Children's Fluid Intelligence Research Articles

Association among motor skills and fluid intelligence in children aged from 5 to 7 years with different sports skill learning

ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the relationship between motor skills and fluid intelligence in children aged 5–7 years. In this cross-sectional study, 115 children between 5 and 7 years of age (preschool children with sports skill learning) were included (51 boys, 44.34%), and fluid intelligence was measured using the Wide Range of Intelligence Test; motor skills were assessed via the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Second Edition Gross Motor Record Form (BOT-2). Motor skills differed significantly among different sports skill learning groups. A significant positive relationship was found between fluid intelligence and bilateral coordination (β = 0.196, p = 0.030) and balance (β = 0.556, p = 0.000), whereas no significant correlation was found between fluid intelligence and running speed and agility (β = 0.026, p = 0.737). In conclusion, two motor skill components (bilateral coordination and balance) were related to fluid intelligence in 5–7-year-old children with sports skill learning, implying that they may be valuable indicators of fluid intelligence.

The Relative Strengths of Relationships Between Fine Motor Skills, Working Memory, Processing Speed and Fluid Intelligence in Early Elementary School Children.

The goal in the present paper was to examine the combined and relative impact of fine motor ability, auditory working memory, and processing speed on fluid intelligence in a sample of early elementary school students. Our participant sample was 145 children (Mage = 9.1years, SD = 1.1; 80 boys, 65 girls). We used the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices Test as a measure of fluid intelligence and five other measures to represent the three predictor variables: the Grooved Pegboard Test as a measure of fine motor skills, Digit Span Forwards and Digit Span Backwards tests as measures of working memory, and Rapid Automatized Naming and Letter-Digit Substitution tasks as measures of processing speed. Regression analyses indicated that only two of these measures had a statistically significant association with the fluid intelligence test scores, namely, scores on the Grooved Pegboard (fine motor skills) and Digit Span Backwards (working memory) tests, with these two measures explaining 35% of the variance in the fluid intelligence test scores. Thus, fine motor skills and working memory were correlated with fluid intelligence in early elementary-grade students. Until the directions of these relationships are better understood, we might assume that interventions aiming to increase young children's fluid intelligence, or at least their intelligence scores, might partly target working memory and fine motor skills.

Association between urinary iodine excretion, genetic disposition and fluid intelligence in children, adolescents and young adults: the DONALD study

PurposeIodine deficiency increases the risk of cognitive impairment and delayed physical development in children. It is also associated with cognitive impairment in adults. Cognitive abilities are among the most inheritable behavioural traits. However, little is known about the consequences of insufficient postnatal iodine intake and whether the individual genetic disposition modifies the association between iodine intake and fluid intelligence in children and young adults.MethodsThe cultural fair intelligence test was used to assess fluid intelligence in the participants of the DONALD study (n = 238; mean age, 16.5 [SD = 7.7] years). Urinary iodine excretion, a surrogate iodine intake marker, was measured in 24-h urine. Individual genetic disposition (n = 162) was assessed using a polygenic score, associated with general cognitive function. Linear regression analyses were conducted to determine whether Urinary iodine excretion was associated with fluid intelligence and whether this association was modified by individual genetic disposition.ResultsUrinary iodine excretion above the age-specific estimated average requirement was associated with a five-point higher fluid intelligence score than that below the estimated average requirement (P = 0.02). The polygenic score was positively associated with the fluid intelligence score (β = 2.3; P = 0.03). Participants with a higher polygenic score had a higher fluid intelligence score.ConclusionUrinary iodine excretion above the estimated average requirement in childhood and adolescence is beneficial for fluid intelligence. In adults, fluid intelligence was positively associated with a polygenic score for general cognitive function. No evidence showed that the individual genetic disposition modifies the association between Urinary iodine excretion and fluid intelligence.

