Friendship Jealousy in Young Adolescents: Individual Differences and Links to Sex, Self-Esteem, Aggression, and Social Adjustment.

Children's vulnerability to jealousy surrounding their best friends was explored in 2 studies. Study 1 involved 94 adolescents who reported on their friendship jealousy on a newly created measure. Results indicated that the jealousy measure had sound psychometric properties and produced individual differences that were robust over time and free from socially desirable responding. As expected, girls and adolescents with low self-worth reported the greatest friendship jealousy. Study 2 involved 399 young adolescents and extended the measurement of self-report jealousy to a broader age range. In addition, Study 2 included assessments of jealousy provided by friends and other peers. Self- and peer-reported jealousy were only modestly associated and had somewhat distinct correlates. Structural modeling revealed that young adolescents' reputation for friendship jealousy was linked to behaving aggressively and to broader peer adjustment difficulties. Both self- and peer-reported jealousy contributed to loneliness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting Age-Related Dual-Task Effects With Individual Differences on Neuropsychological Tests.

This study examined the relation of dual-task performance to individual differences on neuropsychological tests. Neuropsychological test scores from 16 young and 16 older participants were simultaneously submitted to a factor analysis that yielded 2 factors (Attention/Executive and Memory) that differed by age and 2 (Motor Speed and Cognitive Status) that did not. Regression analyses revealed that these factors were significant predictors of performance on a delayed visual recognition task, but the relationship varied as a function of task condition. The Memory and Motor Speed factors were the strongest predictors of single-task performance, but the Attention/Executive factor was the most important predictor of dual-task performance. The authors conclude that compromised central executive may underlie age-related decline in dual-task performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental Dynamics of Math Performance From Preschool to Grade 2.

This study investigated the developmental dynamics of mathematical performance during children's transition from preschool to Grade 2 and the cognitive antecedents of this development. 194 Finnish children were examined 6 times according to their math performance, twice during each year across a 3-year period. Cognitive antecedents, that is, counting ability, visual attention, metacognitive knowledge, and listening comprehension, were tested at the first measurement point. The results indicated that math performance showed high stability and increasing variance over time. Moreover, the growth of math competence was faster among those who entered preschool with an already high level of mathematical skills. The initial level of math performance, as well as its growth, was best predicted by counting ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in preferences to photographs.

Individual differences in preferences to photographs were explored based on an alternative framework. This framework predicts that the primary difference between individuals in this respect is their ability to process photographic information, which in turn influences their preferences. Chiefly, people with well-developed schemes in photography (e.g., photo professionals) should have a higher ability to process photographic information than people with less developed schemes (e.g., psychology students). Consequently, people with well-developed schemes in photography should prefer photographs that are relatively more demanding to process. Ten psychology students and 5 photo professionals assessed 32 photographs on six general concepts: Preference, Hedonic Tone, Expressiveness, Familiarity, Uncertainty, and Dynamics. As predicted, photo professionals had a higher ability to process photographic information and preferred photographs that were relatively uncertain and unfamiliar. These results are in concordance with previous research and give strong support to the utility of the present framework in experimental aesthetics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex Differences in Intrinsic Aptitude for Mathematics and Science?: A Critical Review.

This article considers 3 claims that cognitive sex differences account for the differential representation of men and women in high-level careers in mathematics and science: (a) males are more focused on objects from the beginning of life and therefore are predisposed to better learning about mechanical systems; (b) males have a profile of spatial and numerical abilities producing greater aptitude for mathematics; and (c) males are more variable in their cognitive abilities and therefore predominate at the upper reaches of mathematical talent. Research on cognitive development in human infants, preschool children, and students at all levels fails to support these claims. Instead, it provides evidence that mathematical and scientific reasoning develop from a set of biologically based cognitive capacities that males and females share. These capacities lead men and women to develop equal talent for mathematics and science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stereotype Threat and Group Differences in Test Performance: A Question of Measurement Invariance.

