The Role of Strategic Emotional Intelligence in Predicting Adolescents’ Academic Achievement: Possible Interplays with Verbal Intelligence and Personality

As recent meta-analyses confirmed that emotional intelligence (EI), particularly strategic EI, adjoins intelligence and personality in predicting academic achievement, we explored possible arrangements in which these predictors affect the given outcome in adolescents. Three models, with versions including either overall strategic EI or its branches, were considered: (a) a mediation model, whereby strategic EI partially mediates the effects of verbal intelligence (VI) and personality on achievement; the branch-level version assumed that emotion understanding affects achievement in a cascade via emotion management; (b) a direct effects model, with strategic EI/branches placed alongside VI and personality as another independent predictor of achievement; and (c) a moderation model, whereby personality moderates the effects of VI and strategic EI/branches on achievement. We tested these models in a sample of 227 students (M = 16.50 years) and found that both the mediation and the direct effects model with overall strategic EI fit the data; there was no support for a cascade within strategic EI, nor for the assumption that personality merely moderates the effects of abilities on achievement. Principally, strategic EI both mediated the effects of VI and openness, and independently predicted academic achievement, and it did so through emotion understanding directly, “skipping” emotion management.

Patterns Of Relationships Between Verbal Memory, Language, And Verbal Intelligence In Preschoolers

Background: This study aims to identify whether language can be the mediator of the relation between verbal memory and verbal intelligence Methods: The participants that involved in this study are 51 preschool-age children in Pekanbaru, consisting of males (n=24) and females (n=27), ages four to six years. Cluster sampling technique was used to collect the sample. The abilities of verbal memory, language and verbal intelligence were assessed towards each participant individually. Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Test of Auditory Processing Skill 3 and Developmental Profile 3 were assigned as the instrument of the test conducted in this study. Data analysis in this study uses mediator analysis. Results: This study found a positive correlation between verbal memory and verbal intelligence (r = 0.53; p<.05), language and verbal intelligence (r = 0.71; p<.05), language and verbal memory (r = 0.64; p<.05). Conclusion: According to the result of the analysis, it is evident that language can be the mediator of the relation between verbal memory and verbal intelligence.

Cognitive functions and reading speed in schoolchildren with typical development and mild mental retardation

The article presents the results of an empirical study of the relationship between indicators of cognitive functioning and the success in reading in groups of schoolchildren with typical development and mild mental retardation (F70.0; ICD — 10). Information processing speed, visuospatial working memory and non-verbal intelligence were considered as indicators of cognitive development. To assess the reading speed, a check was used on the technique of reading texts in accordance with the Federal State Standard of General Education. The study involved 212 schoolchildren (39% girls) enrolled in Grades 1 — 9 of (1) a public school implementing programs of a special (correctional) school of type VIII and (2) a public school. The results revealed that age-related changes in the success of reading during compulsory schooling are characterized by a nonlinear pattern in children with typical development and a linear pattern in children with mild mental retardation. The differences between schoolchildren with typical and atypical development in reading speed increase from Grades 1 to 7, and then from Grades 7 to 9 may decrease. The regression analysis confirmed the differences in the direct effects of the influence of non-verbal intelligence, information processing speed and visuospatial working memory on the reading speed. These differences in effects depend on the type of mental development and the level of schooling. Mediation analysis showed that no more than 17% of the differences in the success of reading between schoolchildren with typical and atypical development can explain by cognitive functioning.

Money matters (especially if you are good at math): Numeracy, verbal intelligence, education, and income in satisfaction judgments

Objective numeracy, the ability to understand and use mathematical concepts, has been related to superior decisions and life outcomes. Unknown is whether it relates to greater satisfaction in life. We investigated numeracy’s relations with income satisfaction and overall life satisfaction in a diverse sample of 5,525 American adults. First, more numerate individuals had higher incomes; for every one point higher on the eight-item numeracy test, individuals reported $4,062 more in annual income, controlling for education and verbal intelligence. Combined, numeracy, education, and verbal intelligence explained 25% of the variance in income while Big-5 personality traits explained less than 4%. Further, the higher incomes associated with greater numeracy were related to more positive life evaluations (income and life satisfaction). Second, extant research also has indicated that the highly numerate compare numbers more than the less numerate. Consistent with numeracy-related income comparisons, numeracy moderated the relation between income and life evaluations, meaning that the same income was valued differently by those better and worse at math. Specifically, among those with lower incomes, the highly numerate were less satisfied than the less numerate; this effect reversed among those with higher incomes as if the highly numerate were aware of and made comparisons to others’ incomes. Further, no clear income satiation point was seen among those highest in numeracy, and satiation among the least numerate appeared to occur at a point below $50,000. Third, both education and verbal intelligence related to income evaluations in similar ways, and numeracy’s relations held when controlling for these other relations. Although causal claims cannot be made from cross-sectional data, these novel results indicate that numeracy may be an important factor underlying life evaluations and especially for evaluations concerning numbers such as incomes. Finally, this study adds to our understanding of education and intelligence effects in life satisfaction and happiness.

