Research Byte: Individual differences in #spatial navigation and #workingmemory - lets hear it for the new #WJV visual working memory test—#CHC #Gv #Gwm #schoolpsychology #cognition #intelligence

Individual differences in spatial navigation and working memory

Intelligence. Sorry, but not an open access downloadable article 😕

Abstract

Spatial navigation is a complex skill that relies on many aspects of cognition. Our study aims to clarify the role of working memory in spatial navigation, and particularly, the potentially separate contributions of verbal and visuospatial working memory. We leverage individual differences to understand how working memory differs among types of navigators and the predictive utility of verbal and visuospatial working memory. Data were analyzed from N = 253 healthy, young adults. Participants completed multiple measures of verbal and visuospatial working memory and a spatial navigation task called Virtual Silcton. We found that better navigators may rely more on visuospatial working memory. Additionally, using a relative weights analysis, we found that visuospatial working memory accounts for a large majority of variance in spatial navigation when compared to verbal working memory. Our results suggest individual differences in working memory are domain-specific in this context of spatial navigation, with visuospatial working memory being the primary contributor.

————————

As an FYI.  The WJ V has a new cognitive Visual Working Memory test that I created. Unfortunately, it was not included in the original WJ V launch and will be added in a later release…not sure when…no one has told me…but I think this fall.

The back story is that this test was in development for over 30 years by yours truly.  For the WJ III I developed, and we normed, a visual working memory test where examinee’s were shown a abstract line-based image on a dotted grid and were instructed to rotate the image in their mind (after the test stimuli figure was removed) and then draw the rotated image on a identical blank grid.  The idea of examinees drawing their response was to add additional clinical information about visual-motor abilities, in addition to visual working memory.  Unfortunately, after being completely normed, we learned via inter-rater reliability studies that the scoring reliability was not adequate…darn.  

The second attempt was an earlier version of the current WJ V Visual Working Memory test that had already been printed for the WJ IV norming test books.  The WJ IV version was shelved at the last minute due to cost issues as a result of the financial crises at the end of the Bush presidency.  We were instructed to reduce the cost of the WJ IV norming.  This test simply had too many printed test easel pages (was called a “page eater”) and was eliminated…double darn.  

However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  With the new digital testing platform, the WJ IV version was now presented without a concern for the number of pages, and more importantly, it could have a much more complex and informative underlying scoring system since all taps on an asymetrical response grid were recorded (which was a richer set of response data than the original WJ IV version).  As stated in the WJ V technical manual (LaForte, Dailey & McGrew, 2025, p. 40):

The Visual Working Memory test requires the use of visual working memory “in the context of processing” (Maehara & Saito, 2007). For each item, the examinee briefly studies a pattern of stimulus dots inside of randomly placed squares on the screen and then must recall the specific locations of the dots. The presentation and recall screens are separated by a quick and simple visual discrimination distractor item. This test requires the examinee to maintain information in working memory while actively processing the distractor requirements. Once the distractor task is completed, it must be quickly removed from active memory to focus on recalling the locations of the stimulus dots (Burgoyne et al., 2022). Errors of both omission (i.e., erroneously recalling a dot in a box where no dot was present) and commission (i.e., failing to identify a box associated with a dot's correct location) are both factored into the test's scoring model; however, heavier emphasis is placed on visual recall through a relatively higher penalty for errors of commission.

Validity information in the WJ V TM provides evidence that the new Visual Working Memory test is a mixed measure of Gv and Gwm.  Preliminary evidence (inspection of growth curves and standard deviation distributional characteristics) was interpreted as being consistent with other measures of executive functioning.  Additional concurrent validity studies with established measures of executive functioning are needed before an evidence-based claim of executive functioning score variance can clearly be established.

I think the 30+ year wait was worth it.  I’m very proud of this test in its current form.  A “shout out” to Dr. Erica LaForte and David Dailey for creating such a response-rich stream of data for scoring…something that was not possible in the planned non-digital WJ III and WJ IV versions.

Research Byte: Development of #Arithmetic Across the #Lifespan: A Registered Report. - #Gq #CHC #Gwm #EF #Gs #schoolpsychology #SPED #SLD

Click on image to enlarge for easy viewing

Development of Arithmetic Across the Lifespan: A Registered Report.  

