Defining a Conceptual Topography of Word Concreteness: Clustering Properties of Emotion, Sensation, and Magnitude among 750 English Words

Cognitive science has a longstanding interest in the ways that people acquire and use abstract vs. concrete words (e.g., truth vs. piano). One dominant theory holds that abstract and concrete words are subserved by two parallel semantic systems. We recently proposed an alternative account of abstract-concrete word representation premised upon a unitary, high dimensional semantic space wherein word meaning is nested. We hypothesize that a range of cognitive and perceptual dimensions (e.g., emotion, time, space, color, size, visual form) bound this space, forming a conceptual topography. Here we report a normative study where we examined the clustering properties of a sample of English words (N = 750) spanning a spectrum of concreteness in a continuous manner from highly abstract to highly concrete. Participants (N = 328) rated each target word on a range of 14 cognitive dimensions (e.g., color, emotion, valence, polarity, motion, space). The dimensions reduced to three factors: Endogenous factor, Exogenous factor, and Magnitude factor. Concepts were plotted in a unified, multimodal space with concrete and abstract concepts along a continuous continuum. We discuss theoretical implications and practical applications of this dataset. These word norms are freely available for download and use at http://www.reilly-coglab.com/data/

Sadder but fitter. The evolutionary function of depressive symptoms following fetal loss

A literature review about an evolutionary model of fetal loss depression is presented. This model conceptualizes depression following miscarriage or stillbirth as an evolutionary protective mechanism to avoid further fetal loss. It postulates that depressive symptoms delay the next reproduction and save maternal resources. These symptoms along with hypochondric symptoms of depression which lead to a search for causes and reappraisal of environmental factors, are probably adaptations to causes of further fetal loss (e.g. epidemics, famines, infections, environmental toxins)

How Speededness of a Reasoning Test and the Complexity of Mental Speed Tasks Influence the Relation between Mental Speed and Reasoning Ability.

Although previous research has consistently reported a positive association between mental speed and reasoning ability, it remains unclear whether the magnitude of this association depends on whether the reasoning test is administered with or without a time limit. In addition, it is unknown how mental speed task complexity affects the mental speed-reasoning association when the effects of time limitations in the reasoning test (labeled "speededness") are controlled for. The present study examined these questions in a sample of 200 participants who completed the time-limited Culture Fair Test (CFT) and a Hick task with three levels of complexity to measure mental speed. Results showed that the latent correlation between mental speed and reasoning was slightly lower when the effect of speededness in reasoning was statistically controlled for. However, for both controlled and uncontrolled reasoning, the correlation with mental speed was of medium size and statistically significant. When reasoning was controlled for the effects of speededness, only complexity-related mental speed aspects were correlated with reasoning, whereas basic mental speed aspects were correlated with the speededness factor and unrelated to reasoning. These findings demonstrate that time limitations in reasoning tests and complexity in mental speed tasks affect the magnitude of the mental speed-reasoning association

The dual mechanisms of cognitive control and their relation to reasoning and the item-position effect

Braver's (2012) dual mechanisms of cognitive control differentiate between proactive control (PMC; i.e. early selection and maintenance of goal-relevant information) and reactive control (RMC; i.e. a late mobilization of attention when required). It has been suggested that higher cognitive capacities (as indicated by reasoning ability as a major characteristic of fluid intelligence) facilitate using the more resource-demanding PMC. We propose the following alternative explanation: engagement in PMC during the completion of reasoning tests leads to better test performance because gained knowledge (i.e. rules learned) during completion of early items is better maintained and transferred to later items. This learning of rules during the completion of a reasoning test results in an item-position effect (IPE) as an additional source of individual differences besides reasoning ability. We investigated this idea in a sample of 210 young adults who completed the AX-Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT) and the Vienna Matrices Test (VMT). Using fixed-links modeling, we separated an IPE from reasoning ability in the VMT. Based on reaction time (RT) patterns across AX-CPT conditions, we identified three different groups by means of latent-profile analysis. RT patterns indicated engagement in PMC for Group A, mixed PMC and RMC for Group B, and RMC for Group C. With the consideration of the IPE, groups did not differ in their reasoning abilities. However, Group A (engaging in PMC) had a more pronounced IPE than Group C (engaging in RMC). Therefore, we conclude that PMC contributes to a stronger IPE, which in turn leads to higher scores in reasoning tests as measures of fluid intelligence

Clustering, hierarchical organization, and the topography of abstract and concrete nouns.

