Individual differences in cognitive control: The role of psychoticism and working memory in set-shifting

Abstract

Set-shifting refers to a process of cognitive control which is shown through flexible behavioural adaptation to changes in task parameters or demands, such as the switching of an explicit rule (extra-dimensional rule shifting) or the reversal of a reinforcement-contingency (reversal-learning). Set-shifting deficits are widely documented in specific neuropsychological disorders, but seldom investigated in relation to normally-occurring individual differences. In a sample of healthy adults (N = 78, 28% male), we demonstrate that Working Memory and trait Psychoticism have independent involvement in extradimensional rule shifting as measured using an analogue of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. ..