Fluid Intelligence Factor Research Articles

OpenWMB: An open-source and automated working memory task battery for OpenSesame

Working memory capacity (WMC) has been measured with a plethora of cognitive tasks. Several preeminent automated batteries of working memory (WM) tasks have been developed recently. However, despite all their advantages, most batteries were programmed in paid platforms and/or only included a single WM paradigm. To address these issues, we developed the OpenWMB, an automated battery comprising seven tasks from three distinct paradigms (complex spans, updating tasks, and binding tasks) that tap into several functional aspects of WM (simultaneous storage and processing, updating, and binding). The battery runs on open-source software (OpenSesame) and is freely available online in a ready-to-download format. The OpenWMB possesses flexible features and includes a data processing script (that converts data into a format ready for statistical analysis). The instrument is available in Portuguese and English. However, we only assessed the psychometric properties of the former version. The Portuguese version presented good internal consistency and considerable internal and predictive validity: all tasks loaded into a single factor. Additionally, the WMC estimate was strongly correlated with a fluid intelligence factor. This study also tried to contribute to the ongoing debate regarding the best method to assess WMC. We computed a permutation analysis to compare the amount of variance shared between a fluid intelligence factor and (1) each WM task, (2) homogenous WMC factors (based on multiple tasks from the same paradigm), and (3) heterogeneous WMC factors (derived from triplets of tasks from different paradigms). Our results suggested that heterogeneous factors provided the best estimates of WMC.

Исследование отношения между музыкальной вовлеченностью, интеллектом и успешностью обучения у студентов с разной профессиональной специализацией

We investigated the relationship between music engagement, academic success and intelligence in non-musical students (N = 136). Currently, there is a lack of understanding to the extent in which individual leisure interests and extracurricular engagement influence academic success in different subject areas, as well as the relationship between fluid intelligence and crystallized experience. Clarifying these questions we formed the aim of this study. To diagnose musical engagement and intelligence we used the approved psychometric techniques - Gold-MSI v1.0 “Active engagement” scale, Raven's test, Amthauer's test. We checked the assumptions that musical engagement influences the strength of the correlation between fluid and crystallized intelligence and that the relationship between musical engagement and academic success is determined by the level of fluid intelligence on the one hand, and the degree of homogeneity of the subject areas of engagement on the other. The results of the study showed that musical engagement may play a significant role in predicting the academic performance of non-musicians as well as in the development of crystallized experience. The hypothesis that musical engagement, being a non-relevant behavioral activity in relation to general educational experience and competence, contributes to a decrease in the strength of the link between fluid and crystallized intelligence was confirmed. The other hypothesis was partially confirmed, as it was found that the relationship between musical engagement and academic success is mediated by the fluid intelligence factor, but this mediation is specific to groups with different professional skills. There is a non-linear relationship in the humanities group: the best learning performance is achieved by students with intermediate levels of engagement. In the group of "precise" occupations, the relationship between the variables is linear and negative. The findings are interpreted in terms of modern models of intelligence and subjectoriented knowledge models. The results contribute to improving the quality of prediction of learning success and professional realization, and contribute to elucidating the psychological mechanisms of engagement.

In Search of the Executive Cognitive Processes Proposed by Process-Overlap Theory.

Process-Overlap Theory (POT) suggests that measures of cognitive abilities sample from sets of independent cognitive processes. These cognitive processes can be separated into domain-general executive processes, sampled by the majority of cognitive ability measures, and domain-specific processes, sampled only by measures within a certain domain. According to POT, fluid intelligence measures are related because different tests sample similar domain-general executive cognitive processes to some extent. Re-analyzing data from a study by De Simoni and von Bastian (2018), we assessed domain-general variance from executive processing tasks measuring inhibition, shifting, and efficiency of removal from working memory, as well as examined their relation to a domain-general factor extracted from fluid intelligence measures. The results showed that domain-general factors reflecting general processing speed were moderately and negatively correlated with the domain-general fluid intelligence factor (r = −.17–−.36). However, domain-general factors isolating variance specific to inhibition, shifting, and removal showed only small and inconsistent correlations with the domain-general fluid intelligence factor (r = .02–−.22). These findings suggest that (1) executive processing tasks sample only few domain-general executive processes also sampled by fluid intelligence measures, as well as (2) that domain-general speed of processing contributes more strongly to individual differences in fluid intelligence than do domain-general executive processes.

