The relationship between cognitive ability, emotional intelligence and negative career thoughts : a study of career-exploring adults

Career exploration and decision making can be a stressful experience, and is often accompanied by dysfunctional thinking regarding the world of work and one’s place in it. Individuals who are able to modify their negative career thoughts are more likely to navigate career exploration successfully. Factors which may influence a person’s ability to cope with dysfunctional thoughts include cognitive ability (IQ) and the inadequately explored construct of emotional intelligence (EI). Establishing the validity of EI by demonstrating its relationship to important outcomes is necessary. This study sought to determine the extent to which IQ and EI were associated with negative career thoughts and negative career thoughts change as a result of career exploration. This correlational study measured IQ using a standard measure and EI using an ability-based instrument. In addition, negative career thoughts were measured both before and after a career exploration program. One hundred ninety three unemployed adults between the ages of 25 and 60 participated in the study. Significant correlation relationships were found between IQ and aspects of negative career thoughts post program. Only one branch of the EI model, managing emotions, was seen to correlate significantly with all aspects of negative career thoughts, both before and after career exploration. No correlations were found between either IQ or EI with negative career thoughts change. Regression analysis indicated that IQ predicted overall negative career thoughts as well as decision-making confusion, but only after career exploration. Overall EI scores did not predict negative career thoughts. However, among the four branches of EI, managing emotions predicted negative career thoughts both before and after career exploration for all of global negative career thoughts, decision-making confusion, commitment anxiety, and external conflict. Neither IQ nor EI predicted negative career thoughts change. The results show that the ability to manage emotions is associated with reduced dysfunctional thinking both before and after career exploration, suggesting that EI managing may be a psychological resource that individuals use in coping with stress.Industrial and Organisational PsychologyD.Litt. et Phil. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology

Comparing autism and OCD within a Compulsive and Repetitive Trait framework : do Free Will beliefs predict clinical symptoms?

Background Although a range of evidence suggests links between OCD and autism, there remains a lack of clarity on how symptoms may be related between these disorders. Repetitive traits are key components in both OCD and autism. Understanding the functions and origins of these traits is crucial. Repetitive traits in OCD are ego-dystonic, therefore related to distress. However, the nature of repetitive traits in autism is less clear. Historically, they were assumed to be ego-syntonic, therefore opposed to distress. However, recent evidence indicates ego-dystonic andego-syntonic properties of repetitive traits may be demonstrated in autism. The main aim in the present thesis, therefore, is to investigate the relationship between mood and repetitive traits in autism and OCD. These findings would indicate whether disorders such as autism and OCD may be better understood within a Compulsive and Repetitive Trait (CaRT) framework. A pilot investigation is also put forward to investigate whether free will beliefs – an unstudied concept in autism research – may offer further insight into a CaRT framework.Method A cross-sectional questionnaire method compared adults with autism, OCD and neurotypical peers on OCD traits, Repetitive Behaviours and Free Will beliefs.Results Repetitive Behaviours were comparable in number and frequency between the OCD and autism groups, with higher positive mood in the autism group. OCD traits were highest in number and severity for the OCD group, although significantly higher in the autism compared to the control group. Groups did not differ on the presence of CaRTs due to social context. Strong correlations were identified between OCD traits and Repetitive Behaviours, despite no correlations being found between mood associated with these traits. No differences in free will beliefs were demonstrated between the groups, although there was some indication of the significance of Scientific Determinism beliefs in autism.Conclusions The research presented appears to support the usefulness of a CaRT framework to compare symptomology between autism and OCD. Mood appears to be an important factor in distinguishing between CaRTs. Comparable free will scores indicate clinical behaviours (CaRTs) may be relatively independent of free will beliefs. Limitations are discussed, which may have masked stronger evidence, such as the unrepresentative nature of the samples

