Showing papers in "Annual Review of Psychology in 2008"

Dual-Processing Accounts of Reasoning, Judgment, and Social Cognition

Abstract: This article reviews a diverse set of proposals for dual processing in higher cognition within largely disconnected literatures in cognitive and social psychology. All these theories have in common the distinction between cognitive processes that are fast, automatic, and unconscious and those that are slow, deliberative, and conscious. A number of authors have recently suggested that there may be two architecturally (and evolutionarily) distinct cognitive systems underlying these dual-process accounts. However, it emerges that (a) there are multiple kinds of implicit processes described by different theorists and (b) not all of the proposed attributes of the two kinds of processing can be sensibly mapped on to two systems as currently conceived. It is suggested that while some dual-process theories are concerned with parallel competing processes involving explicit and implicit knowledge systems, others are concerned with the influence of preconscious processes that contextualize and shape deliberative reasoning and decision-making.

Human abilities: emotional intelligence.

Abstract: Emotional intelligence (EI) involves the ability to carry out accurate reasoning about emotions and the ability to use emotions and emotional knowledge to enhance thought. We discuss the origins of the EI concept, define EI, and describe the scope of the field today. We review three approaches taken to date from both a theoretical and methodological perspective. We find that Specific-Ability and Integrative-Model approaches adequately conceptualize and measure EI. Pivotal in this review are those studies that address the relation between EI measures and meaningful criteria including social outcomes, performance, and psychological and physical well-being. The Discussion section is followed by a list of summary points and recommended issues for future research.

Putting the Altruism Back into Altruism: The Evolution of Empathy

Abstract: Evolutionary theory postulates that altruistic behavior evolved for the return-benefits it bears the performer. For return-benefits to play a motivational role, however, they need to be experienced by the organism. Motivational analyses should restrict themselves, therefore, to the altruistic impulse and its knowable consequences. Empathy is an ideal candidate mechanism to underlie so-called directed altruism, i.e., altruism in response to anothers's pain, need, or distress. Evidence is accumulating that this mechanism is phylogenetically ancient, probably as old as mammals and birds. Perception of the emotional state of another automatically activates shared representations causing a matching emotional state in the observer. With increasing cognition, state-matching evolved into more complex forms, including concern for the other and perspective-taking. Empathy-induced altruism derives its strength from the emotional stake it offers the self in the other's welfare. The dynamics of the empathy mechanism a...

Addiction and the Brain Antireward System

Abstract: A neurobiological model of the brain emotional systems has been proposed to explain the persistent changes in motivation that are associated with vulnerability to relapse in addiction, and this model may generalize to other psychopathology associated with dysregulated motivational systems. In this framework, addiction is conceptualized as a cycle of decreased function of brain reward systems and recruitment of antireward systems that progressively worsen, resulting in the compulsive use of drugs. Counteradaptive processes, such as opponent process, that are part of the normal homeostatic limitation of reward function fail to return within the normal homeostatic range and are hypothesized to repeatedly drive the allostatic state. Excessive drug taking thus results in not only the short-term amelioration of the reward deficit but also suppression of the antireward system. However, in the long term, there is worsening of the underlying neurochemical dysregulations that ultimately form an allostatic state (de...

A Comprehensive Review of the Placebo Effect: Recent Advances and Current Thought

Abstract: Our understanding and conceptualization of the placebo effect has shifted in emphasis from a focus on the inert content of a physical placebo agent to the overall simulation of a therapeutic intervention. Research has identified many types of placebo responses driven by different mechanisms depending on the particular context wherein the placebo is given. Some placebo responses, such as analgesia, are initiated and maintained by expectations of symptom change and changes in motivation/emotions. Placebo factors have neurobiological underpinnings and actual effects on the brain and body. They are not just response biases. Other placebo responses result from less conscious processes, such as classical conditioning in the case of immune, hormonal, and respiratory functions. The demonstration of the involvement of placebo mechanisms in clinical trials and routine clinical practice has highlighted interesting considerations for clinical trial design and opened up opportunities for ethical enhancement of these mechanisms in clinical practice.

