The Roles of Fluid Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence in Affective Decision-Making During the Transition to Early Adolescence

Building paths to success: a multilevel analysis of the effects of an emotional intelligence development program on the academic achievement of future teachers

Introduction

The situation generated by the recent pandemic has had several effects on education, one of them being the necessary but hasty efforts of teachers and students to adapt to the demands of a virtual classroom environment. Thus, it is essential to promote the development of digital competencies in future teachers, enabling them to create effective learning situations in the digital medium. Moreover, the European university curriculum includes a set of specific competencies (specific to each degree) and a series of generic competencies, many of which are related to emotional intelligence. Our work emerges from these specific premises and the more general need to develop emotional skills and learning abilities in virtual environments for future educators.

Methods

The sample comprised 240 students in higher education, pursuing a bachelor's degree in education at the University of Alicante, Spain (68.3% were female and average age of the participants was 19.43 years SD = 4.127). Using a quasi-experimental design with pretests, posttests, and a control group, we present the effects of an online program aimed at improving the emotional skills and academic achievement of future teachers in higher education. In this study, a 30-h emotional intelligence training program was implemented. Since the student sample was grouped into different classes, we analyzed, using a generalized linear mixed-effects model, whether students who took the program showed a significant improvement in their academic achievement at the end of their studies, compared to those who did not take it.

Results

The findings show a significant improvement in the academic achievement at the end of the bachelor's degree studies of the students in the experimental group.

Discussion

These results open up a field of possibilities for the implementation of this type of training using virtual environments, enabling interventions to enhance the emotional development of the teaching staff (and, subsequently, in their students), develop their teaching careers adequately, and employ the ideal strategies to address educational programs. Looking ahead, the integration of emotional development programs that incorporate emerging technology into university curricula could enhance the preparation of educators profoundly and create adaptable learning environments for contemporary students.

Risk Decision Making and Executive Function among Adolescents and Young Adults

The dual theory establishes that the decision-making process relies on two different systems, the affective system and the executive function (EF), developed during adolescence. This study analyzes the relationship between the decision-making and EF processes in a group of early adolescents (mean age = 12.51 years, SD = 0.61), where more affective impulse processes are developed, and in young adults (mean age = 19.38 years, SD = 1.97), where cognitive control processes have already matured. For this purpose, 140 participants in Spain completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to measure their risky decisions and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) to measure their EF. Performance on the IGT improves over blocks; however, adolescents received lower mean scores than young adults. However, controlling for age, perseverative errors were negatively associated with the mean net score on the risky blocks of IGT; thus, those who committed more perseverative errors in the WCST were more likely to take cards from the disadvantageous decks on the last blocks of the IGT. The current study shows that adolescents and adults solve ambiguous decisions by trial and error; however, adolescents are more likely to make risky decisions without attending to the long-term consequences. Following the dual theory hypothesis, the maturation of EF with age partly accounts for this difference in risky decision-making between adolescents and adults.

Interoceptive accuracy is associated with benefits in decision making in children

Introduction

Decision making results not only from logical analyses, but seems to be further guided by the ability to perceive somatic information (interoceptive accuracy). Relations between interoceptive accuracy and decision making have been exclusively studied in adults and with regard to complex, uncertain situations (as measured by the Iowa Gambling Task, IGT).

Methods

In the present study, 1454 children (6-11 years) were examined at two time points (approximately 1 year apart) using an IGT as well as a delay-of-gratification task for sweets-items and toy-items. Interoceptive accuracy was measured using a child-adapted version of the Heartbeat Perception Task.

Results

The present results revealed that children with higher, as compared to lower, interoceptive accuracy showed more advantageous choices in the IGT and delayed more sweets-items, but not toy-items, in a delay-of-gratification task at time point 2 but not at time point 1. However, no longitudinal relation between interoceptive accuracy and decision making 1 year later could be shown.

Discussion

Results indicate that interoceptive accuracy relates to decision-making abilities in situations of varying complexity already in middle childhood, and that this link might consolidate across the examined 1-year period. Furthermore, the association of interoceptive accuracy and the delay of sweets-items might have implications for the regulation of body weight at a later age.

The location of emotional intelligence measured by EQ-i in the personality and cognitive space: Are there gender differences?

Introduction

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is first described by Salovey and Mayer as the ability to perceive and understand emotions and the ability to use them as supports for thoughts. Despite the great notoriety of EI, its definition remains not completely clear. An operative definition of EI can be achieved by studying its connection with other individual characteristics such as gender, personality traits, and fluid intelligence.

Methods

The sample was composed of 1,063 Italian subjects. A total of 330 participants were employed (31.0%; 57.9% men) and 702 were university students (66.0%; 38.7% men). The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), one of the most used questionnaires in literature, was used to measure EI. The exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) was used to assess the role of personality traits (five-factor model of personality) and fluid intelligence in EI. Statistical analyses on differences between men and women means of total and subscale EQ-i scores were estimated to evaluate whether EI, measured by EQ-i, is influenced by gender. Furthermore, a Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted to assess measurement invariance in relation to gender groups.

Results

Emotional Intelligence, measured by EQ-i, is prevalently connected with personality traits rather than fluid intelligence. Furthermore, men outperformed women in the Intrapersonal and Stress Management EI factors, and women outperformed men in the Interpersonal EI factor. No difference in the means of the EI total score and EI latent general factor did not differ between gender groups.

Conclusion

Emotional Intelligence, measured by EQ-i, can be conceptually considered as a Trait EI. Furthermore, men are more capable to cope with negative events and to control impulses, while women are more able to distinguish, recognize, and comprehend others' emotions.

Heterogeneity of decision-making strategies for preschoolers on a variant of the IGT

Adaptive decision-making strategies are critical for dealing with the complexity of the social world. The present study investigated the use of decision-making strategies in preschoolers and their association to prosocial behavior and peer problems. Eighty-six preschoolers aged 3- and 4-years completed the preschool decision-making task (PGT), a child variant of the Iowa Gambling task . Win-stay/lose-shift responses along with exploration (consecutive choices from the advantageous deck) and exploitation (shifting between options) were examined. Preschoolers showed a range of strategies, with 4-year-olds adapting their approach as the game progressed and making better use of feedback in comparison to 3-year-olds. Children who differed in terms of choices from the advantageous deck were distinguished by different combinations of exploration and exploitation. Furthermore, unique combinations of decision-making strategies also distinguished children who were rated as high versus low in prosocial behavior as well as children rated as having a high versus low level of peer problems. The findings suggest that consideration of strategies used in decision-making tasks could provide useful insight in a clinical setting, particularly for populations with social difficulties.