International Society for the Study of Individual Differences

Program 2009

Chapter 3
Symposia

1 Sunday 10:00 - 12:00: Intellectual investment: Advances in the area of determinants of adult intellect

Tomas Charmorro-Premuzic & Philip Ackerman

Symposium Rationale: The nature of intelligence changes over life-span: fluid intelligence (gf) and other aspects of speeded cognitive ability decline with increasing age but crystallised intelligence (gc) and knowledge-based test performances show considerable stability, and even augmentation. So-called investment theories suggest a developmental relationship of gf and gc, whereby the former predicts the attainment and stability of the latter. Furthermore, other factors of individual differences, such as personality and interests, determine where, when and how people apply and `invest' their intelligence, thereby influencing the development of gc. This symposium aims to answer the following questions (among others): what are the inter-relations of factors of intelligence, personality and interests? To what extent is the development of adult intellect affected by factors of cognitive ability compared to non-ability factors? What aspects beyond the gf-gc distinction are encompassed within adult intellect and how should the latter be measured and operationalized?

Summary: At present, adult intelligence and adult intellect are interchangeably used; however, we believe that `a very general mental capacity', (i.e., intelligence) in adults substantially differs from adultsâ competence, discernment and typical performance (i.e. intellect). Adult intellect is reflected in many contexts, such as the workplace and in social settings, and in line intellectual investment plausibly spans various traits and abilities. This symposium aims to merge evidence from different research perspectives to expand notions of adult intelligence beyond gâ and investigate aspects of the g-nexusâ. That is, novel experimental methodologies, extensive empirical evidence and recent theoretical approaches will be introduced and discussed to form a comprehensive, integrating perspective of adult intellect.

1.1 Intellectual Investment, Domain Knowledge, and Cognitive Ability: Predictors of Post-Secondary Academic Performance.

Ackerman, P. L. (Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA) Predictions of post-secondary academic performance, as predictions of performance of adults in the workplace, present an important challenge to Binet-inspired approaches to intelligence. The dominant approach to predict academic performance in young adults roots in assessing current functioning on fluid-intelligence type measures (Gf) and measures of knowledge that was acquired during adolescence (what Cattell called `historical' crystallized intelligence - GcH). However, such an approach leaves out an assessment of the individualÕs current Gc, both in general areas and in domains that may not be common to a core curriculum. By focusing on domain knowledge that may be specialized, it is possible to assess the products of the individualÕs intellectual investment, and to better predict what the individual will accomplish in post-secondary study and beyond. In addition, the intellectual investment approach also provides a foundation for understanding the interplay of cognitive, affective, and conative traits on adult intellectual development. The intellectual investment perspective and recent empirical data on predicting academic performance will be discussed in this presentation.

1.2 Intellect at the Workplace: Evidence from managerial and military samples.

Furnham, A.,University College London, UK Ability and non-ability factors predict professional performance and preferences regarding vocational choices. In turn, occupational performance and vocational choice greatly shape adult intelligence and also define the corner stones and nature of oneÕs `intellectual competence'. In groups of highly skilled employees, general intelligence has shown reduced predictive validity for work performance and successful professional advancement. Non-ability factors- personality, interests or so-called softskills - become strong determinants of failure or success at work. Empirical evidence from managerial and military samples will be presented to a) evaluate the quality of commonly employed work performance measures upon their utility in different job contexts, b) compare the effects of general intelligence and personality traits in the prediction of performance outcomes across different skills and employment levels, and c) compare the predictive validity and explanatory power of personality assessments on generic indicators of employment status (i.e. managerial level) versus domain-specific measures of professional success (i.e. estate agentÕs total of house sales). Vocational performance and choice are placed within the context of the development and nature of Ôintellectual competenceÕ, highlighting the often under-estimated impact of personality traits.

1.3 Emotional Intelligence and Teamwork: An Experimental Study

Angela N. Fellner1, Gerald Matthews1, Joel S. Warm2, Kevin Shockley1, Carolyn MacCann3, and Richard D. Roberts4 1Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, USA 2Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, USA 3Accelerated Learning Laboratory, University of New South Wales, Australia 4Center for New Constructs, Educational Testing Service, USA

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a controversial construct, which requires validation against objective behavioral measures. Our previous studies failed to find any effect of EI measures on tasks requiring processing of emotional stimuli. EI may be more relevant to performance in team settings, where more emotionally intelligent individuals may form more constructive working relationships. The aim of the current study was to test the effect of EI on performance of a cognitive task, when participants worked in pairs or singly. 311 participants decided whether a series of animated characters were "correct" or "incorrect", in a discrimination-learning paradigm. The critical cue was the emotional expression displayed by the character. Three conditions were manipulated between-subjects: two teamwork conditions (collaboration, competition) and a control, single-person condition. Both ability and trait EI measures were administered, as well as tests of the `Big Five' personality traits and cognitive ability. Subjective state was assessed pre-and post-task, as well as impressions of teamwork. Working in a team improved learning and elevated task engagement. Only subjective state related to performance, although trait EI correlated with subjective state and experience of teamwork. Findings again call into question the utility of scales for EI as predictors of performance, although the construct may relate to subjective experiences of team interactions.

1.4 Shaping adult intellect: Are investment traits simply curiosity? Empirical and meta-analytic results

Sophie von Stumm & Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Goldsmiths University of London Within a dispositional perspective, intellectual investment has been conceptualized and assessed by a wide variety of trait constructs and personality measures, whereby some constituted stand-alone scales, like Typical Intellectual Investment (Goff & Ackerman, 1992), and others are incorporated within comprehensive taxonomies, such as the Intellectual Efficiency scale of the California Personality Inventory (Gough, 1953). A meta-analytic investigation summarizes existent trait constructs of intellectual investment and evaluates their effect on indicators of adult intellect, including for example academic performance and crystallized intelligence. Results show small to modest effects across investment traits and indicators of adult intellect. Content analysis of existent trait measures guided the formulation of a novel theoretical rationale and measurement design for a disposition of intellectual curiosity. Based on JamesÕ (1998) Conditional Reasoning approach, a corresponding psychometric instrument was validated against trait measures built on self-ratings and two types of intellectual performance tests.

2 Sunday 10:00 - 12:00: Implications of Gray & McNaughton's revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory on the assessment of individual differences in approach and avoidance motivation and behaviour

Nadja Heym and Claire Lawrence (University of Nottingham, UK )

Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory is one of the most influential models used to assess individual differences in approach and avoidance motivation. However, recent research and revisions to the model (Gray & McNaughton, 2000) have raised some important issues. Firstly, the subsystems have been partly re-defined offering (i) a clearer distinction between anxiety (BIS) and fear (FFFS), and their impact on avoidance motivation, and (ii) a different conceptualization of BAS and its link to impulsivity and approach motivation. As a consequence, existing measurements assessing the subsystems of the RST are based on the original theory and may be in need of revision. Finally, little work has been published assessing the associations of the revised RST with other models of personality (e.g. Eysenck's PEN) or applied constructs (e.g. psychopathology). Thus, this symposium will address those points by highlighting conceptual, methodological and measurement issues associated with the revised RST. The implications of the revised RST for other theories of personality and the measurement of individual differences in approach and avoidance motivation in applied research (e.g. lack of fear hypothesis in psychopathy) will be discussed.

Introduction to the symposium by Neil McNaughton (University of Ontago, NZ)

2.1 Conceptual and measurement issues of revised RST

Philip J. Corr, University of East Anglia Andrew Cooper, Goldsmiths College Few attempts have been made to develop scales to measure the systems of Gray & McNaughton's (2000) revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) of personality, which assignes the Fight-Flight-Freeze system (FFFS) to avoidance/escape of all aversive stmuli (associated with the emotion of fear), and the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) to resolving goal-conlfict of all kinds, including classic approach-avoidance conflict (associated with the emotion of anxiety). Although some broad-based measures of these systems are available (pre-existing and purpuse-built), no attempt has yet been made to measure the relatively separate sub-processes of the FFFS and BIS. In addition, recent work suggests that the Behavioural Approach System (BAS; associated with hope, anticipatory pleasure and optimism) is more complex than hitherto thought, and similarly needs conceptual clarification. The purpose of this talk is to present a new conceptual model of the FFFS, BIS and BAS, and to discuss the statistical modelling of these processes which has led to the development of theoretically-faithful and empirically-sensitive revised RST scales.

2.2 Distinguishing between FFFS-Fear and BIS-Anxiety in Carver & White's BIS/BAS scales

Nadja Heym, Claire Lawrence RASPH-Risk Analysis Social Processes and Health, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.

Recent revisions of Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (Gray & McNaughton, 2000) have made a clearer distinction between the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS, indexed by anxiety/goal conflict) and the Fight/Flight/Freeze system (FFFS, indexed by fear). Sensitivity to punishment, previously associated with BIS, has been assigned to FFFS. However, existing measurements assessing the subsystems of the RST are based on the original theory, and as such items reflect both BIS-anxiety and punishment responsivity (now FFFS-Fear) within one scale (e.g. Smillie et. al, 2006). Moreover, as there are currently no validated scales incorporating the revisions of the RST, most researchers continue to apply the original RST to examine punishment and reward sensitivity. We have recently shown that Carver and WhiteÕs BIS scale can be split into two scales measuring BIS-anxiety and FFFS-fear separately, and being differentially linked to Eysenck's PEN. However, even though the two scales were reliable, they covered only a limited range of relevant behaviour. Thus, this study has extended these findings by revising Carver and WhiteÕs BIS/BAS scales by including additional items to FFFS-Fear and BIS-Anxiety. Preliminary psychometric properties of the revised BIS/BAS/FFFS scales will be presented and associations to other personality constructs assessed.

2.3 (Trait) Anxiety: Sensitivity to Goal Conflict or Pure Punishment?

Luke D Smillie Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

The revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST; Gray & McNaughton, 2000) of Personality posits that the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS), the biologically-based mechanism thought to underlie anxiety, is engaged by goal conflict. The basis of anxiety in goal conflict represents a departure of the revised RST from Gray's original theory - and similar theories proposed by others (e.g., Cloninger, 1987) - in which anxiety is explained in terms of sensitivity to punishment. Comparison of the "goal conflict" model of anxiety with the "pure punishment" model of anxiety is complicated by the fact that (1) paradigms which attempt to deliver "pure punishment" tend also to involve some degree of behavioural conflict, and (2) most operations of "goal conflict" include explicit punishment stimuli. However, goal conflict can, in principle, result from two mutually incompatible reward goals. In a novel behavioural paradigm, responses to a one-way avoidance goal and two mutually incompatible approach goals are assessed in terms of their relationship with anxiety. Results will be discussed in terms of the extent to which data from this paradigm favour the original versus the revised version of RST.

2.4 Effects of lorazepam and citalopram on human defensive reactions: Ethopharmacological differentiation of fear and anxiety.

Adam M. Perkins1; Ulrich Ettinger2; Robert Davis3; Steven C. R. Williams2; Philip J. Corr1. 1Department of Psychology, School of Human Sciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, 2Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Box P089, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, and 3Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London, New Cross, SE14 6NW, United Kingdom.