The Mind and Brain of Short-Term Memory

Abstract: The past 10 years have brought near-revolutionary changes in psychological theories about short-term memory, with similarly great advances in the neurosciences. Here, we critically examine the major psychological theories (the “mind”) of short-term memory and how they relate to evidence about underlying brain mechanisms. We focus on three features that must be addressed by any satisfactory theory of short-term memory. First, we examine the evidence for the architecture of short-term memory, with special attention to questions of capacity and how—or whether—short-term memory can be separated from long-term memory. Second, we ask how the components of that architecture enact processes of encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. Third, we describe the debate over the reason about forgetting from short-term memory, whether interference or decay is the cause. We close with a conceptual model tracing the representation of a single item through a short-term memory task, describing the biological mechanisms that might support psychological processes on a moment-by-moment basis as an item is encoded, maintained over a delay with some forgetting, and ultimately retrieved.

Social bonds and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Abstract: Retrospective and prospective studies consistently show that individuals exposed to human-generated traumatic events carry a higher risk of developing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than those exposed to other kinds of events. These studies also consistently identify perceptions of social support both before and after a traumatic event as an important factor in the determining vulnerability to the development of PTSD. We review the literature on interpersonal traumas, social support and risk for PTSD and integrate findings with recent advances in developmental psychopathology, attachment theory and social neuroscience. We propose and gather evidence for what we term the social ecology of PTSD, a conceptual framework for understanding how both PTSD risk and recovery are highly dependent on social phenomena. We explore clinical implications of this conceptual framework.

Visual Perception and the Statistical Properties of Natural Scenes

Abstract: The environments in which we live and the tasks we must perform to survive and reproduce have shaped the design of our perceptual systems through evolution and experience. Therefore, direct measurement of the statistical regularities in natural environments (scenes) has great potential value for advancing our understanding of visual perception. This review begins with a general discussion of the natural scene statistics approach, of the different kinds of statistics that can be measured, and of some existing measurement techniques. This is followed by a summary of the natural scene statistics measured over the past 20 years. Finally, there is a summary of the hypotheses, models, and experiments that have emerged from the analysis of natural scene statistics.

The brain, appetite, and obesity

Abstract: Food intake and energy expenditure are controlled by complex, redundant, and distributed neural systems that reflect the fundamental biological importance of adequate nutrient supply and energy balance. Much progress has been made in identifying the various hormonal and neural mechanisms by which the brain informs itself about availability of ingested and stored nutrients and, in turn, generates behavioral, autonomic, and endocrine output. While hypothalamus and caudal brainstem play crucial roles in this homeostatic function, areas in the cortex and limbic system are important for processing information regarding prior experience with food, reward, and emotion, as well as social and environmental context. Most vertebrates can store a considerable amount of energy as fat for later use, and this ability has now become one of the major health risks for many human populations. The predisposition to develop obesity can theoretically result from any pathological malfunction or lack of adaptation to changing environments of this highly complex system.

Children's Social Competence in Cultural Context

Abstract: Social initiative and behavioral control represent two major dimensions of children's social competence. Cultural norms and values with respect to these dimensions may affect the exhibition, meaning, and development of specific social behaviors such as sociability, shyness-inhibition, cooperation-compliance, and aggression-defiance, as well as the quality and function of social relationships. The culturally guided social interaction processes including evaluations and responses likely serve as an important mediator of cultural influence on children's social behaviors, relationships, and developmental patterns. In this article, we review research on children's social functioning and peer relationships in different cultures from an integrative contextual-developmental perspective. We also review research on the implications of the macro-level social and cultural changes that are happening in many societies for socialization and development of social competence.

Spontaneous Inferences, Implicit Impressions, and Implicit Theories

Abstract: People make social inferences without intentions, awareness, or effort, i.e., spontaneously. We review recent findings on spontaneous social inferences (especially traits, goals, and causes) and closely related phenomena. We then describe current thinking on some of the most relevant processes, implicit knowledge, and theories. These include automatic and controlled processes and their interplay; embodied cognition, including mimicry; and associative versus rule-based processes. Implicit knowledge includes adult folk theories, conditions of personhood, self-knowledge to simulate others, and cultural and social class differences. Implicit theories concern Bayesian networks, recent attribution research, and questions about the utility of the disposition-situation dichotomy. Developmental research provides new insights. Spontaneous social inferences include a growing array of phenomena, but they have been insufficiently linked to other phenomena and theories. We hope the links suggested in this review begin to remedy this.

Sample Size Planning for Statistical Power and Accuracy in Parameter Estimation

Abstract: This review examines recent advances in sample size planning, not only from the perspective of an individual researcher, but also with regard to the goal of developing cumulative knowledge. Psychologists have traditionally thought of sample size planning in terms of power analysis. Although we review recent advances in power analysis, our main focus is the desirability of achieving accurate parameter estimates, either instead of or in addition to obtaining sufficient power. Accuracy in parameter estimation (AIPE) has taken on increasing importance in light of recent emphasis on effect size estimation and formation of confidence intervals. The review provides an overview of the logic behind sample size planning for AIPE and summarizes recent advances in implementing this approach in designs commonly used in psychological research.

