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Adolescents with eating disorders (ED) suffer from deficits in executive functions and "theory of mind." It is unclear whether these indicate state or trait characteristics. We examined cognitive functioning in 150 adolescents, comparing those at high risk and those not at risk for ED. Deficits in set shifting and in theory of mind were found in all high-risk groups. Adolescents at high risk for bulimia were found to be higher in impulsivity and in theory of mind deficits, compared to adolescents at high risk for anorexia. These are trait characteristics rather than state vulnerabilities and preexist the development of ED.

This research studied the association between dimensions of operational stress, forms of risk-taking with small arms, and possible mediators. Operational threat and negative affect were predictors, unauthorized preparedness and risky games were dependent variables, and safety climate and personality profile from the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire—Revised Short Form were mediators. The participants were 461 compulsory service soldiers in 31 companies. The results revealed that operational threat is related to unauthorized preparedness, and positive–negative affect is related to risky games. Safety climate mediated risky games only. Unauthorized preparedness and risky games were influenced by the interaction of Psychoticism and the Lie scale from the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire—Revised Short Form.

This study examined the relations between impulsivity and decision-making as assessed by the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). A total of 73 nonclinical adolescents were administered self-report measures for trait impulsivity and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) to assess cognitive impulsivity. We found significant correlations between trait impulsivity and WCST performance among adolescents exhibiting poor performance on the IGT, and no such correlations for those adolescents performing well on the IGT. We recommend that researchers should assess performance on the IGT at the individual level in terms of learning.

In the Creative Functioning Test, a participant is exposed to a series of briefly presented pictures leading to veridical perception (the straight series). This series is then reversed, allowing the participant to relinquish veridical perception and to reconsider his or her interpretation of the input. While this reversed series enables an assessment of creativity, the straight series enables an assessment of impulsivity. The goal of this article was to present the potential of using such a microgenetic technique to investigate both creativity and impulsivity.

Mild head injury (MHI) causes heterogeneous disorders. In this exploratory study, the authors attempted to gain an understanding of this heterogeneity by isolating on clinical criteria three groups of bona fide MHI patients. These were patients who presented with virutally no complaints unless prodded (a "stoic" or "low complaint," LC) group; those who were admitted with numerous complaints, who were also demanding and argumentative ("extraverted-aggressive," EA); and those who, although symptomatic, appeared to retreat under conditions of environmental stress ("introverted-withdrawn," IW). By assessing clinical, neuro-psychological, electroencephalographic (EEG) and personality variables the authors were provisionally able to support their subdivision in terms of the personality profile and, to a certain extent, both neuro-psychologically and by relying on the EEC alpha/theta ratio.

This study derives from the organismic-developmental approach of Werner (1948), who suggested some interesting comparisons between pathological and creative thinking. Eight schizophrenics, 6 visual artists, and 10 ordinary controls were compared along a series of tasks evoking symbolic cognition (symbol production, proverb comprehension, and symbol representation) and syncretic cognition (synaesthesia, structural eidetic imagery, and absorption), both constructs deriving from Werner's framework. We hypothesized that both the schizophrenics and the visual artists, relative to ordinary controls, should exhibit a high degree of syncretic cognition and confirmed this for 2 of the 3 tasks. We further hypothesized that the schizophrenics, relative to the other groups, should be markedly impaired on tests of symbolic cognition and confirmed this for 2 of the 3 tasks. We further confirmed their impairment on a task of logical reasoning. Although the samples were small and replications are necessary, our findings ...

We tested the relation between metaphoric thinking and physiognomic perception in young children (ages 4-7) in 2 studies. Physiognomic perception was assessed using M.A. Wallach and N. Kogan's (1965) Free Description of Stick Figures, and metaphoric thinking was assessed using the Kogan, Connor, Gross, and Fava (1980) Metaphoric Triads Task (MTr). Physiognomic perception scores were a good predictor of metaphoric thinking. Whereas a marked decrement in performance on the MTF was found on making the transition to Grade 1, the free-description test of physiognomic perception revealed that the children still retained high physiognomic abilities. We suggest that physiognomic competence is related to sensitivity to pressures to be "literal" in Grade 1.

We explore the relationship between signs of calcification on CT scans (pineal calcification, calcification of the glomerae) and spatial orientation. Sixty-three subjects were carefully screened from consecutive referrals for computerized tomographic (CT) scans, and agreed to participate in our research. They were asked to point in the direction of their home, and then to point in the direction of two familiar major city landmarks. In the first study, we computed absolute angular differences in terms of a compass reading. In the second, we both refined our method for assessing spatial orientation and also questioned our subjects as to their subjective sense of direction. The present results suggest that, if anything, pineal calcification somewhat impaired human target orientation, but not homing ability. Interestingly, target disorientation was not found to be correlated with subjective sense of direction. We address the possibility of sex differences in this domain.

Krus and Fletcher (1986) reported that subjective preferences for either dynamic or static images of time, tapped by using Knapp's (1960) Time Metaphor Scale, predicted actual time estimations made by the subjects. Following on from this, we explored the relationships among (1) symbolisations of time, (2) preferences for temporal metaphors along the dynamicstatic dimension and (3) time estimations, assessed using the methods of production, verbal estimation and reproduction, all in a prospective paradigm. Forty subjects provided data on all of these variables. We report the following major findings. First, there is a clear average preference for dynamic images of time. Second, subjects who prefer dynamic images of time produce longer durations. We tentatively conclude that perception and conception of time are related.

Voeller and Heilman (1988a) have produced evidence suggesting a right‐hemisphere dysfunction associated with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): ADHD‐related hemineglect. The present study is a constructive replication, using carefully screened children with ADHD for a number of compromising factors (e.g., no lateralized brain damage, handedness, eyedness). Each child received two tests: Line Bisection and Visual Target Cancellation Test. In addition, their performance was assessed in both binocular and monocular viewing conditions. While the ADHD children performed generally worse than the controls on target cancellation (i.e., exhibiting higher inattention), there was no evidence for hemineglect. To complicate matters, a reversed right‐left imbalance was tapped using a structured task array for this test, for left‐eye dominant ADHD children not on medication. Besides drawing attention to the role of the dominant eye in the scanning of children with ADHD, we suggest that no firm conclusions ...

In the neuropsychological literature, there is a debate concerning whether neuropsychological tests necessarily are better means for assessing impulsivity than are trait measures. Yet, there is an inherent problem in looking at these test results: Cognitive impulsivity (i.e. impulsive performance on a standard task, assessed looking at the speed-accuracy trade-off in the data) might only sometimes be indicative of trait impulsivity, and trait impulsivity might also only sometimes be indicative of cognitive impulsivity. There is, however, no complete overlap. This is the conclusion drawn from two studies reported in this paper. One option is to first look at those participants scoring high on trait impulsivity, and then to interpret their performance on neuropsychological tests in terms of this. Poor performance for them is most likely indicative of impulsive performance. There is, however, another option: That individuals scoring high on trait impulsivity implement this impulsivity in their performance, sometimes performing impulsively, and sometimes not. A plausible solution is to incorporate both self-report and analysis of performance in both neuropsychological assessment and personality research.

We report an empirical study of the relationship between metaphoric thinking and creativity. Arguing that the two should be related, we employed the Barron Symbolic Equivalence Test to assess such metaphoric-creative thinking. The other measure employed in the study was an abbreviated version of the Alternate Uses Test, designed to assess ideational fluency. We found, as predicted, a positive relationship between metaphoric thinking and creativity (ideational fluency).