The revised reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality postulates that anxiety is associated with approach to threat and fear with departure from threat (Gray & McNaughton, 2000). Based on this theory we predicted that drugs which alter anxiety would preferentially alter behavior during approach to threat and drugs that alter fear/panic would preferentially alter behavior departure from threat. We tested our predictions using a within subjects repeated measures research design in which we administered lorazepam, citalopram and placebo to 30 male participants and recorded the effects upon defensive behavior. Defensive behavior was measured using a computerized translation of an active avoidance task used to study drug effects on rodent defensive behavior. Our primary finding was that lorazepam significantly altered behavior during approach to threat but not during departure from threat. Since lorazepam is an anxiolytic drug this finding contributes to the validation of the theoretical principle of defensive direction that maintains anxiety is an emotion elicited specifically by threats that require approach. We also found that trait individual differences in social fear measured by questionnaire affected defensive behavior, suggesting that trait individual differences in personality in humans may be underpinned by individual differences in threat perception.

2.5 Recent Developments in RST: Implications for the study of psychopathic personality

Norman G. Poythress Department of Mental Health Law & Policy, University of South Florida, U.S.A.

In the psychopathy literature different hypotheses have emerged regarding the RST features that might best characterize psychopathic individuals. Lykken suggested that primary psychopathy is characterized a fearless temperament (Weak BIS/weak FFFS) and normal BAS functioning; both Blackburn and Fowles have suggested that low fear and elevated BAS might characterized primary psychopathy. In this study model-based clustering was used to identify homogeneous groups among a sample of 691 offenders who met criteria for antisocial personality disorder; clustering variables included three facet scores from the PCL-R, Êthe Harmavoidance scale as a measure of fear sensitivity, ÊCarver and WhiteÕs BAS scales, and measures of other theoretically relevant constructs (anxiety; abuse history). The best fitting solution was four groups, three of which had elevated psychopathy scores. None of the emergent groups had a pattern of HA and BAS scores consistent with LykkenÕs theory. One psychopathic group was distinguished by low fear sensitivity and elevated BAS scores, a profile consistent with the views of Blackburn and Fowles. Across a variety of external criterion measures, the pattern of results suggested that this group best represents primary psychopathy as that construct has been discussed in the literature.

Discussant: Alan Pickering (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)

3 Sunday 14:30-16:30: Anxiety - cognitive and individual differences perspectives. A symposium in memory of B azej Szymura

Ma gorzata Fajkowska In this symposium we attempt to provide representative, albeit not exhaustive, studies that we consider key to understanding the bio-behavioral mechanisms, cognitive processes and individual characteristics underlying anxiety. The papers included to the session draw on a wide range of research and methods of inquiry - paper-pencils questionnaires, neuropsychological assessment, laboratory paradigms designed to assess the biological, cognitive and personality constituencies of anxiety. As a result, researchers are gaining insight into such compelling questions as is anxiety solely evoked by external factors, what are internal determinants of anxiety, whether bringing different, but partially overlapping and complementary perspectives to study anxiety will be a challenge for the unresolved puzzles in this area.

3.1 Anxiety: Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) and Beyond

Philip J. Corr University of East Anglia

Jeffrey Gray's influential work provides a basis for anxiety in the operations of a Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS). Gray and McNaughton's (2000) revised neuropsychology of anxiety updates the BIS, distributing its components among the hippocampus, septum and amygdala, as well as the frontal cortex; and it clarifies the functions of the BIS in terms of goal-conflict, which in the case of approach-avoidance conflict manifests as cautious defensive approach in potentially threatening environments, entailling inhibition of prepotent responses and risk assessment behaviour. Revised BIS is dfferentiated from the Fight-Flight-Freeze system (FFFS), which is now charged with mediating reactions to all aversive stimuli. Studies that have addressed the details of the revised theory are reviewed, which include behavioural, pharmacological and psychometric studies, and the adequacy of BIS theory for a comprehensive account of human anxiety is discussed.

3.2 Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and the positive-negative asymmetry in categorization

Agata Wytykowska 1 and Maria Lewicka 2 (Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities 1, University of Warsaw 2 , Poland)

Confirmation bias - a tendency to test the hypothesis from cases predicted by this hypothesis - occurs when the categorization error of false positives has more weight than the error of false negatives. This explanation makes it possible to look at the phenomenon from the pragmatic perspective: as adaptive behavior which may be particularly salient in some circumstances (where avoiding false positives is more adaptive than avoiding false negatives) and which may disappear in other situations (when avoiding false negatives is more or as important as avoiding false positives). Lewicka hypothesized that size of confirmation bias may depend on the affective meaning of category exemplars: people tend to attach more weight to the error of false negatives when faced with negative stimuli and to the error of false positives when faced with positive or neutral stimuli. In a series of studies, using rule discovery paradigm, it was demonstrated that potential losses stimulated more search for non-instances than potential gains, leading to reduction of confirmation bias and thus to wider final categories. In the present study GrayÕs theory of behavior inhibition (BIS) was used to understand the role of anxiety in processes of categorization. It was predicted that the observed differences between gains and losses in size of confirmation bias in categorization tasks will be particularly pronounced in individuals with high sensitivity as compared to those with low sensitivity of the BIS system. The data are currently analyzed.

3.3 Anxiety and attentional processing: fear-then-relief and pride-then-frustration procedures

B az\.ej Szymura (Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland) Two basic dimensions of attentional processing serve as theoretical framework of this study (Kolaczyk, 2001). Extensive, at the shallow level, attentional processing is characterized by fast, parallel, sensual, and holistic processing of large number of elements that can potentially enter the field of attention. Whereas, intensive, at the deeper level, attentional processing is seen as slow, sequential, semantic and analytic processing of smaller number of attended elements (Craik & Lockhart, 1972). It was assumed that extensive and intensive attentional processing is associated with individual differences and situational context, including the emotional nature of stimuli (Eysenck, 1992; 1997). Accordingly, the main aim of presented study was to analyze effects of anxiety on these two dimensions of attentional processing when fear and pride or an emotional see-saw (fear-then-relief and pride-then-frustration) were induced, respectively. Results indicated that, both anxiety and situational context specifically modulate the operation of the extensive and intensive attentional processing of emotional stimuli.

3.4 Anxiety, Attention and Risk: A Study of Tactical Decision-Making

April Rose Panganiban 1, Gerald Matthews 1, and Eva Hudlicka 2 1 Department of Psychology, University of Cincinnati, USA 2 Psychometrix, Inc., USA

The biasing effects of anxiety on selective attention are well-known. However, computational models of anxiety suggest that trait and state factors may have multiple influences on different processing modules. In the present study, 120 participants performed a computer-based search-and-rescue task, requiring them to choose the optimal route to reach a lost party of explorers as quickly as possible. Each route had potential risks and benefits which participants accessed by Ômousing overÕ icons on a map-like display. 60 participants were exposed to an anxious-mood induction, using guided imagery and music. The others were exposed to a neutral induction. Anxiety was assessed using the Spielberger trait and state scales. The mood induction was effective in elevating state anxiety throughout performance. Several biasing effects were observed. The most robust effects of anxiety were found with measures of the frequencies with which the risks and benefits for the routes were sampled, interpreted as indices of voluntary attention. State anxiety was associated with greater attention to both types of information, possibly reflecting compensatory effort. Trait anxiety was associated with a bias towards sampling risk information, but only in the neutral mood condition. We conclude that anxiety-related biases in decision-making are shaped by the affective context, and the task strategies it activates.

3.5 Relationship between job-related anxiety and job satisfaction according to the level of Neuroticism and Extraversion

Anna M. Zalewska, Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities

The study examined relations between job-related anxiety and job satisfaction from perspectives of three distinct approaches to well being: "bottom-up", "top-down", and "transactional" (boosted with elements of greatest significance of aforementioned two approaches). Overall job satisfaction and differentiation in satisfaction according to the job facets (Work Description Inventory), situational (4 items from Job Affect Scale) and persistent job-related anxiety (Mood at Workplace Questionnaire), neuroticism and extraversion (NEO-FFI) were investigated among 240 employees (120 males). Analyses done from the perspective of "bottom-up" theories showed that two forms of job-related anxiety were negatively correlated with overall job satisfaction, but they were not associated with differentiation in satisfaction. Data analyzed from the perspective of "top-down" model demonstrated that neuroticism affected the job-related anxiety and job satisfaction; moreover persistent job-related anxiety mediated the relation between neuroticism and overall job satisfaction. Data analysis within the transactional model indicated that overall job satisfaction depended on interaction between job-related anxiety, neuroticism and extraversion. The study has made an important contribution to the well-being literature because it has revealed the possible methodological problems and measurement artefacts of "bottom-up" and "top-down" approaches. In addition, it provided evidence supporting the adaptive role of anxiety and individual properties as its moderators.

3.6 Anxiety, EEG signals and detection of emotional facial expressions: Performance on a Go/No-Go task

Ma gorztata Fajkowska 1, Michael W. Eysenck 2, Piotr Ja\'skowski 3and Anna Zagórska 4 1 Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences 2 Royal Holloway University of London 3 University of Finance and Management, Warsaw 4 Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities

Differences in processing emotional material among repressors, truly low anxious, high anxious and defensive high anxious individuals (Weinberger, Schwartz & Davidson 1979) might be explained on the basis of differentiation in the level of cortical activation (see M.W. Eysenck, 2006; 2007; Fajkowska, 2007; Kline & Allen, 2008 Crost, Paulus & Wacker, 2008). In presented studies both defensiveness and anxiety have been associated with the EEG activity and processing emotionally salient information such as emotional facial expressions. 100 participants completed STAI and Marlowe Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSD). One week apart they took part in the Emotional Go/No-Go task (cf. Hare et al., 2005; Ladouceur et al. 2006) and were instructed either respond to (Go trials) or not respond to (No-Go trials) specific facial expressions (angry, sad, happy, neutral). Results challenged the well-established effects of defensiveness and frontal asymmetry in predicting anxiety. Findings are discussed in the light of theory related to the two neuroanatomically, functionally different regulatory systems controlling motor readiness and perceptual receptivity (Pribram & McGuinness, 1975; 1980; Tucker & Williamson, 1984; De Brabander, Declerck & Boon, 2002) and affective reactivity (two affect dimensions approach -Heller, 1993; Russell, 2003; Robinson & Compton, 2006).

4 Sunday 14:30-16:30: Personality Disorder Research Beyond Retrospective Questionnaires

Allan Clifton &Daniel Leising

Basic personality research and research on personality disorders are in need of better integration. So far, most attempts at integrating the two fields have relied on retrospective self-report questionnaires, a methodology that has significant limitations (e.g. a single source of data, socially desirable responding, lack of insight on the part of the patient). Basic personality research has much more to offer, in terms of concepts and methods, that may be useful for understanding personality pathology. In this symposium, we present contemporary empirical research that aims to clarify how and why people's patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving may become a problem for them and for others. All of the studies use methods other than personality questionnaires (e.g. social network analysis, ecological momentary assessment, behavioral challenges in the lab), and we will discuss the benefits that these alternative methods have to offer.