The Education of Dyslexic Children from Childhood to Young Adulthood

Abstract: The past two decades have witnessed an explosion in our understanding of dyslexia (or specific reading disability), the most common and most carefully studied of the learning disabilities. We first review the core concepts of dyslexia: its definition, prevalence, and developmental course. Next we examine the cognitive model of dyslexia, especially the phonological theory, and review empiric data suggesting genetic and neurobiological influences on the development of dyslexia. With the scientific underpinnings of dyslexia serving as a foundation, we turn our attention to evidence-based approaches to diagnosis and treatment, including interventions and accommodations. Teaching reading represents a major focus. We first review those reading interventions effective in early grades, and then review interventions for older students. To date the preponderance of intervention studies have focused on word-level reading; newer studies are beginning to examine reading interventions that have gone beyond word reading to affect reading fluency and reading comprehension. The article concludes with a discussion of the critical role of accommodations for dyslexic students and the recent neurobiological evidence supporting the need for such accommodations.

Cognition in Organizations

Abstract: This article reviews major developments from 2000 to early 2007 in the psychological analysis of cognition in organizations. Our review, the first in this series to survey cognitive theory and research spanning the entire field of industrial and organizational psychology, considers theoretical, empirical, and methodological advances across 10 substantive domains of application. Two major traditions, the human factors and organizational traditions, have dominated cognitively oriented research in this field. Our central message is that the technological and human systems underpinning contemporary organizational forms are evolving in ways that demand greater cooperation among researchers across both traditions. Such cooperation is necessary in order to gain theoretical insights of sufficient depth and complexity to refine the explanation and prediction of behavior in organizations and derive psychologically sound solutions to the unprecedented information-processing burdens confronting the twenty-first century workforce.

Health Psychology: The Search for Pathways between Behavior and Health

Abstract: This review of the current status of theoretically based behavioral research for chronic illness management makes the following points: (a) Behavioral interventions have demonstrated effectiveness for improving health outcomes using biomedical indicators, (b) current interventions are too costly and time consuming to be used in clinical and community settings, (c) translation of the conceptual models generated from studies of the problem-solving processes underlying self-management and the relationship of these processes to the self system and cultural and institutional contexts suggest new avenues for developing effective and efficient cognitive-behavioral interventions, and (d) it is proposed that integration of the conceptual developments in self-management with new approaches to the design of clinical trials can generate tailored, behavioral interventions that will improve quality of care.

Color in Complex Scenes

Abstract: The appearance of an object or surface depends strongly on the light from other objects and surfaces in view. This review focuses on color in complex scenes, which have regions of different colors in view simultaneously and/or successively, as in natural viewing. Two fundamental properties distinguish the chromatic representation evoked by a complex scene from the representation for an isolated patch of light. First, in complex scenes, the color of an object is not fully determined by the light from that object reaching the eye. Second, the chromatic representation of a complex scene contributes not only to hue, saturation, and brightness, but also to other percepts such as shape, texture, and object segmentation. These two properties are cornerstones of this review, which examines color perception with context that varies over space or time, including color constancy, and chromatic contributions to such percepts as orientation, contour, depth, and motion.

Relativity of Remembering: Why the Laws of Memory Vanished

Abstract: For 120 years, cognitive psychologists have sought general laws of learning and memory. In this review I conclude that none has stood the test of time. No empirical law withstands manipulation across the four sets of factors that Jenkins (1979) identified as critical to memory experiments: types of subjects, kinds of events to be remembered, manipulation of encoding conditions, and variations in test conditions. Another factor affecting many phenomena is whether a manipulation of conditions occurs in randomized, within-subjects designs rather than between-subjects (or within-subject, blocked) designs. The fact that simple laws do not hold reveals the complex, interactive nature of memory phenomena. Nonetheless, the science of memory is robust, with most findings easily replicated under the same conditions as originally used, but when other variables are manipulated, effects may disappear or reverse. These same points are probably true of psychological research in most, if not all, domains.

