Origins Of Individual Differences Research Articles

The influence of oral vocabulary knowledge on individual differences in a computational model of reading

Studies have demonstrated systematic individual differences in the degree of semantic reliance (SR) when reading aloud exception words in adult skilled readers. However, the origins of individual differences in reading remain unclear. Using a connectionist model of reading, this study investigated whether oral vocabulary knowledge may affect the degree of SR as a potential source of individual differences in reading. Variety in oral vocabulary knowledge was simulated by training the model to learn the mappings between spoken and meaning word forms with different vocabulary sizes and quantities of exposure to these vocabularies. The model’s SR in the reading aloud task was computed. The result demonstrated that the model with varying amounts of oral exposure and vocabulary sizes had different levels of SR. Critically, SR was able to predict the performance of the model on reading aloud and nonword reading, which assimilated behavioural reading patterns. Further analysis revealed that SR was largely associated with the interaction between oral vocabulary exposure and oral vocabulary size. When the amount of exposure was limited, SR significantly increased with vocabulary sizes but decreased then with vocabulary sizes. Overall, the simulation results provide the first computational evidence of the direct link between oral vocabulary knowledge and the degree of SR as a source of individual differences in reading.

Investigating the association between variability in sulcal pattern and academic achievement

Investigating how the brain may constrain academic achievement is not only relevant to understanding brain structure but also to providing insight into the origins of individual differences in these academic abilities. In this pre-registered study, we investigated whether the variability of sulcal patterns, a qualitative feature of the brain determined in-utero and not affected by brain maturation and learning, accounted for individual differences in reading and mathematics. Participants were 97 typically developing 10-year-olds. We examined (a) the association between the sulcal pattern of the IntraParietal Sulcus (IPS) and mathematical ability; (b) the association between the sulcal pattern of the Occipito Temporal Sulcus (OTS) and reading ability; and (c) the overlap and specificity of sulcal morphology of IPS and OTS and their associations with mathematics and reading. Despite its large sample, the present study was unable to replicate a previously observed relationship between the IPS sulcal pattern and mathematical ability and a previously observed association between the left posterior OTS sulcal pattern and reading. We found a weak association between right IPS sulcal morphology and symbolic number abilities and a weak association between left posterior OTS and reading. However, both these associations were the opposite of previous reports. We found no evidence for a possible overlap or specificity in the effect of sulcal morphology on mathematics and reading. Possible explanations for this weak association between sulcal morphology and academic achievement and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Development of Mindfulness in Young Adults: the Relationship of Personality, Reinforcement Sensitivity, and Mindfulness

We report a pre-registered longitudinal study of emerging adults which examined the links between facets of mindfulness with Big Five and reinforcement sensitivity personality traits with the aim of exploring possible origins of individual differences in trait mindfulness. We investigated the relationship between personality, reinforcement sensitivity (including Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and Behavioral Approach System (BAS)), and mindfulness in a sample of 227 undergraduate students across 8 months, using a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. Mindfulness, in general, exhibited stronger longitudinal effects on personality than the other way around. We found reciprocal effects between reinforcement sensitivity and mindfulness facets: higher BAS-Goal-Drive Persistence positively predicted increased Acting with Awareness over time (B = 0.369 [.044, .693], p = .026) and higher Acting with Awareness predicted an increase in BAS-Goal-Drive Persistence (B = .173 [.041, .305], p = .010). Higher Non-Reacting Mindfulness predicted a reduction of BIS over time (B = − .132 [− .247, − .017], p = .025), with individuals with more skills to stay calm in emotional situations decreasing their reported levels of anxiety and emotional lability. Additionally, we found that higher Non-Judging mindfulness facets predicted an increase in Conscientiousness (B = .147 [.014, .280], p = .031). Finally, higher levels of Describing Mindfulness predicted an increase in Neuroticism over time (B = .200 [.034, .366], p = .018). Overall, our research findings indicate that mindfulness and personality share developmental trajectories over a 4-month period, suggesting avenues for possible personality development via Mindfulness interventions.