Open access paper available at Developmental Psychology journal.  Click here to access

Abstract

 

Arithmetic skills are needed at any age. In everyday life, children to older adults calculate and deal with numbers. The processes underlying arithmetic seem to change with age. From childhood to younger adulthood, children get better in domain-specific numerical skills such as place-value processing. From younger to older adulthood, domain-general cognitive skills such as working memory decline. These skills are needed for complex arithmetic such as addition with carrying and subtraction with borrowing. This study investigates how the domain-specific (number magnitude, place-value processing) and domain-general (working memory, processing speed, inhibition) processes of arithmetic change across the lifespan. Thereby, arithmetic effects (carry and borrow effects), numerical effects (distance and compatibility effects), and cognitive skills were assessed in children, younger and older adolescents, and younger, middle-aged and older adults. The results showed that numerical and arithmetic skills improve from childhood to young adulthood and remain relatively stable throughout adulthood, even though domain-general pro-cesses, particularly working memory and processing speed, decline with age. While number magnitude and place-value processing both develop until adulthood, number magnitude processing shows deficits during aging, whereas place-value processing remains intact even in old age. The carry effect shifts from a categorical all-or-none decision (whether or not a carry operation is needed) to a more continuous magnitude process in adulthood, reflecting increasing reliance on domain-specific skills. In contrast, the borrow effect remains largely categorical across all age groups, depending on general cognitive processes. These results provide critical insights into how arithmetic skills change over the lifespan, relying on both domain-specific and domain-general processes.

Public Significance Statement 

Numerical and arithmetic skills improve significantly during school and are mostly preserved throughout adulthood—despite a decline in cognitive skills such as working memory and processing speed during aging. When facing complex arithmetic, all—from children up to older adults—need longer to calculate, but lifelong experience helps in dealing with arithmetic complexity. Throughout the lifespan, arithmetic requires both cognitive skills as well as numeric skills.

Research Byte: Age-related change in #inhibitory processes when controlling for #workingmemory (#Gwm) capacity and #processingspeed (#Gs) - #cognition #intelligence #CHC #executivefunctions #Gwm #Gs #schoolpsychology

 

Click on images to enlarge for easy reading.

This is a nice study/paper.  And it is open access and can be downloaded for reading by clicking here.

I recommend reading, if not the entire article, at least the introductory lit review.  The introductory lit review is worth a read if one wants to understand the basic literature re the definition, theories, and research regarding the relations between cognitive inhibition, working memory capacity (Gwm), and processing speed (Gs) in a developmental context.  

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine the age-related changes in inhibitory control of 450 children at the ages of 7–8, 11–12, and 14–16 when controlling for working memory capacity (WMC) and processing speed to determine whether inhibition is an independent factor far beyond its possible reliance on the other two factors. This examination is important for several reasons. First, empirical evidence about age-related changes of inhibitory control is controversial. Second, there are no studies that explore the organization of inhibitory functions by controlling for the influence of processing speed and WMC in these age groups. Third, the construct of inhibition has been questioned in recent research. Multigroup confirmatory analyses suggested that inhibition can be organized as a one-dimension factor in which processing speed and WMC modulate the variability of some inhibition tasks. The partial reliance of inhibitory processes on processing speed and WMC demonstrates that the inhibition factor partially explains the variance of inhibitory tasks even when WMC and processing speed are controlled and some methodological concerns are addressed.

Research Byte: Individual differences in #workingmemory (Gwm) and #attentionalcontrol (#AC) continue to predict memory #Gl) performance despite extensive learning—#CHC #schoolpsychology

Individual differences in working memory and attentional control continue to predict memory performance despite extensive learning.

Zhao, C., & Vogel, E. K. (2025). Individual differences in working memory and attentional control continue to predict memory performance despite extensive learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001728

---

Abstract

Individual differences in working memory predict a wide range of cognitive abilities. However, little research has been done on whether working memory continues to predict task performance after repetitive learning. Here, we tested whether working memory ability continued to predict long-term memory (LTM) performance for picture sequences even after participants showed massive learning. In Experiments 1–3, subjects performed a source memory task in which they were presented a sequence of 30 objects shown in one of four quadrants and then were tested on each item’s position. We repeated this procedure for five times in Experiment 1 and 12 times in Experiments 2 and 3. Interestingly, we discovered that individual differences in working memory continually predicted LTM accuracy across all repetitions. In Experiment 4, we replicated the stable working memory demands with word pairs. In Experiment 5, we generalized the stable working memory demands model to attentional control abilities. Together, these results suggest that people, instead of relying less on working memory, optimized their working memory and attentional control throughout learning. 

---

Impact Statement

Working memory ability predicts various cognitive abilities. However, whether its predictive power remains after participants repetitively study the test materials remains unknown. Here, in five experiments with visual and verbal materials, we found that individual differences in working memory and attentional control (WMAC) constantly predicted people’s memory performance even after extensive training of the same materials. Our results provided a new understanding of WMAC, in that learning may better tune participants’ attention and working memory toward task demands, instead of eliminating the reliance on attentional control in performing tasks.

