Neurophysiological Measures of Involuntary and Voluntary Attention Allocation and Dispositional Differences in Need for Cognition

Abstract

Need for cognition (NFC) refers to stable individual differences in the intrinsic motivation to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors and has been a useful predictor of dispositional differences in information processing. Although cognitive resource allocation conceptualized as cognitive effort is assumed to be the key mediator of NFC-specific processing, to date no research has systematically addressed its underpinnings. Using a neurocognitive paradigm and recording event-related potentials associated with bottom-up and top-down-driven aspects of attention, the present research contributes to filling this gap. In Study 1, high-NFC individuals showed larger P3a amplitudes to contextually novel events, indicating greater involuntary (automatic) attention allocation. This effect was replicated in Study 2, where NFC also was positively correlated with the P3b to target stimuli, indicating voluntary (controlled) processes of attention allocation. Thus, our findings provide first evidence for neurophysiological correlates of NFC and can improve the understanding of NFC-specific processing.

Need for cognition and active information search in small student groups

“…To conclude: (1) NFC is positively associated with the amount of attentional resources allocated to unspecific information search (Enge et al, 2008;Fleischhauer et al, 2010), (2) with external information search effort (Verplanken, 1993;Verplanken et al, 1992), (3) with achievement goal orientation (Fleischhauer et al, 2010) and (4) with less prejudicial behavior and dogmatism towards out-group members (Carter et al, 2006;Tam et al, 2008). Building on a value in diversity argument (dissimilar others are more valuable as sources of unique/ distinct information as compared to similar others) (Van Knippenberg & Schippers, 2007), the hypothesis of this study is that in small group settings, individuals high in NFC show higher information search behavior than those low in NFC and this difference is larger for different rather than same gender social interactions.…”

“…Research to date extensively explored the association between NFC and a large variety of individual differences ranging from intelligence to personality and motivational traits. Individuals high in NFC are better in solving complex problems have higher dispositional self-control and as a consequence have higher school achievement , invest more cognitive resources in information processing (Enge, Fleischhauer, Brocke, & Strobel, 2008;Fleischhauer et al, 2010), are more rational in their decision making style (Curşeu, 2006), tend to seek, acquire, think about and reflect on relevant information when solving cognitive tasks (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982;Cacioppo et al, 1996;Coutinho, Wiemer-Hastings, Skowronski, & Britt, 2005), than those low in NFC.…”

How need for cognition affects the processing of achievement-related information

“…Items were answered on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 [completely disagree] to 7 [completely agree]. There is ample evidence for the reliability and the validity of the original scale (see Cacioppo & Petty, 1982, Cacioppo et al, 1996 and the German adaptation (Bless et al, 1994;Enge, Fleischhauer, Brocke, & Strobel, 2008). Parallel to the English-speaking original, the German adaptation measures a single dominant factor (Bless et al, 1994).…”

Brain flexibility associated with need for cognition contributes to creative achievement

“…NFC has been defined as one such personality trait or characteristic that reflects the tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982;Cacioppo, Petty, Feinstein, Blair, & Jarvis, 1996;Cacioppo, Petty, & Kao, 1984) and is usually regarded as a major predictor of cognitive performance (Coutinho, Wiemer-Hastings, Skowronski, & Britt, 2005;Dollinger, 2003;Double & Birney, 2016;Elias & Loomis, 2002;Nair & Ramnarayan, 2000). Higher NFC individuals, compared to average or lower NFC individuals, exhibit greater effortful thinking even in the absence of performance feedback or external rewards, enjoy cognitive activities and prefer complex rather than simple tasks, and tend to spend more time on goal-oriented information acquisition (Cacioppo et al, 1996;Enge, Fleischhauer, Brocke, & Strobel, 2008). These stable individual differences in NFC may imply that the dynamic reconfiguration of functional modules of the brain network is more likely to occur in higher NFC individuals, even without explicit external tasks.…”