This study investigates the effect of familiar musical distractors on the cognitive performance of introverts and extraverts. Participants completed a verbal, numerical and logic test in three music conditions: vocal music, instrumental music and silence. It was predicted that introverts would perform worse with vocal music, better with…

More than 400 students from four universities in America and Britain completed measures of learning style preference, general knowledge (as a proxy for intelligence), and preference for examination method. Learning style was consistently associated with preferences: surface learners preferred multiple choice and group work options, and viewed…

Three UK studies on the relationship between a purpose-built instrument to assess the importance and development of 15 "soft skills" are reported. "Study 1" (N = 444) identified strong latent components underlying these soft skills, such that differences "between-skills" were over-shadowed by differences…

This study examined divergent thinking (DT) test scores of applicants taking part in a selection procedure for an undergraduate psychology degree (N = 370). Interviewers made six specific (creative intelligence, motivation, work habits, emotional stability, sociability, and social responsibility) and one overall recommendation rating on each…

Students (n = 328) from US and UK universities completed four self-report measures related to intellectual competence: typical intellectual engagement (TIE), openness to experience, self-assessed intelligence (SAI), and learning approaches. Confirmatory data reduction was used to examine the structure of TIE and supported five major factors:…

This paper reports the results of a two-year longitudinal study of the relationship between self-assessed intelligence (SAI) and academic performance (AP) in a sample of 184 British undergraduate students. Results showed significant correlations between SAI (both before and after taking an IQ test) and academic exam marks obtained two years later,…

This study attempted a hierarchical integration of several dispositional determinants of test anxiety (TA) [Sarason, I.G. (1984). "Stress, anxiety and cognitive interference: Reactions to tests." "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology," 46, 929-938.], namely the Big Five personality traits [Costa, P.T. Jr., & McCrae,…

Examined the similarity between subjects' (N=63) ratings of themselves and others, on various tests of personality. Results revealed that subjects correctly estimated several of their own scores, but only two scores of another person. They believed themselves to be similar to their friend, thereby showing attributional errors. (JAC)

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of fluid intelligence (gf) with trait Openness and Conscientiousness. A total of 2658 participants completed the NEO PI-R [Costa Jr., P. T. & MCrae, R. (1985). Revised NEO Personality Inventory and Five-Factor Inventory Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment…

This paper examines the extent to which self-assessed intelligence (SAI) may be a function of personality traits, gender, and "actual" intellectual ability (as measured through psychometric g) in a sample of 188 (119 female) UK university students. Participants completed three cognitive ability tests and the "Big Five"…

In all 245 British adults provided self- and parental estimates on a normal IQ distribution scale of the 20 second-order abilities identified by Cattell [Cattell, R. (1971). "Abilities: Their structure, growth and action." New York: Houghton Mifflin] as well as their and their parents' overall (g) IQ. After controlling for age,…