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| Research article summary (published Apr 2008): |
Neurophysiological measures of involuntary and voluntary attention allocation and dispositional differences in need for cognition.
Full Abstract
Need for cognition (NFC) refers to stable individual differences in the intrinsic motivation to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors and has been a useful predictor of dispositional differences in information processing. Although cognitive resource allocation conceptualized as cognitive effort is assumed to be the key mediator of NFC-specific processing, to date no research has systematically addressed its underpinnings. Using a neurocognitive paradigm and recording event-related potentials associated with bottom-up and top-down-driven aspects of attention, the present research contributes to filling this gap. In Study 1, high-NFC individuals showed larger P3a amplitudes to contextually novel events, indicating greater involuntary (automatic) attention allocation. This effect was replicated in Study 2, where NFC also was positively correlated with the P3b to target stimuli, indicating voluntary (controlled) processes of attention allocation. Thus, our findings provide first evidence for neurophysiological correlates of NFC and can improve the understanding of NFC-specific processing.
Author information
Author/s: Enge, Sören (S); Fleischhauer, Monika (M); Brocke, Burkhard (B); Strobel, Alexander (A);
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Dresden University of Technology, Dreden, Germany. soeren.enge(-atsign-)mailbox.tu
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article
Journal: Personality and social psychology bulletin (Pers Soc Psychol Bull), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 34 (issue 6) : pp 862-74
Dates: Created 2008/05/12; Completed 2008/08/27;
PMID: 18388253, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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