Studies into the effects of stereotype threat (ST) on test performance have shed new light on race and sex differences in achievement and intelligence test scores. In this article, the authors relate ST theory to the psychometric concept of measurement invariance and show that ST effects may be viewed as a source of measurement bias. As such, ST effects are detectable by means of multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. This enables research into the generalizability of ST effects to real-life or high-stakes testing. The modeling approach is described in detail and applied to 3 experiments in which the amount of ST for minorities and women was manipulated. Results indicate that ST results in measurement bias of intelligence and mathematics tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in problem-solving performance as a function of attitude differences.

Men make significantly higher scores than women on a scale of attitudes toward problem solving. Attitude scores "have some positive relationship to performance scores." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1GD56C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive Ability, Expertise, and Age Differences in Following Air-Traffic Control Instructions.

Differences in cognitive ability and domain-specific expertise may help explain age differences in pilot performance. Pilots heard air-traffic controller messages and then executed them while "flying" in a simulator. Messages varied in length and speech rate. Age was associated with lower accuracy, but the expected Age x Message Difficulty interactions were not obtained. Expertise, as indexed by pilot ratings, was associated with higher accuracy; yet expertise did not reduce age differences in accuracy. The effect of age on communication task accuracy was largely explainable as an age-associated decrease in working memory span, which in turn was explainable as decreases in both speed and interference control. Results are discussed within frameworks of deliberate practice and cognitive mediation of age differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual Differences in Absolute and Relative Metacomprehension Accuracy.

The authors investigated absolute and relative metacomprehension accuracy as a function of verbal ability in college students. Students read hard texts, revised texts, or a mixed set of texts. They then predicted their performance, took a multiple-choice test on the texts, and made posttest judgments about their performance. With hard texts, students with lower verbal abilities were overconfident in predictions of future performance, and students with higher verbal abilities were underconfident in judging past performance. Revised texts produced overconfidence for predictions. Thus, absolute accuracy of predictions and confidence judgments depended on students' abilities and text difficulty. In contrast, relative metacomprehension accuracy as measured by gamma correlations did not depend on verbal ability or on text difficulty. Absolute metacomprehension accuracy was much more dependent on types of materials and verbal skills than was relative accuracy, suggesting that they may tap different aspects of metacomprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Effects of Individual Differences and Charismatic Leadership on Workplace Aggression.

This study examined the effects of individual differences variables (trait anger, self-control, negative affectivity, attitudes toward revenge, and attributional style) and charismatic leadership on incidents of workplace aggression in a sample of 213 employees from a wide range of organizations. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that the individual differences variables accounted for 27% of the variance in workplace aggression and that charismatic leadership accounted for an additional 3% after controlling for individual differences. In addition, psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between charismatic leadership and workplace aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black and White Children's Awareness of De Facto Race and Sex Differences.

A picture rating study showed that black and white third-, fourth, and fifth-grade children (N = 60) were aware of de facto race and sex differences in American society. The most androgynous attitudes toward female behaviors were shown by girls and third-grade blacks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in the perception of women's faces.

It was shown that membership in age or sex categories affects the way in which an individual perceives a woman when presented with her photograph. It is contended that this is a demonstration of the influence of culturally defined roles upon perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's sleep and cognitive performance: A cross-domain analysis of change over time.