Research Byte: Past reflections, present insights: A systematic #review and new empirical research into the #workingmemory capacity (WMC)-#fluidintelligence (#Gf) relationship

Past reflections, present insights: A systematic review and new empirical research into the working memory capacity (WMC)-fluid intelligence (Gf) relationship

Ratko Đokić, Maida Koso-Drljević, Merim Bilalić 

Click here to go to journal

Abstract

According to the capacity account, working memory capacity (WMC) is a causal factor of fluid intelligence (Gf) in that it enables simultaneous activation of multiple relevant information in the aim of reasoning. Consequently, correlation between WMC and Gf should increase as a function of capacity demands of reasoning tasks. Here we systematically review the existing literature on the connection between WMC and Gf. The review reveals conceptual incongruities, a diverse range of analytical approaches, and mixed evidence. While some studies have found a link (e.g., Little et al., 2014), the majority of others did not observe a significant increase in correlation (e.g., Burgoyne et al., 2019; Salthouse, 1993; Unsworth, 2014; Unsworth & Engle, 2005; Wiley et al., 2011). We then test the capacity hypothesis on a much larger, non-Anglo-Saxon culture sample (N = 543). Our WMC measures encompassed Operation, Reading, and Symmetry Span task, whereas Gf was based on items from Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven). We could not confirm the capacity hypothesis either when we employed the analytical approach based on the Raven's item difficulty or when the number of rule tokens required to solve a Raven's item was used. Finally, even the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) and its variant, latent growth curve modeling (LGCM), which provide more “process-pure” latent measures of constructs, as well as an opportunity to control for all relevant interrelations among variables, could not produce support for the capacity account. Consequently, we discuss the limitations of the capacity hypothesis in explaining the WMC-Gf relationship, highlighting both theoretical and methodological challenges, particularly the shortcomings of information processing models in accounting for human cognitive abilities.

Research Byte: A Systematic #Review of #Working#Memory (#Gwm) Applications for #Children with #LearningDifficulties (#LD): Transfer Outcomes and Design Principles

 A Systematic Review of Working Memory Applications for Children with Learning Difficulties: Transfer Outcomes and Design Principles 

by 

Adel Shaban

 1,*, 

Victor Chang

 2, 

Onikepo D. Amodu

 1, 

Mohamed Ramadan Attia

 3 and 

Gomaa Said Mohamed Abdelhamid

 4,5

1

Middlesbrough College, University Centre Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough TS2 1AD, UK

2

Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7UP, UK

3

Department of Educational Technology, Faculty of Specific Education, Fayoum University, Fayoum 63514, Egypt

4

Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, Fayoum University, Fayoum 63514, Egypt

5

Department of Psychology, College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat 123, Oman

*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(11), 1260; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14111260

Visit article page where PDF of article can be downloaded

Abstract

Working memory (WM) is a crucial cognitive function, and a deficit in this function is a critical factor in learning difficulties (LDs). As a result, there is growing interest in exploring different approaches to training WM to support students with LDs. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, this systematic review aims to identify current computer-based WM training applications and their theoretical foundations, explore their effects on improving WM capacity and other cognitive/academic abilities, and extract design principles for creating an effective WM application for children with LDs. The 22 studies selected for this review provide strong evidence that children with LDs have low WM capacity and that their WM functions can be trained. The findings revealed four commercial WM training applications—COGMED, Jungle, BrainWare Safari, and N-back—that were utilized in 16 studies. However, these studies focused on suggesting different types of WM tasks and examining their effects rather than making those tasks user-friendly or providing practical guidelines for the end-user. To address this gap, the principles of the Human–Computer Interaction, with a focus on usability and user experience as well as relevant cognitive theories, and the design recommendations from the selected studies have been reviewed to extract a set of proposed guidelines. A total of 15 guidelines have been extracted that can be utilized to design WM training programs specifically for children with LDs. 

Keywords: 

cognitive load theory; design principles; learning difficulties (LDs); systematic review; user-centered design; WM training applications; working memory (WM)

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/14/11/1260#

Research Byte: Revising Baddeley and Hitch’s #workingmemory (#Gwm) 50 years later—relevance to #children and #developmental models.

 EXPRESS: Revisiting Working Memory Fifty Years after Baddeley and Hitch: A Review of Field-specific Conceptualizations, Use and Misuse, and Paths Forward for Studying Children

Dana Miller-Cotto https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0577-4868 dmillerc@berkeley.edu and Rebecca Gordon https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3080-2031View all authors and affiliations

Accepted Manuscripts

https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218241301701

Info about journal pub here.

