Papers by Aljoscha Neubauer
GEORGIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL JOURNAL
The goal of the study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Georgian versions of the B... more The goal of the study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Georgian versions of the Big Five Inventory (BFI; John & Strivastava, 1999) and the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI; Gosling, Rentfrow, & Swann, 2003), the two instruments measuring the Big Five model. 866 individuals participated in the study examining the Georgian version of BFI and 377 individuals in the development of the Georgian version of TIPI. According to the results, the factor structure of both instruments replicates the five-factor model observed in other cultures. The reliability coefficients correspond to the minimum levels recommended for personality questionnaires/inventories. However, these levels turned out to be lower for TIPI. The instrument validity is proved by their logical correlations with the theoretically relevant constructs, namely with the Six-Factor model, aversive personality traits, and emotional intelligence. We can conclude that due to the factor structure, expected relationships with other constructs and statistical significance, the Georgian versions of both instruments measuring the Big Five can be used for future research.
Journal of Cognitive Enhancement
Due to ongoing technological innovations, self-enhancement methods are publicly discussed, resear... more Due to ongoing technological innovations, self-enhancement methods are publicly discussed, researched from different perspectives, and part of ethical debates. However, only few studies investigated the acceptance of these methods and its relationship with personality traits and values. The present study investigated to what extent people accept different enhancement methods and whether acceptance can be predicted by Big Five and Dark Triad traits, vulnerable narcissism, and values. In an online survey (N = 450), we measured personality traits and values. Additionally, participants read scenarios about enhancement methods and answered questions about their acceptance of these scenarios. Factor analysis indicated a general factor of acceptance across scenarios. Correlation analyses showed that high agreeableness, agreeableness-compassion, conscientiousness, conscientiousness-industriousness, and conservation- and self-transcendence values are related to less acceptance of self-enhanc...
Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, 2020
Summary Background The interrelation of interoception, cognitive appraisal of bodily signals and ... more Summary Background The interrelation of interoception, cognitive appraisal of bodily signals and conscious self-regulatory behavior is insufficiently understood although it may be relevant for health and disease. Therefore, it was intended to develop a novel self-report measure targeting this link. Methods Item development was theoretically based on the multidimensional conceptual framework of the psychosomatic intelligence hypothesis and included an iterative process of refinement of items. In a preliminary test a principal components analysis (PROMAX rotation) and item analysis were calculated for item reduction. In the field test an item response theory approach was used for development of final scales and items. For validation purposes, associations with established measures of related constructs were analyzed. Results The final 44-item questionnaire consisted of 6 interrelated scales: (1) interoceptive awareness, (2) mentalization, (3) body-related cognitive congruence, (4) bod...
Diagnostica
Zusammenfassung. Studienplätze werden im deutschsprachigen Raum nach unterschiedlichen Kriterien ... more Zusammenfassung. Studienplätze werden im deutschsprachigen Raum nach unterschiedlichen Kriterien vergeben, beispielsweise auf Basis schulischer Abschlussnoten oder Ergebnissen psychologischer Diagnostica, die eine Selbstselektion bewirken oder zur Fremdselektion eingesetzt werden. Die Studie vergleicht Möglichkeiten der Selektion und deren Validität für den Studien- und Praxiserfolg: Schulische Abschlussnoten, Self-Assessments und Eignungstests. Zusätzlich wird die Selbstselektion während des Bewerbungsprozesses untersucht. Grundlage der Untersuchung stellt eine 2015 initiierte Längsschnittstudie in Lehramtsstudien dar, in der (angehende) Studierende ( nTeilstichprobe 1 = 199; nTeilstichprobe 2 = 129) zu fünf Zeitpunkten befragt wurden. Es zeigt sich, dass im Bewerbungsprozess über 40 % Selbstselektion stattfindet. Zur Vorhersage von Studienerfolg können Sprachkompetenz und Gewissenhaftigkeit – erhoben im Eignungstest – Varianz über Abschlussnoten hinaus aufklären. Selbsteingeschätz...
