Intelligence Test Scores Research Articles

Eye Movements and Cognitive Strategy in a Fluid Intelligence Test: Item Type Analysis.

Eye movements help to infer the cognitive strategy that a person uses in fluid intelligence tests. However, intelligence tests demand different relations/rules tokens to be solved, such as rule direction, which is the continuation, variation or overlay of geometric figures in the matrix of the intelligence test. The aim of this study was to understand whether eye movements could predict the outcome of an intelligence test and in the rule item groups. Furthermore, we sought to identify which measure is best for predicting intelligence test scores and to understand if the rule item groups use the same strategy. Accordingly, 34 adults completed a computerized intelligence test with an eye-tracking device. The toggling rate, that is, the number of toggles on each test item equalized by the item latency explained 45% of the variance of the test scores and a significant amount of the rule tokens item groups. The regression analyses also indicated toggling rate as the best measure for predicting the score and that all the rule tokens seem to respect the same strategy. No correlation or difference were found between baseline pupil size and fluid intelligence. Wiener Matrizen-Test 2 was demonstrated to be a good instrument for the purpose of this study. Finally, the implications of these findings for an understanding of cognition are discussed.

A moderate financial incentive can increase effort, but not intelligence test performance in adult volunteers.

A positive correlation between self-reported test-taking motivation and intelligence test performance has been reported. Additionally, some financial incentive experimental evidence suggests that intelligence test performance can be improved, based on the provision of financial incentives. However, only a small percentage of the experimental research has been conducted with adults. Furthermore, virtually none of the intelligence experimental research has measured the impact of financial incentives on test-taking motivation. Consequently, we conducted an experiment with 99 adult volunteers who completed a battery of intelligence tests under two conditions: no financial incentive and financial incentive (counterbalanced). We also measured self-reported test-taking importance and effort at time 1 and time 2. The financial incentive was observed to impact test-taking effort statistically significantly. By contrast, no statistically significant effects were observed for the intelligence test performance scores. Finally, the intelligence test scores were found to correlate positively with both test-taking importance (rc =.28) and effort (rc =.37), although only effort correlated uniquely with intelligence (partial rc =.26). In conjunction with other empirical research, it is concluded that a financial incentive can increase test-taking effort. However, the potential effects on intelligence test performance in adult volunteers seem limited.

Multi-modal fitness and cognitive training to enhance fluid intelligence

Improving fluid intelligence is an enduring research aim in the psychological and brain sciences that has motivated public interest and scientific scrutiny. At issue is the efficacy of prominent interventions—including fitness training, computer-based cognitive training, and mindfulness meditation—to improve performance on untrained tests of intellectual ability. To investigate this issue, we conducted a comprehensive 4-month randomized controlled trial in which 424 healthy adults (age 18–43years) were enrolled in one of four conditions: (1) Fitness training; (2) Fitness training and computer-based cognitive training; (3) Fitness, cognitive training, and mindfulness meditation; or (4) Active control. Intervention effects were evaluated within a structural equation modeling framework that included repeated-testing gains, as well as novel tests of fluid intelligence that were administered only at post-intervention. The combination of fitness and cognitive training produced gains in visuospatial reasoning that were greater than in the Active Control, but not in performance on novel tests administered only at post-intervention. Individuals more variably responded to multi-modal training that additionally incorporated mindfulness meditation (and less time spent on cognitive training), and those who demonstrated repeated-testing gains in visuospatial reasoning also performed better on novel tests of fluid intelligence at post-intervention. In contrast to the multi-modal interventions, fitness only training did not produce Active Control-adjusted gains in task performance. Because fluid intelligence test scores predict real-world outcomes across the lifespan, boosting intelligence ability via multi-modal intervention that is effective even in young, healthy adults is a promising avenue to improve reasoning and decision making in daily life.

