No relation of need for cognition to basic executive functions.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Need for Cognition (NFC) refers to a personality trait describing the relatively stable intrinsic motivation of individuals to invest cognitive effort in cognitive endeavors. Higher NFC is associated with a more elaborated, central information processing style and increased recruitment of resources in cognitively demanding situations. To further clarify the association between cognitive resources and NFC, we examined in two studies how NFC relates to executive functions as basic cognitive abilities. METHOD: In Study 1, 189 healthy young adults completed an NFC scale and a battery of six commonly used inhibitory control tasks (Stroop, antisaccade, stop-signal, flanker, shape-matching, word-naming). In Study 2, 102 healthy young adults completed the NFC scale and two tasks for each of the three executive functions inhibitory control (go-nogo, stop-signal), shifting (number-letter, color-shape), and working memory updating (two-back, letter-memory). RESULTS: Using a Bayesian approach to correlation analysis, we found no conclusive evidence that NFC was related to any executive function measure. Instead, we obtained even moderate evidence for the null hypothesis. CONCLUSIONS: Both studies add to more recent findings that shape the understanding of NFC as a trait that is less characterized by increased cognitive control abilities but rather by increased willingness to invest effort and exert self-control via motivational processes.
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Prior behavioral studies have reported that students with lower NFC tend to prefer surface rather than deep learning strategies, or lack engagement in cognitively demanding learning activities.
“Related to NFC, prior behavioral studies have reported that students with lower NFC have a tendency to prefer learning strategies characterized by surface rather than deep learning (e.g., Evans et al., 2003; Sandra and Otto, 2018), or lack engagement in cognitively demanding learning activities (e.g., Gärtner et al., 2021).”
From Retrieval Practice Is Effective Regardless of Self-Reported Need for Cognition - Behavioral and Brain Imaging Evidence (2022) · cites this paper as Gärtner et al., 2021
The Introduction and General Discussion link higher NFC to greater willingness to invest effort and process demanding information. The study included students, but it did not report whether students with lower NFC disengaged from cognitively demanding learning activities; it measured performance on executive-function tasks instead. No page numbers were supplied for these passages. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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No relation of Need for Cognition to basic executive functionsPreprint
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Wiklund-Hörnqvist, C., Stillesjö, S., Andersson, M., Jonsson, B., & Nyberg, L. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.797395 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gärtner, A., Grass, J., Wolff, M., Goschke, T., Strobel, A., & Strobel, A.
- Affiliations
- Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
- Chemnitz University of Technology (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Gärtner, Anne
- Grass, Julia
- Venue
- Journal of Personality
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-05-03
- Volume
- 89
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1113-1125
- ISSN
- 0022-3506 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-6494
- OpenAlex
- W3041813161
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 3.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Personality (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Keywords
- need for cognition, executive function, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory updating, intrinsic motivation, cognitive effort, self-control, personality traits
- MeSH terms
- Self-Control, Bayes Theorem, Cognition, Humans, Motivation, Young Adult, Executive Function
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