Journal of Personality, 2020
This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has... more This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as
Es wird eine Längsschnittstudie vorgestellt, in der zwei Kohorten von Studierenden vom Aufnahmeve... more Es wird eine Längsschnittstudie vorgestellt, in der zwei Kohorten von Studierenden vom Aufnahmeverfahren beginnend über den Verlauf des Studiums bis in den Beruf begleitet werden. Über jeweils fünf Jahre hinweg sollen Studienerfolg und Praxiserfahrungen erhoben und in Beziehung zu den Ergebnissen des Aufnahmeverfahrens gesetzt werden. In diesem Beitrag werden neben der Konzeption der Studie Ergebnisse einer Nacherhebung im ersten Semester präsentiert (Nt2 = 781, Nt2a = 241), die darauf hinweisen, dass von den erhobenen Merkmalen vor allem die Sprachkompetenz und bestimmte Persönlichkeitsmerkmale prädiktiv für die Studienleistungen und die Zufriedenheit mit der Studien- und Berufswahl sind. (DIPF/Orig.)
Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior, Jan 11, 2017
This fMRI study investigated what brain processes contribute to the generation of new ideas. Brai... more This fMRI study investigated what brain processes contribute to the generation of new ideas. Brain activation was measured while participants generated new original object uses, recalled original object uses, or recalled common object uses. Post-scan evaluations were used to confirm what ideas were newly generated on the spot or actually retrieved from memory. When compared to the recall of common ideas, the generation of new and old original ideas showed a similar activation pattern including activation of bilateral parahippocampal and mPFC regions, suggesting that the construction of new ideas builds on similar processes like the reconstruction of original ideas from episodic memory. As a difference, the generation of new object uses involved higher activation of a focused cluster in the left supramarginal gyrus compared to the recall of original ideas. This finding adds to the converging evidence that the left supramarginal gyrus is crucially involved in the construction of novel...
Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung, 2017
Successful school education is not only based on students' aptitude but also on their teachers' b... more Successful school education is not only based on students' aptitude but also on their teachers' behavior and therefore their cognitive and non-cognitive predispositions, thus making the selection of appropriate candidates for this job critical. Apart from attraction-strategies and a good system for teacher education eligible candidates can be recruited by means of selection and self-selection. This paper presents a new, scientifically developed selection tool for teacher education, consisting of three modules. This new selection tool is used for student selection at 20 university-level institutions in Austria. It consists of (1) a self-selection tool, which is only used for this purpose and not for assessment and which deals with motivational and personalitybased traits relevant for the job of a teacher and gives information to the candidates about the requirements of the career. (2) a standardized computer-based test battery, assessing cognitive, linguistic, emotional, creativity-and personality-related traits. (3) a face-to-face-assessment which is a strictly standardized interview with a duration of approximately 10 min. In this interview, further qualities relevant for becoming a teacher are assessed: verbal and non-verbal communication skills, motivational variables or the ability of self-reflection. Further studies and evaluations encompass a longitudinal view on teacher personality and validations based on real-life criteria from the teacher-life. First results on prognostic validity for academic success are reported.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2017
Narcissistic grandiosity is characterized by overt expressions of feelings of superiority and ent... more Narcissistic grandiosity is characterized by overt expressions of feelings of superiority and entitlement, while narcissistic vulnerability reflects hypersensitivity and introversive self-absorbedness. Clinical evidence suggests that grandiosity is accompanied by vulnerable aspects, pointing to a common foundation. Subclinical personality research, however, views grandiose and vulnerable narcissism as independent traits. Grandiose narcissism displays substantial correlation with extraversion, while vulnerable narcissism correlates highly with introversion. We investigated if (1) controlling for intro-/extraversion might reveal a "common core" of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, and if (2) the correlation between both aspects might be higher at higher levels of narcissism. Latent variable structural equation modeling and segmented regression analysis confirmed these hypotheses in a large non-clinical sample (N = 1,006). Interindividual differences in intro-/extraversion mask the common core of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. The association between both aspects increases at high levels (upper 10%) of grandiose narcissism, which suggests a possible transition to clinically relevant (pathological) narcissism.