Sleeping Habits Explaining Academic Vulnerability and Household Influence: Co-sleeping and the Impact on Children's Fluid Intelligence

<p style="text-align:justify">The main goal of this study is to examine the differences between school-aged children with different chronotypes who are only children or have a sibling in the household, regarding their sleeping habits and performance in intelligence tasks. The main measures used were Chronotype Questionnaire for Children and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices. This study analysed 46 Portuguese children (Mean=8.67; SD=1.034, range 7-11 years of age) without sleep or educational/psychological disturbances, attending the first grade. The differences regarding chronotype and whether they were only children or not were examined. Then the performance of the sample in the Raven’s Progressive Matrices tests was evaluated. The Mann-Whitney U test showed that ‘only’ children had higher fluid intelligence scores only in the afternoon. The chronotype did not differentiate this population and it is concluded that the type of household is the main moderator: Not being an only child was, in general, the best predictor in the test. Results suggest that different sleeping times (e.g., bedtime and wake-up time) and different chronotypes did not have different effects. However, having siblings proved to be an advantage regarding the child’s performance. Re-education of sleeping practices, especially examining the influence of co-sleeping in families, is essential for the intellectual development of children.</p>

An Investigation of Working Memory Profile and Fluid Intelligence in Children With Neurodevelopmental Difficulties.

The present study aims to evaluate the distinct patterns of working memory (WM) capacity of children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), High-functioning children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and children with Down syndrome (DS). More specifically, the current study investigates the complex relationship of fluid intelligence and WM between 39 children with DLD, 20 H igh-functioning children with ASD, and 15 children with DS. All children were evaluated in different measures of Phonological Working Memory, Visual-spatial Working Memory whereas Fluid Intelligence was measured with Raven Progressive Matrices. The result analysis revealed a significant difference among the three groups, both among each function separately and the correlations among them, as well. The results revealed that the DLD groups and High-functioning ASD group exhibited a common picture or an overlap of performances in all Phonological and Visuo-spatial working memory measures, except Backward Digit Recall task. As for the DS group research findings revealed different and unique working memory patterns in comparison to DLD group and High-functioning ASD. Their differences have been studied and further conclusions have been drawn about the different patterns of working memory among the three clinical groups. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of support for learning. The common profile that characterize the two developmental conditions and the distinct pattern of working memory performance in DS group underlies the need for further research in the field.

Auditory experience modulates fronto-parietal theta activity serving fluid intelligence.

Children who are hard of hearing are at risk for developmental language and academic delays compared with children with normal hearing. Some work suggests that high-order cognitive function, including fluid intelligence, may relate to language and academic outcomes in children with hearing loss, but findings in these studies have been mixed and to date, there have been no studies of the whole-brain neural dynamics serving fluid intelligence in the context of hearing loss. To this end, this study sought to identify the impact of hearing loss and subsequent hearing aid use on the neural dynamics serving abstract reasoning in children who are hard of hearing relative to children with normal hearing using magnetoencephalography. We found significant elevations in occipital and parietal theta activity during early stimulus evaluation in children who are hard of hearing relative to normal-hearing peers. In addition, we found that greater hearing aid use was significantly related to reduced activity throughout the fronto-parietal network. Notably, there were no differences in alpha dynamics between groups during later-stage processing nor did alpha activity correlate with hearing aid use. These cross-sectional data suggest that differences in auditory experience lead to widespread alterations in the neural dynamics serving initial stimulus processing in fluid intelligence in children.

Does emotion regulation compensate deficits in various executive functions in children's and adolescents' mathematical achievement?

Many children and adolescents experience negative emotions while learning mathematics and it is likely that children with a more adaptive way of regulating their emotions perform better in mathematics. This conclusion was indeed supported by recent research. A different line of research suggested that emotion regulation could compensate for low fluid intelligence in children's mathematical achievement indicating that a similar compensation effect may exist for other cognitive skills. Building on this research, the aims of the current study were to investigate whether a) emotion regulation is associated with mathematical achievement in children and adolescents and b) whether emotion regulation can buffer working memory (WM) capacities in the mathematical domain. In an additional set of exploratory analyses, we tested whether these interaction effects hold for other core components of executive functions (EFs) such as inhibition and cognitive flexibility. A large sample of 7- to 15-year-olds (N = 992) was tested using the Intelligence and Development Scales–2. We tested the hypotheses with multiple regression analyses with EFs as predictor variables, knowledge of emotion regulation strategies (emotion regulation) as moderator variable, and mathematical achievement as outcome variable. Results showed relations between children's and adolescents' emotion regulation and their mathematical achievement across mid-childhood to mid-adolescence. Furthermore, children's and adolescents' emotion regulation compensates low WM in participants' mathematical achievement, which was not found for inhibitory skills or cognitive flexibility. Our results highlight the dynamic relation between WM and emotional abilities in students' academic success.