Working Memory Models: Insights From Neuroimaging.

FIGURE 1. The Atkinson and Shiffrin Model of memory is diagramed in the gray panel. Sensory information is perceived and suppressed via selective attention processes, then briefly held in the limited-capacity modality-specific sensory register. Information enhanced by selective attention enters into short term memory (STM). The process of rehearsal (maintenance) can sustain information in STM. Information in STM is automatically encoded (stored, consolidated) into long term memory (LTM). Although flawed, this model continues to provide a simple and easy approach to understanding memory. Assumptions that proved to be inconsistent with research included that any information in STM will transfer to LTM and that STM is required

The investigation of the manipulation with scores on amoral dimension of the HEDONICA inventory

Faking on Amoral dimension of the HEDONICA personality inventory was incited by the context simulation instructions: fake good (S2), fake bad (S3) and be honest (S1). Simultaneously, under instruction S1, the scores of respondents were measured on the Amoral facets of Self-concept scale (GSC), the Balanced social desirability scale (BIDR) and the cognitive tests of the fluid (IT2, ALF and RM) and the crystallized (AL4, vocabulary and GSN) intelligence, supposed (Morality), or known from the literature, as possible faking determinants. The score differences on Amoral dimension facets were calculated for S2 and for S3 situations using as a baseline the score in S1 situation. The score differences between S3 and S1 situations (abbreviated as FB) were found to be larger than the ones between S2 and S1 situations (abbreviated as FG). This result indicated that a) Amoral is susceptible to faking, and b) in S3, rather than in S2 situation, respondents displayed higher tendency of faking, or in other words, they incline to make worse rather than good presentation of themselves. The Projection facet of Amoral was most sensitive toward faking. These differences are found to be correlated with the Morality dimension of Self-concept scale and the fluid intelligence factor, but not with the dimensions of Social desirability scale in both situation for almost all faking scores on Amoral facets. Only Brutality was not related to the Morality, and Viciousness was not related to the Gf. This indicated that the dimension Morality of the Self-concept scale is far more correlated with the Amoral dimension of the HEDONICA personality scale than with the Social desirability scale.

Vision and intelligence at age 83 in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921

The extent to which visual function, measured as near and distant visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, is correlated with concurrently measured cognitive function and prior intellectual ability was investigated in a narrow age range group known as the Lothian Birth Cohort of 1921 (LBC1921). Participants were aged ~ 83 years at the time of testing (N = 321). A well-fitting structural equation model highlighted a significant contribution of a latent visual trait to a general fluid intelligence factor in old age, independent of the contribution from childhood intelligence. Additionally, childhood intelligence made a significant contribution to the general visual factor in old age. However, the model fitted equally well when the fluid intelligence factor is assumed to be a cause of the visual function latent trait, in which case childhood intelligence does not significantly influence vision in old age. We discuss these results with respect to four possible mechanisms by which vision and cognition can come to be correlated over the lifecourse.

Lapses in sustained attention and their relation to executive control and fluid abilities: An individual differences investigation

A latent variable analysis was conducted to examine the nature of individual differences in lapses of attention and their relation to executive and fluid abilities. Participants performed a sustained attention task along with multiple measures of executive control and fluid abilities. Lapses of attention were indexed based on the slowest reaction times in terms of both quintiles and the τ parameter from the ex-Gaussian distribution. It was found that the slowest, but not the fastest, RTs in the sustained attention task were related to a broad based executive control factor and a fluid intelligence factor. The results further suggested that only the working memory capacity and response inhibition sub-executive control factors were related to the slowest RTs, with the fluency measures not being related to any of the RT variables. The results are consistent with the idea that fluctuations or lapses in sustained attention, as indexed by the slowest responses, are related to executive control and fluid abilities.

