Training working memory for two years-No evidence of transfer to intelligence.

Working memory (WM) training has been proposed as a promising intervention to enhance cognitive abilities, but convincing evidence for transfer to untrained abilities is lacking. Prevalent limitations of WM training studies include the narrow assessment of both WM and cognitive abilities, the analysis of manifest variables subject to measurement error, and training dosages too low to likely cause changes in the cognitive system. To address these limitations, we conducted a 2-year longitudinal study to investigate the effects of working memory training on latent factors of working memory capacity, fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. One hundred twelve students initially attending 9th grade practiced a heterogenous set of validated WM tasks on a biweekly basis. A control group of 113 students initially attending 9th grade participated in the pretest and posttest. Broad and prototypical measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence served as measures of nearer and farer transfer. We found substantial and reliable training effects on the practiced WM tasks, as well as on a latent WM factor constituted by them. However, no transfer of training effects to fluid or crystallized intelligence were observed. These results add to the literature questioning the utility and validity of WM training as means of improving cognitive abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychological models of development of idiopathic environmental intolerances: Evidence from longitudinal population-based data.

The origin of idiopathic environmental intolerances (IEIs) is an open question. According to the psychological approaches, various top-down factors play a dominant role in the development of IEIs. The general psychopathology model assumes a propensity towards mental ill-health (negative affectivity) increases the probability of developing IEIs. The attribution model emphasizes the importance of mistaken attribution of experienced somatic symptoms; thus, more symptoms should lead to more IEIs. Finally, the nocebo model highlights the role of expectations in the development of IEIs. In this case, worries about the harmful effects of environmental factors are assumed to evoke IEIs. We estimated cross-lagged panel models with latent variables based on longitudinal data obtained at two time points (six years apart) from a large near-representative community sample to test the hypothesized associations. Indicators of chemical intolerance, electromagnetic hypersensitivity, and sound sensitivity fit well under a common latent factor of IEIs. This factor, in turn, showed considerable temporal stability. However, whereas a positive association was found between IEIs and increased somatic symptoms and modern health worries six years later, the changes therein could not be predicted as hypothesized by the three psychological models. We discuss the implications of these results, as well as methodological aspects in the measurement and prediction of change in IEIs.

Structural invariance of declarative knowledge across the adult lifespan.

The differentiation-dedifferentiation hypothesis of general cognitive ability has been widely studied, but comparable research on crystallized intelligence is scarce. To close this gap, we conducted an empirical test of the age differentiation hypothesis of declarative knowledge as proposed in Cattell's investment theory, which predicts that knowledge differentiates into diverse forms after compulsory education ends. Thereto, a cross-sectional sample of 1,629 participants aged 18-70 years (M = 45.3) completed a comprehensive knowledge test comprising 120 broadly sampled questions from 12 knowledge domains, as well as a measure of openness/intellect. To investigate age-related differences in the level and structure of knowledge, we performed invariance tests in local structural equation models. The results did not provide any evidence for age-related differentiation of declarative knowledge but indicated age-related differences in the mean structure. Higher levels in openness/intellect were associated with higher levels in knowledge but not with more differentiated structure of knowledge. Contrary to predictions of the investment theory, our results suggest that declarative knowledge is age invariant across major parts of the adult lifespan. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Duration perception of emotional stimuli: Using evaluative conditioning to avoid sensory confounds.

It has been found that emotional pictures are estimated to last longer than neutral ones. However, emotional and neutral stimuli often differ in their physical characteristics, too. Since this might also affect time perception, we present a method disentangling a possible confounding regarding the processing of physically different stimulus material. In the evaluative condition paradigm, participants, at first, learnt the association of neutral images with a certain Landolt ring and of emotional images with another Landolt ring with a different gap position. The conditioned Landolt rings were subsequently used in a temporal bisection task. In two experiments, the results revealed a temporal overestimation of Landolt rings conditioned with emotional pictures compared to neutral pictures showing that the temporal overestimation of emotional stimuli cannot be attributed to perceptual differences between neutral and emotional stimuli. The method provides the potential for investigating emotional effects on various perceptual processes.