4.1 Investigating Personality Pathology Through Social Network Analysis

Allan Clifton(1) & Paul Pilkonis(2) (1) Department of Psychology, Vassar College, USA (2) Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with chronic interpersonal problems including unstable relationships, ambivalent attachment, impaired social cognition, and poor interpersonal boundaries. Interpersonal problems in BPD have most often been studied using either self-reported ratings of interpersonal problems or broad clinician-rated measures of functioning such as the Global Assessment of Functioning. However, interpersonal behavior is most likely not a unidimensional construct, but rather reflects different behaviors in different social interactions. We report on the application of social network analysis (SNA) as a more precise method of quantifying interpersonal problems in BPD. Rather than operationalizing interpersonal functioning as a global trait of the individual, SNA treats interpersonal functioning as an emergent property of a complex pattern of relationships. The present study investigates social networks in clinical and community participants with varying degrees of borderline personality pathology. Results suggest that SNA can identify patterns of interpersonal dysfunction associated with personality pathology. Implications for research applications and clinical intervention are discussed.

4.2 Using Experience-Sampling to Investigate Actual Symptom Occurrence in the Personality Disorders

William Fleeson, R. Michael Furr, & Elizabeth Arnold Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, USA

Personality disorders are diagnosed by retrospective reports of the presence of symptoms to a level Òthat deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual's cultureÓ, and that Òis inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situationsÓ However, nearly all scientific knowledge about actual symptom experience in real life relies on retrospective summaries of symptoms gathered via clinical interview and other self-report measures. Retrospective summaries of the frequency, severity, and pervasiveness of symptoms may suffer from serious biases and distortions. This study used experience-sampling methodology, in which an analog sample carried PDAs during waking hours for several days, and described several times each day their current expression and severity of symptoms. Many individuals, not just those diagnosed as suffering from a personality disorder, experienced symptoms as part of their daily life. For example, more than half of the participants reported paranoid thoughts in the course of just two weeks, and about half reported having unstable relationships. Sizeable numbers of participants reported even more abnormal symptoms having to do with identity disturbance; a third or more reported feeling empty and/or having an unstable sense of self in the course of the two week period.

4.3 Making "Personality Disorders" Observable by Means of Brief Standard Interaction Tasks

Daniel Leising Psychology Department, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

As an alternative to retrospective self-report measures of personality pathology, I suggest to use direct behavioral observations in so-called ßtandard interaction tasks". These are brief and simple dyadic situations that are to make individual differences in critical interpersonal skills observable. The approach has several advantages: (1) People often manage to avoid being confronted with their own personality problems, by selecting "buffer environments". In contrast, the interaction task approach exposes all participants to exactly the same situations. (2) The use of multiple observers improves reliability. (3) People with personality problems are often assumed to have idiosyncratic (biased) views of themselves and others. By using standard interaction tasks, it becomes possible to directly compare the target's and other people's views of the target's behavior. In my talk, I will present data from a recent project in which participants engaged in 17 interaction tasks (e.g. asserting oneself, self-disclosing, apologizing, criticizing someone). Results cover (a) the psychometric properties of the interaction tasks, (b) relationships between behavior in the tasks and interview-based personality disorder assessments, (c) the participants' problem-awareness (i.e. congruence between self- and observer-assessments of target behavior), and (d) relationships between performance in the tasks and measures of well-being and adaptation.

4.4 Clinical Assessment of Affective Instability: Comparing EMA Indices and Questionnaire Reports

Timothy J. Trull Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA

Traditional retrospective self-report measures of psychopathology are limited by a variety of recall biases. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) circumvents these biases by assessing individuals' experiences as they occur in their natural environments. This study examines the discrepancy between retrospective and EMA measures of affective instability in psychiatric outpatients either with a borderline personality diagnosis (BPD; n=58) or within a current major depressive episode or dysthymia (MDD; n=42). Agreement between three retrospective questionnaire measures of affective instability (Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline Features scale - Affective Instability scale, Affect Intensity Measure, and the Affect Lability Scales) and EMA indices of mood was examined. Results indicate only modest to moderate agreement between momentary and retrospective assessments of affective instability. Further, momentary and retrospective measures of affective instability are more highly correlated for individuals with BPD versus MDD/DYS. Implications for clinical research and practice and possible applications of EMA methodology are discussed.

5 Monday 10:00 - 12:00: Reward sensitivity and addictive behaviour

Natalie Loxton and Matthew Gullo, convenors

In 2003 Professors Gordon Claridge from the UK and Caroline Davis from Canada published a text entitled "Personality and Psychological DisordersÓ in which they reviewed the influential contribution of personality perspectivesÊto understanding of a range of clinical disorders. Jeffrey GrayÕs personality trait of reward sensitivity featured heavily in this text. At that time, in Australia, we (Dawe, Loxton and Gullo) were using reward sensitivity in investigating alcohol abuse and disordered eating. Since then there has been a tremendous surge of interest in reward sensitivity, and related traits such as disinhibition and anhedonia, from researchers in the addictions field. The proposed symposium will comprise five papers bringing together research from Claridge and DavisÕs labs in the UK and Canada with our research in Australia investigating various aspects of reward sensitivity in the vulnerability to/maintenance of substance abuse and compulsive overeating . This symposium is particularly relevant to the ISSID conference at which the proposed presenters have previously presented earlier research. The aim of this symposium is to contribute further data to this specific research focus using a range of methodologies including molecular genetics, implicit cognitions and longitudinal data.

5.1 The Relationship Between Impulsivity, Prosocial Risk Taking and Substance Use in Adolescents

Sharon Dawe, Andrew Wood, Julie Nos and Matthew J. Gullo School of Psychology, Griffith University, Australia

Participation in prosocial risk taking activities and a healthy family environment generally serve as protective factors, while impulsivity is associated with substance use. This study tested a model predicting that participation in prosocial risk taking activities (competitive sports and performance) would moderate the relationship between rash impulsivity, reward drive, and substance use. A healthy family environment was expected to serve as a protective factor in a sample of 13 years olds (N = 1060). ÊRash impulsivity had a significant, positive association with substance use in girls, and a similar trend was found for boys. Unexpectedly, participation in competitive sports was associated with greater substance use. Furthermore, reward drive was indirectly associated with substance use through increased participation in competitive sports. Neither sports nor performance activities moderated the effect of impulsivity on substance use. There was a significant interaction suggesting that a positive family environment was associated with lower substance use in girls, but only for those who were engaged in performance activities. Thus, prosocial risk taking does not appear to modulate the effect of rash impulsivity on substance use. In fact, reward drive conveys risk for substance use, indirectly, through participation in sports activities, which was associated with substance use.

5.2 Separate Cognitive Mechanisms Mediate the Role of Approach- and Disinhibition-related Traits in Hazardous Alcohol Use

Matthew J. Gullo1, Sharon Dawe1 and Chris J. Jackson2 1School of Psychology, Griffith University, Australia 2Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales, Australia

Recent work suggests two separate, biologically-based impulsivity traits convey risk for alcohol misuse: Reward drive (approach-based) and rash impulsiveness (disinhibition-based). However, the cognitive mechanisms through which these traits convey risk is unclear. This study sought to test a model predicting that the risk conveyed by reward drive (RD) is mediated by a learning bias for the reinforcing outcomes of alcohol consumption (i.e., positive alcohol expectancy). The model also proposed that the risk conveyed by rash impulsiveness (RI) is mediated by drinkers' perceived ability to resist alcohol (i.e., drinking refusal self-efficacy). 342 university students were administered a battery of personality, cognitive, and alcohol use questionnaires. The model was tested using structural equation modelling. The model provided a good fit to the data, and a better fit than non-hypothesised alternative models. Positive alcohol expectancy fully mediated the association between RD and hazardous alcohol use. Drinking refusal self-efficacy partially mediated the association between RI and hazardous use. Furthermore, neither trait was directly associated with the other cognitive mechanism. Results suggest separate cognitive mechanisms mediate the risk for alcohol misuse conveyed by approach- and disinhibition-related traits. These findings shed further light on how an impulsive temperament may convey risk for substance use problems.

5.3 Driven to Drink: Reward Drive in the Activation of Implicit Alcohol Expectancies

Natalie J. Loxton and Yolanda Gribble School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Australia

Personality traits of reward sensitivity and rash impulsivity have been consistently linked with alcohol abuse. ÊIt has been suggested that these personality traits operate through positive alcohol expectancies and that expectancies are activated by exposure to drinking-related cues. Recent evidence suggests that explicit alcohol expectancies are specifically related to reward drive but not rash impulsivity. The current study investigated the relationship between reward sensitivity and rash impulsivity on the activation of alcohol expectancies using an implicit alcohol expectancies task embedded with either alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage cues (i.e., photographs). 154 university students completed the task while endorsing alcohol outcome expectancy statements and "personality" statements. Results found that those high in self-reported reward drive responded faster to alcohol expectancies when exposed to pictures of alcoholic beverages compared to low reward drive participants (controlling for response to ÒpersonalityÓ statements). There was no association between rash impulsiveness and alcohol expectancies. This study supports the hypothesis that individual differences in reward drive, but not rash impulsiveness, are associated with greater access to positive beliefs regarding substance use when exposed to alcohol cues.

5.4 Reward Sensitivity and Proneness to Addiction: Relevance to Compulsive Overeating

Caroline Davis Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences,York University, Canada

There is increasing agreement that compulsive overeating shares many parallels with other addiction disorders like drug abuse. This acknowledgment has fostered an interest in identifying individual personality differences that increase the risk for overeating and weight gain. Reward sensitivity has been strongly linked with addictions, albeit from two seemingly opposite points of view. On the one hand, studies have associated low reward sensitivity and obesity, while other evidence suggests that a strong appetitive motivation leads to overeating and weight gain. Much of the neurobiological interest in reward sensitivity has focused on the dopamine pathways. There is now increasing evidence of a conjoint association of this neurotransmitter with the opioid system in the functioning of brain reward mechanisms - especially for food intake. This presentation will report the results of a study that examined genetic and psychological indicators of hedonic eating in obese adults with and without binge eating disorder (BED). Findings suggest that BED is a biologically-based subtype of obesity and that the proneness to binge eating may be influenced by a hyper-reactivity to the hedonic and palatable properties of food - a predisposition that is easily exploited in our current environment with its easily accessible surfeit of sweet and fatty foods.

5.5 The Role of Anhedonia in Some Addictive Behaviour

Gordon Claridge Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK

Currently successful explanations of susceptibility to addiction invoke enhanced hedonic capacity, mediated by dopamine sensitive mechanisms associated with personality traits such as reward drive and (in some of its meanings) 'impulsivity'. A complementary theory is that some forms of addiction proneness might reflect the opposite; viz a chronic tendency to anhedonia that is compensated for by compulsive behaviours which serve to raise the individual's feeling of pleasure to a more tolerable level. It will be argued that this might be the case for computer based addictions such as excessive Internet use. Evidence for the idea will be presented, drawing on data from experiments that examined computer usage in relation to a questionnaire measure of anhedonia, specifically Introvertive Anhedonia. The latter forms a schizoid component in schizotypy and has been shown to be highly correlated with a measure of the autism/Asperger spectrum - which, in turn, is also associated with increased computer use. This pattern of findings supports, it is proposed, a so-called `geek theory' of addiction, whereby very anhedonic individuals seek their satisfactions from non-social activities promoted by the Internet.