The Impact of Different Measurement Models for Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence on the Correlation with Personality Traits

Abstract. The study investigated the relations of the five-factor model of personality with a faceted, a hierarchical, and a shortened measurement model for fluid and crystallized intelligence. The faceted model for fluid and crystallized intelligence contained a content facet comprising a verbal, a numerical, and a figural factor. The hierarchical model contained primary factors for verbal, numerical, and figural fluid intelligence and for verbal, numerical, and figural crystallized intelligence as well as second-order factors for fluid and crystallized intelligence. The shortened model contained a fluid-intelligence factor based on only figural reasoning tasks, and a crystallized-intelligence factor based on only verbal knowledge tasks. A total of 789 German participants ranging from 16 to 21 years of age completed the NEO Five Factors Inventory and the Intelligence Structure Test 2000 R. Substantial correlations of fluid intelligence with openness to experience were only found for the faceted model. No correlations of fluid and crystallized intelligence with personality factors occurred for the remaining measurement models.

Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale Deficits Among Traumatic Brain Injury Patients, Part I: Validation With Nongeriatric Patients

The Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale is a measure of executive abilities initially designed to predict functional independence in geriatric populations. The current study examined the utility of two Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale (BDS) scoring systems in a nongeriatric sample. The BDS was administered to 49 TBI patients undergoing inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation. The results demonstrate slightly greater utility of the BDS-II scoring system, and support clinical utility of the instrument with nongeriatric patients. Specifically, the Motor Programming Factor and Environmental Independence Factor were more impaired among patients with severe, as compared to mild to moderate, TBIs. In contrast, the Fluid Intelligence Factor was more impaired among patients with frontal, as compared to nonfrontal, injuries. However, when patients were categorized by severity, lesion location differences on the BDS total score and factors were found only for patients with mild to moderate injuries. Similarly, when patients were categorized by lesion location, severity effects were only present among the nonfrontal group. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves demonstrated sensitivity and specificity rates that ranged from 60% to 100% for clinically meaningful cutting scores.

Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale Deficits Among Traumatic Brain Injury Patients, Part II: Comparison to Other Measures of Executive Functioning

The clinical utility of the Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale (BDS) was compared to that of verbal fluency, the Trail Making Test, and the Stroop Color-Word Test, as well as measures of processing speed/cognitive efficiency and manual dexterity. The ability of these measures to classify 49 TBI patients into frontal versus nonfrontal and mild to moderate versus severe groups was examined. The results showed that the Fluid Intelligence Factor of the BDS improved classifications above and beyond traditional executive measures, but was particularly successful at classifying patients who sustained mild injuries. In contrast, traditional executive instruments were successful at lesion location classifications only among the patients with severe injuries. Severity classifications were successful both for traditional measures of processing speed/cognitive efficiency and for the Motor Programming Factor of the BDS, but only among patients with nonfrontal injuries. These results demonstrate that severity of injury may be an important moderator of tests’ sensitivity to frontal lobe involvement.

Complexity, Metacognition, and Fluid Intelligence

From among five tests of fluid intelligence employed in this study, two (Swaps and Triplet Numbers) were designed to investigate increases in complexity and difficulty. This was accomplished by manipulating the number of steps needed to reach a solution. The increase in task difficulty is related to changes in the overall performance levels that are reflected in arithmetic means. The complexity of a task is related to the increase in correlation with measures of fluid intelligence or in the increase in factor loadings on a fluid intelligence factor. Both these tendencies are present in the results of this study. A metacognitive process of self-confidence was assessed by asking participants to indicate how confident they were that the item they have just answered was correctly solved. A metacognitive process of self-evaluation was assessed by estimating the number of correctly solved items at the end of each test. The analyses of the overall performance also indicate that an “easy/difficult” distinction provides a reasonable account of the calibration data that show over- and underconfidence. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses indicate the presence of a relatively strong self-confidence factor. Confirmatory analysis also indicates the presence of a self-evaluation factor.

Chronological age and crystallized intelligence of people with intellectual disability.

