Cognitive Correlates of Hope; Evidence from Neuropsychological Tests

Hope as a cognitive-motivational construct is based on a reciprocallyderived sense of success and the pathways toward ones important goals. This study examined the cognitive correlates of hope that includes problem-solving performance, decision making and attention. This cross-sectional study recruited a convenience sample of 92 students fromTehran University (46 female and 45 male) whom were asked to independently complete the Missionaries and Cannibals (problem solving), Wisconsin (decision making), Tower of London (planning), sustained attention tests and the Hope Scale. Finding indicated a significant positive relationship between hope and the three dimensions of problem solving. Additionally,result revealeda relation between hope and preservation in Wisconsin test and the mean reaction time in sustained attention test and the time of planning during thetower of London task. Hopecan beconsidered as acomplexcognitiveconstructwhichrequ ires intuitiveinformationprocessing, the allocation ofattentionresourcestogoals, methodsfor achievingthe targets, and the ability forshifting attention from unsuitable situationstothe goal-directed ones.