6 Monday 10:00 - 12:00: DEBATE: Biologically-informed approaches to personality: how far can they take us?

Luke Smillie & Philip Corr

6.1 Biologically-informed approaches to personality: how far can they take us?

Luke Smillie, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

In recent years there has been an increased focus on biological approaches to personality explanation. One of the most influential of these approaches has drawn upon the work of Neil McNaughton (Gray & McNaughton, 2000; McNaughton, 1989), who is a noted advocate of animal models of personality. However, cognitive psychologists such as Gerry Matthews have challenged the validity and utility of such approaches (e.g., Matthews, 2000; Matthews & Gilliland, 1999). The opposing perspectives of Matthews and McNaughton were recently presented in their respective contributions to a volume edited by Philip Corr (2008); Matthews argued for fundamental limitations to biological perspectives, while McNaughton suggested several fallacies in such arguments. The purpose of this debate is to bring Matthews and McNaughton together, for the first time, to discuss the strengths and limitations of the biological approach to personality explanation.

6.2 Why biology is needed to explain human personality.

Neil McNaughton, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Measured personality characters are largely stable through the lifespan. They reflect normal distributions of biological factors within a population - and have homologues in other species. Such consistent styles of behaviour must depend on phylogenetically ancient neural systems; although individual- and species-specific cognitive filters determine specific eliciting stimuli. Darwin argued that "facts observed both with man and the lower animals [can] be made use of; but the latter facts are preferable, as less likely to deceive us". This is particularly true with intuitions about questionnaire items. Meaning does not guarantee construct validity. Questionnaire scores do not determine the nature, number, or rotation of real underlying factors. Critically, one must not expect biological explanation to validate any existing scale. Rather biology determines the alignment of real factors in multidimensional questionnaire space and may require existing questionnaire scores to be converted to new factor axes. However, behaviourally silent cognitions have been demonstrated in rats; and verbal report demonstrates processes such as illusion and worry that are difficult to demonstrate with biology but are also difficult to explain without biology. Our goal, then, should be predictive theory that links cognitive constructs with neural explanation via subcognitive models; not a justification of our preconceptions.

6.3 Can neurological theory explain human personality?

Gerald Matthews, University of Cincinnati, USA

I will identify three `lines in the sand' for biological theories of personality. First, the field has moved on, mercifully, from debates over whether is any meaningful biological influence. The issue is not whether there are correspondences between traits and neural processes, but whether we can use narrow neurological theory to explain the observed expressions of personality. Second, there are phenomena that may in principle be reduced to neurological explanations, but, in practice, should not be. Performance studies identify constraints on processing that are more scientifically tractable when treated as features of a virtual cognitive architecture rather than a physical neural architecture. Third, understanding personality also requires understanding the self and personal meaning, as also explored in cognitive theories of emotion. Individual differences in attributing meaning to events are critical for adaptation to human social environments. The role of language makes animal models fundamentally unsuitable for conceptualizing human personality. Biological theories of personality rightly cross the first line (biology is relevant) but should not approach the third (biology explains most trait-related differences in adaptation). The extent to which cognitive architectures can be reduced to neural architectures is likely to be a pivotal issue for research in the near future. I will conclude by outlining a cognitive-adaptive perspective on how biological approaches may be corralled to where they are most useful.

6.4 Discussion of "Biologically-informed approaches to personality: how far can they take us?"

Philip J. Corr, University of East Anglia

Professor Matthews identifies three `lines in the sand' for biological theories of personality. (1) Whether we can use narrow neurological theory to explain human personality? (2) Although, in principle, some phenemena may be reduced to a physical neural architecture, in practice, a virtual cognitive is more appropriate. (3) Concepts of self and personal meaning are crucial to understanding personality, as is human-specific language. Matthews states that biological theories should not approach the third line. In contrast to Matthews, Professor McNaughton lays emphasis upon the biological homologues with other species, and points to phylogenetically ancient neural systems as providing the cross-species bedrock on which human personality is based, although at the same time acknowledging species-specific cognitive filters through which eliciting stimuli are shaped. Following Darwin, McNaughton stresses the validity of non-human animal data as being less likely to deceive. In particular, he draws attention to the problem of validating questionnaire items: meaning (either from psychologists or respondents) is no guide to underlying biological processes. These theoretical positions are discussed in terms of appropriate level of explanation, species-specific factors, and the need for closer integration of biological, cognitive and experiental processes/systems.

7 Tuesday 10:00 - 12:00: Contemporary Findings From the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY):

How SMPY Longitudinal Findings May Inform Human Capital Inititaves Aimed at Developing STEM Talent in a Flat World

Camilla Benbow & David Lubinski

7.1 The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), now living in a "Flat world". Four decades of longitudinal research

David Lubinski, Vanderbilt University

Results are in. The SMPY longitudinal study, which includes five cohorts of more than 5,000 participants recruited throughout 1972-1997, has just completed a 25-year follow-up of 2,409 intellectually talented participants initially identified at age 13 (in the top 1% of mathematical reasoning ability). These findings have important implications for developing exceptional talent in STEM (science, technology, engineering, & mathematics). Economic and social well-being currently is determined more by ideas than natural and physical resources. Thus, mathematically talented populations have a special significance for human capital initiates in STEM and also in meeting the complex challenges found in modern society. However, the scope of individual differences within the top 1% of mathematical reasoning ability is huge across both intellectual (mathematical, spatial, and verbal abilities) and nonintellectual attributes (interests and personality); and these differences make a difference when modeling personal and organizational development. They cannot be ignored. Rather, they should be used to identify pools of talent to be tapped by society for meeting STEM careers and innovation demands. Moreover, there does not appear to be an ability threshold (even within the top 1%); more ability is better for enhancing the likelihood of creative achievement in middle age. Nonintellectual personal attributes in addition to intra-individual ability strength, play a role in determining the domains within which mathematically talented individuals make their creative advances, however.

By using the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA), talent identification and development can be conceptualized so as to bridge the interconnections between educational, counseling, and industrial psychology and to better understand the stubborn sex differences that emerge in learning and work settings among highly talented populations. Finally, given the ever increasing importance of quantitative and scientific reasoning skills in a flat world (Friedman, 2005), it also is suggested that when some mathematically gifted individuals choose to pursue careers and occupations outside of STEM it is not necessarily a loss of talent. Rather, this could be seen as exactly what is needed for disciplines and organizations to evolve to better meet the ever increasing demands posed by rapidly developing cultures facing the challenges posed by globalization, increasing technological nature of work, international markets, and the war for STEM talent.

7.2 Talented Women and the Factors that Impact Their Career Choices

Camilla P. Benbow, Vanderbilt University

Women often are seen as an under-utilized source of STEM talent for our idea-driven, highly technological economy in the flat world in which we now live and work. While women compared to men earn just as good or even better grades in STEM courses in high school and college and as many or more college and graduate degrees, they, nonetheless, disproportionally seem to opt out of high powered careers. What might help explain this? In two separate studies, we looked at work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students (275 men, 255 women) at ages 25 and age 35. In Study I, analyses of work preferences revealed developmental changes and sex differences in priorities: Some sex differences increased over time and increased more among parents than among childless participants. This differentiation seemed to be due to changes in mothers' work preferences. In Study II, sex differences in the graduate students' life values and personal views at age 35 were compared with those of profoundly gifted participants (top 1 in 10,000, identified by age 13 and tracked for 20 years: 265 men, 84 women). Again, sex differences were larger among parents. Across both cohorts, men appeared to assume a more agentic, "telescopic", or career-focused perspective than women did, placing more importance on creating high-impact products, compensation, risk-taking, and being recognized as the best in their fields. Women appeared to favor a more communal, "wide-angle" life perspective, emphasizing community, family, friendships, and less time devoted to career. Sex differences in life priorities, which intensify during parenthood, seem to anticipate differential male-female representation in high-level and time-intensive careers, even among extraordinarily talented men and women with similar profiles of abilities, educational-vocational interests, and educational experiences. Contemporary SMPY findings on the dynamic nature of psychological attributes in adulthood underscore the importance studying developmental changes over the entire lifespan. Doing so affords insight into how sex differences emerge over the psychological seasons of life.

Friedman, T. L. (2005). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.

Chair & Discussant Linda S. Gottfredson University of Delaware

8 Tuesday 10:00 - 12:00:The role of individual differences in anger and aggression: Emotion, Cognitions and Behaviour

Claire Lawrence & Hannelore Weber The role of individual differences in predicting aggressive behaviour has been highlighted in influential models of aggression (e.g. Anderson & Bushman, 2002). However, much of the work in this field has concenreated on clinical and forensic cases, using clinical measures of individual differences, or general samples using broad measures of trait aggression such as Buss & Perry's (1992) Aggression Questionnaire. Whilst entirely useful approaches, there remains a need to examine the emotional, cognitive and behavioural aspects of aggression in general populations using more theoretically focused measures of individual differences. This symposium aims to address this goal. The experience and expression of individual differences in functional and dysfunctional anger will be presented, illustrating the importance of individual differences in the emotional experience of anger and aggression. The influence of individual differences in provocation sensitivity on the perception and interpretation of aggressive behaviour and its subsequent impact on behaviour will be discussed. Finally sub-clinical measures of narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy will be examined in order to show their distinct but inter-related impact on aggressive and antisocial behaviour. The links of these focused constructs with broader personality dimensions including the Big Five will be presented - and the importance of Agreeableness highlighted.

Introduction: Claire Lawrence, School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

8.1 Assessing goal-reaction patterns in anger regulation

Author: Hannelore Weber1, Thomas Kubiak1, and Hans Westmeyer2 Address: 1University of Greifswald, Germany; 2Free University of Berlin, Germany

Two studies are presented in which we examined affective and interpersonal outcomes associated with different forms of anger regulation. Inter-individual differences in anger regulation were assessed using the Anger-related Reactions and Goals Inventory that measures seven anger-related reactions and seven anger-related goals derived from theory and research on anger and aggression. Results from Study 1 (N = 756) showed that venting anger, rumination and the goal of gaining revenge were associated with lower psychosocial well-being, whereas non-aggressive feedback was related with higher psychosocial well-being. In Study 2 (N = 123), participants who reacted assertively but non-aggressively to an experimentally induced provocation elicited a highly positive personality impression in terms of the Big Five dimensions, intelligence, and social attractiveness. By contrast, submission led to an unfavorable personality impression. Together, the findings suggest that feedback is highly functional in dealing with frustration and provocation, whereas venting anger, submission, rumination and the goal of gaining revenge are highly dysfunctional. These findings are (a) consistent with cognitive theories of anger and (b) highlight the interpersonal processes involved in anger regulation.

8.2 Witnessing aggressive behaviour: The influence of sensitivity to provocation and provocation

Claire Lawrence (School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK)

Some individuals are more prone than others to interpret the behaviours of others as aggressive. Such interpretations can be problematic as they have been associated with increased aggressive behaviour. However, examinations of individual differences in the interpretation of aggressive stimuli have typically focused on the influence of general trait aggression on the perception of aggressive text and static images. Two studies are presented to assess whether sensitivity to frustration and provocations influence interpretations of real life behaviors. In Study 1, participants viewed an argument between two individuals - one of whom was preventing the other from achieving a goal. The frustrated individual was judged to be less aggressive and more frustrated by those sensitive to frustrations. In Study 2, participants were shown two clips of provocation followed by violence, one between two females and one between two males. Those sensitive to provocation evaluated provoking individuals across both clips above to be more aggressive above and beyond the influence of trait aggression and mood. These findings suggest the influence of individual differences in provocation and frustration sensitivity on interpretations of actual behavior. Possible implications of individual differences in sensitivities to aggressive triggers on the witnessing of aggressive events are discussed.

8.3 The main predictors of aggression: low A, low A and low A?

Vincent Egan, Meryl Lewis, Vickie Campbell Dept. Psychology - Forensic Section, University of Leicester, UK. Although low Agreeableness (A-) and high Neuroticism (N+) are cardinal predictors of aggression, irritation produced by frustration and provocation, shame, aggressive interests, and hostile sustaining fantasies are thought additional influences on the behaviour. Two independent studies with the general public (n's = 280 and 150) examined the influence of these other dimensions upon self-reported physical aggression, as compared to the influence of A- and N+; we predicted these variables operated directly and indirectly through these additional variables, suggesting these other influences were surrogate constructs for basic personality traits. The first study found low A predicted physical aggression through direct and indirect influences on narcissistic sustaining fantasies and aggressive interests, with only 6% of predicted variance uninfluenced by A-. The second study examined the additional influences of shame, provocation and narcissism on physical aggression relative to A-. Physical and verbal aggression and narcissistic exhibitionism loaded on a factor defined by A-, whereas shame, frustration and provocation loaded on a factor defined by N+. Our studies show that additional influences on aggression beyond A- are driven by N+. Rather than pursuing 'jangle' constructs, it may be productive to focus on those facets of A and N which best predict aggression.

8.4 Aggression Differences among the Dark Triad of Personalities

Delroy Paulhus, Daniel N. Jones University of British Columbia, Canada

The Dark Triad of personalities (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) are interpersonally aversive, but not necessarily psychopathological, at the subclincal level. Although moderately intercorrelated, they exhibit unique associations with aggression. I will report on two studies that highlight their distinctive aggressive tendencies. Study 1 gave participants an opportunity to respond to a provocation with aggression (administer a blast of white noise). Results indicated that narcissists aggress in response to ego provocation (a personal insult), even when overlap with narcissism and Machiavellianism is controlled. By contrast, psychopaths aggressed in response to physical provocation (a previous white noise blast). In Study 2, Machiavellians exhibited aggression only when it led to instrumental benefits. Together, the results suggest that aggression mechanisms differ substantially across the members of the Dark Triad,

Discussant:

Professor Eamonn Ferguson (University of Nottingham, UK)

9 Tuesday 10:00 - 12:00: Neuroscientific approaches to personality research: Molecular genetics and imaging

Martin Reuter & Christian Montag

Two fundamental questions have triggered research in personality psychology, first the question to which extend personality traits are heritable and which genes form the basis for this genetic load and second the question which neural circuits form the biological underpinnings of individual differences in character and temperament. Due to revolutionary developments in the neurosciences, techniques are now available that can help to answer these questions. Unfortunately these techniques are not frequently used by psychologists themselves but instead classical research topics from personality psychology are adopted from scientists of other fields like psychiatrists or economists. It is time for a change! Therefore the aim of the syposium is to present empirical studies who apply molecular genetics, functional and structural imaging in order to conduct personality research in basic research and applied fields with relevance for psychiatry (anxiety/aggression) or neuroeconomics (trust behavior). It will be demonstrated a) how structural and functional imaging data can be combined with molecular genetics, b) how the connectivity between brain circuits can be revealed and c) how expression analyses can clarify the long way from genetic polymorphisms to behavior. In addition the newest technical developments like diffusion tensor imaging and their relevance for personality psychology are presented.

9.1 Neural Signatures of Genetic Risk for Aggression

Buckholtz, J. W. Department of Psychology and Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, USA

It has long been noted that antisocial traits and behaviors tend to run in families. More recently, family, adoption and twin studies have confirmed the heritability of antisocial aggression, demonstrating that genetic influences are largely responsible for its intergenerational transmission. However, even for the most promising candidate gene for antisociality - MAOA - genetic associations to aggression are often weak and inconsistent. I will present neuroimaging evidence that the MAOA-L allele is associated with profound alterations in the structure and function of, and connectivity between, key neural nodes for affect processing, emotion regulation and social evaluation. This "socio-affective scaffold" -comprised of amygdala, rostral cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortex - appears to be uniquely vulnerable to the effect of elevated serotonin levels during development, as other putative genetic risk factors for violence are also linked to an ontogenic excess of serotonin. I will outline a model whereby genetic predisposition to aggression- by altering structure and function within the socio-affective scaffold - amplifies the impact of early adverse life experience, creating stable sociocognitive biases which, in turn, lead to impulsive aggressive behavior. Finally, I will detail potential epigenetic mechanisms through which early adverse life experience might interact with genetic variation in MAOA to bring about the development of adult impulsive violence.

9.2 Genetically determined differences in human trust behavior: The role of the oxytocin receptor gene

Reuter, M. 1, Montag, C. 1, Altmann, S. 2,5, Bendlow, F. 3, Elger, C.3,4, Weber, B.3,4, Falk, A. 5 1 Department of Psychology, Laboratory of Neurogenetics, University of Bonn, Germany 2 Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn, Germany 3 Department of Epileptology, University Hospital of Bonn, Germany 4 Department of NeuroCognition, Life & Brain Center, Bonn, Germany 5 Department of Economics, University of Bonn, Germany

Trust is a prerequisite for social and economic interactions, both in dyadic as well as in more complex social relationships. Recent studies have shown that nasally administered oxytocin increases trust, highlighting the importance of this neuropeptide for cooperative behavior. We therefore hypothesized that the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene plays a role in explaining individual differences in trust. To test this hypothesis we conducted a laboratory trust experiment with 100 participants whose OXTR gene was screened. A haplotype block of six single nucleotide polymorphisms spanning the promoter region of OXTR was significantly related to trusting behavior, yet showed no influence on risk attitudes or on prosocial inclination in general. By means of genetic expression analyses in human hippocampal tissue, we demonstrated the functionality of the gene variants in the OXTR promoter region leading to a twofold difference in mRNA transcription. Our results thus indicate that individual differences in the proclivity to trust are influenced by variations in the OXTR gene.

9.3 The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and anxiety: insights from functional and structural imaging including voxel based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)

Montag, C.1, Weber, B. 2,3, Schöne-Bake, J. C. 2, Roeske, S. 2, Elger, C. 2,3, Fiebach, C. 4 & Reuter, M. 1 1 Department of Psychology, Laboratory of Neurogenetics, University of Bonn, Germany 2 Department of Epileptology, University Hospital of Bonn, Germany 3 Department for NeuroCognition, Life & Brain Center, Bonn, Germany 4 Department of Psychology, Neurology, and Neuroradiology, University of Heidelberg, Germany

The role of neurotrophins in trait anxiety is discussed controversial. Mounting evidence from animal studies and human beings point towards the involvement of the protein brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in anxiety. On a moleculargenetic level a single nucleotid polymorphism called BDNF Val66Met has been considered to play a major role in explaining individual differences with repect to anxiety related personality dimensions like harm avoidance. Especially carriers of the 66Met allele variant (Val66Met and Met66Met) seem to be prone to show higher anxious behavior compared to the homozygous Val66Val genotype. A series of five BDNF-anxiety studies (two genetic association studies, two structural imaging studies including VBM and DTI and a functional MRI experiment) demonstrate the involvement of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in a) regulating the activity of neuronal circuits for negative emotionality and b) influencing also the structure of these brain areas (especially the hippocampal-amygdala circuit).

9.4 Genetic Influences on Sociability: Insights from the study of Williams syndrome

Haas, B. W,1; Mills, D.,2 Yam, A.,3 Hoeft, F.,1 Bellugi,U., 3 A.L. Reiss, A. L.1 1 Center of Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research (CIBSR), Stanford University School of Medicine 2 School of Psychology, Bangor University; 3 Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

The drive towards social engagement is a fundamental characteristic of the human species. Scientific pursuits have not yet fully determined the neural and genetic basis of social drive in humans. Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder caused by a hemizygous microdeletion on chromosome 7q11.23. WS is associated with a compelling symptom profile characterized by relative deficits in visiospatial function and preserved and in some cases enhanced social function. Understanding social processing in those with specific genetic deletions may yield insights into the relationship between genes and normal social functioning. We examined the neural basis of social processing in WS by assessing brain function in WS participants during two types of social stimuli, negative (fearful) and positive (happy) emotional facial expressions using fMRI. Here, we report a double dissociation such that WS participants exhibited absent right amygdala reactivity to negative (fearful) social stimuli, and heightened right amygdala reactivity to positive (happy) social stimuli compared to typically developing controls. This study provides the first evidence that the genetic deletion associated with WS may not only influence the reduction (or absence) of amygdala response during social/emotional processing, but in the case of positive emotional stimuli, increase amygdala response.

10 Tuesday 14:30 - 16:30:Individual Differences in the elderly: The Lothian Birth Cohort Studies

Lars Penke& Michelle Luciano Discussant: Ian J. Deary

10.1 Inspection Time, Reaction Time, and Perceptual Speed in the Context of Mental Ability in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Wendy Johnson & Ian J. Deary Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Much evidence has been amassed in support of the idea that information processing speed is related to mental ability. Two so-called elementary cognitive tasks, reaction time and inspection time, have been used to compile this evidence, but most studies have used either one or the other. Relations between speed and fluid intelligence have tended to be stronger than those between speed and crystallized intelligence, but studies testing this have confounded verbal abilities with crystallized intelligence and spatial/perceptual abilities with fluid intelligence. Questions have also been raised regarding whether speed contributes directly to general intelligence or to more specific mental abilities. We used 18 ability and speed measures in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, assessed at approximately age 70, to construct alternative models of mental ability to test different hypotheses regarding these issues. Though differences in model fit were relatively small, they suggested that reaction and inspection time tasks were comparable indicators of information processing speed with respect to general intelligence, that verbal and spatial abilities were similarly related to information processing speed, and that spatial, verbal, and perceptual speed abilities were more directly related to information processing speed than was general intelligence. We discuss the theoretical implications of these results.

