Culture Fair Intelligence Test Research Articles

SECULAR GAINS IN FLUID INTELLIGENCE: EVIDENCE FROM THE CULTURE-FAIR INTELLIGENCE TEST

There is no doubt about the reality of the secular increase in cognitive test scores. However, there is disagreement about a key issue: does the observed increase reflect a genuine upward trend in intelligence? Evidence from the Raven test is clear, although there are some doubts about its adequacy as a fine-grained measure of fluid intelligence. Evidence from the so-called 'method of correlated vectors' is much less clear. When a crystallized battery is considered, the results leave little doubt: the increase does not reflect gains in general intelligence. However, when a fluid battery is analysed, the increase does reflect gains in general intelligence. The present study uses one of the best available measures of fluid intelligence (the Culture-Fair intelligence test) to provide new evidence for the secular increase in fluid intelligence, beyond the findings from the Raven test and the method of correlated vectors. A total of 4498 Spanish high school students and high school graduates were tested within a time interval of 20 and 23 years, respectively. The results show that there is a clear upward trend in intelligence. Moreover, students show an average increase equivalent to 6 IQ points, while graduates show an average increase of 4 IQ points. Therefore, more selected people (graduates) show a smaller increase than less selected people (students). Some implications are discussed.

Evidence for the Importance of Openness to Experience on Performance of a Fluid Intelligence Task by Physically Active and Inactive Participants

The cross-sectional relationship between exercise training history and performance on a fluid intelligence test was examined. In addition, openness to experience was included as a potential trait-based contributor to predicting cognitive performance. Results supported past literature demonstrating that aerobically trained or active participants performed significantly better on the fluid intelligence task than aerobically untrained or inactive participants. Hierarchical regression analysis results revealed, as predicted, that openness to experience was a significant predictor of fluid intellectual performance. When entered into the hierarchical regression equation, openness to experience accounted for 16.0% of unique variance in Culture Fair Intelligence Test performance. By contrast, participants' exercise training history, which initially and significantly (p < . 05) accounted for approximately 12.0% of the variance in cognitive performance, accounted for 5.0% (p > .05) after openness was entered. Participants were, on average, more open than inactive participants. Results are discussed in terms of the possible mechanisms aerobic exercise training and openness to experience share in regard to brain functioning and performance of fluid intelligence tasks. Future research is suggested that examines biological factors known to influence cognitive performance in exercise settings.

On the relationship between general fluid intelligence and psychophysical indicators of temporal resolution in the brain

One possible cause for the higher speed of information processing of more intelligent individuals may be that higher-intelligence scores are associated with higher temporal resolution capacity of the brain. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the potential relationship between timing performance and general fluid intelligence. For this purpose, a sample of 100 participants was divided into a lower-IQ and a higher-IQ group according to below and above median scores on Cattel's Culture Fair Intelligence Test Scale 3. Experimental tasks were duration discrimination of auditory intervals in the range of milliseconds and seconds, temporal-order judgments (TOJ), and auditory flutter fusion (AFF). Performance on duration discrimination of both filled and empty intervals in the range of milliseconds was significantly better for the high-IQ than for the low-IQ group. No IQ-related differences could be shown for temporal discrimination of intervals in the range of seconds, TOJ, and AFF. Furthermore, stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that combining performance on duration discrimination with filled and empty intervals in the range of milliseconds accounted for 22% of the total variance of general fluid intelligence. Findings suggest that brain mechanisms specifically involved in discriminations of extremely brief intervals represent a sensitive indicator of general fluid intelligence.