Motives of the Human Animal: Comprehending, Managing, and Sharing Inner States

Abstract: We propose that four fundamental developments of the human animal together produce distinct human motives: (a) social consciousness or awareness that the outcomes or significance of a person's action (self or other) depend upon how another person (self or other) reacts to it; (b) recognizing that people's inner states can mediate their outward behaviors; (c) relating the present to both the past and the future (mental time travel); and (d) sharing reality with other people. We review a typology of four categories of concern for these motivational developments: thoughts, feelings/attitudes, competencies, and reference values (goals and standards). We then review the recent research on three specific areas related to these motivational concerns: imagining future-self inner states, managing how others comprehend us, and sharing knowledge about the world.

The biological basis of audition.

Abstract: Interest has recently surged in the neural mechanisms of audition, particularly with regard to functional imaging studies in human subjects. This review emphasizes recent work on two aspects of auditory processing. The first explores auditory spatial processing and the role of the auditory cortex in both nonhuman primates and human subjects. The interactions with visual stimuli, the ventriloquism effect, and the ventriloquism aftereffect are also reviewed. The second aspect is temporal processing. Studies investigating temporal integration, forward masking, and gap detection are reviewed, as well as examples from the birdsong system and echolocating bats.

Neuroendocrine Regulation of Feminine Sexual Behavior: Lessons from Rodent Models and Thoughts About Humans

Abstract: Much has been learned concerning the neuroendocrine processes and cellular mechanisms by which steroid hormones influence reproductive behaviors in rodents and other animals. In this review, a short discussion of hormones and feminine sexual behavior in some rodent species is followed by an outline of the main principles that have been learned from these studies. Examples are given of the importance of considering the timing of hormone treatments, dosage of hormone, use of a specific hormone, particular class of hormones, or form of hormone, interactions between hormones, route of administration, peripheral factors that influence hormonal response, and the possible mechanisms of action by which hormones and other factors influence sexual behaviors. Although cellular studies in humans are presently impossible to perform, mechanistic studies in rodents may provide clues about the neuroendocrine mechanisms by which hormones act and interact in the brain to influence behavior in all species, including humans.

The evolution of a cognitive psychologist: a journey from simple behaviors to complex mental acts.

Abstract: The author summarizes his evolving interests from conditioning studies within a behaviorist orientation, thence to human memory, knowledge representation, and narrative understanding and memory. Arguing that the study of skilled reading provides a microcosm for revealing cognitive processes, he illustrates this by reviewing his research on the use of spatial priming to investigate readers' on-line updating of their situational models of texts. Conceptual entities close to the reader's focus of attention within the model are readily retrieved. Retrieval speed from memory declines with the probed object's distance from the current focus and decays with time elapsed in the narrative since the item was last in focus. The focus effect varies with the character's perspective, his status in the story, his active goals, and other factors. The results are accommodated within an associative network model distinguishing just-read sentences in short-term memory from activated portions of long-term memory structures to which they refer.

Effects of prolonged unemployment and reemployment on psychological and physical health

Abstract: 3 There is a wide-spread conviction that unemployment has adverse health effects. However, the research supporting this conviction is decisive only for various aspects of psychological or mental health, such as depression and hopelessness, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, and negative self-esteem. Indeed, numerous cross-sectional studies have amply shown that job-less individuals have worse mental health than their employed counterparts (e.g., Fryer & Payne, 1986; Hanish, 1999; Warr, 1987; Winefield, 1995, 2000). It is possible that poor mental health predisposes individuals to become and/or remain unemployed (the outcome known as “selection effect”). However, longitudinal studies, which tracked cohorts of individuals from employment to unemployment and conversely, provided convincing evidence that unemployment not only results from, but also causes poor metal health (“social causation effect”). As meta-analytic reviews have unanimously shown (e.g., McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanberg, & Kinciki, 2005; Murphy & Athanasou, 1999), there is significant decrease in mental health following job loss, and a sizable improvement after reemployment. The estimated causation effect is moderate in size and much stronger than the selection effect (McKeeRyan et al., 2005). Besides, the effect is invariant with the type of mental health indicator used (Paul, 2005). In other words, the observed impact of unemployment is equally pronounced for various measures of distress, anxiety, psychological well-being, or self-esteem. Research has shown that prolonged unemployment is also associated with impaired physical health (see, for example, reviews by Jin, Shah, & Svoboda, 1995, or Mathers & Schofield, 1998). Unemployed individuals report lower subjective physical health and more psychosomatic complains than their employed counterparts (Paul, 2005). They also report more visits to the physician, spend more days in bed sick (Linn, Sandifer, & Stein, 1985), and take more medication (Dragun, Rosso, & Rumbolt, 2006). Moreover, unemployed people, compared to employed counterparts, tend to report higher prevalence of manifest cardiovascular diseases (Brackbill, Siegel, & Ackermann, 1995; Cook, Cummins, Bartley, & Shaper, 1982; Gallo et al., 2004), and higher mortality rates (Iversen, 2006). However, because of many confounding factors and lack of convincing longitudinal research, the underlying causal link is considered unresolved (Weber & Lehnert, 1997). The main justification for the causation hypothesis, which states that unemployment causes impaired physical health, utilizes the concept of stress and the tenet that for most people unemployment is a stressful situation. Stress, as an organism’s total response to environmental threats, involves various physiological changes. Those include Zvonimir Galić, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ivana Lučića 3, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. E-mail: zvgalic@ffzg.hr (the address for correspondence).

