The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI; Weinstein et al., "Learning and study strategies inventory." H&H Publishing, 1987) is a prominent instrument used in thousands of institutions worldwide as an educational and research tool. Despite its widespread prevalence, there are inconsistencies regarding the underlying latent…

A method for examining common factor variance in multiple-component measuring instruments is outlined. The procedure is based on an application of the latent variable modeling methodology and is concerned with evaluating observed variance explained by a global factor and by one or more additional component-specific factors. The approach furnishes…

The clue to what latent variable models are, and to a workable account of the basis for the traditional manifest/latent variable distinction, lies in a reconsideration of the indeterminacy property of linear factor structures. In this article, the authors contend that latent variable models are not detectors of unobservable latent structures,…

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) studies have suggested that a model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that is characterized by 4 factors is preferable to competing models. However, the composition of these 4 factors has varied across studies, with 1 model splitting avoidance and numbing symptoms (e.g., D. W. King, G. A. Leskin, L. A.…

This study was designed to test the reliability of five major models of the structure of cognitive abilities. A battery of 16 tests was administered to 1000 Swedish sixth graders. Based on the results, a three-level hierarchical LISREL-based model (the HILI-model) is suggested. (Author/EGS)

It is proposed that common variance among Factor V personality traits might best be modeled in terms of three broad and distinct subdomains one level below the superordinate level of the so-called Big Five. Three studies are reported that point toward this compromise conception of the top of Factor V as Absorption (A), Intellectance (I), and…

The construct of general intelligence is discussed in the context of factor models, differential validity of tests, Piagetian tasks, heritability, social class, and race. The general factor is an abstraction resulting from genes, environmental pressures, and neural structures involved in cognitive or intellectual human behavior. (Author/RD)

Fifty-five recent studies of individual differences (IDs) in elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs) are reviewed. Twenty-five data sets are examined, analyzed, or reanalyzed by factor analysis. The following promising dimensions are identified: basic perceptual processes, reaction and movement times, mental comparison and recognition tasks, retrieval…