The influence of chronological age (CA) and fluid intelligence on the crystallized intelligence level of people with intellectual disability was studied in a group of 102 participants aged between 6 and 20 years. The results, which were based on their performance in 12 fluid and crystallized intelligence markers, indicate that the fluid intelligence factor and CA explain an important fraction of crystallized intelligence factor variance (43% and 21%, respectively). This finding provides support for the hypothesis that CA-related experience exerts a significant effect on the crystallized component of intelligence in people with intellectual disability.

The Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale as a Predictor of Aggression against Self or Others in Psychogeriatric Inpatients

The ability of the Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale (BDS) and its factors to predict aggression in psychogeriatric inpatients was investigated. Fifty-one neurologic and 33 psychiatric patients participated in the study. In the psychiatric group, Environmental Independence Factor (EIF: consisting of two go/no-go tasks) was more impaired in aggressive than in nonaggressive patients. In both groups, Fluid Intelligence Factor (FIF: consisting of alphanumeric sequencing, non-mirroring, and insight) was more impaired in aggressive than in nonaggressive patients. No differences between aggressive and nonaggressive patients were found for the Motor Programming Factor, BDS total score, or Mini-Mental State Exam. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve using an EIF/FIF composite demonstrated high sensitivity and modest specificity for the psychiatric patients, yielding an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 84%. Differences in the test’s ability to predict aggression in the two diagnostic groups underscore the necessity for establishing unique norms for different populations.

Behavioral dyscontrol scale: Criterion and predictive validity in an inpatient rehabilitation unit population

The Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale (BDS) was administered to inpatient rehabilitation patients to examine (a) the cognitive correlates of factors found by previous research (N = 68), and (b) the ability of the BDS to predict patients' independence after discharge (N=46). First, stepwise forward multiple regression using three BDS factors as criterion variables yielded three different models and led to relabeling the factors as Motor Programming factor, Fluid Intelligence factor, and Environmental Independence factor. Second, the BDS was found to be superior to the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) in predicting living situation (independent vs. assisted) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores 3 months after discharge.

Modeling complexity and difficulty in measures of fluid intelligence

This article applies structural equation modeling to the simultaneous study of task complexity and difficulty in measures of fluid intelligence. The interrelation between 3 tests of fluid intelligence, 2 experimental tasks, and age is examined. Each experimental task is decomposed into 4 subtasks, with the most intellectually demanding ones being measures of fluid intelligence, and the remaining 3 levels constructed to be gradually simpler. The findings suggest that the experimental manipulations produced systematic changes in 3 sets of parameters. These are: (a) the mean intercept parameters of the structural equation model—interpreted as “pure test difficulties” reflecting task‐specific demands placed on elementary cognitive processes of the “same kind” (b) factor loadings on 2 subtask‐specific narrow factors (SWAPS and TRIPLETS) that reflect demands placed on processes of “similar kinds,” that is, processes common to variations within the same experimental task; and (c) factor loadings on a fluid intelligence factor (Gf) that reflect demands placed on processes of “diverse kinds,” which are common to measures of a broad range of different cognitive tasks. The results indicate that as task requirements become more demanding, cognitive processes of the same kind, which are involved in solving the easier subtasks, are no longer critical to performance, but the demand on processes of similar and diverse kinds is increased. It is suggested that for human subjects, increase in task complexity may be associated with lapses of attention in the course of carrying out a series of interconnected steps.

The complexity effect phenomenon is an epiphenomenon of age-related fluid intelligence decline

This paper employs the methods of covariance structure analysis to explore the relationship between complexity, age, and fluid intelligence. Fluid intelligence is defined by seven psychometric tests. Complexity is systematically varied by making two well-known measures of fluid intelligence progressively more simple. The model assumes the existence of three psychometric factors—fluid intelligence with loadings from all psychological tests including those whose complexity was manipulated, and two narrow factors (the Swaps and Triplets factors) representing only complexity levels of a given test. The results show that age is related to the general fluid intelligence factor—it does not seem to have direct links with different levels of complexity manipulations. It is argued that the often observed tendency for the magnitude of age differences in performance to increase as the task becomes more complex—known in the literature as the Complexity Effect Phenomenon—is a consequence of the fact that fluid intelligence correlates with age.