Understanding Cognitive Failures: What’s Dissociation Got to Do with It?

Abstract

Intuitively, cognitive failures and dissociation seem to encompass overlapping mental phenomena. This study used a large sample to examine the nature of the relationship between these constructs. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses were performed on the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ). The single factor resulting from the EFA of the CFQ correlated significantly with all factors from the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). A conjoint item-level factor analysis using all items from both measures was performed, and two factors resulted. The first included all items from the CFQ and appeared to describe an absorption-like phenomenon. The second factor's highest positively loading items assessed more pathological forms of dissociation. Based on our results, we conclude that the CFQ and DES are assessing similar cognitive processes and that cognitive failures, as measured by the CFQ, overlap with nonpathological dissociation.

A systematic review of cognitive failures in daily life: Healthy populations

“…A strong positive correlation between dissociative experiences and cognitive failures was robustly and consistently found across all studies (Bruce et al, 2007;Merckelbach, Muris, & Rassin, 1999;Wright & Osborne, 2005). Both of these constructs were viewed as aspects of personality (Wright & Osborne, 2005) that reflect an underlying vulnerability to lapses in cognitive control (Merckelbach et al, 1999) and subsequent difficulties integrating information and processes as usual (Bruce et al, 2007;Wright & Osborne, 2005). A related finding was that individuals who experience more involuntary autobiographical memories tend to have higher CFQ scores (Kamiya, 2014).…”

“…The strong link with dissociative experiences (Bruce et al, 2007;Merckelbach et al, 1999;Wright & Osborne, 2005) is not surprising; lapses in control that trigger mild dissociation are similar to those resulting in unexpected errors in routine tasks. Schizotypy is also related to more frequent cognitive failures (Giesbrecht et al, 2007;Laws et al, 2008;Pfeifer et al, 2009); this may be through similar mechanisms as there is a documented relationship between schizotypy and dissociation (Barkus, Stirling, & Cavill, 2010).…”

Assessing Preservice Teachers’ Mathematics Cognitive Failures as Related to Mathematics Anxiety and Performance in Undergraduate Calculus

“…This assertion has been queried (Larson, Alderton, Neideffer, & Underhill, 1997) and the question was asked ''how many different types of cognitive failures do the CFQ measure?'' (Bruce, Ray, & Carlson, 2007). In a confirmatory factor analysis of the CFQ, Wallace (2004) indicated that a four-factor solution yielded the best fit.…”

“…In the clinical psychology lapse of awareness is termed dissociation while in cognitive psychology it is called cognitive failure. These two constructs encompass overlapping mental phenomena in which cognitive failures overlap with non-pathological dissociation (Bruce, Ray & Carlson, 2007). As first mooted by Broadbent, Cooper, FitzGerald and Parkes in 1982, cognitive failures refer to perceptual, attentional, memory, and action-related lapses of awareness.…”

“…The result showed that all items of the CFQ loaded reasonably highly onto a single, general factor and the single-factor model fell short of standard criteria for fit indices. Thus, it was suggested that the CFQ lacked the psychometrics required for a theoretically meaningful elucidation of more than a single factor (Bruce, Ray & Carlson, 2007). Based on these inconclusive findings, it is recommended that more research be carried out on the factor structure of the CFQ.…”