Behavioral and brain dynamics of executive control in relation to children's fluid intelligence

According to the dual mechanism of cognitive control theory, executive processes can be proactive when there is effort to monitor the context and control is implemented from before an imperative event occur, or reactive if control processes only take place after the appearance of the imperative event. During childhood, the coordination of both types of control protractedly evolve from more reactive towards a more proactive.In adults, a relationship between increased use of proactive control and fluid intelligence has been observed. In the current study, we examined whether the dynamics of executive control vary in children who differ in fluid intelligence. We employed the AX–CPT paradigm together with ERP registration to examine behavioral and brain dynamics of proactive and reactive control, including processes of anticipation, conflict monitoring and inhibition. Children with higher fluid intelligence showed better behavioral indices of proactive control, together with increased brain preparation to response cues and increased subsequent inhibition costs when the response was finally not required. This suggests that fluid intelligence in childhood is related to the capacity to implement a more proactive strategy even when executive control is not yet fully developed.

Revealing the Role of Divergent Thinking and Fluid Intelligence in Children's Semantic Memory Organization.

The current theories suggest the fundamental role of semantic memory in creativity, mediating bottom-up (divergent thinking) and top-down (fluid intelligence) cognitive processes. However, the relationship between creativity, intelligence, and the organization of the semantic memory remains poorly-characterized in children. We investigated the ways in which individual differences in children’s semantic memory structures are influenced by their divergent thinking and fluid intelligence abilities. The participants (mean age 10) were grouped by their levels (high/low) of divergent thinking and fluid intelligence. We applied a recently-developed Network Science approach in order to examine group-based semantic memory graphs. Networks were constructed from a semantic fluency task. The results revealed that divergent thinking abilities are related to a more flexible structure of the semantic network, while fluid intelligence corresponds to a more structured semantic network, in line with the previous findings from the adult sample. Our findings confirm the crucial role of semantic memory organization in creative performance, and demonstrate that this phenomenon can be traced back to childhood. Finally, we also corroborate the network science methodology as a valid approach to the study of creative cognition in the developmental population.

Brain structural connectivity correlates with fluid intelligence in children: A DTI graph analysis

PurposeThe aim of this study is to better understand the neural substrate of intelligence in children, through the characterization of the brain's structural connectivity (graph measures), as well as the major white matter (WM) fibers microstructure. Materials and methodsFourty-three children (8 to 12 years) were include in this study. MRI acquisition included conventional and diffusion tensor imaging sequences. Children also underwent neuropsychological tests, providing the ten WISC-subtests. A factor analysis was performed to explore the inter-correlations of WISC-IV subtests and to extract intelligence domains as well as the general intelligence factor (g-score). Correlations between the intelligence domains and both graphs and diffusivity metrics were also explored. ResultsGlobal graph metrics revealed a strong relationship between high intelligence scores and brain network homogeneity (high density and low modularity), mainly in the temporal and parietal lobes. Furthermore, quantitative WM fiber-bundle analysis showed an increased axonal density in the major WM fiber-bundles that was associated to increased intelligence performances. ConclusionThese findings demonstrated that intelligence neural substrate is based on a strong WM microstructure of the major intra- and inter- hemispheric fiber-bundles and a well-balanced network organization between local and global scales.

Working Memory Updating Training Improves Children's Fluid Intelligence: An Evidence from ERPs

Working Memory Updating Training Improves Children's Fluid Intelligence: An Evidence from ERPs

The relationship between fluid intelligence and sustained inattentional blindness in 7-to-14-year-old children.

Previous researches have shown that people with higher fluid intelligence are more likely to detect the unexpected stimuli. The current study systematically explored the relationship between fluid intelligence and sustained inattentional blindness in children. In Experiment 1, we measured one hundred and seventy-nine 7-to-14-year-old children's fluid intelligence and sustained inattentional blindness. The results showed that fluid intelligence was negatively related to sustained inattentional blindness only in 7-to-8-year-old children. In Experiment 2, we explored sustained inattentional blindness in sixty children with high Raven's scores. We found that compared with children who have average Raven's scores aged 11-to-12 years old, children with high Raven's scores were unable to better avoid sustained inattentional blindness. In general, this research implies that the relation between fluid intelligence and sustained inattentional blindness is weak. Fluid intelligence could predict sustained inattentional blindness only when children do not have enough perceptual capacities to complete the primary task.