373 - Microanalysis of pointing gestures during psychotherapy with patients with social phobia

Some people remember events more completely and accurately than other people, but the origins of individual differences in episodic memory are poorly understood. One way to advance understanding is by identifying characteristics of individuals that reliably covary with memory performance. Recent research suggests motor behavior is related to memory performance, with individuals who consistently use a single preferred hand for unimanual actions performing worse than individuals who make greater use of both hands. This research has relied on self-reports of behavior. It is unknown whether objective measures of motor behavior also predict memory performance. Here, we tested the predictive power of bimanual coordination, an important form of manual dexterity. Bimanual coordination, as measured objectively on the Purdue Pegboard Test, was positively related to correct recall on the California Verbal Learning Test-II and negatively related to false recall. Furthermore, MRI data revealed that cortical surface area in right lateral prefrontal regions was positively related to correct recall. In one of these regions, cortical thickness was negatively related to bimanual coordination. These results suggest that individual differences in episodic memory may partially reflect morphological variation in right lateral prefrontal cortex and suggest a relationship between neural correlates of episodic memory and motor behavior.

The Effects of the Mating Market, Sex, Age, and Income on Sociopolitical Orientation

Sociopolitical attitudes are often the root cause of conflicts between individuals, groups, and even nations, but little is known about the origin of individual differences in sociopolitical orientation. We test a combination of economic and evolutionary ideas about the degree to which the mating market, sex, age, and income affect sociopolitical orientation. We collected data online through Amazon's Mechanical Turk from 1108 US participants who were between 18 and 60, fluent in English, and single. While ostensibly testing a new online dating website, participants created an online dating profile and described people they would like to date. We manipulated the participants' popularity in the mating market and the size of the market (i.e., the number of ideal partners in the market) and then measured participants' sociopolitical attitudes. The sociopolitical attitudes were reduced to five dimensions via Principal Components Analysis (Sociosexuality, Benevolent Sexism, Wealth Redistribution, Nonconforming Behaviors, and Traditional Family Values). Both manipulations affected attitudes toward wealth redistribution but were largely not significant predictors of the other dimensions. Men reported more unrestricted sociosexual attitudes, and more support for benevolent sexism and traditional family values, than women did, and women supported wealth redistribution more than men did. There was no sex difference in accepting nonconforming behaviors. Younger people and people with lower incomes were more liberal than older people and people with higher incomes, respectively, regardless of sex. Overall, effects were largely not interactive, suggesting that individual differences in sociopolitical orientation may reflect strategic self-interest and be more straightforward than previously predicted.

Toward a multifactorial model of expertise: beyond born versus made.

The debate over the origins of individual differences in expertise has raged for over a century in psychology. The "nature" view holds that expertise reflects "innate talent"-that is, genetically determined abilities. The "nurture" view counters that, if talent even exists, its effects on ultimate performance are negligible. While no scientist takes seriously a strict nature-only view of expertise, the nurture view has gained tremendous popularity over the past several decades. This environmentalist view holds that individual differences in expertise reflect training history, with no important contribution to ultimate performance by innate ability ("talent"). Here, we argue that, despite its popularity, this view is inadequate to account for the evidence concerning the origins of expertise that has accumulated since the view was first proposed. More generally, we argue that the nature versus nurture debate in research on expertise is over-or certainly should be, as it has been in other areas of psychological research for decades. We describe a multifactorial model for research on the nature and nurture of expertise, which we believe will provide a progressive direction for future research on expertise.

Differences in phonetic discrimination stem from differences in psychoacoustic abilities in learning the sounds of a second language: Evidence from ERP research.

The scientific community has been divided as to the origin of individual differences in perceiving the sounds of a second language (L2). There are two alternative explanations: a general psychoacoustic origin vs. a speech-specific one. A previous study showed that such individual variability is linked to the perceivers’ speech-specific capabilities, rather than the perceivers’ psychoacoustic abilities. However, we assume that the selection of participants and parameters of sound stimuli might not appropriate. Therefore, we adjusted the sound stimuli and recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from two groups of early, proficient Cantonese (L1)-Mandarin (L2) bilinguals who differed in their mastery of the Mandarin (L2) phonetic contrast /in-ing/, to explore whether the individual differences in perceiving L2 stem from participants’ ability to discriminate various pure tones (frequency, duration and pattern). To precisely measure the participants’ acoustic discrimination, mismatch negativity (MMN) elicited by the oddball paradigm was recorded in the experiment. The results showed that significant differences between good perceivers (GPs) and poor perceivers (PPs) were found in the three general acoustic conditions (frequency, duration and pattern), and the MMN amplitude for GP was significantly larger than for PP. Therefore, our results support a general psychoacoustic origin of individual variability in L2 phonetic mastery.