Consciousness and cognition, Nov 10, 2017
Anecdotal reports link alcohol intoxication to creativity, while cognitive research highlights th... more Anecdotal reports link alcohol intoxication to creativity, while cognitive research highlights the crucial role of cognitive control for creative thought. This study examined the effects of mild alcohol intoxication on creative cognition in a placebo-controlled design. Participants completed executive and creative cognition tasks before and after consuming either alcoholic beer (BAC of 0.03) or non-alcoholic beer (placebo). Alcohol impaired executive control, but improved performance in the Remote Associates Test, and did not affect divergent thinking ability. The findings indicate that certain aspects of creative cognition benefit from mild attenuations of cognitive control, and contribute to the growing evidence that higher cognitive control is not always associated with better cognitive performance.
Scientific reports, Jan 19, 2017
Subclinical narcissism is a personality trait with two faces: According to social-cognitive theor... more Subclinical narcissism is a personality trait with two faces: According to social-cognitive theories it is associated with grandiosity and feelings of superiority, whereas psychodynamic theories emphasize vulnerable aspects like fluctuating self-esteem and emotional conflicts. The psychodynamic view, however, is commonly not supported by self-report studies on subclinical narcissism. Personality neuroscience might help to better understand the phenomenon of narcissism beyond the limits of self-report research. While social-cognitive theory would predict that self-relevant processing should be accompanied by brain activity in reward-related areas in narcissistic individuals, psychodynamic theory would suggest that it should be accompanied by activation in regions pointing to negative affect or emotional conflict. In this study, extreme groups of high and low narcissistic individuals performed a visual self-recognition paradigm during fMRI. Viewing one's own face (as compared to f...
Thinking & Reasoning, 2017
The associative theory of creativity states that creativity is associated with differences in the... more The associative theory of creativity states that creativity is associated with differences in the structure of semantic memory, whereas the executive theory of creativity emphasises the role of top-down control for creative thought. For a powerful test of these accounts, individual semantic memory structure was modelled with a novel method based on semantic relatedness judgements and different criteria for network filtering were compared. The executive account was supported by a correlation between creative ability and broad retrieval ability. The associative account was independently supported, when network filtering was based on a relatedness threshold, but not when it was based on a fixed edge number or on the analysis of weighted networks. In the former case, creative ability was associated with shorter average path lengths and higher clustering of the network, suggesting that the semantic networks of creative people show higher small-worldness.
The Journal of creative behavior, 2013
Fifty years ago, Mednick [Psychological Review, 69 (1962) 220] proposed an elaborate model that a... more Fifty years ago, Mednick [Psychological Review, 69 (1962) 220] proposed an elaborate model that aimed to explain how creative ideas are generated and why creative people are more likely to have creative ideas. The model assumes that creative people have flatter associative hierarchies and as a consequence can more fluently retrieve remote associative elements, which can be combined to form creative ideas. This study aimed at revisiting Mednick's model and providing an extensive test of its hypotheses. A continuous free association task was employed and association performance was compared between groups high and low in creativity, as defined by divergent thinking ability and self-report measures. We found that associative hierarchies do not differ between low and high creative people, but creative people showed higher associative fluency and more uncommon responses. This suggests that creativity may not be related to a special organization of associative memory, but rather to a ...
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2015
It is a central assumption in creativity theory that the creativity of an idea is defined by its ... more It is a central assumption in creativity theory that the creativity of an idea is defined by its novelty and usefulness. The present study examined this notion by investigating how the perceived novelty and usefulness actually contribute to the overall evaluation of creativity. We collected responses to a verbal and a figural divergent thinking task in a sample of 1,500 participants. All ideas were evaluated for novelty, usefulness, or creativity by a total of 18 independent judges. Results generally indicate a greater importance of novelty than usefulness in the prediction of creativity scores. Novelty and usefulness interacted significantly in the prediction of creativity both as a linear and as a nonlinear term. An examination of the interaction between novelty and usefulness suggests that usefulness is predictive of creativity only within highly novel ideas. In conclusion, novelty can be regarded as a first-order criterion and usefulness as a second-order criterion of creativity: If an idea is not novel its usefulness does not matter much, but if an idea is novel its usefulness will additionally determine its actual creativity.