Vehicles of spatial ability

Spatial ability implies the generation, retention, retrieval, and transformation of visuo-spatial information. Factor analytic research has identified a broad array of spatial factors. Visualization (Vz) and Spatial relations (SR) are among the most cited. Dynamic spatial performance (DSP) has emerged in more recent times as a new strong candidate. However, there are some doubts about the existence of clear separate spatial factors. On the one hand, general spatial ability (Gv) has a substantial overlap with fluid reasoning (Gf). On the other hand, as Carroll's [Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: a survey of factor analytic studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press] survey notes, procedures of measurement are in need of considerable refinement. A battery of Vz, SR, and DSP spatial tests was applied in the present study to a sample of 105 undergraduates. The correlation matrix is analysed through a Schmid–Leiman hierarchical factor analysis, resulting in a powerful higher-order factor identified with Gv. First-order factors are shown as psychologically meaningless. Moreover, a confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates that a single endogenous factor, identified with Gv, predicts fairly well all the spatial markers. The correlation between the subjects' Gv factor scores and their scores in the Cattell's Culture Fair test shows a value of +0.6. Therefore, the study suggests that there is no clear separation among markers of some core spatial factors and that Gv strongly correlates with fluid ability (Gf).

PREDICTABILITY OF HAND SKILL AND COGNITIVE ABILITIES FROM CRANIOFACIAL WIDTH IN RIGHT- AND LEFT-HANDED MEN AND WOMEN: RELATION OF SKELETAL STRUCTURE TO CEREBRAL FUNCTION

Recently, a family of homeobox genes involved in brain and craniofacial development was identified. In light of this genetic background, we hypothesized that some functional characteristics of human brain (hand skill, cognition) may be linked to some structural characteristics of human skull (e.g., craniofacial width) in humans. Hand preference was assessed by Oldfield s Handedness Questionnaire. Hand skill was measured by Peg Moving Task. Face width was measured from the anteroposterior cephalograms (x-ray) using right (R) and left (L) zygomatic points. Intelligence g was assessed by Cattell s Culture Fair Intelligence Test; the perceptual-verbal ability was assessed by Finding A s Test ; the spatial ability was assessed by the mental rotation task, in right- and left-handed men and women. The percentages of right-, left-, and mixed-faced subjects were close to those found for paw preference in cats. Women tended to be more right-faced (R L > 0) and less left-faced (R L

Inducing Inductive Reasoning: Does It Transfer to Fluid Intelligence?

Based on a prescriptive theory of inductive reasoning, a training program to foster inductive reasoning has been developed. Children from 12 first-grade classes, mean age about 7 years, N = 279, participated in a training experiment. The children of 6 classes were trained to apply a strategy to reason inductively while the children of the remaining classes continued their regular classroom activities. It was expected that trained children would outperform the untrained children with respect to Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices but not with respect to a vocabulary test, thus indicating convergent and discriminant or domain-specific training effects. Results confirmed this expectation. Moreover, it was expected that training would improve performance on the inductive subtests of Cattell's Culture Fair Test 1, but not influence subtests that did not involve inductive reasoning. Considerable transfer to both kinds of subtests was found on the immediate transfer task. However, with a delayed posttest 6 months later, the expected differential training effect could be observed. Finally, a LISREL model analysis confirmed the hypothesis that training children to reason inductively improved fluid but not crystallized intelligence.

Sex differences in fluid intelligence among high school graduates

There is contradictory empirical evidence concerning the problem of whether there is a sex difference in general intelligence. Some researchers claim that there is a sex difference, relying on the summation of the standardized sex differences in cognitive tests measuring verbal, spatial, and reasoning abilities. Other researchers state that there is not a sex difference in general intelligence; they propose that general intelligence should be conceptualized as g. g is not the result of the simple summation of tests scores, but a source of variance evidenced by the correlation among several diverse tests. We think it is possible to resolve this conflict. Fluid intelligence (Gf) is usually conceived as the core of intelligent behavior [Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press]. Therefore, if there is a sex difference in general intelligence, it could be systematically detected in measures of Gf. Three measures of Gf were used in the present study: the PMA Inductive Reasoning Test, the Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM), and the Culture-Fair Intelligence Test (Scale 3). A total of 4072 high school graduates was tested (1772 females and 2300 males). The results reveal that females outperform males in the PMA Reasoning test, that males outperform females in the Raven, and that there is no sex difference in the Culture-Fair Test. Therefore, given that there is no systematic difference favoring any sex in the measures of Gf, and that there is no sex difference in the best available measure of Gf (the Culture-Fair Test), it is concluded that the sex difference in fluid intelligence is non-existent.

There are stable individual differences in performance variability, both from moment to moment and from day to day.