The empirical study of language has historically relied heavily upon concrete word stimuli. By definition, concrete words evoke salient perceptual associations that fit well within feature-based, sensorimotor models of word meaning. In contrast, many theorists argue that abstract words are "disembodied" in that their meaning is mediated through language. We investigated word meaning as distributed in multidimensional space using hierarchical cluster analysis. Participants (N = 365) rated target words (n = 400 English nouns) across 12 cognitive dimensions (e.g., polarity, ease of teaching, emotional valence). Factor reduction revealed three latent factors, corresponding roughly to perceptual salience, affective association, and magnitude. We plotted the original 400 words for the three latent factors. Abstract and concrete words showed overlap in their topography but also differentiated themselves in semantic space. This topographic approach to word meaning offers a unique perspective to word concreteness

Do executive attentional processes uniquely or commonly explain psychometric g and correlations in the positive manifold? A structural equation modeling and network-analysis approach to investigate the Process Overlap Theory

One of the best-established findings in intelligence research is the pattern of positive correlations among various intelligence tests. Although this so-called positive manifold became the conceptual foundation of many theoretical accounts of intelligence, the very nature of it has remained unclear. Only recently, Process Overlap Theory (POT) proposed that the positive manifold originated from overlapping domain-general, executive processes. To test this assumption, the functional relationship between different aspects of executive attention and the positive manifold was investigated by re-analyzing an existing dataset (N = 228). Psychometric reasoning, speed, and memory performance were assessed by a short form of the Berlin Intelligence Structure test. Two aspects of executive attention (sustained and selective attention) and speed of decision making were measured by a continuous performance test, a flanker task, and a Hick task, respectively. Traditional structural equation modeling, representing the positive manifold by a g factor, as well as network analyses, investigating the differential effects of the two aspects of executive attention and speed of decision making on the specific correlations of the positive manifold, suggested that selective attention, sustained attention, and speed of decision making explained the common but not the unique portions of the positive manifold. Thus, we failed to provide evidence for POT’s assumption that the positive manifold is the result of overlapping domain-general processes. This does not mean that domain-general processes other than those investigated here will not be able to show the pattern of results predicted by POT

On the feeling of being different-an interview study with people who define themselves as highly sensitive.

The construct of "sensory processing sensitivity" has become an extremely popular concept outside the scientific literature under the term "high sensitivity" (HS), reflected in a variety of self-help guides and media reports. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate this phenomenon by examining in-depth individuals who consider the label HS essential to their self-definition. In semi-structured interviews, 38 individuals described their understanding of HS and its perceived manifestations and impact on their lives (among other topics). Subsequently, the data were content-analytically evaluated, i.e., categorized and quantified. One key finding was that HS individuals feel relief following self-attribution or self-diagnosis. Moreover, this self-attribution replaced the feeling of being somehow different from the others, which almost all interviewees mentioned, with positive attributes. The main negative features of HS mentioned were feeling overwhelmed by sensory and emotional stimuli. The results are discussed with regard to the significance of the label HS for this group on the one hand, and with regard to alternative approaches for future research on the other hand

On the interplay of temporal resolution power and spatial suppression in their prediction of psychometric intelligence.

As a measure of the brain's temporal fine-tuning capacity, temporal resolution power (TRP) explained repeatedly a substantial amount of variance in psychometric intelligence. Recently, spatial suppression, referred to as the increasing difficulty in quickly perceiving motion direction as the size of the moving stimulus increases, has attracted particular attention, when it was found to be positively related to psychometric intelligence. Due to the conceptual similarities of TRP and spatial suppression, the present study investigated their mutual interplay in the relation to psychometric intelligence in 273 young adults to better understand the reasons for these relationships. As in previous studies, psychometric intelligence was positively related to a latent variable representing TRP but, in contrast to previous reports, negatively to latent and manifest measures of spatial suppression. In a combined structural equation model, TRP still explained a substantial amount of variance in psychometric intelligence while the negative relation between spatial suppression and intelligence was completely explained by TRP. Thus, our findings confirmed TRP to be a robust predictor of psychometric intelligence but challenged the assumption of spatial suppression as a representation of general information processing efficiency as reflected in psychometric intelligence. Possible reasons for the contradictory findings on the relation between spatial suppression and psychometric intelligence are discussed

Scaling the Variance of a Latent Variable While Assuring Constancy of the Model

This paper investigates how the major outcome of a confirmatory factor investigation is preserved when scaling the variance of a latent variable by the various scaling methods. A constancy framework, based upon the underlying factor analysis formula that enables scaling by modifying components through scalar multiplication, is described; a proof is included to demonstrate the constancy property of the framework. It provides the basis for a scaling method that enables the comparison of the contribution of different latent variables of the same confirmatory factor model to observed scores, as for example, the contributions of trait and method latent variables. Furthermore, it is shown that available scaling methods are in line with this constancy framework and that the criterion number included in some scaling methods enables modifications. The impact of the number of manifest variables on the scaled variance parameter can be modified and the range of possible values. It enables the adaptation of scaling methods to the requirements of the field of application

Scaling the Variance of a Latent Variable While Assuring Constancy of the Model

This paper investigates how the major outcome of a confirmatory factor investigation is preserved when scaling the variance of a latent variable by the various scaling methods. A constancy framework, based upon the underlying factor analysis formula that enables scaling by modifying components through scalar multiplication, is described; a proof is included to demonstrate the constancy property of the framework. It provides the basis for a scaling method that enables the comparison of the contribution of different latent variables of the same confirmatory factor model to observed scores, as for example, the contributions of trait and method latent variables. Furthermore, it is shown that available scaling methods are in line with this constancy framework and that the criterion number included in some scaling methods enables modifications. The impact of the number of manifest variables on the scaled variance parameter can be modified and the range of possible values. It enables the adaptation of scaling methods to the requirements of the field of application