As trained educational and developmental psychologists who study the role of working memory in educational outcomes, we know the various assumptions made about definitions and measurements of this cognitive ability. Considering the popularity of the Baddeley and Hitch working memory model (1974) in these fields, we raise challenges related to measurement, overlap with executive function, and adopting working memory measurement approaches from adult models. We propose that researchers consider how working memory tasks might tap multiple other abilities. This is problematic in the context of child cognitive development and in understanding which factors explain educational outcomes in children. We recommend giving greater attention to the central executive, acknowledging the overlap between the central executive and executive function in study design, and investigating a developmental model in the context of the broader abilities evoked in measurement. These recommendations may provide a fuller understanding of working memory's mechanistic role in children's learning and development and assist in developing reasonable adjustments for specific aspects of working memory for children who struggle

Research Byte: Examining #WorkingMemory Training for Healthy Adults—A Second-Order #MetaAnalysis—-#CHC #WJV #Gwm

This meta-analytic review suggests some promise for working memory training programs, although for every slightly positive research synthesis there are multiple other syntheses (and position papers) that suggest that working memory training does not transfer to real world settings or is not effective.  I, being an optimist, am not ready to give up on the idea of working memory interventions to improve intellectual performance, given the central role working memory plays in cognition.  There is probably some kind of individual differences X type of treatment effect interaction.  See McGrew et. al. (2023) for recent psychometric network analysis paper that identifies the working memory-attentional control complex (Gwm-AC) as the most likely “target system” for effective intellectual ability interventions.

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading

More support for the Gs—>Gwm—>—Gf/ Gc developmental cascade model as per CHC taxonomy

 More support for the developmental cascade model

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289620300817?via%3Dihub

Speed of processing, control of processing, working memory and crystallized and fluid intelligence: Evidence for a developmental cascade 

Anna Tourva, George Spanoudis

 

Keywords: Fluid intelligence Crystallized intelligence Working memory Speed of processing Executive attention Developmental-cascade model 

A B S T R A C T  

The present study investigated the causal relations among age, speed of processing, control of processing, working memory and intelligence, fluid and crystallized. 158 participants aged from 7 to 18 years old completed a large battery of tests measuring latent factors of speed, control of processing and working memory. Intelligence was assessed using the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence. Structural equation modeling was performed to determine whether there is a cognitive-developmental cascade in which age-related increases in processing speed lead to improvements in control of processing that leads to increases in working memory, and whether improved working memory, in turn, leads to increases in both fluid and crystallized intelligence. Several alternative models of a different cascade order of the above factors were also tested. The results of the present study provide evidence of a cognitive-developmental cascade, confirming that this model describes cognitive development during childhood and adolescence.  

Click images to enlarge.

Attentional control has indirect effect on Gf via working memory (Gwm)

Another study  supporting attentional control (AC) as having an indirect causal effect on Gf mediated via working memory (Gwm).

Abstract

Human fluid intelligence emerges from the interactions of various cognitive processes. Although some classic models characterize intelligence as a unitary “general ability,” many distinct lines of research have suggested that it is possible to at least partially decompose intelligence into a set of subsidiary cognitive functions. Much of this work has focused on the relationship between intelligence and working memory, and more specifically between intelligence and the capacity-loading aspects of working memory. These theories focus on domain-general processing capacity limitations, rather than limitations specifically linked to working memory tasks. Performance on other capacity-constrained tasks, even those that have typically been given the label of “attention tasks,” may thus also be related to fluid intelligence. We tested a wide range of attention and working memory tasks in 7- to 9-year-old children and adults, and we used the results of these cognitive measures to predict intelligence scores. In a set of 13 measures we did not observe a single “positive manifold” that would indicate a general-ability understanding of intelligence. Instead, we found that a small number of measures were related to intelligence scores. More specifically, we found two tasks that are typically labeled as “attentional measures”, Multiple Object Tracking and

Enumeration, and two tasks that are typically labeled as “working memory” measures, N-back and Spatial Span, were reliably related to intelligence. However, the links between attention and intelligence scores were fully mediated by working memory measures. In contrast, attention scores did not mediate the relations between working memory and intelligence. Furthermore, these patterns were indistinguishable across age groups, indicating ahierarchical cognitive basis of intelligence that is stable from childhood into adulthood.

study

Practice or retest effects in measures of working memory capacity (Gwm): A meta-analysis

Retest effects in working memory capacity tests: A meta-analysis
Jana Scharfen, Katrin Jansen, Heinz Holling. Article link

