A successful adjustment to dynamic changes in one's environment requires contingent adaptive behaviour. Such behaviour is underpinned by cognitive flexibility, which conceptually is part of fluid intelligence. We argue, however, that conventional approaches to measuring fluid intelligence are insufficient in capturing cognitive flexibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDetermining one's confidence in a decision is a vital part of decision-making. Traditionally, psychological experiments have assessed a person's confidence by eliciting confidence judgments. The notion that such judgments can be elicited without impacting the accuracy of the decision has recently been challenged by several studies which have shown reactivity effects-either an increase or decrease in decision accuracy when confidence judgments are elicited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite evidence that it exists, short-term within-individual variability in cognitive performance has largely been ignored as a meaningful component of human cognitive ability. In this article, we build a case for why this within-individual variability should not be viewed as mere measurement error and why it should be construed as a meaningful component of an individual's cognitive abilities. We argue that in a demanding and rapidly changing modern world, between-individual analysis of single-occasion cognitive test scores does not account for the full range of within-individual cognitive performance variation that is implicated in successful typical cognitive performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent research using paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has shown that the speed with which people can stop an action is linked to GABAergic inhibitory activity in the motor system. Specifically, a significant proportion of the variance in stop signal reaction time (SSRT; a widely used measure of inhibitory control) is accounted for by short-interval cortical inhibition (SICI). It is still unclear whether this relationship reflects a broader link between GABAergic processes and executive functions, or a specific link between GABAergic processes and motor stopping ability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite substantial evidence for the link between an individual's intelligence and successful life outcomes, questions about what defines intelligence have remained the focus of heated dispute. The most common approach to understanding intelligence has been to investigate what performance on tests of intellect is and is not associated with. This psychometric approach, based on correlations and factor analysis is deficient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF