Individual differences in cognition, affect, and performance: Behavioral, neuroimaging, and molecular genetic approaches

Abstract

We describe the use of behavioral, neuroimaging, and genetic methods to examine individual differences in cognition and affect, guided by three criteria: (1) relevance to human performance in work and everyday settings; (2) interactions between working memory, decision-making, and affective processing; and (3) examination of individual differences. The results of behavioral, functional MRI (fMRI), event-related potential (ERP), and molecular genetic studies show that analyses at the group level often mask important findings associated with sub-groups of individuals. Dopaminergic/noradrenergic genes influencing prefrontal cortex activity contribute to inter-individual variation in working memory and decision behavior, including performance in complex simulations of military decision-making. The interactive influences of individual differences in anxiety, sensation seeking, and boredom susceptibility on evaluative decision-making can be systematically described using ERP and fMRI methods. We conclude that a multi-modal neuroergonomic approach to examining brain function (using both neuroimaging and molecular genetics) can be usefully applied to understanding individual differences in cognition and affect and has implications for human performance at work.

Knowledge about and sources of smoking-related knowledge, and influencing factors among male urban secondary school students in Chongqing, China

“…About 13.0% of students believed that smoking makes people look more attractive, and 81% of students had never been taught about smoking or tobacco prevention at school in China (Xu et al 2015b). Previous studies have also proved that cognition indeed affect behavior (Parasuraman and Jiang 2012; Richardson et al 2012), and another study among adults found that smoking-related knowledge effectively encouraged smoking cessation, which was showed on the radio, outdoor advertisements or posters, newspapers or magazines/journals, indoor LED screens, mobile TV and television (World Health Organization 2015). Therefore, to prevent smoking and reduce tobacco consumption, it’s more important to pay attention to the smoking-related knowledge and strengthen students’ awareness of smoking-related knowledge (The Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China 2012).…”

The brain of the beholder: honouring individual representational idiosyncrasies

“…Despite the widespread focus on commonalities, there is also an expanding neuroimaging literature on individual differences (for a review, see Parasuraman & Jiang, 2012), with most studies addressing individual differences in regional-average activation. Individual differences in regional-average activation are commonly investigated in memory research, higher order cognitive functions, intelligence research and social neuroscience (Furl, Garrido, Dolan, Driver, & Duchaine, 2011;Martens, Kandula, & Duncan, 2010;Miller, Donovan, Bennett, Aminoff, & Mayer, 2012;Ochsner, Bunge, Gross, & Gabrieli, 2002).…”

Study and Implementation of Advanced Neuroergonomic Techniques

“…In [3] authors described four applications of neuroergonomics, namely the assessment of operator workload and vigilance, implementation of real-time adaptive automation, neuroengineering for people with disabilities, and design of selection and training methods. In this regard, the QN has successfully modeled a variety of subjective and ERP-based workload data [23]and an adaptive automation system has been developed for driver interface design [24] while no other computational neuroscience or neuroergonomic model has tackled these two issues. However, the QN has not been applied to neuroengineering for people with disabilities, nor to the design of selection and training methods.…”