What happens if the same curriculum is taught in five instead of six years? A quasi-experimental investigation of the effect of schooling on intelligence

Several studies have shown that each year of schooling has a significant positive impact on IQ. However, there is still a debate about how to explain this effect. With the German G8 school reform, the duration of school attendance in the highest track of Germany’s tracked school system (Gymnasium) was shortened from 9 years (G9) to 8 (G8) while simultaneously both the curricular contents and amount of instruction should be preserved in full. In the present paper, the G8 reform was utilized as a natural quasi-experiment to examine whether the duration of school attendance would enhance intelligence test scores even when students with different numbers of years of schooling had completed the same curricular contents within the same amount of instruction. Two studies were conducted. In Study A, the performances of n=81 G8 10th graders (Mage=15.16years, SD=0.37) and n=80 G9 11th graders (Mage=16.39years, SD=0.49) on the Berlin Intelligence Structure Test were compared. In Study B, the cognitive abilities of n=244 G8 10th graders (Mage=15.23years, SD=0.42) and n=204 G9 11th graders (Mage=16.33years, SD=0.47) were measured with the Intelligence-Structure-Test 2000 R. The G9 students outperformed the G8 students on nearly all cognitive ability tests despite completing equal curricula. Thus, the impact of schooling on intelligence test scores seems to be primarily due to the fostering of intelligence-related abilities that are independent of formal curricula.

A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis of Psychometric Intelligence and Achievement in Reading and Math.

A cross-lagged panel analysis of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) intelligence test scores and reading and math achievement test scores of 337 students twice assessed for special education eligibility across a test-retest interval of 2.85 years was conducted. General intelligence (g) was loaded by the four WISC-IV factor index scores whereas reading and math were composite scores. After confirming measurement invariance, it was found that g, reading, and math were stable across time and synchronously correlated. The cross-lagged paths from g at time 1 to reading and math at time 2 (0.26 and 0.39, respectively) were both significantly greater than zero whereas the paths from reading and math at time 1 to g at time 2 (0.03 and 0.23, respectively) were not statistically significant. Given this pattern of relationships and extant research on the correlates of general intelligence, it was tentatively inferred that general intelligence was the temporal precursor to reading and math achievement.

P380 Intelligence is predicted by single-vs-double-sensory brain responses

Objective This research investigated the association between intelligence test scores and gamma-range steady-state power-responses (SS-PR) to an auditory, a visual, and a combined audiovisual stimulation. We hypothesized, and established empirically, that the difference in SS-PR from the mono-modal to the bimodal stimulation ( Δ P) is associated with intelligence. Methods We measured SS-PR as well as intelligence and other aspects of neurocognitive function in 36 healthy males born in 1953 who were a part of a Danish birth cohort study. Results We found a highly significant correlation between intelligence and the difference in SS-PR from the mono-modal to the bimodal stimulation ( Δ P). The findings were robust to controlling for size-at-birth measures, length of education, speed of processing as well as a range of other potentially confounding biomarkers. Interestingly, we found that intelligence scores measured at earlier points in time, namely in childhood, youth, and late midlife, also were significantly associated with Δ P. Finally, we found that Δ P has a sensitivity of 81% of detection of an intelligence score below the average. Discussion Our findings suggest that the uncovered relationship between intelligence and Δ P represents a constitutive relationship. Furthermore, our results are consistent with the notion that intelligence is related to the efficiency of the brain, and provide support for Haier’s efficiency hypothesis. Conclusion Δ P reflects intelligence throughougt life. Significance Our results indicate that Δ P may be useful as a supplement to cognitive neuropsychological testing.

Childhood intelligence in relation to major causes of death in 68 year follow-up: prospective population study

Objectives To examine the association between intelligence measured in childhood and leading causes of death in men and women over the life course.Design Prospective cohort study based on a whole...

Problem Space Matters: The Development of Creativity and Intelligence in Primary School Children

Previous research showed that in primary school, children’s intelligence develops continually, but creativity develops more irregularly. In this study, the development of intelligence, measured traditionally, i.e., operating within well-defined problem spaces (Standard Progressive Matrices) was compared with the development of intelligence operating in ill-defined problem spaces (Creative Reasoning Task) and the development of creativity (Test of Creative Thinking-Drawing Production), in primary school children (N = 175) across four grade levels. Results showed that problem space matters: Traditional intelligence test scores increased regularly with grade level, whereas creativity, as well as intelligence operating in an ill-defined problem space, developed irregularly but similarly. This suggests that when creativity is fostered, intelligence’s ability to operate in ill-defined problem space may be fostered, likewise.

