This article introduces the concept of effectivity, which is the power to be effective or to achieve a certain effect to accomplish one's goals, in this case, desired school or life achievement. Giftedness would be better defined and developed in terms of effectivity than in terms of various concepts of ability. The concept of effectivity hinges…

Twenty-five years after the introduction of Carroll's (1993) Three Stratum (3S) theory of intelligence and McGrew's (1997) subsequent synthesis of 3S with the extended Gf-Gc / Horn-Cattell theory, the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory represents the prevailing framework by which the structure of human cognitive and intellectual abilities is…

Appropriate interpretation of assessment data requires an appreciation that tools are subject to measurement error. School psychologists recognize, at least on an intellectual level, that measures are imperfect--that test scores and other quantitative measures (e.g., rating scales, systematic behavioral observations) are best estimates of…

Here, intelligence is taken to mean scores from psychometric tests of cognitive functions. This essay describes how cognitive tests offer assessments of brain functioning--an otherwise difficult-to-assess organ--that have proved enduringly useful in the field of health and medicine. The two "consequential world problems" (the phrase used…

The emotional intelligence models have helped to develop different tools for construct assessment. Each theoretical paradigm conceptualizes emotional intelligence from one of two perspectives: ability or mixed model. Ability models consider emotional intelligence as a pure form of mental ability and therefore as pure intelligence. Mixed models of…

Charles Spearman and L. L. Thurstone were pioneers in the field of intelligence. They not only developed methods to assess and understand intelligence, but also developed theories about its structure and function. Methodologically, their approaches were not that distinct, but their theories of intelligence were philosophically very different --…

W scores are used in a number of commercially available tests. Due to their complex nature, it can be hard for applied researchers and practitioners to understand them or even acquire information about them beyond what is provided in technical manuals. In this article, we provide information regarding the background and derivation of W scores that…

Listening to speech in a noisy background is difficult for everyone. While such listening has historically been considered mainly in the context of auditory processing, the role of cognition has attracted considerable interest in recent years. This has been particularly true in the context of life-span research and the comparison of younger and…

U.S. Supreme Court justices and other federal judges are, effectively, appointed for life, with no built-in check on their cognitive functioning as they approach old age. There is about a century of research on aging and intelligence that shows the vulnerability of processing speed, fluid reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory to…

The incidence of writing disorder is as common as reading disorder, but it is frequently under-identified and rarely targeted for intervention. Increasing clinical understanding on various subtypes of writing disorder through assessment guided by data-driven decision making may alleviate this disparity for students with writing disorders. The…

Many global settings lack indigenous measures of child development, making the adaptation of available instruments necessary. The aim of this study was to reliably adapt the core subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III (WPPSI-III) to assess cognitive abilities in young children in rural Pakistan. A systematic…

The history of intellectual assessment with children and youth in Peru is presented from the foundation of scientific psychology in Peru until now. Current practices are affected by the multicultural ethnolinguistic diversity of the country, the quality of the different training programs, as well as by Peruvian regulations for becoming an academic…

Embarking on the standardized testing process often leads parents of gifted children to other questions about intelligence, tests, and assessment practices. What is intelligence? Do IQ tests measure it? Are there better ways of deciding who needs gifted programming? What can parents request by way of results and their interpretation? Should…

This article provides guidelines for an entry-level course that prepares psychology students and practitioners to acquire entry-level skills, abilities, knowledge, and attitudes important to the individual assessment of intellectual abilities of children and youth. The article reviews prominent international, regional, and national policies,…

Children born preterm are at risk for developmental deficits across multiple functional domains. As the rate of survival for preterm infants increases due to medical advancements, a greater understanding is needed for how to meet the needs of this growing population in schools. Because approximately 50-70% of children born preterm require…