Advances in Autism Research

This book represents one of the most up-to-date collections of articles on clinical practice and research in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The scholars who contributed to this book are experts in their field, carrying out cutting edge research in prestigious institutes worldwide (e.g., Harvard Medical School, University of California, MIND Institute, King’s College, Karolinska Institute, and many others). The book addressed many topics, including (1) The COVID-19 pandemic; (2) Epidemiology and prevalence; (3) Screening and early behavioral markers; (4) Diagnostic and phenotypic profile; (5) Treatment and intervention; (6) Etiopathogenesis (biomarkers, biology, and genetic, epigenetic, and risk factors); (7) Comorbidity; (8) Adulthood; and (9) Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP). This book testifies to the complexity of performing research in the field of ASD. The published contributions underline areas of progress and ongoing challenges in which more certain data is expected in the coming years. It would be desirable that experts, clinicians, researchers, and trainees could have the opportunity to read this updated text describing the challenging heterogeneity of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Auditory inspection time and intelligence

This thesis studied the association between auditory inspection time (AIT) and psychometric measures of verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities. I review attempts to search for basic information processing components that predict intelligence (Chapter 1), attempts to relate auditory processing speed to intelligence (Chapter 2), and attempts to relate acuity of sensory discrimination to intelligence (Chapter 3). These reviews establish certain essential requirements for a plan of research on auditory inspection time. Chapter 4 described the development of a modified AIT test. In a study of 120 undergraduates, the modified AIT test showed improved subject performance characteristics over previous AIT tasks, and AIT thresholds had low to moderate correlations with visual IT thresholds and with verbal and non-verbal cognitive ability scores. Chapter 5 described two studies. Study 1 included 84 undergraduates and showed that the AIT test had a very high split-half reliability and that about two-thirds of subjects who could perform the AIT task had response performance curves which fitted a cumulative normal ogive. The association between AIT and verbal ability appeared stronger than the AIT-non-verbal ability association in 34 of the subjects; this was also found in Study 2 which tested 119 11-year-olds. Unspeeded pitch discrimination showed a small but significant association with verbal ability in children but not in undergraduates. Results from neither study supported the suggestion that pitch discrimination was the basis for the AIT-cognitive ability association. Chapters 6 and 7 examined the associations among AIT, unspeeded pitch discrimination and an auditory backward masking recognition task which was dubbed the 'Raz' task. It was found that all three tasks were reliable, prone to practice effects and showed high intercorrelations. The AIT and Raz tasks appeared to share common variance not related to pitch discrimination. In a confirmatory factor analysis of over 100 13-year-olds latent variables from the three auditory tests representing auditory processing speed and pitch discrimination both had significant associations with a factor common to verbal and non-verbal intelligence, though speed was the more important factor. Chapter 8 reported the results of a longitudinal study of AIT and cognitive ability in over 100 children from age 11 to age 13. Using structural modelling techniques to create competing causal models and then testing these for goodness-of-fit to the data, some support was found for the suggestion that auditory processing abilities at age 11 might have a causal influence on later verbal and non-verbal abilities rather than the converse. Chapter 9 provided a thematic resume of the studies conducted in the thesis. It was concluded that the corrected AIT-cognitive ability association was in the region of -0.5, and that some progress had been made in explaining this association. In addition, a strong plea was made for AIT and visual IT to be integrated with other models of auditory and visual information processing which exist. Suggestions were made for future research on auditory and visual processing and intelligence

Faculty Publications and Creative Works 1997

One of the ways we recognize our faculty at the University of New Mexico is through this annual publication which highlights our faculty\u27s scholarly and creative activities and achievements and serves as a compendium of UNM faculty efforts during the 1997 calendar year. Faculty Publications and Creative Works strives to illustrate the depth and breadth of research activities performed throughout our University\u27s laboratories, studios and classrooms. We believe that the communication of individual research is a significant method of sharing concepts and thoughts and ultimately inspiring the birth of new of ideas. In support of this, UNM faculty during 1997 produced over 2,770 works, including 2,398 scholarly papers and articles, 72 books, 63 book chapters, 82 reviews, 151 creative works and 4 patents. We are proud of the accomplishments of our faculty which are in part reflected in this book, which illustrates the diversity of intellectual pursuits in support of research and education at the University of New Mexico. Nasir Ahmed Interim Associate Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studie

Epilepsy

With the vision of including authors from different parts of the world, different educational backgrounds, and offering open-access to their published work, InTech proudly presents the latest edited book in epilepsy research, Epilepsy: Histological, electroencephalographic, and psychological aspects. Here are twelve interesting and inspiring chapters dealing with basic molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying epileptic seizures, electroencephalographic findings, and neuropsychological, psychological, and psychiatric aspects of epileptic seizures, but non-epileptic as well

