The ability to temporarily maintain information in order to successfully perform a task is important in many daily activities. However, the ability to quickly and accurately update existing mental representations in distracting situations is also imperative in many of these same circumstances. In the current studies, individuals varying in working…

This study investigates the relationships of domain-general cognitive abilities and domain-specific verbal and mathematical abilities to students' educational characteristics when two theoretically grounded, but competing structural models are applied. In the standard model, a single latent ability causes interindividual differences in the…

Addresses the theoretically important question of whether g is merely an artifact of the method of constructing psychometric tests and the mathematical operations of factor analysis or whether it has an authentic claim to represent some natural phenomenon that exists independently of psychometrics and factor analysis. (Author/ABB)

Although the veridicality of unconscious perception is increasingly accepted, core issues remain unresolved [Jack, A., & Shallice, T. (2001). Introspective physicalism as an approach to the science of consciousness. "Cognition, 79," 161-196], and sharp disagreement persists regarding fundamental methodological and theoretical issues. The most…

This study investigated whether a unitary elemental process or several independent processes underlie psychometric "g" (factor of general intelligence). Results with 101 college students administered 2 intelligence tests and a large battery of elementary cognitive tasks suggest that as many as 4 independent components make up…

Because they used an inappropriate statistical procedure, J. H. Kranzler and A. R. Jensen (1991) have not demonstrated that a factor of general intelligence ("g") depends on several independent factors. A factorial reanalysis of their data suggests that speed and efficiency of information processing are important in "g." (SLD)

The hypothetical idea of a perfectly pure psychometric "g" is empirically unattainable. Because the unity of "g" cannot be proved or disproved by factor analysis, the unitary "g" hypothesis represents a parsimonious assumption. J. B. Carroll's (1991) analysis demonstrates the relationship between psychometric and…

For the sake of simplicity and brevity, the development of psychometrics is discussed mainly in the context of studies of individual differences. (Author/AM)

As part of a long term project relating individual differences in performance on paper and pencil tests of intellectual aptitude and achievement to differences observed in laboratory studies of cognition, data have been collected comparing test scores with simple choice reaction times. The three studies summarized here suggest that the…

Strategic differences in spatial tasks are explained in terms of different cognitive coordinate systems that subjects adopt such as standard versus arbitrary, task-defined axes. A theoretical account of mental rotation of individuals of low and high spatial ability solving problems from psychometric tests is instantiated as computer simulation…

In their reply to the present author's critique (1991), J. H. Kranzler and A. R. Jensen have still not demonstrated that a factor of general intelligence, "g," depends on, or contains, several independent factors. They have only demonstrated that an estimate of "g" is predictable from several independent components. (SLD)

The construction of cognitive tests is largely based on a Thurstonian model of the structure of the intellect, with test content described in terms of loadings on broad constructs called factors. Knowledge of factorial content of a test does not necessarily correspond to knowledge of mental activities elicited by test performance. Modern cognitive…

Individual differences in academic success were investigated in a geographically defined whole-population sample of very preterm children with a gestational age of less than 32 weeks or a birth weight of less than 1500 gm. The sample consisted of 264 very preterm children (75.6% of German-speaking survivors) and 264 controls matched for gender,…

The scientific concept of intelligence has been heavily influenced by the technology of measurement. The variables which can be measured have been made the operational definition of intelligence. This approach differs from a deductive approach, in which a theory of cognition in general is used to derive the sorts of measurements that must be taken…

A pilot study on the development and administration of a test using a spatial reasoning problem, the 15-puzzle, is described. The test utilizes on-line capabilities of a real-time computer to record an examinee's progress on each problem through a sequence of problem-solving "moves", and to collect additional on-line data that might be…