10.2 Investigating the associations between religious activity and involvement, spirituality and normal cognitive aging

Alan J. Gow, Martha C. Whiteman & Ian J. Deary Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Several studies have reported positive associations between religious involvement and cognitive aging [Hill, T.D. (2008). Religious involvement and healthy cognitive aging: patterns, explanations, and future directions. J Ger: Med Sci, 63A, 478-479]. Members of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 (LBC1921: a longitudinal study of the determinants of normal cognitive aging) provided details of religious attendance and completed measures of religiosity and spirituality. The participants have been assessed cognitively on 3 occasions (N = 550 at age 79, N = 321 at age 83 and N = 209 at age 87). All participated in a national test of mental ability when aged 11 when they completed the Moray House Test (MHT); they repeated this same test at the age 79 and 87 assessments. The measures of religiosity and spirituality were not found to be associated with IQ (derived from the MHT) at ages 11, 79 and 87. Religious attendance in young and midlife (assessed retrospectively), was associated with childhood (age 11) IQ (r = .15 and .11, p < .05) but not later life IQ level or change. The associations with childhood IQ and religious attendance will be further described, in addition to other cognitive measures used in old age.

10.3 Candidate genes for cognitive ability and cognitive ageing

Michelle Luciano1, Lorna M. Houlihan1, Sarah E. Harris1, Alan J. Gow1, John M. Starr2, Peter M. Visscher3, Caroline Hayward4, Ian J. Deary1. 1 Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom 2 Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Royal Victoria Hospital, UK 3 Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia 4 Medical Research Council Human Genetics Unit, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK

Genetic influences account for over 50% of the variance in adult cognitive abilities, although the exact genes involved are largely unknown. Here, we investigate 14 candidate genes previously associated with AlzheimerÕs disease, autism or cognition in over 1,000 Scots measured on cognitive ability at 11 and 70 years. Participants from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (LBC1936) were tested on general cognitive ability (in the Scottish Mental Survey 1947) at age 11; at age 70, they completed a battery of diverse cognitive tests, including tests of reasoning, memory and processing speed. Individuals with possible dementia were excluded from the analyses. Linear regression analysis investigated the main effect of each single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on the cognitive variables, co-varying for gender and age. Significant associations were found for markers in the APOE, ADRB2, and DTNBP1 genes; the remaining SNPs were generally not associated with the cognitive ability traits in LBC1936 (P-values > 0.01). Future work in this cohort will include a genome-wide association study of 610 000 SNPs.

10.4 The role of neuronal white matter integrity in mental speed, intelligence, and lifetime cognitive aging

Lars Penke1, Mark E. Bastin2, Susana Muoz Maniega2, Maria C. Valdes Hernandez3, Alan J. Gow1, Catherine Murray1, Joanna M. Wardlaw3 & Ian J. Deary1 1 Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom 2 Department of Medical and Radiological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom 3 Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The brain's white matter provides the neuroanatomical substrate for functional integration between different brain areas, which has been implicated as fundamental for human intelligence differences [Jung, R. E., & Haier, R. J. (2007) The Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory (P-FIT) of intelligence: converging neuroimaging evidence. Behav Brain Sci, 30, 135-154.]. A pilot sample of 180 participants from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 study who had already been tested for IQ in 1947 at age 11 underwent extensive cognitive testing and whole-brain scanning at a mean age of 72, including structural, diffusion tensor, and magnetisation transfer MRI. These imaging data were used to extract measures of visible white matter lesion load, water diffusion-based indices of white matter integrity for various regions of interest and specific fibre tracts (tractography), and magnetisation-transfer-based measures of myelin sheath integrity in regions of interest. We will present results on the relationships between these measures of white matter integrity and mental speed, general intelligence, and cognitive aging over 61 years.

11 Tuesday 14:30 - 16:30: Computational models of personality

Stephen Read & Alan Pickering

11.1 Why complex biocognitive theories of personality need to adopt formal modelling approaches

Alan Pickering, Ian Tharp and Francesca Pesola Dept of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London

In recent years we have suggested that formal modelling may enhance the study of personality. Models might be especially useful in at least 3 situations. First, cognitive tasks used as tests of personality theories have become increasingly complex and formal models of task processes can fulfil the now-familiar role they serve in mainstream cognitive neuroscience. Second, many biological accounts of personality propose the involvement of dynamically interacting systems; such interactions are helpfully modelled by connectionist-like interacting nodes, and these models can reveal counterintuitive insights not easily derived by verbal qualitative reasoning processes alone. Finally, models of neurocognitive processes may now be mapped onto biological structures and pathways with some confidence, using neural network methods. Recent simulation studies by our group have revealed that adding identical amounts of individual differences variance to model parameters can cause effects of very different kinds (linear vs. non-linear) or size (small vs. large) on simulated behaviour, dependent upon the simulated brain location at which such variance is added. If such variance can serve as a model for the effects of biologically-based personality traits, then this implies that any detectable personality-task correlations in real participants are likely to derive from effects at certain brain loci only. This is of great value for testing biocognitive theories of personality.

11.2 Connectionist Modeling of Attachment Differences in Personality

Roxanne L. Thrush & David C. Plaut (Department of Psychology & Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University)

We advance a connectionist account of the acquisition and accessibility of attachment knowledge. Attachment theory is a prominent framework for understanding the development of relatively stable patterns of thinking in relationships. According to this theory, individuals gradually develop relatively stable mental models of relationships, and these models influence individualsÕ characteristic patterns of thinking and behaving. As a result of having a variety of different experiences in relationships, individuals are thought to develop multiple mental models of relationships and to differ with regard to how accessible any particular model is. Thus, subsequent situations an individual encounters are thought to potentially evoke different mental models of relationships and to lead to different cognitive and behavioral outcomes. The current work proposes that experience leads instead to individual differences in knowledge about general tendencies in relationships, and that this knowledge is sufficient to explain outcomes thought to be associated with differences in accessibility of particular stored mental models. We provide a connectionist of this proposal.

11.3 Individual differences in biological and behavioral traits provide insights into decision-making

Michael X Cohen Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson

One critical function of the brain is to select the best or most rewarding actions based on recent experiences. Although cognitive neuroscience has made great strides in uncovering the neurobiology of decision-making, much of this work focuses on normative processesÑthose that are common across all individuals. In contrast, experience and psychology research tells us that individuals may differ markedly in how they make decisions. Incorporating these individual differences into cognitive neuroscience investigations will yield a richer understanding of the neurobiological processes that underlie decision-making. I will describe three approaches for using individual differences to understand the neurobiology of decision-making. (1) Genetics: Differences in genetics related to the dopamine system predict neural responses to monetary rewards, as well as neural and behavioral responses to dopamine medication. (2) Mathematical modeling: Individual differences in how subjects use performance feedback to adapt their decision-making can be estimated via computational modeling. These parameters predict both behavioral and neural dynamics during decision-making and gambling tasks. (3) Anatomical connectivity: Differences in the strength of white matter connectivity among amygdala-related networks predicts learning from rewards. Further, differences in the strength of striatum-linked networks predict self-reported personality constructs. Thus, capitalizing on individual differences continues to inform our understanding of brain function. Indeed, in some cases, individual differences prove critical for elucidating the neural dynamics underlying decision-making, because the relationship between brain activity and behavior may be in opposite directions according to individual differences.

11.4 A neural network model of the structure and dynamics of human personality

Stephen J. Read (Department of Psychology) Lynn C. Miller (Annenberg School of Communication) University of Southern California

We present a neural network model that aims to bridge the historical gap between dynamic and structural approaches to personality. The model integrates work on the neurobiology of personality, temperament, a goal-based model of personality, an evolutionary analysis of motives, and the structure of the trait lexicon. It is organized in terms of two overarching motivational systems, an Approach and an Avoidance system, as well as a general Disinhibition/Constraint system. Each overarching motivational system influences more specific motives. Traits are modeled in terms of differences in the sensitivities of the motivational systems, the baseline activation of specific motives, and inhibitory strength. The result is a motive-based neural network model of personality based on what is known about the structure and neurobiology of human personality. The model provides an account of personality dynamics and person-situation interactions, and suggests how dynamic processing approaches and dispositional, structural approaches can be integrated in a common framework.

12 Tuesday 14:30 - 16:30: Psychoneuroendocrinological and psychoneuroimmunological biomarkers: Recent developments and implications for individual differences research

Andrew Wawrzyniak (Psychobiology Group, Department of Epidemiology &Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E BT). & Gareth Hagger-Johnson, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, The University of Leeds, Charles Thackrah Building, 101 Clarendon Road, LEEDS LS2 9LJ.

Individual differences in personality traits and cognitive functioning may cause disease. A model in which the association is explained indirectly, via health behaviour, cannot fully account for the associations. Direct pathways should also be examined, at three levels: genetic/environmental, behaviour and physiology. Psychoneuroendocrinology and psychoneuroimmunology operate at every level, and can potentially explain the cascade of distal, proximal and physiological mechanisms that underlie trait-health associations. This symposium reviews four recent methodological developments and current controversies. First, in the area of gene/environment interactions, the s/s genotype of the serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR is shown to produce exaggerated stress responses among subjects with high levels of stressful life events. Second, measured and modelled appropriately, salivary cortisol is a validated biomarker for the regulatory competence of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Diurnal cortisol output is associated with Neuroticism and the Anger Hostility facet of the NEO-PI-R. Third, to examine immunological ties with personality traits, salivary sIgA has emerged as a candidate biomarker for innate, mucosal immunity, and is sensitive to perceived levels of stress. Finally, sex differences in endocrine function are described, which are shown to influence cognitive functioning and memory processes. Endocrine and immunological measures have substantive potential for future individual differences research.

12.1 Endocrine stress reactivity is modulated by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental influences

Nina Alexander 1, Yvonne Kuepper, Eva Kozyra, Roman Osinsky, Anja Schmitz, Juergen Hennig 1 University of Giessen

Activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in response to psychosocial stress is characterized by substantial interindividual variability. Results from twin studies indicating that HPA-axis reactivity is partly heritable, stimulated genetic association studies in this field of research. Previous findings provide convincing evidence for a central role of functional polymorphisms within the brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor (BDNF Val66Met) and the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) gene in the regulation of HPA-axis. Both genetic variants have been associated with anxiety-related traits and susceptibility to stress-related disorders, particularly in interaction with stressful life events (SLEs). Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate specific gene-gene and gen-environment interactions on HPA-axis reactivity. Healthy male adults (N=100) were genotyped and exposed to a standardized laboratory stress task (public speaking). Cortisol levels were assessed at 6 time points prior to the stressor and during an extended recovery period. The main finding of our study revealed an exaggerated stress-response in subjects with the s/s genotype of 5-HTTLPR, but only when they were exposed to a high degree of SLEs. Our results provide evidence for a complex interplay between genetic and environmental influences in the regulation of endocrine stress-reactivity and could help to identify potential endophenotypes which increase vulnerability to stress-related diseases.

12.2 Neuroticism, Angry Hostility and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis output across the day: Latent growth curve modelling reveals the association

Gareth Hagger-Johnson 1, Martha Whiteman, Andrew Wawrzyniak, Paul Dudgeon 1 Leeds Institute of Health Sciences

Cortisol has been proposed as a key mechanism underlying the relationship between personality traits and health. Neuroticism plays a critical role in stress reactivity, but its association with the diurnal cortisol profile has been inconsistently demonstrated. Variations in methodology andÊstatistical modelling techniques may have masked or minimized the size of the association. A salivary sampling protocol was developed to address the methodological weaknesses of previous research. A sample of 68 healthy adult volunteers provided saliva samples 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours after waking, repeated over two days to improve reliability. Latent growth curve modelling was used to demonstrate that Neuroticism, as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory Revised, predicted cortisol intercepts (b = .49). The association was also found at the facet level for N2 Anger Hostility (b = .42). The association remained after controlling forÊconfounding factors (e.g. perceived stress, physical and mental health status, waking time and age). The results demonstrate that Neuroticism is associated with diurnal cortisol, and illustrate why study findings can be mixed. Psychological predictors of neuroendocrine processes are highly dependent on the modelling used to capture variance in time-related outcomes. General implications for modelling psychobiological data are discussed.