Exercise and Cognition.

Abstract Existing literature shows promising effects of physical activity on children's cognitive outcomes. This study assessed via a randomized, controlled design whether additional curricular physical activity during the school day resulted in gains for children's fluid intelligence and standardized achievement outcomes. Participants were children (N = 460) from four urban schools in the Southeast United States. Schools were randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Treatment schools received additional physical activity breaks throughout the school day while control schools maintained a typical schedule without curricular activity breaks. Results from the one-year study show positive effects for children's mathematics and reading achievement but no differences across treatment and control groups for children's fluid intelligence scores. Implications for school psychologists in promoting physical activity breaks on a systems-wide level are discussed.

The association between heart rate reactivity and fluid intelligence in children

This study aimed to examine (a) whether findings of increased cardiovascular reactivity in relation to cognitive ability seen in infants, young adults and the elderly can be extended to middle childhood and (b) which specific aspect(s) of intelligence is related to cardiovascular reactivity. We examined cardiovascular activity in 340 8- and 9-year-old children during a number judgment task and measured fluid and crystallized IQ using the WISC-IV (Wechsler, 2003). Regression analyses revealed that heart rate (HR) reactivity was positively associated with fluid intelligence and perceptual reasoning in particular, after controlling for the effects of sex, age, task performance, social adversity, and resting HR. Intelligence scores were not associated with respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity. Findings are consistent with prior literature in infants and older populations and for the first time suggest that the association between HR reactivity and cognitive ability is specific for fluid reasoning.

Extended cascade models of age and individual differences in children's fluid intelligence

Children's cognitive abilities (e.g., processing speed, working and secondary memory, and fluid intelligence) improve with age, but the relationships among these abilities are not well understood. According to the developmental cascade model proposed by Fry and Hale (1996), age-related improvements in processing speed lead to improvements in working memory, which in turn lead to improvements in fluid intelligence. Recent research in adults suggests that secondary memory also plays an important role in fluid intelligence, but its role in children has received little attention. Accordingly, the current study examined the roles of speed, working memory, secondary memory, and fluid intelligence in a sample of 113 children between the ages of 6–12years. Results indicated that secondary memory affected fluid intelligence indirectly by mediating the relations between speed and working memory, but only working memory accounted for significant unique variance in children's fluid intelligence.

Improvements in Children's Fluid Intelligence with Working Memory Training

Fluid intelligence is one of the general intelligence types originally proposed by Cattell(1963), which refers to the innate ability of analytically solving novel problems and logically identifying new patterns and relationships. Increasing evidence has shown that cognitive training, especially those aiming at enhancing working memory, can significantly improve fluid intelligence. Moreover, central executive functions, especially working memory updating, were reported to positively correlate with individual intelligence. Thus, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to investigate whether working memory training can improve fluid intelligence. Recent studies have shown that, after short-term working memory training, performance in fluid intelligence tests, including running memory task and n-back paradigm, was improved both in adults and school-aged children. It is therefore suggested that the transfer of an improved working memory updating ability contributed to the reported training effects. However, there remain 2 major unsolved problems. On the one hand, although training has been reported effective for adults and school-aged children, few studies have focused on pre-school children. On the other hand, the demonstration of long-term effects was unreliable, because the reported studies either failed to examine lasting effects or lacked time for confirmation.In our study, 96 children aged 4-5 from one kindergarten participated in the experiment. They were randomly selected from 3 classes and assigned to 3 groups- experimental group, control group 1, and control group 2. Participants in experimental group were trained for 15 minutes per day for a period of 14 days using an n-back working memory training program displayed on tablet computers. In this program, participants were shown a series of stimuli and asked to judge whether the current stimulus is the same as the one displayed before the previous n items. As n increased, the task difficulty increased, resulting in higher demands of working memory. Each participant started training at 1-back level with n being continuously adjusted based on their performance. To account for the possibility that better fluid IQ performance is essentially due to attention improvement, participants in control group 1 played the Fruit Ninja game for the same period of time, which was designed to yield comparable attention improvements. For control group 2, children received no training. Parallel versions of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices(SPM) and the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence(TONI-4) were used to assess participants' fluid intelligence in pretest, posttest and a follow-up test 6 months after training respectively. All experimental manipulations and the data analysis were designed and performed double-blinded. Results indicated that, after 14-day training, participants' task performance in the training task was significantly improved. Children in experimental group significantly outperformed 2 other control groups in the posttest, which remained equally significant 6 months after training. As task motivation and attitude were balanced, our results were convincing in demonstrating training effects. In conclusion, our results proved that the n-back working memory task can efficiently improve kindergarten children's fluid intelligence, whose effect is sustainable in the long term.