VOCAL BIOMARKERS OF CLINICAL DEPRESSION: WORKING TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF DEPRESSION AND SPEECH

Speech output has long been considered a sensitive marker of a person’s mental state. It has been previously examined as a possible biomarker for diagnosis and treatment response for certain mental health conditions, including clinical depression. To date, it has been difficult to draw robust conclusions from past results due to diversity in samples, speech material, investigated parameters, and analytical methods. Within this exploratory study of speech in clinically depressed individuals, articulatory and phonatory behaviours are examined in relation to psychomotor symptom profiles and overall symptom severity. A systematic review provided context from the existing body of knowledge on the effects of depression on speech, and provided context for experimental setup within this body of work. Examinations of vowel space, monophthong, and diphthong productions as well as a multivariate acoustic analysis of other speech parameters (e.g., F0 range, perturbation measures, composite measures, etc.) are undertaken with the goal of creating a working model of the effects of depression on speech. Initial results demonstrate that overall vowel space area was not different between depressed and healthy speakers, but on closer inspection, this was due to more specific deficits seen in depressed patients along the first formant (F1) axis. Speakers with depression were more likely to produce centralised vowels along F1, as compared to F2—and this was more pronounced for low-front vowels, which are more complex given the degree of tongue-jaw coupling required for production. This pattern was seen in both monophthong and diphthong productions. Other articulatory and phonatory measures were inspected in a factor analysis as well, suggesting additional vocal biomarkers for consideration in diagnosis and treatment assessment of depression—including aperiodicity measures (e.g., higher shimmer and jitter), changes in spectral slope and tilt, and additive noise measures such as increased harmonics-to-noise ratio. Intonation was also affected by diagnostic status, but only for specific speech tasks. These results suggest that laryngeal and articulatory control is reduced by depression. Findings support the clinical utility of combining Ellgring and Scherer’s (1996) psychomotor retardation and social-emotional hypotheses to explain the effects of depression on speech, which suggest observed changes are due to a combination of cognitive, psycho-physiological and motoric mechanisms. Ultimately, depressive speech is able to be modelled along a continuum of hypo- to hyper-speech, where depressed individuals are able to assess communicative situations, assess speech requirements, and then engage in the minimum amount of motoric output necessary to convey their message. As speakers fluctuate with depressive symptoms throughout the course of their disorder, they move along the hypo-hyper-speech continuum and their speech is impacted accordingly. Recommendations for future clinical investigations of the effects of depression on speech are also presented, including suggestions for recording and reporting standards. Results contribute towards cross-disciplinary research into speech analysis between the fields of psychiatry, computer science, and speech science

Novel Research in Sexuality and Mental Health

Sexuality is considered as a great human value related to happiness and satisfaction, but unfortunately, when affecting mental disorders, they tend to be associated with second level human functions. Nevertheless, sexual dysfunction often accompanies psychiatric disorder, intensely influencing compliance, quality of life and human relationships. Sexuality could be influenced either by a mental disorder itself, difficulties to get and maintain couple relationships or by the use of psychotropic treatments. Treatment-related adverse events are unfortunately under-recognized by clinicians, scarcely spontaneously communicated by patients, and rarely investigated in clinical trials. The most frequent psychotropic compounds that could deteriorate sexuality and quality of life include antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood regulators. There are important differences between them related to some variations in mechanisms of action including serotonin, dopamine and prolactin levels. Little is known about the relevance of sexuality and its dysfunctions in chronic and frequent mental and neurological disorders, such as psychosis, mood disorders, anxiety, phobias, eating disorders, alcohol or drug dependencies, epilepsy and childhood pathology. Poor sexual life, low satisfaction and more frequent risky sex behavior than in the general population are associated with severe mental diseases. There is a need for increasing research in this field, including epidemiological, psychological, neurophysiological, neuroanatomical and genetic variables related to sexual life to get a better understanding of the implicated mechanisms. To increase the sensibility of clinicians, the identification and management of sexual disturbances after the onset of any mental disorder should be highlighted. This would avoid unnecessary suffering and deterioration of quality of life