Psychophysiological indices of cognitive style: A triangulated study incorporating neuroimaging, eye-tracking, psychometric and behavioral measures

• Published in: Personality and individual differences 2019-07, Vol.144, p.68-78
• Main Authors: Bendall, Robert C.A., Lambert, Sarah, Galpin, Adam, Marrow, Lynne P., Cassidy, Simon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bayesian statistics; Brain; Cognition; Cognitive style; Cognitive style index; Cortex; Decision making; Eye movements; Eye-tracking; Functional near-infrared spectroscopy; Information processing; Intuition; Lateralization; Neuroimaging; Physiological psychology; Quantitative psychology; Reaction time; Resting; Task performance; Tracking
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.034

Employing a triangulated design to explore psychophysiological indices of cognitive style, the study investigated the validity of the intuition-analysis dimension of cognitive style and its associated construct measure, the Cognitive Style Index (CSI). Participants completed a comparative visual search (CVS) task whilst changes in hemodynamic concentrations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) were monitored using functional near-infrared spectroscopy and eye movements were recorded together with task performance measures of response time and accuracy. Results revealed significant style-related differences in response time and number of saccades. Analysts were characterized by fewer saccadic eye movements and quicker response times—but with comparable accuracy scores—compared to intuitives, suggesting a more efficient visual search strategy and decision-making style on the experimental task. No style-related differences in neural activation were found, suggesting that differences were not mediated by style-specific variations in brain activation or hemispheric lateralization. Task-evoked neural activation—compared with baseline resting state—represented the value of PFC-based neural activation measures in studies of cognitive processing. Findings demonstrated style-related differences supporting the intuition-analysis dimension of cognitive style and the validity of the CSI as a psychometric measure of style. The potential value of valid psychometric measures of cognitive style in applied areas is highlighted. •Cognitive style associated with differences when completing a visual search task.•Analysts exhibit a more efficient visual search strategy and decision-making style.•Cognitive style does not affect accuracy scores on a visual search task.•No style-specific variations in brain activation or hemispheric lateralization.•Intuition-analysis dimension measured by the Cognitive Style Index is supported.