Relations between changes in children's cognitive performance and changes in sleep problems were examined over a 3-year period, and family socioeconomic status, child race/ethnicity, and gender were assessed as moderators of these associations. Participants were 250 second- and third-grade (8–9 years old at Time 1) boys and girls. At each assessment, children's cognitive performance (Verbal Comprehension, Decision Speed) was measured using the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities, and sleep problems (Sleepiness, Sleep/Wake Problems) were collected via self-report. Individual growth models revealed that children who reported increases in Sleepiness exhibited little growth in Verbal Comprehension over time compared with their peers who reported decreases in Sleepiness, resulting in a nearly 11-point cognitive deficit by the end of the study. These associations were not found for Sleep/Wake Problems or Decision Speed. Child race/ethnicity and gender moderated these associations, with Sleepiness serving as a vulnerability factor for poor cognitive outcomes, especially among African American children and girls. Differences in cognitive performance for children with high and low Sleepiness trajectories ranged from 16 to 19 points for African American children and from 11 to 19 points for girls. Results build substantially on existing literature examining associations between sleep and cognitive functioning in children and are the first to demonstrate that children's sleep trajectories over 3 waves were associated with changes in their cognitive performance over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive constraints on the structure and dynamics of social networks.

Everyday social activities take place within an environment peopled by a specific set of individuals (our social network). The author reviews the evidence that our social world is both limited in size and highly structured. This structuring consists of a series of circles of acquaintanceship, the successive layers of which progressively include more individuals with whom we have less intense relationships. Although these layers have very consistent typical sizes, there is considerable individual variation because of individual differences in gender, personality, and social-cognitive abilities. The author considers some of the implications of these structural components for the way in which we organize our social lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual Differences in Sensitivity to Health Communications: Consideration of Future Consequences.

There are reliable individual differences in the extent to which people consider the long- and short-term consequences of their behaviors. Such differences, assessed by the Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) Scale (A. Strathman, F. Gleicher, D. S. Boninger, & C. S. Edwards, 1994), are hypothesized to influence the impact of a persuasive communication. In an experimental study, the time frame of occurrence of positive and negative consequences of engaging in a new colorectal cancer-screening program was manipulated in a sample of two hundred twenty 50-69-year-old men and women. CFC moderated (a) the processing of short- versus long-term consequences and (b) the persuasive impact of the different communications on behavioral intentions. Low CFC individuals produced more positive thoughts and were more persuaded when positive consequences were short term and negative consequences were long term. The opposite was true for high CFC individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and anxiety differences in eyelid conditioning.

Data concerning the relationship between eyelid conditioning performance and 2 S variables, Ss' sex, and scores on the MA scale, are examined. In studies employing standard procedures, high-anxiety Ss were superior to low-anxiety Ss in 23 of 27 comparisons, and females superior to males in 18 of 19 comparisons. In contrast, the direction of the differences was split approximately equally between high- and low-anxiety Ss and between males and females in studies in which conditioning was presented within the context of masking probability-learning task. (31 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in rates of change in cognitive abilities of older persons.

The authors examined change in cognitive abilities in older Catholic clergy members. For up to 6 years, participants underwent annual clinical evaluations, which included a battery of tests from which summary measures of 7 abilities were derived. On average, decline occurred in each ability and was more rapid in older persons than in younger persons. However, wide individual differences were evident at all ages. Rate of change in a given domain was not strongly related to baseline level of function in that domain but was moderately associated with rates of change in other cognitive domains. The results suggest that change in cognitive function in old age primarily reflects person-specific factors rather than an inevitable developmental process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual and situational differences in desire for certainty.

The correlation was determined between Ss' extremity of response on several attitude and judgment instruments and scores on a test of desire for certainty. "Significant correlations were obtained between response extremity and test scores, suggesting that individual differences in desire for certainty are consistent from one measure to another." In another study it was shown that the strength of the desire for certainty can be increased and decreased by situational influences. 24 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in reaction to failure-induced stress.

"The McKinney Reporting Test and the MMPI were administered to samples of aviation cadets, aircraft commanders, copilots, and ROTC student officers. Two criterion groups representing the extremes in adjustment were selected within each of the military samples… . There was an overall-significant tendency among the low adjustment cases for those who shifted toward more accurate performance on the McKinney stress period to answer on the Hy scale… like Janet's psychasthenic type, and for those who became more inaccurate to answer like the hysteric. This tendency did not hold for high adjustment cases." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)