Profil Berpikir Kreatif Mahasiswa dalam Memecahkan Masalah Sistem Persamaan Linier Berbasis Kontekstual Ditinjau dari Kecerdasan Matematika Logis

<span>This research is meant to understand the thinking profile of students in solving the system linear problem seen from mathematical logic intelligence. This is descriptive qualitative research. The data collection technique used in this research are test and interview. The data validation method is done through triangulation method. The data analysis method is done through data reduction, data presentation and data verification. The subject used in this research is selected through mathematical logic intelligence test score of first semester students from Information Technique Department. Based on the test score of mathematical logic intelligence, the researcher selected three subjects which is then categorized into three categories namely, high, medium and low. The conclusion of this research are: 1) student with high mathematical logic intelligence in the stage of finding and writing all information, in incubation stage, student can solve problem through varied solution methods, in the insight stage, student can understand the problem well by coming to the same answer through varied methods, 2) student with medium mathematical logic intelligence solved the problem at the stage of finding information needed, in incubation stage by choosing different method from what is taught, at the insight stage, student can find the result through his own method, 3) student with low mathematical logic intelligence at the preparation stage can find all information needed, at the incubation stage, student tried varied methods, but until insight stage.</span>

The opposite effects of actual and self-perceived intelligence on racial prejudice

Previous research has already firmly established the negative relationship between intelligence and racial prejudice. Yet, so far, the role of self-perceived intelligence in explaining racial prejudice remains uninvestigated. The present study therefore compared the effects of intelligence test scores and self-perceived intelligence on racial prejudice using a Belgian community sample (N=183). Our results revealed opposite relationships: whereas individuals who scored higher (vs. lower) on an intelligence test showed lower levels of racial prejudice, individuals who perceived themselves as being more intelligent compared to others showed higher levels of racial prejudice. Additional mediation analyses showed that the negative relationship between actual intelligence and racial prejudice was mediated by essentialist thinking whereas the positive association between self-perceived intelligence and racial prejudice was mediated by Social Dominance Orientation. The present results indicate that being more intelligent is related with less racial prejudice, but judging that one is more intelligent than others is related with more racial prejudice.

Explaining academic-track boys' underachievement in language grades: Not a lack of aptitude but students' motivational beliefs and parents' perceptions?

Boys earn lower grades in languages than girls. The expectancy-value model by Eccles etal. (, A series of books in psychology. Achievement and achievement motives. Psychological and sociological approaches, W.H. Freeman, San Francisco, CA, 76) is a comprehensive theoretical model for explaining gender differences in educational outcomes. In the past, most studies have focused on girls' disadvantage in math and science and on the role of the students' motivational beliefs. We aimed to explain boys' lower language grades by applying the expectancy-value model while taking into account students' motivational beliefs as well as their aptitude, prior achievement, and socializers' beliefs. In addition, we aimed at exploring the incremental contribution of each potential mediator. Five hundred and twenty German students (age M=17years; 58% female) and 374 parents (age M=47years). Student-reported ability self-concept (ASC) and task values, parents' perceptions of students' ability, students' prior achievement as reported by schools, and students' verbal intelligence test scores were all tested as mediators of the effect of gender on grades in German while controlling for parents' socioeconomic status. Single-mediator models and a multiple-mediator model were estimated using structural equationmodelling. All variables proved to be relevant for explaining boys' underachievement in language grades. Whereas students' ASC, task values, prior achievement, and parents' perceptions mediated the gender effect, verbal intelligence was identified as a suppressor variable increasing the gender effect. Our results challenge the stereotypic belief that boys' lower grades are due to lower verbal aptitude. Rather, students' motivational beliefs and parents' perceptions seem critical factors. Implications for both future research and practice are discussed.

Refractive state, intelligence, education, and Lord's paradox

In a cohort of Swedish men (N=45.906), we found that men with myopia had higher levels of intelligence and education than men with emmetropia and both these groups had higher levels than men with hyperopia. The educational advantage of myopia was reduced by 47–66 percent when adjusting for intelligence but still remained significant. When adjusting for intelligence hyperopes had a higher level of education than emmetropes. Hyperopes also had the highest level of education compared to their level of intelligence. The reversal in the difference between hyperopes and emmetropes when adjusting for intelligence could be seen as an example of Lord's paradox, possibly due to hyperopes having a higher level of intelligence than emmetropes with the same intelligence test score.

