their functioning.

Biometrically Measured Affect for Screen-Based Drone Pilot Skill Acquisition

Drones have been used increasingly to aid in Industry 4.0 activities including inspection of the nation’s infrastructure. We investigate several potential underlying affective behaviors related to drone pilot skill acquisition, with the eventual goal of developing methods to enhance human performance. We employ Electroencephalography (EEG) and Eye tracking instrumentation to measure human affect in a series of simulated drone piloting experiments to examine performance using behavioral variables, controller input variables, as well as measures of individual cognitive ability. Current results show that task difficulty impacts the performance/learning process and varies by the nature of the task. The behavioral and biometric measures associated with performance/learning varied significantly among activities. We conclude that drone specifications and training requirements can and should be calibrated to the drone mission. In addition to developing specifications and training requirements, psychological and behavioral measures can also serve as theoretical foundations for modeling complex tasks.

Conscientiousness and Cognitive Abilities: a Meta-Analysis

This paper analyzes the current state of knowledge regarding the relationship between Conscientiousness and cognitive ability. The association between the two variables, the correlation between the sub-factors of Conscientiousness and cognitive ability and the impact of the sample type on the relationship were explored. Following a systematic literature review, 81 unique studies were identified. In terms of inclusion criteria, studies had to (1) report any link between Conscientiousness and cognitive ability, (2) conceptualize Conscientiousness through the Big Five model, and (3) report a measure of cognitive ability (regardless of conceptualization). Several random-effects meta-analyses were conducted, obtaining meta-analytical correlations of .02, -.06 and -.06 between Conscientiousness (global) and cognitive abilities (global), crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence, respectively. Moreover, for the correlations between the facets of Conscientiousness and cognitive abilities, 6 random-effect models were carried out, however the evidence was statistically significant only in the case of order and achievement striving scales. Finally, the sample type was considered as a potential moderator of the relationship between conscientiousness and cognitive ability, but it was not supported by the available data. These findings were discussed within the context of the relevant literature and several limitations and directions for future research were also taken into consideration.