Individual differences in decision speed have been regarded as direct reflections of a "primitive" functional neurophysiological characteristic, which affects performance on all cognitive tasks and so may be regarded as the "biological basis of intelligence", or of age-related changes in mental abilities. More detailed analyses show that variability within an experimental session (WSV) is a stable individual difference characteristic and that mean choice reaction times (CRTs) are gross summary statistics that reflect variability, rather than maximum speed of performance. A total of 98 people aged from 60 to 80 years completed 36 weekly sessions on six different letter categorization tasks. After effects of practice and of circadian variability had been eliminated, individuals with lower scores on the Cattell Culture Fair intelligence test had slower CRTs and greater WSV on all tasks. A simulation study showed that the greater WSVs of low Cattell scorers led directly to the significantly greater variability of their mean CRTs from session to session. However because CRTs on tasks co-varied from session to session it was apparent that, besides being affected by WSV, individuals' between-session variabilities (BSVs) also vary because of state changes that affect their performance from day to day. It seems that both variability in performance from trial to trial during a session and variability in average performance from day to day are correlated, stable, individual difference characteristics that vary inversely with intelligence test performance. Methodological consequences of these results for interpretations of age-related cognitive changes, for variability between as well as within individuals, for individual differences in decision speed, and for circadian variability in performance are discussed.

Three randomized experiments on the longitudinal effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique on cognition

Three studies on 362 high school students at three different schools in Taiwan tested the hypothesis that regular practice of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique for 15–20 min twice a day for 6 to 12 months would improve cognitive ability. The same seven variables were used in all studies: Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP); Constructive Thinking Inventory (CTI); Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT); State and Trait Anxiety (STAI); Inspection Time (IT); and Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT). Univariate testing showed that TM practice produced significant effects on all variables compared to no-treatment controls ( Ps ranged from .035 to <.0001). Napping for equivalent periods of time as TM practice had no effect. Contemplation meditation improved inspection time and embedded figures, but not the other variables. The TM technique was superior to contemplation meditation on five variables. The effect sizes for TM practice were in the order of the variables listed above.

Stereotypes and Steroids: Using a Psychobiosocial Model to Understand Cognitive Sex Differences

To further our understanding of cognitive sex differences, we studied the relationship between menstrual phase (via serum estradiol and progesterone levels) and cognitive abilities and cognitive performance in a sample of medical students in eastern Turkey. As expected, we found no sex differences on the Cattell “Culture Fair Intelligence Test” (a figural reasoning test), with females scoring significantly higher on a Turkish version of the Finding A's Test (rapid word knowledge) and males scoring significantly higher on a paper-and-pencil mental rotation test. The women showed a slight enhancement on the Finding A's Test and a slight decrement in Cattell scores during the preovulatory phase of their cycle that (probably) coincided with a rise in estrogen. There were also small cycle-related enhancements in performance for these women on the mental rotation test that may reflect cyclical increases in estrogen and progesterone. Additional analyses showed an inverted U-shaped function in level of estradiol and the Cattell Test. Finally, for women who were tested on Day 10 of their menstrual cycle, there was a negative linear relationship between their Cattell scores and level of progesterone. Stereotypes about the cognitive abilities of males and females did not correspond to performance on the mental rotation or Finding A's Test, so the sex-typical results could not be attributed to either stereotype threat or stereotype activation. For practical purposes, hormone-related effects were generally small. Variations over the menstrual cycle do not provide evidence for a “smarter” sex, but they do further our understanding of steroidal action on human cognitive performance.