BREVE HISTÓRICO DA PSICOLOGIA ESCOLAR NO BRASIL

Este artigo foi elaborado a partir de uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema e enfoca as tendências da relação psicologia e educação ao longo da história, a partir de uma perspectiva sócio-crítica. Pretende contribuir na reflexão sobre as possibilidades de atuação em psicologia educação escolar sinalizando para o fato de que as construções científicas em psicologia repercutem nas práticas pedagógicas. Por uma questão didática dividimos nosso texto em reflexões sobre quatro modelos de atendimento psicológico em contextos educativos escolares. Partimos de um modelo de atendimento psicométrico, analisando o pano de fundo social sobre o qual ele foi construído, seus objetivos ideológicos, a repercussão da teoria no mundo e na educação. em seguida apresentamos os modelos clínico e preventivo construídos sob a influência da psicanálise que, apesar de mudar a visão sobre a origem das diferenças atuais, não provocaram mudanças significativas na visão sobre as dificuldades educacionais e por sua vez no contexto concreto da escola. Para finalizar apontamos algumas características de um fazer psicológico escolar crítico, que tem como objetivo realizar, juntamente com os atores que compõe o cenário pedagógico e da escola, mudanças que gerem a possibilidade de que a escola cumpra seu papel social de possibilitar a todos que por ela passarem a apreensão dos saberes construídos pela humanidade ao longo tempo.

Bimanual coordination positively predicts episodic memory: A combined behavioral and MRI investigation

Some people remember events more completely and accurately than other people, but the origins of individual differences in episodic memory are poorly understood. One way to advance understanding is by identifying characteristics of individuals that reliably covary with memory performance. Recent research suggests motor behavior is related to memory performance, with individuals who consistently use a single preferred hand for unimanual actions performing worse than individuals who make greater use of both hands. This research has relied on self-reports of behavior. It is unknown whether objective measures of motor behavior also predict memory performance. Here, we tested the predictive power of bimanual coordination, an important form of manual dexterity. Bimanual coordination, as measured objectively on the Purdue Pegboard Test, was positively related to correct recall on the California Verbal Learning Test-II and negatively related to false recall. Furthermore, MRI data revealed that cortical surface area in right lateral prefrontal regions was positively related to correct recall. In one of these regions, cortical thickness was negatively related to bimanual coordination. These results suggest that individual differences in episodic memory may partially reflect morphological variation in right lateral prefrontal cortex and suggest a relationship between neural correlates of episodic memory and motor behavior.

The origins of individual differences in how learning is expressed in rats: A general-process perspective.

Laboratory rats can exhibit marked, qualitative individual differences in the form of acquired behaviors. For example, when exposed to a signal-reinforcer relationship some rats show marked and consistent changes in sign-tracking (interacting with the signal; e.g., a lever) and others show marked and consistent changes in goal-tracking (interacting with the location of the predicted reinforcer; e.g., the food well). Here, stable individual differences in rats’ sign-tracking and goal-tracking emerged over the course of training, but these differences did not generalize across different signal-reinforcer relationships (Experiment 1). This selectivity suggests that individual differences in sign- and goal-tracking reflect differences in the value placed on individual reinforcers. Two findings provide direct support for this interpretation: the palatability of a reinforcer (as measured by an analysis of lick-cluster size) was positively correlated with goal-tracking (and negatively correlated with sign-tracking); and sating rats with a reinforcer affected goal-tracking but not sign-tracking (Experiment 2). These results indicate that the observed individual differences in sign- and goal-tracking behavior arise from the interaction between the palatability or value of the reinforcer and processes of association as opposed to dispositional differences (e.g., in sensory processes, “temperament,” or response repertoire).

Imitation: Not in Our Genes

A powerful longitudinal study has failed to find any evidence that newborn babies can imitate facial gestures, hand movements or vocalisations. After 40 years of uncertainty, these findings indicate that humans learn to imitate; this capacity is not inborn.

The Social Origins of Sustained Attention in One-Year-Old Human Infants

The ability to sustain attention is a major achievement in human development and is generallybelieved to be the developmental product of increasing self-regulatory and endogenous (i.e., internal, top-down, voluntary) control over one's attention and cognitive systems [1-5]. Because sustained attention in late infancy is predictive of future development, and because early deficits in sustained attention are markers for later diagnoses of attentional disorders [6], sustained attention is often viewed as a constitutional and individual property of the infant [6-9]. However, humans are social animals; developmental pathways for seemingly non-social competencies evolved within the social group and therefore may be dependent on social experience [10-13]. Here, we show that social context matters for the duration of sustained attention episodes in one-year-old infants during toy play. Using head-mounted eye tracking to record moment-by-moment gaze data from both parents and infants, we found that when the social partner (parent) visually attended to the object to which infant attention was directed, infants, after the parent's look, extended their duration of visual attention to the object. Looks to the same object by two social partners is a well-studied phenomenon known as joint attention, which has been shown to be critical to early learning and tothe development of social skills [14, 15]. The present findings implicate joint attention in the development of the child's own sustained attention and thus challenge the current understanding of the origins ofindividual differences in sustained attention, providing a new and potentially malleable developmental pathway to the self-regulation of attention.

Spousal similarity in life satisfaction before and after divorce.

Previous research has explored possible origins of individual differences in subjective well-being, focusing largely on stable, internal characteristics of traits as predictors of life satisfaction (Diener & Lucas, 1999). Although past work has demonstrated that life satisfaction is largely stable over the life span, other evidence has also demonstrated the lasting impact of life events. In this study, we use married couples as a test of the impact of life circumstances on life satisfaction, focusing on similarity in life satisfaction before and after divorce. If life satisfaction is impacted by shared life circumstances, married couples (who share life circumstances) should show greater similarity in life satisfaction before divorce than after. We tested this possibility using a dyadic latent-state-trait model that examined cross-spouse similarity in the stable and changing components of life satisfaction. Using a nationally representative panel study from Germany (Wagner, Frick & Schupp, 2007), we showed that similarity declined substantially following divorce. This suggests that life satisfaction is related to shared life circumstances.

Personality, Parasites, Political Attitudes, and Cooperation: A Model of How Infection Prevalence Influences Openness and Social Group Formation

What is the origin of individual differences in ideology and personality? According to the parasite stress hypothesis, the structure of a society and the values of individuals within it are both influenced by the prevalence of infectious disease within the society's geographical region. High levels of infection threat are associated with more ethnocentric and collectivist social structures and greater adherence to social norms, as well as with socially conservative political ideology and less open but more conscientious personalities. Here we use an agent‐based model to explore a specific opportunities‐parasites trade‐off (OPTO) hypothesis, according to which utility‐maximizing agents place themselves at an optimal point on a trade‐off between (a) the gains that may be achieved through accessing the resources of geographically or socially distant out‐group members through openness to out‐group interaction, and (b) the losses arising due to consequently increased risks of exotic infection to which immunity has not been developed. We examine the evolution of cooperation and the formation of social groups within social networks, and we show that the groups that spontaneously form exhibit greater local rather than global cooperative networks when levels of infection are high. It is suggested that the OPTO model offers a first step toward understanding the specific mechanisms through which environmental conditions may influence cognition, ideology, personality, and social organization.

The origins of individual differences in dispositional mindfulness

A large and coherent body of evidence reveals that high dispositional mindfulness is a positive personal resource, yet remarkably little is known about the origins of individual differences in mindfulness. Attachment theory describes how early experiences with caregivers shape psychosocial development across the lifespan. Drawing from attachment theory, we propose that those who have received sensitive and responsive caregiving in childhood are more likely to have a secure attachment style which may, in turn, provide greater capacity for mindfulness. In an adolescent sample attending a large urban university (Study 1), there were indirect effects of parental rejection and parental warmth on mindfulness via attachment anxiety and avoidance. In Study 2 we tested the same hypotheses in a group of adolescent high school students and replicated the above pattern of results. In brief, both retrospective reports (Study 1) and current reports (Study 2) of the quality of parenting received were associated with individual differences in mindfulness via attachment processes. This research suggests that the origins of individual differences in dispositional mindfulness may have their roots in early childhood experiences.

Causes of Individual Differences in Animal Exploration and Search.

