What is the relation between the cognitive competence of a national population that nation's economic prosperity? Lynn and Vanhanen [Lynn, R. & Vanhanen, T. (2002). "IQ and the wealth of nations." Westport, CT: Praeger.] presented data pointing to an exceptionally strong relationship between IQ scores and Gross Domestic Product per…

This editorial proposes that the dependent variables that predict childhood intelligence quotient (IQ) from habituation and recognition memory assessments made during infancy may primarily reflect individual differences in rate of information processing. Inhibition may be a stable thread in mental development. (Author/SLD)

Kanazawa [Kanazawa, S. (2006). IQ and the wealth of states. "Intelligence," 34, 593-600.] offered estimates of state IQ derived from SAT data. The purpose of this commentary is to argue that state preferences for the use of the ACT versus the SAT create biased estimates of SAT-derived state IQ for states where the ACT is more frequently…

Developmental and criterion reading and writing measures were administered to 300 primary-level students, revealing that elimination of IQ in the definition of learning disabilities would dramatically affect who is identified as learning disabled. A two-stage assessment model analyzing absolute criteria without IQ and relative criteria with IQ is…

Westbrook (1983) challenged the validity of the construct "career maturity" because measures such as the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale (Crites, 1973) correlate to measures of mental ability. Rather than interpreting this association as evincing lack of discriminant validity, the association should be interpreted as supporting…

This article finds the empirical review of the intellectual effects of family factors by Lala Carr Steelman wanting because (1) it is selective and incomplete; (2) it ignores systematic aggregate effects; (3) it imposes linear analysis on nonmonotone relationships; and (4) it disregards most of the confounds identified by Steelman as crucial.…

The author responds to criticism by R. B. Zajonc on a review of the extant literature on the intellectual consequences of sibship size and birth order. (Author/LMO)

Delineates the current consensus regarding the nature and the development of intellectual ability. Examines when one would expect general abilities to moderate the relationship among domain-specific and other processes. Reviews recent studies in which general abilities were used as independent variables or covariates. Suggests that generally,…

Reviews three alternative cognitive approaches for verbal comprehension. Discusses a theory of learning from context and cites empirical data to support the theory. Presents a componential framework for understanding verbal comprehension and suggests that the ability to acquire information from context is a key source of individual differences in…