Neuropsychologia, 2014
The present research used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine w... more The present research used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether the ability to generate creative ideas corresponds to differences in the intrinsic organization of functional networks in the brain. We examined the functional connectivity between regions commonly implicated in neuroimaging studies of divergent thinking, including the inferior prefrontal cortex and the core hubs of the default network. Participants were prescreened on a battery of divergent thinking tests and assigned to high-and low-creative groups based on task performance. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis revealed greater connectivity between the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the entire default mode network in the high-creative group. The right IFG also showed greater functional connectivity with bilateral inferior parietal cortex and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the high-creative group. The results suggest that the ability to generate creative ideas is characterized by increased functional connectivity between the inferior prefrontal cortex and the default network, pointing to a greater cooperation between brain regions associated with cognitive control and low-level imaginative processes.
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2013
Divergent thinking tasks are commonly used as indicators of creative potential, but traditional s... more Divergent thinking tasks are commonly used as indicators of creative potential, but traditional scoring methods of ideational originality face persistent problems such as low reliability and lack of convergent and discriminant validity. Silvia et al. (2008) have proposed a subjective top-2 scoring method, where participants are asked to select their two most creative ideas, which then are evaluated for creativity. This method was found to avoid problems with discriminant validity, and to outperform other scoring methods in terms of convergent validity. These findings motivate a more general, systematic analysis of the subjective top-scoring method. Therefore, this study examined how reliability and validity of the originality and fluency scores depend on the number of top-ideas and on time-on-task. The findings confirm that subjective top-scoring avoids the confounding of originality with fluency. The originality score showed good internal consistency, and evidence of reliability was found to increase as a function of the number of top-ideas and of time-on-task. Convergent validity evidence, however, was highest for a time-on-task of about 2 to 3 minutes and when using a medium number of about three top-ideas. Reasons for these findings are discussed together possible limitations of this study and future directions. The article also presents some general recommendations for the assessment of divergent thinking with the subjective top-scoring method.
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2012
Empirical approaches to cognitive ability claim that divergent thinking represents a useful estim... more Empirical approaches to cognitive ability claim that divergent thinking represents a useful estimate for the potential of creative thought. According to associative approaches, the ability to fluently retrieve and combine remote associations was suggested to facilitate creative solutions. Taken together, these approaches suggest a close relationship of associative processes and divergent thinking, which so far, however, has not been properly tested. Therefore, the present study examines the validity of associative abilities with respect to divergent thinking, and also, on a more general level, with respect to creativity and intelligence. Four different word-association tasks were employed to assess associative fluency, associative flexibility, dissociative ability, and the ability of associative combination. The sample comprised 150 students from studies with varying amount of creativity-related demands. Associative abilities were found to explain about half of the variance of divergent thinking ability. Latent variable modeling confirmed the significance of dissociation and associative combination for creativity, but also substantiates the relevance of basic associative retrieval processes for intelligence. It is concluded that associative abilities represent valid elementary cognitive abilities underlying creativity.
PLoS ONE, 2012
The neural efficiency hypothesis postulates an inverse relationship between intelligence and brai... more The neural efficiency hypothesis postulates an inverse relationship between intelligence and brain activation. Previous research suggests that gender and task modality represent two important moderators of the neural efficiency phenomenon. Since most of the existing studies on neural efficiency have used ERD in the EEG as a measure of brain activation, the central aim of this study was a more detailed analysis of this phenomenon by means of functional MRI. A sample of 20 males and 20 females, who had been screened for their visuo-spatial intelligence, was confronted with a mental rotation task employing an event-related approach. Results suggest that less intelligent individuals show a stronger deactivation of parts of the default mode network, as compared to more intelligent people. Furthermore, we found evidence of an interaction between task difficulty, intelligence and gender, indicating that more intelligent females show an increase in brain activation with an increase in task difficulty. These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the neural efficiency hypothesis, and possibly also of gender differences in the visuo-spatial domain.
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Papers by Aljoscha Neubauer