Childhood Cognitive Ability and Incident Dementia: The 1932 Scottish Mental Survey Cohort into their 10th Decade.

The prevention of dementia is a global priority but its etiology is poorly understood. Early life cognitive ability has been linked to subsequent dementia risk but studies to date have been small and none has examined sex differences. In the 1932 Scottish Mental Survey cohort, we related intelligence test scores at age 11 years in 16,370 boys and 16,097 girls (born in 1921) to incident dementia ages ≥65 years as ascertained using probabilistic linkage to electronic health records up to the age of 92 years (1,231 cases in men, 2,163 in women; median follow-up 15 years). Compared with the highest intelligence group (IQ ≥115), dementia risk was raised in the lowest-scoring category (<85) and these associations were stronger for women (hazard ratio; 95% confidence interval: 1.51; 1.29, 1.76) than men (1.19; 0.98, 1.44; P value for interaction by gender: 0.054). There was evidence of a dose-response association between childhood IQ and dementia in women (IQ 100-114.9 compared with ≥115: 1.18; 1.03, 1.34; IQ 85-99.9: 1.32; 1.15, 1.51; P value for trend <0.001) but not in men (1.05; 0.89, 1.24 and 1.01; 0.85, 1.21; 0.44). Childhood intelligence is related to subsequent dementia risk but this association is not the same in men and women. See video abstract at, http://links.lww.com/EDE/B184.

The Course and Correlates of Combat-Related PTSD in Australian Vietnam Veterans in the Three Decades After the War.

Australian male Vietnam veterans (N = 388) were assessed 22 and 36 years after their return to Australia using standardized diagnostic interviews, with added data from Army records and self-report questionnaires. Among veterans who ever had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 50.3% had a current diagnosis at the second assessment; of those who had a current diagnosis at Wave 1, 46.9% were also current at Wave 2. Late onset occurred for 19.0% of veterans, of whom 60.8% were current at Wave 2. Multivariate analysis compared veterans with no history of PTSD (n = 231) with veterans who had ever had PTSD (n = 157) to assess risk factors for PTSD incidence; and veterans with a history, but not current PTSD (n = 78) with veterans who had current PTSD at the second assessment (n = 79) to assess risk factors for failure to remit. Incidence was associated with lower education, shorter Army training predeployment, higher combat, excess drinking, and help-seeking after return to Australia. Prevalence was associated with having a father who saw combat in World War II, being injured in battle, having a lower intelligence test score, experiencing higher combat, and having a diagnosis of phobia at the first assessment. Only combat was common to incidence and prevalence.

The roles of motor activity and environmental enrichment in intellectual disability

In people with intellectual disabilities, an enriched environment can stimulate the acquisition of motor skills and could partially repair neuronal impairment thanks to exploration and motor activity. A deficit in environmental and motor stimulation leads to low scores in intelligence tests and can cause serious motor skill problems. Although studies in humans do not give much evidence for explaining basic mechanisms of intellectual disability and for highlighting improvements due to enriched environmental stimulation, animal models have been valuable in the investigation of these conditions. Here, we discuss the role of environmental enrichment in four intellectual disabilities: Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Down, Rett, and Fragile X syndromes.

Personality and Intelligence in a High Ability Sample

In all 754 adults (518 males) in a high achieving school-leaver sample completed two intelligence tests (Ravens Progressive Matrices; Graduate Management Assessment Verbal and Numerical) and the 16PF. The study was concerned with the relationships between personality and intelligence. Correlational and regression analyses showed a few of the 16PF factors (particularly Reasoning and Sensitivity) to be related to the various cognitive ability test scores. The study shows that specific personality traits are modestly but consistently correlated with intelligence test scores. Implications are considered.

Antibiotics in the first year of life and subsequent neurocognitive outcomes.