Children's solving of mathematical word problems: The contribution of working memory

Abstract: 35 Learning mathematics includes solving various types of problems, from those which require performing arithmeti-cal operations to those which require problem solving skills. Children are faced with mathematical word problems consisting of both words and numbers as early as the preschool age, and also later in school mathematics. Effective solving of these problems primarily requires comprehension. The classic classification of addition and subtraction word problems is the one put forward by Heller and Greeno (1978), which was revised and expanded by enlarging the number of problems by Riley and Greeno (1988). The first criterion for the classification of word problems is the semantic relationship describing the problem situation: combining , increasing, decreasing or comparing sets of objects. Thus, with regard to this criterion there are combine, change and compare problems. An example of the combine problem is: \" Mary has two apples. Jane has six apples. How many apples do they have together? \". An example of the change problem is \" Mary had seven apples. Then Jane gave her two apples. How many apples does Mary have now? \" and an example of the compare problem is: \" Mary has three apples. Jane has five apples. How many apples does Jane have more than Mary? \". The second classification criterion is the position of the unknown quantity. According to this criterion, each of the abovementioned three categories can be further divided into six types of problems, which means that there is a total of eighteen types of problems. A detailed table representation of this classification can be found in Ri-ley and Greeno (1988). Results of previous studies indicate that compare problems are the most difficult for children (Riley & Greeno, 1988; Riley, Greeno, & Heller, 1983). Some studies have found that combine problems are more difficult than change problems for preschool children and first-graders (Nesher & Katriel, 1978; Vergnaud, 1982), while other studies have found no significant differences in the difficulty of these two On a sample of preschool children and first-, second-and third-grade primary school students, Riley and Greeno (1988) have found that the proportion of correct solutions in all types of problems increases with age, but that the relative difficulty of problem types and particular problems remains the same. Models that explain how children solve mathematical word problems differ according to their assumptions about the development of children's capacities which improve their achievement in mathematics. According to …

Learning strategies and causal attributions in second language learning

Abstract: 17 Although in itself “motivation to learn” is a complex multifaceted construct, according to Dornyei (2001), the picture becomes even more complex when the motivation to learn a foreign/second language (L2) is concerned since L2 is a “learnable” school subject as well as socially and culturally bound (it requires the integration of elements of the L2 culture into student’s life space). In a similar manner Gardner (1979) points out that in the second language acquisition the student is faced with the task of not simply learning new information which is part of his own culture but rather with the task of acquiring symbolic elements of a different ethno linguistic community. Thus, many studies have recently looked into a number of personal, social and contextual variables which may be motivational determinants of second language acquisition. In the past few decades researchers have identified many factors which account for some of the differences in how students learn a second language. The most debatable issue in this context is “How do successful language learners learn?”. Investigations into the features of successful language learners attempt to determine what their characteristics are and what procedures they follow. As a result, an active role of the learner in the language learning process has been acknowledged. Rohrkemper and Corno (1988) suggest that the highest cognitive engagement students use to learn is self-regulated learning. Similarly, Baumert, Schnabel, and Lehrke (1998) claim that self-regulated learning is the ability to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes which enhance and facilitate future learning and which can be transferred to other learning situations. Self regulated learning, therefore, entails an integrated use of students’ “skill” and “will”. (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). Self-regulation is an interaction of personal, behavioural and environmental triadic processes which are proactively, as well as reactively, adapted for the attainment of personal goals (Zimmerman, 2000). This perspective distinguishes three cyclical phases of self-regulation of learning: a forethought phase, a performance or volitional control phase and a self-reflection phase. The performance (volitional) control phase involves processes that occur during learning and affect attention and action. One of the key factors in this phase of self regulated learning is the students’ capability to select, combine and manage learning strategies. Similarly, Garcia (1995) noted that self-regulated learning behaviour was often interpreted in the light of the students’ use of learning strategies for the self-regulation of cognition and behaviour. Oxford (1990) defines learning strategies as “operations used by the learner to aid the acquisition, storage or Izabela Sorić, Department of Psychology, University of Zadar, Krešimirova obala 2, 23000 Zadar, Croatia. E-mail: isoric@unizd.hr (the address for correspondence);