A New Mother-Child Play Activity Program to Decrease Parenting Stress and Improve Child Cognitive Abilities: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

BackgroundWe propose a new play activity intervention program for mothers and children. Our interdisciplinary program integrates four fields of child-related sciences: neuroscience, preschool pedagogy, developmental psychology, and child and maternal psychiatry. To determine the effect of this intervention on child and mother psychosocial problems related to parenting stress and on the children's cognitive abilities, we performed a cluster randomized controlled trial.Methodology/Principal FindingsParticipants were 238 pairs of mothers and typically developing preschool children (ages 4–6 years old) from Wakakusa kindergarten in Japan. The pairs were asked to play at home for about 10 min a day, 5 days a week for 3 months. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group by class unit. The Parenting Stress Index (PSI) (for mothers), the Goodenough Draw-a-Man intelligence test (DAM), and the new S-S intelligence test (NS-SIT) (for children) were administered prior to and 3 months after the intervention period. Pre–post changes in test scores were compared between the groups using a linear mixed-effects model analysis. The primary outcomes were the Total score on the child domain of the PSI (for child psychosocial problems related to parenting stress), Total score on the parent domain of the PSI (for maternal psychosocial problems related to parenting stress), and the score on the DAM (for child cognitive abilities). The results of the PSI suggested that the program may reduce parenting stress. The results of the cognitive tests suggested that the program may improve the children's fluid intelligence, working memory, and processing speed.Conclusions/SignificanceOur intervention program may ameliorate the children's psychosocial problems related to parenting stress and increase their cognitive abilities.Trial RegistrationUMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000002265

Effect of updating training on fluid intelligence in children

Recent studies have indicated that working memory (WM) training can improve fluid intelligence. However, these earlier studies confused the impact of WM storage and central executive function on the effects of training. The current study used the running memory task to train the updating ability of 9–11 year-old children using a double-blind controlled design. The results revealed that children’s fluid intelligence was significantly improved by memory-updating training. Overall, our findings suggest that the increase in fluid intelligence achieved with WM training is related to improving central executive function.

Cognitive holding power, fluid intelligence, and mathematical achievement as predictors of children's realistic problem solving

The present study explored whether first and second order cognitive holding power perceived by children in mathematical classrooms, fluid intelligence, and mathematical achievement predicted their performance on standard problems, and especially realistic problems. A sample of 119 Chinese 4–6th graders were administered the word problem test, the cognitive holding power questionnaire, and Raven's standard progressive matrices. Results showed that: (1) children's fluid intelligence and general mathematical achievement significantly predicted their performance on both realistic and standard problems, however, second order cognitive holding power predicted their performance on realistic problems but not standard problems; (2) the relationship between first order cognitive holding power and children's correct answers to realistic problems was mediated by second order cognitive holding power; (3) children's performance on standard problems was significantly better than that on realistic problems, and children's performance on both types of problems improved with their grades.

Superior fluid intelligence in children with Asperger’s disorder

Asperger’s disorder is one of autistic spectrum disorders; sharing clinical features with autism, but without developmental delay in language acquisition. There have been some studies of intellectual functioning in autism so far, but very few in Asperger’s disorder. In the present study, we investigated abstract reasoning ability, whose form of intelligence has been labeled fluid intelligence in the theory of Cattell [Cattell, R. B. (1963). Theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence: A critical experiment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 1–22.], in children with Asperger’s disorder. A test of fluid intelligence, the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices Test, was administered to 17 children with Asperger’s disorder and 17 age-, gender-, and FIQ-matched normal children. The results showed that children with Asperger’s disorder outperformed on the test of fluid reasoning than typically developing children. We suggest that individuals with Asperger’s disorder have higher fluid reasoning ability than normal individuals, highlighting superior fluid intelligence.