Numerous studies have documented individual differences in exploratory tendencies and other phenomena related to search, and these differences have been linked to fitness. Here, I discuss the origins of these differences, focusing on how experience shapes animal search and exploration. The origin of individual differences will also depend upon the alternatives to exploration that are available. Given that search and exploration frequently carry significant costs, we might expect individuals to utilize cues indicating the potential net payoffs of exploration versus the exploitation of known acts. Informative cues could arise from both recent and early-life experiences, from both the social and physical environment. Open questions are the extent to which an individual's exploratory tendencies are fixed throughout life versus being flexibly adjusted according to prevailing conditions and the actions of other individuals, and the extent to which individual differences in exploration extend across domains and are independent of other processes.

Gene environment meshing: A primordial stepping towards behavioural modulation

Abstract Recent research provides evidence that early life experience plays a critical role in human development, as it also has a role in susceptibility to disease in later life. However, the mechanism of how this works remains largely in question, though it is crucial to consider the complex interaction between genes and environment which is a critical feature of development and which gives rise to individual differences in behaviour. Studies on the gene/environment interplay have given rise to the new field of research called epigenetics. Epigenetics is a mechanism that regulates gene expression, without incurring any change in the underlying DNA sequence. It relies instead on the chemical modification of DNA and histone proteins. Epigenetic findings from human and animal studies suggest that changes, such as DNA methylation, are involved not only in cellular differentiation but also in the modulation of genome function in response to early life experience affecting gene function as well as phenotype. In this article we review some recent studies regarding gene–environment interplay. These studies provide new ways of thinking about the transmission of traits across generations and provide implications for our understanding of the origins of individual differences in behaviour. Understanding how the environment impacts the working of the genome could have massive implications on how we approach solving current diseases and think about inheritance.

From twins to genetic polymorphisms: behavioral genetic research in Poland.

Behavioral genetic research has been conducted at the University of Warsaw for the past 20 years. The work done at the University focuses primarily on the origins of individual differences in temperament and other personality traits. In particular, research is directed toward the traits postulated in the Regulative Theory of Temperament. We also focused on the heritability of socio-political attitudes, risk factors for human health, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The majority of the research that has been carried out is grounded in twin and family studies, although recent work based on molecular techniques has also been developed. This article reviews the most important directions and findings of behavioral genetics research at the University of Warsaw.

The nature of behavioural correlates of healthy ageing: a twin study of lifestyle in mid to late life

With the greying of the industrialized world has come increased interest in identifying the modifiable lifestyle factors that promote healthy and successful ageing. Whereas many of the behavioural correlates of late-life morbidity and mortality have been identified, relatively little is known about the origins of individual differences in these factors. A sample of 12,714 twins, including both members of 3806 pairs of known zygosity, ascertained through the Danish Twin Registry and aged 40 to 80 years, completed a self-report assessment of six lifestyle factors associated with ageing: smoking, drinking, diet and physical, social and intellectual activities. Standard biometric methods were used to analyse the twin data and determine the extent to which individual differences in each of the lifestyle factors are heritable. For each of the six lifestyle factors, the estimate of heritability ranged from 32% (95% CI: 19-42%) for the diet scale to 69% (62-72%) for the smoking measure. Biometric estimates of the contribution of the twins' common rearing environment were uniformly small (≤6%). There was little evidence that standardized biometric estimates varied by gender or age. Individuals likely construct lifestyles in part to complement and reinforce underlying genetically influenced dispositions and talents. The heritable nature of lifestyle factors implies that the behavioural and genetic contributors to ageing processes are not necessarily conceptually distinct but rather reflect the complexity of gene-environment interplay in ageing.

Heritability of Creative Achievement

Although creative achievement is a subject of much attention to lay people, the origin of individual differences in creative accomplishments remain poorly understood. This study examined genetic and environmental influences on creative achievement in an adult sample of 338 twins (mean age = 26.3 years; SD = 6.6 years). Twins completed the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ) that assesses observable creative accomplishments in various domains. The CAQ includes Artistic Creative Achievement (ACA), Scientific Creative Achievement (SCA), and the Total Creative Achievement (TCA) scales. Across all 3 scales, monozygotic twin correlations were consistently and substantially higher than dizygotic twin correlations, suggesting the importance of genetic influences on creative achievements. Heritability estimates for the 3 scales ranged from 43% to 67%, with the remaining variance being attributable to nonshared environmental influences plus measurement error. The effects of shared environmental factors were negligible. These results were in contrast with those of early twin studies of creativity, which yielded a significant amount of shared family environmental influences. Discrepancies in findings between this study and prior investigations may be due in part to the differences in ages of twins and measures.