Anxiety, emotional regulation and concentration during a 35-day bed rest

Abstract: The psychological condition of astronauts is an important factor contributing to mission success in limited space. Bed rest is a well-accepted method by which an acute stage of human adaptation to weightlessness in space flights is simulated, as well as an important model to study consequences of physical inactivity and sedentary inac tivity on human body. The objective of the study was to investigate anxiety level, concentration, as well as emotional regulation and control in ten young male subjects during a 35-day horizontal bed rest. Participants were asked to complete psychometric inventories before, during and after bed rest. The results have shown that a prolonged period of bed rest did not result in greater anxiety levels nor poorer emotional regulation and control. Likewise, concentration expressed as the quantity of performance was not impeded, whereas concentration expressed as the quality of performance improved after the bed rest experiment. The objective of this research was to provide evidence that the provision of favourable habitability countermeasures can prevent deterioration in the psychological state under conditions of physical immobilisation. Our findings have applied value in the field of health prevention and reha bilitation.

A joint occurence of atypical behavioral lateralization and schizophrenia: coincidental or causative?

Abstract: The association between atypical lateralization of hand preferences (still a stigmatized behavioral trait in some cultures) with schizophrenia has been studied over the four last decades, repeatedly showing an increased incidence of atypical lateralization of hand dominance in this population. However, no final verdict on the causal direction be tween these two phenomena has been given. Atypical hand preferences, at the phenotypic level, have been subject to diverse classifications – commonly as left-handedness, but increasingly often as ‘non-right-handedness’, a ‘pooled handedness’ category made of two more homogeneous classes, and finally ‘left- and mixed-handedness’. Research has identified many associations of atypical lateralization of hand preferences with structural and functional brain asymmetries, cognitive performance, and clinical features in the population of schizophrenia patients. In this article, we critically appraise this work and suggest that both complex phenotypes, atypical lateralization of hand dominance and schizophrenia, most likely have common neurodevelopmental and genetic origin.

Evoked potentials and abstract thinking

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between measures (latency and amplitude) of evoked potentials (N1, P2, N2, P3 and SW) elicited by a standard visual oddball paradigm, and abstract reasoning measured by Abstract Reasoning Test (TAM ; Kulenovic, 2003). Even though the results of most studies of evoked potentials and intelligence have been inconsistent, and although they were mostly concerned with the relationship between P300 and intelligence, it has been proposed that participants with higher reasoning ability would show significantly shorter latencies of N1, P2 and P3 waves. Because of previously established impact of the experimental task complexity on the relationship between EP amplitude and intelligence, it was not expected for this correlation to be significant, as a very simple standard visual oddball task was used. The sample consisted of 43 participants, all female, right-handers, in the age range 19-23 years. The evoked potentials were recorded in two trials for each participant. Active electrodes were placed on O1, O2, P3 and P4 (according to 10-20 system), and referred to Fz. Significant negative correlation has been found only between N1-wave measured on O1 electrode and results on the Series subtest of TAM. A shorter N1-latency evoked by visual oddball task in participants with higher level of abstract reasoning was expected. This finding is discussed in view of psychological-functional role of N1-wave, information processing demands of specific tasks, perceptive characteristics, and the task complexity level.

Infants' numerical abilities and models of early enumeration

Abstract: 27 Adults are capable of performing arithmetical operations. They have gone through many years of formal schooling and learnt mathematical rules and concepts. The children, even before they start first grade, have mastered the basics: preschoolers know how to count and they know to do simple arithmetic operation such as addition and subtraction. In the last couple of decades researchers have tried to prove that the number domain develops before other cognitive capacities. A growing body of research shows that infants are granted with numerical abilities (Wynn 1998; Xu & Spelke, 2000; McCrink & Wynn, 2007). This paper is going to present that research. Studies that have found infants possess numerical abilities, such as enumeration or performing operations (addition and subtraction) on the enumerated numerosities will be considered. These studies will be critically examined. Also, models that account for infants’ early numerical abilities will be reviewed. Are infants capable of enumeration?