12.3 Personality and psychosocial correlates of mucosal immunity during the first year of university

Andrew Wawrzyniak 1, Martha Whiteman 1 University College London

University attendance is a salient context to examine personality and psychosocial dynamics since the higher education setting presents potent environmental influences that can stabilize or alter traits over time. Importantly, biological processes may mediate the link between these psychosocial factors and personality traits; specifically, immune functioning may be indicative of higher levels of underlying stress. To better understand this process, 68 undergraduate students (27 male, Mage = 18.94 years, SD = 0.15; 41 female, Mage = 18.85 years, SD = 0.11) completed personality and psychosocial measures at four times during their first year of university and provided three saliva samples over three minutes to measure salivary secretory immunoglobulin-A (sIgA) to determine immune functioning. sIgA levels changed over the course of the year, with times of higher stress (beginning of the school term, exam time) correlating with lower innate mucosal immunity. Agreeableness negatively correlated (-.29) with sIgA at the beginning of the first semester and Openness was positively correlated (.33) at the beginning of the second semester. Openness during exam time correlated positively with sIgA at the beginning of the second academic year (.39). Psychosocial factors did not significantly correlate at each time point with sIgA release rates, although meaningful trends (p < .09) were noted at the least stressful phases (at the start of both the second semester and the second academic year). Interestingly, previous levels of psychosocial factors correlated with subsequent levels of sIgA release rates at exam time for Life Experiences (.37), General Health (-.33), and Interaction with Students (.49). Self esteem (.31) and Perceived Stress (-.29) at exam time correlated with sIgA at the beginning of the second academic year. These findings have implications as to the impact of personality traits and psychosocial factors in innate immunity in light of the first-year university experience.

12.4 Sex differences in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity: Implications for cognitive functioning

Nicole Weekes Pomona College

There is an abundance of evidence to suggest that males demonstrate greater cortisol reactivity in response to an acute stressor than do females. However, the extent and direction of the sex differences in stress reactivity is dependent both on the nature of the stressor itself and the measure of stress reactivity that is used. Furthermore, females tend to show greater psychological reactivity to acute stressors than do males. Finally, along with sex differences in stress reactivity, there also appear to be sex differences in the relationship between stress and a variety of outcome measures including cognition and immunity. Several explanations for these sex differences exist and will be discussed.

13 Wednesday 10:00 - 12:00:Individual Differences in Subjective State, Coping and Performance

Gerald Matthews & William Helton

Dimensions of subjective state such as anxiety and arousal relate to objective performance on various tasks. Individual differences in cognition, information-processing, and coping may mediate the impact of various state factors on performance. The topic is important for both the theory of individual differences in performance, and for real-world performance applications. The symposium covers recent advances in basic research linking states to memory and attention, in applied laboratory research on subjective states and human factors issues, and in educational and clinical applications. Helton and Kern discuss how state factors including tense arousal and cognitive interference relate to free recall of picture stimuli from memory. Finomore et al. report on state, ability and personality predictors of vigilance to military tactical displays, under various workload conditions (N = 462). Szalma examines how extraversion and neuroticism relate to performance, stress and trust when performance is assisted by adaptive automation, of differing levels of reliability. McCann et al. examine the relationships between state and trait anxiety, coping and academic performance within a multi-method approach, in three studies (total N = 2745). Zeidner and Shaham investigate individual differences in coping in 92 epileptic patients, using a longitudinal study in which state anxiety and depression were assessed at three time points.

13.1 The Relationship between Memory for Emotional Stimuli and Subjective State

William Helton (University of Canterbury, New Zealand) and Rosalie Kern (Michigan Tech University, USA)

In the present study, 80 participants (41 men) viewed picture stimuli of either negative or neutral valence. After viewing the slides the participants performed an intermediate task to prevent or reduce the likelihood of verbal rehearsal of the picture stimuli. After the intermission task, participants were asked to free recall picture stimuli. Energetic Arousal (EA), Tense Arousal (TA), Task-Related Thoughts (TRT), and Task-Unrelated Thoughts (TUT) were measured using the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire (DSSQ). These scales were given prior to the picture presentation and after the free recall test. Elevated TA is noted after viewing negative pictures. Females reported more TUTs and TRTs, and greater TA than males overall. The largest gain in TA was for females viewing the negative pictures (there was a significant time x valence x sex interaction for TA, p=.002). In regards to memory, there was a significant valence effect for picture recall, with enhanced memory for negative pictures. Post-TRTs negatively correlated with recall accuracy regardless of valence of picture stimuli; more post-TRTs related to less ability to recall stimuli accurately. Self-reported TRTs regarding the task appear to interfere with memory accuracy independently of effects of the remembered items on arousal (TA).

13.2 The Vigilant Warrior: States, Traits and Individual Differences in Monitoring Tactical Displays

Gerald Matthews, Victor Finomore, Tyler Shaw, and Joel Warm (University of Cincinnati, USA) Typically, personality traits are only weak predictors of vigilance and sustained attention. Predictive validity may be improved by using other individual difference measures. In previous studies, we have shown that measures of stress response, including subjective task engagement and coping relate to superior vigilance. Cognitive ability measures have also been neglected in previous work. The aim of the present study, conducted as part of the Army Research Institute Vigilant Warrior project, was to test whether a battery of personality, ability and stress state measures predicted performance on 60-minute tasks requiring monitoring of a military tactical display. The test battery included a set of trait measures related to attentional dysfunction, a short signal detection task, two cognitive ability tests, and the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire (DSSQ). A total of 462 participants completed one of four different versions of the display monitoring task. Results showed that ability, the short signal detection task and DSSQ task engagement all predicted subsequent vigilance, with some variation in validity coefficients across task versions. Regression analyses identified multiple independent predictors of vigilance, explaining a total of 30-40% of the variance. Personality predicted subjective state but not performance. Results confirm that a battery of cognitive and stress state measures is effective in predicting monitoring performance.

13.3 Individual Differences in Stress and Workload Response to Adaptive Automation

James Szalma and Grant Taylor (University of Central Florida, USA) Adaptive automation supports performance in complex human-machine systems by triggering automation only under certain conditions of task demands or operator state. However, there has been limited research on how operator personality and automation characteristics influence performance and stress. This study investigated the effects of automation reliability (high vs. low), the match between task load and activation of the automation support, and operator Extraversion and Neuroticism on performance and stress response to a simulated monitoring task. One hundred and sixty-one undergraduates participated. Traits did not significantly impact performance. However, across all experimental conditions Extraversion was negatively related to post-task distress. A reliability by extraversion interaction was observed for post-task worry. Extraversion was negatively related to worry only for the low reliability condition. Across all conditions Neuroticism was positively related to distress and worry, and negatively related to task engagement, indicating that those high in Neuroticism experienced higher stress levels across multiple dimensions of cognitive state. These results indicate that although the traits of Extraversion and Neuroticism were not related to performance, they predicted stress response, regardless of automation reliability or whether it was well matched to task demands. The stress associated with automated monitoring tasks using may therefore be influenced by operator personality.

13.4 Coping in School: A State-Trait Continuum and its Relationship with Academic Outcomes in Middle School, High School, and College Student Samples

Carolyn MacCann, Anastasiya Lipnevich, Jeremy Burrus, and Richard D. Roberts (Educational Testing Service, NJ, USA) Coping styles are typically differentiated into problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant coping. This paper addresses two research questions in a middle-school sample (N=383), high-school sample (N=1326), and college/community college sample (N=1036). First, whether coping styles function as situation-specific states of behaviour generated by situational demands, versus stable traits that are consistent across different situations (i.e., whether coping styles differ across different situations). Second, whether coping styles relate to academic outcomes (well-being, attitudes towards schoolwork, mathematics and vocabulary scores, and grades). The structure of coping is examined using parallel analysis, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and multi-trait multi-method models (with coping styles as traits and situations as methods). Coping styles generalize across three different situations in middle-schoolers, suggesting that coping functions as a trait at this age. However, coping styles showed a greater level of situational specificity in high-school and college students. Generally, problem-focused coping related positively to grades and test scores (e.g., r=.39 and .20 for middle-school and college grades, respectively), and avoidant coping related negatively to academic outcomes. Strong relationships between coping styles and negative attitudes towards school-work in high school students (r=.30 to .50) suggest a motivational pathway for the effect of coping on academic achievement.

13.5 State Anxiety in Ordinary People Coping with Extraordinary Health Circumstances

Moshe Zeidner and Beatrice Shaham (University of Haifa, Israel) Epilepsy, perhaps more than most other chronic illnesses, represents both a socially and culturally stigmatized disease. Thus, since ancient times epilepsy was construed as a sacred disease or demonic disease, and even in modern times it is still associated with discrimination and biased attitudes by the general. For many, dealing with the stigmatic impact of the illness is far worse than dealing with the malady itself, evoking considerable anxiety, depression, and distress. This prospective study examines a number of personal predictors of state anxiety and depression, assessed at three points in time, in a clinical sample. The predictors were: Big-Five factors of personality, personal resources, coping strategies, and subjective evaluations of health and well being. Participants in this study were 93 diagnosed epileptic patients (60% female, mean age = 28.65) widely ranging in age from 14 to 59 (M = 28.65, SD = 11.44). Overall, neuroticism, perceived emotional and social resources, maladaptive coping methods, and self-evaluations of health were reported to be meaningful predictors of state anxiety and depression one year following baseline assessment. A number of mediating and moderating factors will be discussed, and the data interpreted using principles of transactional stress and coping theory.

Chairperson: Gerald Matthews (University of Cincinnati)

14 Wednesday 10:00 - 12:00: Is There a General Factor of Personality?

J.Philip Rushton & Paul Irwing

A positive manifold among traits has led to the observation that a General Factor of Personality (GFP) occupies the apex of the personality hierarchy in the same way that g, the general factor of mental ability, occupies the apex in the organization of cognitive abilities. Within the lexical tradition, a large evaluative first factor (good vs. bad) has long been found. For those studying questionnaires, the notion of a general factor can be found in the Òw-factorÓ (for will power; Webb, 1915; Spearman, 1927). Several researchers have now published robust evidence of a GFP using multitrait-multimethod procedures and diverse samples including 2- to 9-year-old twins from South Korea (e.g., Rushton et al. in 2008 JRP and PAID). The GFP is present by three years of age and is 50% heritable. High scorers on the GFP are altruistic, open, conscientious, sociable, agreeable, emotionally stable, have a sense of well being and emotional intelligence; low scorers may suffer from a personality disorder. Many new analyses will be presented in the symposium. Does the GFP reflect a substantive dimension that evolved as a result of natural selection for socially desirable behavior, or is it merely an evaluative artifact?