© Psychonomic Society, Inc. 2018

Abstract

The repeated administration of working memory capacity tests is common in clinical and research settings. For cognitive ability tests and different neuropsychological tests, meta-analyses have shown that they are prone to retest effects, which have to be accounted for when interpreting retest scores. Using a multilevel approach, this meta-analysis aims at showing the reproducibility of retest effects in working memory capacity tests for up to seven test administrations, and examines the impact of the length of the test-retest interval, test modality, equivalence of test forms and participant age on the size of retest effects. Furthermore, it is assessed whether the size of retest effects depends on the test paradigm. An extensive literature search revealed 234 effect sizes from 95 samples and 68 studies, in which healthy participants between 12 and 70 years repeatedly performed a working memory capacity test. Results yield a weighted average of g = 0.28 for retest effects from the first to the second test administration, and a significant increase in effect sizes was observed up to the fourth test administration. The length of the test-retest interval and publication year were found to moderate the size of retest effects. Retest effects differed between the paradigms of working memory capacity tests. These findings call for the development and use of appropriate experimental or statistical methods to address retest effects in working memory capacity tests.

Keywords Meta-analysis · Retest effect · Practice effect · Working memory



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

How to keep your memory as you age: Annual Review of Psychology

Annual Review of Psychology: Successful Memory Aging. Article link.

Lars Nyberg and Sara Pudas

Abstract

For more than 50 years, psychologists, gerontologists, and, more recently, neuroscientists have considered the possibility of successful aging. How to define successful aging remains debated, but well-preserved age-sensitive cognitive functions, like episodic memory, is an often-suggested criterion. Evidence for successful memory aging comes from cross-sectional and lon-gitudinal studies showing that some older individuals display high and sta-ble levels of performance. Successful memory aging may be accomplished via multiple paths. One path is through brain maintenance, or relative lack of age-related brain pathology. Through another path, successful memory aging can be accomplished despite brain pathology by means of efficient compensatory and strategic processes. Genetic, epigenetic, and lifestyle fac-tors influence memory aging via both paths. Some of these factors can be promoted throughout the life course, which, at the individual as well as the societal level, can positively impact successful memory aging.

Click on image to enlarge.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

21 factors that can impact working memory: A formative list and taxonomy

An interesting list and logically based taxonomy in need of empirical validation.


Why Is Working Memory Performance Unstable? A Review of 21 Factors
Rachael N. Blasiman, Christopher A. Wasa

Europe's Journal of Psychology, 2018, Vol. 14(1), 188–231, doi:10.5964/ejop.v14i1.1472

Abstract

In this paper, we systematically reviewed twenty-one factors that have been shown to either vary with or influence performance on working memory (WM) tasks. Specifically, we review previous work on the influence of intelligence, gender, age, personality, mental illnesses/ medical conditions, dieting, craving, stress/anxiety, emotion/motivation, stereotype threat, temperature, mindfulness training, practice, bilingualism, musical training, altitude/hypoxia, sleep, exercise, diet, psychoactive substances, and brain stimulation on WM performance. In addition to a review of the literature, we suggest several frameworks for classifying these factors, identify shared mechanisms between several variables, and suggest areas requiring further investigation. This review critically examines the breadth of research investigating WM while synthesizing the results across related subfields in psychology.

Keywords: working memory, individual differences

Click on image to enlarge



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Research Byte: Differences in mathematical reasoning between typically achieving and gifted children

Differences in mathematical reasoning between typically achieving and gifted children
Derek H. Berg & Pamela A. McDonald (article link)

ABSTRACT

Mathematical giftedness refers to mastery in a specific mathematical domain at an earlier than expected age. The present study examined which cognitive processes accounted for differences in mathematical reasoning between gifted children (MRG) and their typically achieving peers (TA). Naming speed, phonological awareness, short-term memory, executive functioning, and working memory were examined in 51 children aged approximately 7 years. A series of stepwise regression models, using a contrast variable to capture differences in mathematical reasoning between MRG and TA children, were created to examine which cognitive domains accounted for differences in mathematical reasoning. Short-term memory (r2 = .08) and visual-spatial working memory (r2 = .39) emerged as the only cognitive predictors within a model that included gender, age, and fluid intelligence. This model captured all of the variance distinguishing mathematics reasoning between MRG and TA children, explaining an overall contribution of 70% of the variance in mathematical reasoning.

KEYWORDS: Giftedness, mathematical reasoning, working memory, child development


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Possible Gf subprocesses

Interesting conceptual framework for understanding performance on Gf tasks. However, it is Important to note that factor analysis studies have suggested a number of subprocesses that do not necessarily fit in this task-analysis based model.