There may be a link between disruption to the gut microbiota in early life and later neurocognitive outcomes. We hypothesised that antibiotic use in early life is associated with a detrimental effect on later neurocognitive outcomes. Eight hundred and seventy-one European mothers and their children enrolled in the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study at birth. Information on antibiotic use during the first year of life and between 12months and three-and-a-half years of age was gathered via maternal interview. Intelligence test scores and measures of behavioural difficulties were obtained when children were three-and-a-half years, seven years and 11years of age. Antibiotic use in the first year of life was reported in 70% of the 526 children with antibiotic data assessed at age three-and-a-half years. Those who had received antibiotics had more behavioural difficulties and more symptoms of depression at follow-up. Results were consistent across all standardised psychologist administered tests, as well as parent rated, teacher rated and self-report measures. This study demonstrates an association between antibiotic use in the first year of life and subsequent neurocognitive outcomes in childhood. If confirmed by further research, these findings could have implications for the use of antibiotics for minor illnesses in infancy.

Antibiotic use in infancy and neurocognitive outcomes in children: the role of bacterial denitrification.

Slykerman et al. (1) recently investigated the role of antibiotic use in early life and later adverse neurocognitive outcomes in children. The authors utilized as their cohort 871 mothers and their children at birth from the Auckland Birthweight Collaborative Study. Data on antibiotic use during early life were collected from maternal interview, and behavioral assessments and intelligence test scores were obtained at the ages of 3.5, 7, and 11. The authors reported that those individuals treated with antibiotics experienced more behavioral difficulties and depressive symptomatology during the follow-up periods. This finding led the authors to conclude that there was an association between early antibiotic use and adverse neurocognitive outcomes in children, highlighting the potential need for a reevaluation of antibiotic overuse during infancy, especially if future studies are able to confirm these findings. This is a polarizing conclusion made by the authors and warrants a closer inspection of potential confounders to this discovered association. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Investigating the Relationship between Vocabulary Knowledge and Academic Success of Arabic Undergraduate Learners in Swansea University

AbstractThe number of Arabic learners studying abroad has increased significantly over the last decade, and continues to increase. To test such students’ proficiency with English in an academic setting, most universities use standardised exams, such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Test System (IELTS). Although these tools are considered valid entry tests (Taylor and Falvey, 2007) they don’t appear to be useful predictors of academic success (e.g. Cotton and Conrow, 1998). We have therefore tried to find alternative measures to help refine our ability to predict academic performance. These include vocabulary knowledge using the XK_Lex test (Milton &amp; Al- Masrai, 2009); intelligence test (Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, WASI) and a foreign language aptitude test (Modern Language Aptitude Test, MLAT; Carroll &amp; Sapon, 1959).36 Arabic undergraduate students in Swansea University participated in this study. The results of the measures were correlated with participants’ Grade Point Average (GPA) as a measure of academic achievement. The findings suggest that a vocabulary knowledge threshold of 5000 and above is necessary for L2 learners to undertake international education; below this volume of vocabulary, they risk failure or academic hardship during their studies. No correlation was found between intelligence or aptitude test scores and learners’ academic achievement, but a significant relationship was noted between intelligence and vocabulary knowledge, confirming the trend that learners with high intelligence scores are more likely to possess an extensive vocabulary than learners with low intelligence scores.

Long-term stability of the French WISC-IV: Standard and CHC index scores

IntroductionThe assumption of the stability of intelligence is the source of the predictive value of the Intelligence Quotient (e.g., Full Scale IQ). However, few studies have investigated the long-term stability of one of the most frequently used tests in the field of cognitive assessment: the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – 4th edition (WISC-IV). ObjectiveFor a deeper understanding and a better use of intelligence test scores, this study examined the long-term stability of the standard index scores and five CHC composite scores of the French WISC-IV. MethodA test–retest procedure was used, with an average retest interval of 1.77 year (SD=0.56 year). This study involved 277 French-speaking Swiss children aged between 7 and 12 years. Three types of stability analysis were conducted: (a) mean-level changes, (b) rank-order consistency and change, and (c) individual-level of change. ResultsThe observed pattern of mean-level changes suggested a normative mean-level stability for the Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), the Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), the General Ability Index (GAI), Comprehension-Knowledge (Gc), and Visual Processing (Gv). Regarding individual differences stability, only the FSIQ and the GAI reached a reliability of .80 required for making decisions about individuals. Using a two standard errors of measurement confidence interval (± 2 SEM), we examined individual-level stability. Results indicated that more than 70% of the children presented stable performances for the GAI, Gc, and Gv scores. ConclusionTogether, nomothetic and idiographic perspectives suggested that the GAI, Gc, and Gv were the most stable scores in our non-clinical sample.