Spatial ability is defined as a cognitive or intellectual skill used to represent, transform, generate, and recall information of an object or the environment. Individual differences across spatial tasks have been strongly linked to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) interest and success. Several variables have been proposed…

It has been debated whether working memory (WM) performance is modulated by the valence of the stimuli that are being processed. A recent meta-analysis revealed that at the behavioral level and in individuals without mental health problems, mean-level performance differences in WM tasks with neutral versus affective conditions are small to…

Several studies have investigated the effect of induced mood state on conceptual breadth (breadth and flexibility of thought). Early studies concluded that inducing a positive mood state broadened cognition, while inducing a negative mood state narrowed cognition. However, recent reports have suggested that valence and arousal can each influence…

The study investigated the effect of task complexity (TC) on second language (L2) learners' affective responses and writing performance and how these were modulated by cognitive and affective individual difference (ID) factors. A total of 412 Chinese 8th-grade English-as-a-foreign-language learners completed a working memory (WM) test, a scale…

Individual differences in understanding other people's emotions have typically been studied with recognition tests using prototypical emotional expressions. These tests have been criticized for the use of posed, prototypical displays, raising the question of whether such tests tell us anything about the ability to understand spontaneous,…

An underexplored aspect of the relationship between analogical reasoning and creativity is its phenomenology; in particular, the notion that analogical reasoning is related to insight and its associated "aha!" experience. However, the relationship between these phenomena has never been directly investigated. We adapted a set of verbal…

Background: Parenting children and young adults with intellectual disabilities, including individuals with fragile X syndrome and Down syndrome, is challenging, joyful, and complicated. Exploring how parents talk about their children, and the quality of the parent/child relationship can provide insight into the home environment and interactional…

There is no relationship more vital than the one a child shares with their primary caregivers early in development. Yet many children worldwide are raised in settings that lack the warmth, connection, and stimulation provided by a responsive primary caregiver. In this study, we used data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), a…

Research concerning temperament in children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has suggested a consistent profile of low positive affect, high negative affect, and low regulation (Visser et al., 2016). One area receiving less attention is individual differences among children diagnosed with ASD. The primary objective of this study was…

Purpose: Emotions have a pervasive, predictable, sometimes deleterious but other times instrumental effect on decision making. Yet the influence of emotions on educational leaders' decision making has been largely underexplored. To optimize educational leaders' decision making, this article builds on the prevailing data-driven decision-making…

We investigated the continuity and stability of imitative episodes (IMEs) to shed light on the nature of early infant imitative ability. We observed and analyzed interactions of 27 mother-infant pairs as they played in their homes at one and 10 months. We coded the initiator, frequency, duration, kind, structure, and affect of IMEs. At 10 months,…

Over the past decade, the focus of investigation in individual differences (IDs) research has shifted from the utilization of large-scale questionnaire surveys toward the adoption of methodological diversity and development of new approaches to second-language (L2) communication (Dörnyei and Ryan [2015]. "The Psychology of the Language…

This longitudinal study with time-serial data examines for the first time whether different types of intraindividual variation in second language (L2) performance and cognitive functioning are related, and how and when they influence L2 development longitudinally in older adulthood. We analyzed the L2 development of 26 German-speaking adults aged…

Language learning strategies (LLS) are conscious behaviours used by language learners to foster the acquisition, storage, and use of new information. This study investigated the LLS used by Thai EFL university students using a questionnaire based on Oxford's (1990) LLS taxonomy. It also identified the relationship and the difference in LLS use…

This book highlights the roles of several individual difference (ID) variables on the language learning process, exploring them from both the students' and the teachers' perspectives. It presents the results of a large-scale, mixed-methods investigation which was conducted with secondary school pupils and their teachers in Hungary. The…