Testosterone and Nonverbal Intelligence in Right-Handed Men With Successful and Unsuccessful Educational Levels

The relationship between serum total testosterone (T) concentration and fluid intelligence (nonverbal, spatial) was studied in consistently right-handed men with successful (S) or unsuccessful educational levels (NS). Hand preference was assessed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. Nonverbal intelligence was measured by Cartell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test. Serum T level was determined using chemiluminescence en-zvme-immunoassav on hormone autoanalyzer. There was no significant difference between the mean T levels of the S subjects and NS subjects, although S-men tended to have higher T levels than NS-men. The mean IQ was found to be significantly higher in S-men than NS-men. In the total sample (S + NS men), the correlation between T to IQ was best described by a polynomial regression (3rd order), exhibiting an inverse U-shaped regression. In S-men, the relationship between T and IQ was best described by a polynomial regression equation of the 3rd order: however, the relationship was not U-shaped, but rather a positive correlation (low T: low IQ and high T high IQ). In NS-men. there was an inverse U-shaped correlation between T and IQ (low and very high T: low IQ and moderate T: high IQ). The present data suggest that (i) very low and very high serum T concentrations may be disadvantageous, (ii) moderate T levels may be advantageous for general fluid intelligence, and (iii) a prewired cerebral organization may be essential for the T effects on cognitive abilities.

Patterns of cognitive ageing.

Neuroanatomical evidence suggests that normal ageing affects some brain areas, and the "local" functions they support, earlier and more severely than others. Changes appear to be especially marked in the hippocampus, temporal association and prefrontal cortex. Evidence from classical neuropsychological studies suggests that these brain areas are associated with memory and "executive" functions, respectively. We may, therefore, expect that tests purported to measure these functions may be disproportionately affected in old age and that there may be evidence for some separation of these functions even within neurologically normal populations. What we also know, however, is that measures reflecting general fluid ability also decline with increasing age, so any hypothesis relating to specific "local" deficits must acknowledge and account for any "globar" changes in performance. Volunteers (n = 162) aged between 60-80 years who had completed the Cattell and Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CCF) completed the Cambridge Automated Neuropsychological Test Battery (CANTAB). The CANTAB has been administered to several patient populations and tests from the battery have been shown to be sensitive to damage in both temporal and prefrontal areas (Owen et al., 1996). Results from the test battery showed that both the Paired Associate Learning and Spatial Recognition tests were the most sensitive to normal ageing even when CCF is accounted for. In contrast, this performance on the "executive" tests, shown to be sensitive to frontal lobe damage was not related to age, and CCF scores predicted performance on these tests. These results are discussed in relation to theories of cognitive ageing and patterns of change and in relation to several important methodological and theoretical considerations for the study of executive function.

Interactions between intelligence and personality: results from two large samples

Abstract Police applicants (N=15,332) and felons (N=15,460) completed the Cattell 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire, the psychopathology scales of the Clinical Analysis Questionnaire, and the Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT). The correlation between the two ability tests (Cattell Scale B and CFIT) was found to increase with level of neuroticism. Examination of the second order factor structure of the psychopathology scales showed the existence of Depression and Impulsivity components. The variance of the Depression component falls with ability level. Alternative interpretations of this result in terms of personality differentiation with ability, changes in degree of item comprehension with ability and possible contributions of faking are discussed.

Use of Nonverbal Measures of Intelligence in Identification of Culturally Diverse Gifted Students in Rural Areas

To identify culturally diverse, potentially gifted students in rural areas the Culture-Fair Intelligence Test, the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices, and the Naglieri Nonverb Abilities Test were administered to 189 students enrolled in Grades 3 through 8 at a rural elementary school. Scores from these three tests are reported, and their usefulness in the identification of gifted children is discussed.

Magnetic resonance imaging brain size/IQ relations in Turkish University students

The relation of IQ (Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test) to brain size was studied in 103 right- and left-handed men and women at Atatürk University in eastern Turkey. Cerebral areas were measured on a midsagittal section of the brain using MRI. An overall correlation of 40 was found between MRI-measured total area and IQ thereby further supporting the IQ–brain size hypothesis. Additional analyses suggested that these results may need qualification. In men, only anterior cerebral area correlated with IQ. In women, total and posterior cerebral areas were correlated with IQ. Other results varied by handedness.

Correlations among scores on measures of field dependence-independence cognitive style, cognitive ability, and sustained attention.

The Children's Embedded Figures Test, the Rod and Frame Test to measure the field dependence-independence cognitive style, Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Tests to measure cognitive ability, and two cancellation tasks (Zazzo task and Bourdon task) to assess sustained attention were administered to 179 boys and 110 girls whose average age was 9.0 yr. Correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence and cognitive ability were moderated. Average correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence, cognitive ability, and measures of sustained attention was .23 for the Zazzo task and quite weak (.06) for the Bourdon task.