Less intelligent and unaware? Accuracy and Dunning-Kruger effects for self-estimates of different aspects of intelligence

People’s perceptions of their intelligence correlate only moderately with objective intelligence measures. On average, people overestimate themselves. According to the popular Dunning-Kruger effect, this is particularly true for low performers: Across many domains, those in the lowest quantile overestimate their abilities the most. However, recent work using improved statistical approaches found little support for a Dunning-Kruger effect in general intelligence. We investigated the accuracy of and Dunning-Kruger effects in self-estimates of general, verbal, numerical, and spatial intelligence—domains that differed in how well they can be judged in the past. 281 participants completed self-estimates and intelligence measures online. Self-estimates showed mostly moderate correlational accuracy that was slightly higher for numerical intelligence and lower for verbal intelligence. Across domains, participants rated their intelligence as above-average. However, as their intelligence was indeed high, this was not an overestimation. While standard analyses indicated Dunning-Kruger effects in three out of four measures, improved statistical methods only yielded some support for one in verbal intelligence: People with lower verbal intelligence tended to have less self-knowledge about it. The generalizability of these findings is limited to young, highly educated populations. Nevertheless, our results contribute to a growing literature questioning the generality of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Non-verbal intelligence outperforms selective attention in a visual short-term memory test

Short-term memory is a dynamic psychological process that operates within a network in which non-verbal intelligence and attentional domains are connected. However, no consensus has been reached about which process has the greatest effect on this memory ability, which was the main objective of the present study. A sample of 1448 Brazilian participants (mean age = 26.62 years, standard deviation = 9.97 years; 53.9% females) were collectively tested on pen-and-paper standardized and validated measures of selective (ROTAS-C), alternating (ROTAS-A), and divided (ROTAS-D) attention. They also performed the R1 Non-verbal Intelligence Test and a visual short-term memory test (Memória Visual de Curto Prazo [MEMORE] test). The statistical analyses consisted of a data mining procedure, in which exhaustive automatic selection screening was performed. The results were compared with Corrected Akaike Information Criteria. The linear model met the classic assumptions of ordinary least squares and only included main effects of selective attention (standardized β = 0.39) and non-verbal intelligence (standardized β = 0.37) as main predictors (F2,39 = 7.01, p < 0.01, adjusted R2 = 24%). The results are discussed within a cognitive psychology framework.

Endophenotype-Wide Association Study Reveals Genetic Substrates of Core Symptom Domains and Neurocognitive Function in Autism.

Background Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder largely attributable to rare and common genetic variants. Additionally, environmental factors such as maternal immune activation and air pollution exposure can also increase the risk of autism. Genetic heterogeneity of autism has been well-recognized from gene discovery efforts over the past decade; however, genetic substrates of endophenotypes that constitute phenotypic heterogeneity are not known yet. Methods Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data and a set of phenotype scores that represent neurocognitive development and the severity of core symptoms of autism were collected from the iHART and MSSNG databases and the phenotype database of Autism Speaks. Endophenotype-wide association analysis was performed with genome-wide genotype and 29 phenotype scores. Results One or more genetic loci were associated with each of phenotype scores at a genome-wide significance threshold ( P =5×10 -8 ) except for a total score of the Social Responsiveness Scale-2. An intergenic locus on chromosome 15q26.1 was significant for three core symptom domain scores of ADOS Module 1 while each phenotype score was associated with a unique set of genetic loci. The Repetitive Behaviors Scale total score was associated with the largest number of loci (N=132) including the loci that overlapped with the genes involved in brain development and neurodegenerative disorders. Among the significant genotype-endophenotype associations, verbal intelligence and the OSTN gene was notable. The secretory peptide osteocrin—encoded by OSTN —is implicated in activity dependent dendritic growth in human and has potential for a biomarker of autism and an endophenotype marker for verbal intelligence. Limitations Validation of our findings in another cohort is required. Several associations involving the ADI-R and ADOS scores may indicate inherited allelic differences between affected and unaffected individuals since unaffected siblings were included in our analysis. Conclusions Our results suggest that autism candidate genes discovered by case-control GWAS may include trait-associated genes for core symptoms.