Signatures of multiple processes contributing to fluid reasoning performance (article link)

Ehsan Shokri-Kojoria and Daniel C. Krawczyk


A R T I C L E I N F O

Keywords: Fluid intelligence Individual differences Multi-process Raven's progressive matrices

A B S T R A C T

We aimed to achieve a better understanding of the cognitive processes of fluid reasoning (or fluid intelligence; Gf), the ability to reason in novel conditions. While fluid reasoning has often been considered a unitary con-struct, multiple cognitive processes are expected to affect fluid reasoning performance. Yet, the contribution of various cognitive processes in fluid reasoning performance remains under-explored. We hypothesized that in-dividual differences in fluid intelligence can be viewed as a composite of individual differences in performance in various processes of Gf. Change detection, rule verification, and rule generation were the three processes-of-interest that were additively recruited in a novel visuospatial reasoning task. We observed decreases in accuracy and increases in response time as the processing requirements increased across task conditions. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses showed that individual differences in the likelihood of success and speed of each of these processes, accounted for different aspects of individual differences in accuracy and response time in fluid reasoning performance, as measured by Raven's Progressive Matrices. Change detection was a significant contributor to performance in problems with higher visuospatial demand, however, rule verification and rule generation consistently contributed to performance for all problem types. Our findings support the position that individual differences in fluid intelligence emerge as a composite of performance on separable cognitive op-erations, with rule processing being important for differentiating performance on high difficulty problem.

Click on image to enlarge



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tactile abilities (Gh) in the CHC taxonomy overview. Plus new study with possible support for tactile working memory

Interesting new study that provides some support for a possible tactile working memory (Gwm) ability in the CHC taxonomy. Much more research needed before one could consider adding it to CHC taxonomy. Click on image to enlarge.





Article link.

Abstract

The human prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been shown to be important for metacognition, the capacity to monitor and control one's own cognitive processes. Here we dissected the neural architecture of somatosensory metacognition using navigated single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to modulate tactile working memory (WM) processing. We asked subjects to perform tactile WM tasks and to give a confidence rating for their performance after each trial. We circumvented the challenge of interindividual variability in functional brain anatomy by applying TMS to two PFC areas that, according to tractography, were neurally connected with the primary somatosensory cortex (S1): one area in the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), another in the middle frontal gyrus (MFG). These two PFC locations and a control cortical area were stimulated during both spatial and temporal tactile WM tasks. We found that tractography-guided TMS of the SFG area selectively enhanced metacognitive accuracy of tactile temporal, but not spatial WM. Stimulation of the MFG area that was also neurally connected with the S1 had no such effect on metacognitive accuracy of either the temporal or spatial tactile WM. Our findings provide causal evidence that the PFC contains distinct neuroanatomical substrates for introspective accuracy of tactile WM.


Key words: metacognition, TMS, tractography, working memory

——————————

Below is a section (submitted draft copy) of our (Joel Schneider and I) forthcoming CHC update chapter. In Gh we currently did not see enough support for a tactile working memory factor, although we have speculated that such memory may exist (see italic font sections).

Schneider, W. J., & McGrew, K. S. (in press). The Cattell-Horn-Carroll Theory of Cognitive Abilities. In D. P. Flanagan & Erin M .McDonough (Eds.), Contemporary intellectual assessment: Theories, tests and issues (4thed.,) New York: Guilford Press.  Here is link to current 3rd edition.

SUBMITTED DRAFT: DO NOTE QUOTE

Tactile abilities (Gh):  Tactile abilities (Gh) can be defined as the ability to detect and process meaningful information in haptic (touch) sensations. It includes perceiving, discriminating and manipulating touch stimuli.

Gh refers not to sensitivity of touch, but to the cognition one performs with tactile sensations. Because this ability is not yet well defined and understood, it is hard to describe authoritatively. We speculate that it will include such things as tactile visualization (object identification via palpation), localization (where has one been touched), memory (remembering where one has been touched), texture knowledge (naming surfaces and fabrics by touch), and many others. Tests of Gh have long been used in neuropsychological batteries because of their ability to detect brain injury, especially to the somatosensory cortex. Attempts to developed haptic-based assessment batteries have also been developed for individuals who are blind or have severe visual disabilities (e.g., the Blind Learning Aptitude Test).

Much to the disdain of new parents, our initial explorations of the world as infants is filled with touching, grabbing, and sucking almost any object within immediate reach. The human sense of touch, be it with our hands or mouth, provides perceptual information regarding our immediate environment and serves as a primary foundation for the development of many concepts. The importance of touch permeates our discussion of learning as “we often talk about ‘grasping’ an idea, ‘getting a handle on’ a problem, or being ‘touched’ by a reading” (Minogue & Jones, 2006, p. 317). Driven by recent technological developments in robotics, 3D printers (making it possible to develop precise 3D stimuli), prosthetic limbs and hands, touch screen mobile devices and haptic feedback displays, technology to aid the visually impaired, the teleoperation of remote sensing or manipulation devices (telesurgery; operating remote drones), virtual reality based training and simulation (e.g., training of surgeons), etc., there has been increasing interest and research into tactile or haptic abilities (Kappers & Bergmann Tiest, 2013).