14.1 The genetics and evolution of the general factor of personality.

Rushton, J. P. (University of Western Ontario, Canada) A positive manifold among traits has led to the observation that a General Factor of Personality (GFP) occupies the apex of the personality hierarchy in the same way that g, the general factor of mental ability, occupies the apex in the organization of cognitive abilities. Several researchers have now published robust evidence of a GFP using multitrait-multimethod procedures and across diverse samples including 2- to 9-year-old twins from South Korea (e.g., Rushton et al. in 2008 JRP and 2008 PAID). Individuals high on the GFP are characterized as altruistic, emotionally stable, agreeable, conscientious, extraverted, and intellectually open, with high levels of well-being, satisfaction with life, self-esteem, and emotional intelligence. Low scorers may be prone to the personality disorders. Analyses of the twin data showed the GFP was present by 2- to 3-years of age with 50% of the variance attributable to non-additive genetic influence (dominance) and 50% to unique, non-shared environmental influence. The GFP is conjectured to have evolved as a result of natural selection for socially desirable behavior.

14.2 Evidence for a general factor of personality in the CPI, the CPS, the MPQ, the MMPI-2 and other inventories.

Irwing, P. (University of Manchester, UK) We have analyzed data from nine validation samples (total N = 14,299) provided in test manuals from published personality questionnaires and found a General Factor of Personality (GFP) occupies the apex of the multi-factorial hierarchy in each. For example, in a cross-validation study of the Comrey Personality Scales (Ns = 746, 2,097), we found a GFP explained 41% of the reliable variance in a model that went from the eight primary traits to three higher-order factors, and from there to the GFP. In the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (N = 2,600), we found a GFP explained 49% of the variance in two second-order factors and 20% of the total reliable variance in a model that went from the 10 Clinical Scales to four higher-order factors to two second-order factors to the Big One. In the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (N = 840), we found a bi-factor model in which a GFP accounted for 41% of the reliable variance with significant loadings on four of the five factors (Open-Mindedness, 0.49; Social Initiative, 0.36; Emotional Stability, 0.38; and Flexibility, 0.95). The consistency of these findings is impressive, since there are innumerable reasons why a general factor may disappear in any given data set.

14.3 Trans-cultural stability of the highest-order factor of personality.

Musek, J. (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia).

A comprehensive hierarchical structural model has been recently proposed in the Five Factor domain of personality (Musek, 2007). It comprises five levels of generality: the specific item level, facet level, first order factors level (Big Five), second order factors level (Big Two), and third order factor level (Big One or general factor of personality, GFP). While the cross-cultural aspects of the Big Five have been investigated in a number of studies, the question of intercultural stability of higher-order factors of personality remained unresolved. The present study analyses the higher-order structure of personality derived from culturally different sources of data, including more than 20,000 participants from more than 60 nationalities. The results suggest a rather stable dimensional structure of personality and confirmed the transcultural stability of GFP. In the majority of cases, the extracted first factor explained a very substantial amount of variance and showed a consistent pattern of saturations with the personality dimensions on the subsequent levels of generality. The results of the study represent thus an important contribution to the psychological meaning of the GFP and reinforce the hypothesis of its biological and evolutionary basis.

14.4 The General Factor of Personality: A large meta-analysis (k =212, N = 144,000) and criterion validity study.

van der Linden, D., & te Nijenhuis, J. (University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands).

It has been proposed that a general factor of personality (GFP) occupies the top of the hierarchical structure of personality. An ongoing discussion is whether the GFP is substantive and meaningful or whether it merely reflects artifacts, such as social desirability. Firstly, we present a large meta-analysis (K = 212, total N = 144,117) on Big Five intercorrelations showing that the GFP explains 50 percent of Big Five variance and that all Big Five dimensions loaded high on the general factor. Secondly, we present a multi-method validity study (N = 144) showing that supervisor-rated job performance was related to employees' GFP scores. Overall, results of the two studies indicate that the general personality factor is not an artifact but a substantive factor.

14.5 A general factor of personality in the Big-5 and trait emotional intelligence and the Big-5 and mental toughness.

Schermer, J. A.,1 Veselka, V., 1 Petrides, K. V.,2 & Vernon, P. A.,1 (1University of Western Ontario, Canada, 2University of London, UK)

254 pairs of adult MZ twins and 98 pairs of adult DZ twins completed the NEO-PI-R, the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MT48), and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue). Factor analysis of the 5 NEO factors plus 4 factors from the MT48 yielded a strong first unrotated (general) factor accounting for 46% of the variance. Factor analysis of the 5 NEO factors plus 15 trait EI facets from the TEIQue also yielded a strong general factor accounting for 37 % of the variance. MZ correlations were larger than DZ correlations for both general personality factors. Univariate behavioral genetic model fitting showed that additive genetic and nonshared environmental effects fully accounted for individual differences in the factors, with heritabilities of 53% and 46% for the NEO + MT48 and the NEO + TEIQue general factors, respectively. These results are compatible with those of several previous studies and lend support to the existence of a heritable general factor of personality.

15 Wednesday 13:30 - 15:30:Event-related potential explorations

Robert Stelmack & Michael Houlihan

Event-related potentials (ERP) are signatures of the electrical activity of the brain that provide unique information for understanding basic psychological processes such as perception, attention, memory, learning and cognition. ERPs are also usefully exploited in clinical and social applications. In this symposium, the participants present a sample of current, state of the art ERP research from this broad spectrum of psychological research activity. The symposium provides a unique perspective on issues of general interest to ISSID members.1) A reliable, recently developed procedure for detection of deception using ERPs, specifically the P300 component, is described. 2) In the personality domain, impulsivity and individual differences in neural responses to winning and losing is examined as a function of learning stage using both conventional ERP/EEG coherenceÊand time-frequency analyses. 3) The sensory-motor hypothesis of individual differences in extraversion is investigated with a lateralized readiness potential procedure that enables the independent contributions of stimulus and response processes. 4) The basis of individual differences in speed of processing and discrimination ability that characterize differences in mental ability are probed with measures that assess speed of decision making independent of response execution (P300 latency) and pre-attentive processing (MMN).

Participants and proposed titles:

15.1 The New, Countermeasure-resistant, P300-based Test for Detection of Deception: The Complex Trial Protocol

Rosenfeld, J. P. Department of Psychology, Institute for Neuroscience, Northwestern University, Evanston, ILL, U.S.A.

A new, P300-based, concealed information test is described. A rare probe or frequent irrelevant stimulus appears in the same trial in which a target or non-target later appears. One response follows the first stimulus and uses the same button press regardless of stimulus type. A later, second stimulus, then appears: target or non-target. The subject presses one button for a target, another for a non-target. A P300 to the first stimulus indicates probe recognition. One group was tested in 3 weeks for denied recognition of familiar information. Weeks 1 and 3 were guilty conditions; Week 2 was a countermeasure (CM) condition. A CM response was made to 4 of 4 irrelevant stimuli. The probe-irrelevant differences were significant in all weeks, and percent hits were > 90%. Attempted CM use was detectable via elevated reaction time to the first stimulus. In a replication, results were similar. False positive rates for both studies varied from 0 to .08, yielding J. B. Grier (1971) A' values from .9 to 1.0. We have extended these results in mock crime scenarios and in protocols where the number of irrelevant stimuli countered varied from 1-3 of 4. The protocol remains robust in all variations tried so far.

15.2 Attentional Impulsivity and Learning: Event-related Oscillations and EEG Coherence to Punishment and Reward Signals

De Pascalis, V., Varriale,V., & DÕAntuono, L. Department of Psychology, University `Sapienza' of Rome, Italy

The relation between the attentional impulsivity (A-Imp) subtrait of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and learning ability was examined. Fifty-right handed women participated in a double choice Go/No-Go learning task using feedback signals indicating monetary gain (+.10 euros) and loss (-.05 euros). Event-related oscillatory amplitude and EEG coherence to gain and loss signals were obtained within each of the delta (.5-3.5 Hz), theta (3.5-7.5 Hz), low alpha (7-9.5 Hz), high alpha (10-12.5 Hz), beta (15-20 Hz), and gamma (36-44 Hz) bands. High A-Imp/bad-learners as compared to high A-Imp/good-learners and low A-Imp/ bad-learners showed more pronounced error rates for No-Go trials and significant amplitude reductions of the event-related delta and theta oscillations to feedback signals. For each EEG band, inter- and intra-hemispheric coherences were more pronounced for monetary loss monetary loss. Coherences were more pronounced for good-learners than bad-learners. A laterality effect was found for intra-hemispheric coherence at long inter-electrode distances during a late stage of learning, with the high A-Imp/good-learner group showing increased high-alpha and gamma coherences within the right hemisphere. High A-Imp also exhibited increased inter-hemispheric gamma coherences over temporal regions. The results suggest that attentional impulsive individuals mobilize a compensatory mechanism to maintain the effectiveness of learning process.

15.3 Separating Stimulus and Response Processes in Extraversion Using the Lateralized Readiness Potential

Houlihan, M. St. Thomas University, Fredericton, NB, Canada

There is increasing evidence that extraverts have faster motor response times than introverts when reaction time is split into decision time and movement time. This follows closely the ideas of Brebner who suggested that extraverts are geared to respond while intraverts are geared to inspect. Matthews and Gilliland made a distinction between "cortico-reticular" "dopaminergic" aspects of extraversion, with the later referring to motor activity. As a test of these ideas, the lateralized readiness potential (LRP) was used to distinguish between stimulus analysis and response preparation processes. Three studies were conducted examining responses to simple auditory and visual stimuli. The time from the onset of the response-locked LRP to the response was smaller for extroverts in all three The time from stimulus onset to the onset of the stimulus-locked LRP was shorter for introverts than extraverts in two out of the three studies. Overall, these studies indicate that extraverts are ready to engage in motor activity while introverts complete stimulus analysis faster than do extraverts.

15.4 Mental ability and the effect of pattern violation discrimination on P300 and mismatch negativity

Stelmack, R. M. School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada

The relation between mental ability and the detection of auditory pattern violations was examined using event-related potential measures, specifically P300 and mismatch negativity (MMN). Thirty female volunteers were presented with a two tone alternating pattern containing infrequent repetition violations in passive (ignore) then active response conditions. Task difficulty was manipulated by varying the tonal separation between the two constituent tones of the pattern, i.e., separated by 1 or 6 semitones. In the active pattern-violation discrimination condition, the greater difficulty of the 1 semitone discrimination was confirmed by reduced accuracy, more false positive responses, longer response times, and greater variability in response times than for 6 semitones. Higher ability (HA) was associated with greater response accuracy, shorter response times, less variable response times, shorter P300 latency, and greater P300 amplitude, predominantly in the more difficult 1 semitone condition. These effects are indicative of greater facility and speed of discriminating pattern violations for HA. In the passive condition, HA was associated with larger MMN amplitude to the deviant tones in both semitone conditions. The MMN effect indicates that the facility in pattern violation discrimination develops prior to consciousness, and cannot be attributed to conscious processes like focused attention.

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