Towards a Native OPERA Hypothesis: Musicianship and English Stress Perception

Musical experience facilitates speech perception. French musicians, to whom stress is foreign, have been found to perceive English stress more accurately than French non-musicians. This study investigated whether this musical advantage also applies to native listeners. English musicians and non-musicians completed an English stress discrimination task and two control tasks. With age, non-verbal intelligence and short-term memory controlled, the musicians exhibited a perceptual advantage relative to the non-musicians. This perceptual advantage was equally potent to both trochaic and iambic stress patterns. In terms of perceptual strategy, the two groups showed differential use of acoustic cues for iambic but not trochaic stress. Collectively, the results could be taken to suggest that musical experience enhances stress discrimination even among native listeners. Remarkably, this musical advantage is highly consistent and does not particularly favour either stress pattern. For iambic stress, the musical advantage appears to stem from the differential use of acoustic cues by musicians. For trochaic stress, the musical advantage may be rooted in enhanced durational sensitivity.

Convergent Validity of a Quick Online Self-Administered Measure of Verbal IQ for Psychology Researchers

Verbal intelligence—which relates to memory performance, abstract reasoning, and g—is often important to account for within psychological research. However, the time demands and financial costs associated with researcher-administered testing using valid measures of intelligence limit researchers’ ability to include such measures within their research. To address this issue, we examined the convergent validity of two tests of verbal intelligence that could be self-administered online with the well-validated Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence–Second Edition (WASI-II). An undergraduate sample of participants (N = 104) completed the Self-Administered Verbal IQ Test (SA-VIQT), with a subsection (n = 64) completing the Self-Administered Full Scale IQ Test (SA-FSIQT), both made available online by Open-Source Psychometrics Project. Additionally, all participants were administered the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) of WASI-II by a trained researcher, with a subsection administered the full WASI-II including the Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) (n = 72). Both online tests demonstrated convergent validity with the WASI-II. While the online tests may only deliver a crude indicator of verbal intelligence, they provide researchers the opportunity for statistical control or screening of participants across large samples in an efficient manner not possible when using researcher-administered testing methods.

Exploring the impact of adolescent cognitive inflexibility on emotional and behavioural problems experienced by autistic adults

Autistic young people experience high levels of co-occurring mental health difficulties, including anxiety, depression and behavioural difficulties, across their lifespan. Understanding the neuropsychological mechanisms which underlie these difficulties is vital in developing personalised supports and interventions. Cognitive inflexibility is one candidate mechanism which is associated with co-occurring mental health comorbidities but is also associated with other features of autism such as restricted and repetitive behaviours. This study investigates the distinct longitudinal association between cognitive inflexibility, measured using objective neuropsychological measures and emotional and behavioural problems across adolescence and early adulthood. Eighty-one autistic people from a population-based longitudinal study were assessed at 16 and 23 years on measures of emotional and behavioural problems, with cognitive inflexibility, restricted and repetitive behaviours and verbal intelligence quotient measured at 16 years. We used structural equation modelling to investigate the relationship between cognitive inflexibility and emotional and behavioural symptoms at both timepoints while accounting for the severity of restricted and repetitive behaviours and verbal intelligence quotient. Our results indicate an effect of cognitive inflexibility on increased behavioural problems at 16 years and emotional problems across timepoints, which is distinct from restricted and repetitive behaviours and verbal intelligence quotient. Exploratory mediation analyses suggest that cognitive inflexibility may be one mechanism through which emotional difficulties are maintained longitudinally. Lay abstract Autistic people experience high levels of co-occurring mental health difficulties. To develop more effective treatments, a greater understanding of the thinking processes that may lead to these difficulties is needed. Cognitive inflexibility, defined as a rigid pattern of thoughts and subsequently behaviours, is one possible thinking trait which has previously been associated with both co-occurring mental health difficulties but also other features of autism such as restricted and repetitive behaviours. Restricted and repetitive behaviours include repetitive movements, ritualistic behaviours, and/or highly focused interests. This study investigates the relationship between, cognitive inflexibility, measured using neuropsychological tasks, and emotional and behavioural problems across adolescence and early adulthood. Eighty-one autistic people who were recruited to be representative of the wider autism population were assessed at 16 and 23 years on measures of emotional and behavioural problems, with cognitive inflexibility, restricted and repetitive behaviours and verbal intelligence measured at 16 years. We used statistical modelling to investigate the relationship between cognitive inflexibility and emotional and behavioural symptoms at both timepoints while accounting for the possible relationship with restricted and repetitive behaviours and verbal intelligence quotient. Our results suggest that cognitive inflexibility may be an important factor associated with emotional difficulties across adolescence and early adulthood. This suggests that developing intervention approaches targeting cognitive inflexibility may be an important step in improving the mental health of those with autism.