Urinary Iodine Excretion Is the Most Appropriate Outcome Indicator for Iodine Deficiency at Field Conditions at District Level

To empower local authorities to plan and evaluate adequate interventions, appropriate iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) indicators need to be identified. The aim of this study was to describe the magnitude and severity of IDD with different outcome indicators and associate them with functional indicators. Schoolchildren (n = 544) aged 8–10 y were assessed in 11 villages within five subdistricts of Malang District, East Java, Indonesia. Outcome indicators of IDD were goiter size as measured by palpation and ultrasonography (USG), urinary iodine excretion (UIE) and serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration in blood as well as functional indicators such as intellectual performance (IQ: Catell’s Culture Fair Intelligence Test) and anthropometric indices. The total goiter rate (TGR) measured by palpation and USG were 35.7 and 54.4%, respectively. Based on UIE and TSH, the prevalence of iodine deficiency was 63.7 and 3.4%, respectively. In individuals, goiter, thyroid volume and UIE were associated significantly (r = −0.35; P < 0.001 and r = −0.30; P = 0.02 respectively). Among villages, TGR measured by palpation was significantly correlated with thyroid volume (r = 0.61; P = 0.045) and UIE (r = 0.68; P = 0.021), whereas TSH was not significantly associated with any of the observed indicators in individuals or groups. Multiple regression analysis showed that USG (β = −0.67; P < 0.001) and UIE (β = 4.39; P = 0.008) related significantly with cognitive performance (IQ). The associations between IDD indicators and cognitive performance and height-for-age Z scores suggest that socioeconomically advantaged children had better iodine status. We suggest that UIE is the best indicator for local authorities to assess iodine deficiency.

Intelligence in Bulgaria

The Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test was standardised in 1982 on a sample of 11- to 17-yr.-old Bulgarian adolescents. In relation to the American test norms, the Bulgarian sample had a mean IQ of 95, making them about the same.

PREDICTORS OF COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING IN COPD PATIENTS

1898 It is well established that there are age-related declines in the cognitive functioning of older adults. A suggested mechanism underlying this effect is a decline in O2 availability to the brain. Presumably maintenance of aerobic fitness may ameliorate these declines. Because of the link to O2 availability, it is interesting to study this relationship in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Aerobic fitness (6-min walk, VO2 max test), blood O2 saturation levels, and pulmonary function were assessed in older adults (57-81 yrs) with COPD. Subjects were then randomly assigned to Study 1 ( n=60) or Study 2( n=39). Subjects in Study 1 completed a measure of fluid intelligence, the Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CF). Subjects in Study 2 completed tests of inhibition, processing speed, and memory. Preliminary data on a small subset were presented at ACSM in 1997; however, by doubling sample size, power has increased so that several hypothesized relationships are now interpretable. After controlling for education and depression, F(2,56)=8.85, r2=.21, 6-min walk, F(1,55)=18.63, r2=.19, and age, F(1,54)=8.80, r2=.08, were significant predictors of CF performance. On the speed of processing task, 6-min walk, F(1,32)=8.71, r2=.19, maximum voluntary ventilation, F(1,31)=6.08, r2=.11, and age, F(1,30)=5.62, r2=.09, were significant predictors of RT. Forced vital capacity was a significant predictor, F(1,27)=5.62, r2=.15, of memory, whereas age was a significant predictor of performance on the inhibition task as the stopping signal was presented increasingly further from the stimulus[75ms: p>.05; 150ms: F(1,33)=8.35, r2=.20; 225ms: F(1,33)=3.26, r2=.09; 300ms: F(1,33)=8.30, r2=.20]. Thus, in an older COPD sample, age, aerobic fitness, and pulmonary function are predictive of cognitive performance on a variety of tasks.

INTELLIGENCE IN BULGARIA

The Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test was standardised in 1982 on a sample of 11- to 17-yr.-old Bulgarian adolescents. In relation to the American test norms, the Bulgarian sample had a mean IQ of 95, making them about the same.