Circumscribing the emerging research on haptic perception is beyond the scope of this chapter. Haptic perceptual characteristics include such material properties as roughness, compliance, viscosity, friction, temperature, density and weight, and spatial properties, such as shape, curvature, length, volume and orientation, as well as quantitative properties such as numerosity (Kappers & Bergmann Tiest, 2013). A complete understanding of haptic perception requires understanding the peripheral sensory receptors (in the skin, muscles, tendons and joints), research that has identified two channels of haptic perception (“what” and “where”), and other issues such as vision-touch interactions, affective touch, and neural plasticity (Lederman & Klatzky, 2009). Furthermore, consumer psychologists have learned that some individuals have a “need for touch” (Peck & Childers, 2003) when evaluating products to counter common visual misperceptions (some scientists refer to touch as the “reality sense”; Nuszbaum, Voss, Klauer, & Betsch, 2010). The implications of touch for cognition are recognized by many educators who advocate the use of “hands-on” instruction (see Minogue & Jones, 2006, for emerging educational applications of haptic sensations).

Narrow Abilities within Tactile Abilities (Gh)

Despite the recent increase and variety of haptic perception research and applications, the limited structural evidence research does not allow us to articulate a more nuanced version of the fundamental factors of haptic abilities than outlined in our 2012 chapter —there are yet no well-supported cognitive ability factors within Gh. Although Stankov, Seizova-Cajic and Roberts (2001) identified a narrow tactile sensitivity (TS) factor, this is a sensory ability (refers to the ability to make fine discriminations in haptic sensations) and not a cognitive ability. For example, if two caliper points are placed on the skin simultaneously, we perceive them as a single point if they are close together. Some people can make finer discriminations than others. The very narrow TS factor was found to be minimally related to higher-level broad CHC abilities (Gf, Gv, Ga; Stankov et al., 2001). Two new (or previously overlooked) Gh structural evidence studies summarized below were either inconclusive or are based on samples to small to suggest revisions to the Gh domain.

In a factor study of the tactile measures from the Dean-Woodcock Sensory Motor Battery and CHC measures with a conormed cognitive battery of measures representative of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of intelligence, Decker (2010) found that the Palm Writing and Object Identification tests did not form a distinct Gh factor and either loaded on a processing speed (Gs) factor or were factorially complex (Gs and Gv). Ballesteros, Bardisa, Millar and Reales (2005) investigated the psychometric characteristics, including factor analysis, of a psychological test battery designed to measure the perceptual and cognitive abilities of children with visual handicaps. The 20-test battery materials consist of raised-dot, raised-surface shapes and displays, and familiar and novel 3-D objects that required active touch. In a small sample, exploratory factor analysis identified six factors—spatial comprehension, short-term memory, object identification, shape identification efficient exploration, material and texture discrimination. Given the small sample size and the lack of other CHC ability indicators, the Ballesteros et al. (2005) study can only be considered suggestive and a first step in the exploration of the structural nature of Gh.

Assessment Recommendations for Gh

Most practical and clinical applications of Gh tests actually use sensory acuity tests. There are currently no available tests of higher-order Gh processes that are clearly distinct from Gv or Gs. The Halstead-–Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery and the Dean-Woodock–Woodcock Neuropsychological Battery include several Gh tests.

Comments and Unresolved Issues Related to Gh

1. How is Gh to be distinguished from Gv and Gf? Two well-designed studies (Roberts, Stankov, Pallier, & Dolph, 1997; Stankov et al., 2001) found it difficult to distinguish between complex tests assumed to measure Gh and well-defined markers of Gv and Gf. Why might this be so? If the test involves identifying common objects (coins, keys, books, etc.) by handling them while blindfolded, the examinee is essentially using the hands instead of the eyes to visualize an object in the “minds eyes.”

2. What about “dynamic touch”? Do abilities from the Gh and kinesthetic (Gk) domains combine to reflect individual differences in dynamic touch (Stankov et al., 2001; Turvey, 1996)?

3. Like the presence of imagery in vision and auditory abilities, does some form of haptic imagery ability exist? What role would it play in Gh abilities?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Research Byte: Is General Intelligence Little More Than the Speed of Higher-Order Processing?

Although a small sample, this is still and interesting study. The results are consistent with the continued nexus of the g, Gf, Gwm, attentional control and speed of higher order processing (especially P300 in ERP’s), white matter tract integrity and the PFIT model of intelligence as well as the recent process overlap theory (POT) of g.

Click on images to enlarge









Article link.

