Psychological Attributes, Cognitive Abilities and Behaviour

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Psychological Attributes, Cognitive Abilities and
Behaviour

• Dieter Wolke Zach Estes
• University of Warwick

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Opportunities

• Address questions at the interface between social
  science, psychology and biomedical research
  (might include gene x environment interactions).
• Longitudinal design, household recruitment and
  sample size make UKHLS uniquely suited to
  studying
• - Transitions across entire lifespan (inc
  pre-conception)
• - Effects of household and family on each others
  psychological functioning (generational effects,
  family environment)
• - Ethnic differences
• Psychological attributes should show clear
  individual variation at each stage of
  development
• Linkage to routine data sources (e.g. educational
  records SATs etc.)?

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Challenges

• Limited questionnaire space and interview time
• Respondent fatigue
• Interviewer training and equipment costs for even
  basic psychological assessments (e.g. IQ,
  perception, memory etc.)
• No funding beyond some core measures
• Non-participation in psychologically invasive
  procedures (e.g. romantic relationships,
  sexuality etc.)
• Optimum measurement frequency will vary greatly
  and according to age
• Huge range of potential psychological maeasures

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BHPS Measures

• Personality
• Attitudes
• antisocial behaviour/crime
• education

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Core Measures Initial UKHLS Focus

• Personality Social Skills
• Describing personality characteristics (normal
  variation) or social relationships/inclusion
  (e.g. bullying and exclusion0
• Cognitive Capital
• Globally or specific (IQ or specific skills)
• Both, particular interest in understanding
  Vulnerability, Resilience and Protective factors
  (e.g. labour participation, income potential,
  family planning)

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Longitudinal Research Assessments 60 years apart
Deary, I. J., Whiteman, M. C., Starr, J. M.,
Whalley, L. J., Fox, H. C. (2004). The Impact
of Childhood Intelligence on Later Life
Following Up the Scottish Mental Surveys of 1932
and 1947. Journal of Personality Social
Psychology, 86(1), 130-147.
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Childhood IQ and Longevity (Inter-individual
change in intra-individual Development)
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Non-core Funding

• FACTORS FOR WHICH THE LIFESPAN TRAJECTORY IS
• KNOWN
• Working Memory (WM) linked in childhood and
  adolescence with several core cognitive processes
  (e.g., language abilities, theory of mind,
  reasoning skills, etc) and in older adulthood
  with the decline of several other cognitive
  processes (e.g., inhibition, strategy use, source
  monitoring, etc).
• Study in context Generational effects impact of
  drug use, diet, video gaming etc.

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Non-core Funding

• EXAMPLES
• Romantic Relationships and Sexual Relationships
• (Relevance teenage sex, STIs to quality of
  partner relationship, divorce and household
  composition)
• Achievement (e.g. educational vs. potential)
• Socio-emotional processing (social cognition)
• Motor and Perceptual Skills