Anna-Lena Schubert, Dirk Hagemann, and Gidon T. Frischkorn Heidelberg University

ABSTRACT

Individual differences in the speed of information processing have been hypothesized to give rise to individual differences in general intelligence. Consistent with this hypothesis, reaction times (RTs) and latencies of event-related potential have been shown to be moderately associated with intelligence. These associations have been explained either in terms of individual differences in some brain-wide property such as myelination, the speed of neural oscillations, or white-matter tract integrity, or in terms of individual differences in specific processes such as the signal-to-noise ratio in evidence accumulation, executive control, or the cholinergic system. Here we show in a sample of 122 participants, who completed a battery of RT tasks at 2 laboratory sessions while an EEG was recorded, that more intelligent individuals have a higher speed of higher-order information processing that explains about 80% of the variance in general intelligence. Our results do not support the notion that individuals with higher levels of general intelligence show advantages in some brain-wide property. Instead, they suggest that more intelligent individuals benefit from a more efficient transmission of information from frontal attention and working memory processes to temporal-parietal processes of memory storage.

Keywords: ERP latencies, event-related potentials, intelligence, processing speed, reaction times



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mathematical (Gq) giftedness: Review of cognitive, conative and neural variables

Click on image to enlarge.

Article link.




ABSTRACT

Most mathematical cognition research has focused on understanding normal adult function and child development as well as mildly and moderately impaired mathematical skill, often labeled developmental dyscalculia and/or mathematical learning disability. In contrast, much less research is available on cognitive and neural correlates of gifted/excellent mathematical knowledge in adults and children. In order to facilitate further inquiry into this area, here we review 40 available studies, which examine the cognitive and neural basis of gifted mathematics. Studies associated a large number of cognitive factors with gifted mathematics, with spatial processing and working memory being the most frequently identified contributors. However, the current literature suffers
from low statistical power, which most probably contributes to variability across findings. Other major shortcomings include failing to establish domain and stimulus specificity of findings, suggesting causation without sufficient evidence and the frequent use of invalid backward inference in neuro-imaging studies. Future studies must increase statistical power and neuro-imaging studies must rely on supporting behavioral data when interpreting findings. Studies should investigate the factors shown to correlate with math giftedness in a more specific manner and determine exactly how individual factors may contribute to gifted math ability.


SELECTIVE SUMMARY CONCLUSION STATEMENTS

In line with the heterogeneous nature of mathematical disabilities (e.g., Rubinsten and Henik, 2009; Fias et al., 2013), mathematical giftedness also seems to correlate with numerous factors—(see Appendix A for which factors were found in each study). These factors roughly fall into social, motivational, and cognitive domains. Specifically, in the social and motivational domains, motivation, high drive, and interest to learn mathematics, practice time, lack of involvement in social interpersonal, or religious issues, authoritarian attitudes, and high socio-economic status have all been related to high levels of mathematical achievement. Speculatively, it is interesting to ask whether some of these factors may be related to the so-called Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity (SFON) concept which appears early in life and means that some children have a high tendency to pay attention to numerical information (Hannula and Lehtinen, 2005). To clarify this question, longitudinal studies could investigate whether high SFON at an early age is associated with high levels of mathematical expertise in later life. Better assessment of individual variability is also important, for example, Albert Einstein (who was a gifted even if sometimes “lazy” mathematician; see e.g., Isaacson, 2008) was famously anti-authoritarian.

In terms of cognitive variables, we found that spatial processing, working memory, motivation/practice time, reasoning, general IQ, speed of information processing, short-term memory, efficient switching from working memory to episodic memory, pattern recognition, inhibition, fluid intelligence, associative memory, and motor functions were all associated with mathematical giftedness. As a caveat it is important to point out that mere “significance counting” (i.e., just considering studies with statistical significant results regarding a concept) can be very misleading especially in the typically underpowered context of psychology and neuro-imaging research (see e.g., Szucs and Ioannidis, 2017). However, considering the patchy research, this is the best we can do at the moment. In addition, even if meta-analyses were possible, these also typically only take into account published research, so they usually (highly) overestimate effect sizes especially from small scale studies (see Szucs and Ioannidis, 2017).


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Musicians have better memory than nonmusicians: A meta-analysis

More research, this time a meta-analysis, documenting the cognitive benefits of musical training. I better not show this to my mother who never liked the fact that I only took one year of piano:)

Musicians have better memory than nonmusicians: A meta-analysis

Francesca Talamini, Gianmarco Altoè, Barbara Carretti, Massimo Grassi

Abstract

The three meta-analyses revealed a small effect size for long-term memory, and a medium effect size for short-term and working memory, suggesting that musicians perform better than nonmusicians in memory tasks. Moreover, the effect of the moderator suggested that, the type of stimuli influences this advantage.

Click on image to enlarge. Article link.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad