Mental Ability Test Research Articles

Emergence of a Gene × Socioeconomic Status Interaction on Infant Mental Ability Between 10 Months and 2 Years

Recent research in behavioral genetics has found evidence for a Gene × Environment interaction on cognitive ability: Individual differences in cognitive ability among children raised in socioeconomically advantaged homes are primarily due to genes, whereas environmental factors are more influential for children from disadvantaged homes. We investigated the developmental origins of this interaction in a sample of 750 pairs of twins measured on the Bayley Short Form test of infant mental ability, once at age 10 months and again at age 2 years. A Gene × Environment interaction was evident on the longitudinal change in mental ability over the study period. At age 10 months, genes accounted for negligible variation in mental ability across all levels of socioeconomic status (SES). However, genetic influences emerged over the course of development, with larger genetic influences emerging for infants raised in higher-SES homes. At age 2 years, genes accounted for nearly 50% of the variation in mental ability of children raised in high-SES homes, but genes continued to account for negligible variation in mental ability of children raised in low-SES homes.

The Efficacy of the Total Giftedness Development Model

The study objective was to apply the Total Giftedness Development Model (TGDM) among a Saudi Arabian sample and study its effectiveness. The descriptive and case study research methods were applied on a sample of 807 male students, age 5 to 18 to test the efficacy of the model. Several instruments, including The Saudi Mental Abilities Test, Torrance Test for Creative Thinking, academic achievement scores, and Renzulli’ s Scales for Rating Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (SRBCSS) were used in the study. The most significant results of the study are: (a) The TGDM effectively influences the increase of mental abilities of participating students. (b) The model significantly affects the creative abilities of participating students. (c) The model significantly affects the academic capabilities of participating students.

The value of the UK Clinical Aptitude Test in predicting pre-clinical performance: a prospective cohort study at Nottingham Medical School

BackgroundThe UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) was introduced in 2006 as an additional tool for the selection of medical students. It tests mental ability in four distinct domains (Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Reasoning, and Decision Analysis), and the results are available to students and admissions panels in advance of the selection process. As yet the predictive validity of the test against course performance is largely unknown.The study objective was to determine whether UKCAT scores predict performance during the first two years of the 5-year undergraduate medical course at Nottingham.MethodsWe studied a single cohort of students, who entered Nottingham Medical School in October 2007 and had taken the UKCAT. We used linear regression analysis to identify independent predictors of marks for different parts of the 2-year preclinical course.ResultsData were available for 204/260 (78%) of the entry cohort. The UKCAT total score had little predictive value. Quantitative Reasoning was a significant independent predictor of course marks in Theme A ('The Cell'), (p = 0.005), and Verbal Reasoning predicted Theme C ('The Community') (p < 0.001), but otherwise the effects were slight or non-existent.ConclusionThis limited study from a single entry cohort at one medical school suggests that the predictive value of the UKCAT, particularly the total score, is low. Section scores may predict success in specific types of course assessment.The ultimate test of validity will not be available for some years, when current cohorts of students graduate. However, if this test of mental ability does not predict preclinical performance, it is arguably less likely to predict the outcome in the clinical years. Further research from medical schools with different types of curriculum and assessment is needed, with longitudinal studies throughout the course.

Having a Male Co-Twin Masculinizes Mental Rotation Performance in Females

Probably the most robust cognitive sex difference is that, on average, males outperform females in tests of mental rotation ability (Voyer, Voyer, & Bryden, 1995). This sex difference is evident across many different cultures (Silverman, Choi, & Peters, 2007), and it appears early in infancy, at 3 to 5 months of age (Moore & Johnson, 2008; Quinn & Liben, 2008). Studies have suggested that elevated levels of fluctuating testosterone are associated with better spatial abilities among females, whereas in males, lower fluctuating testosterone levels relate to better spatial abilities (Gouchie & Kimura, 1991; Moffat & Hampson, 1996). In persons with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which usually affects the production of sex steroids, the organizational effects of elevated prenatal testosterone may account for improved spatial test performance in females and impaired spatial test performance in males (Puts, McDaniel, Jordan, & Breedlove, 2008). Moreover, a positive relationship between mental rotation test (MRT) performance and prenatal testosterone has been reported in healthy girls (Grimshaw, Sitarenios, & Finegan, 1995). Animal studies have shown that female fetuses located adjacent to male fetuses in the uterus can be masculinized through prenatal exposure to testosterone (Ryan & Vandenbergh, 2002). In humans, prenatal masculinization can be studied by comparing female twins from opposite-sex twin pairs with female twins from same-sex pairs. Sisters of twin brothers have been reported to be masculinized in physiological traits, including maternal fitness (Lummaa, Pettay, & Russell, 2007) and second-to-fourth-finger ratio (van Anders, Vernon, & Wilbur, 2006), but other studies have not demonstrated the same results (Medland, Loehlin, & Martin, 2008; Medland, Loehlin, Willemsen, et al., 2008). One commonly cited study concerns mental rotation ability in female twins from opposite- and same-sex pairs (Cole-Harding, Morstad, & Wilson, 1988); however, this study was published only as a meeting abstract. In the study reported here, we assessed masculinization effects on MRT performance among female twins with male co-twins by comparing their performance with that of female twins with female co-twins. We also investigated whether or not there are differences in MRT performance between males with female co-twins and males with male co-twins.

Officer Selection for the Swiss Armed Forces

The present study (N = 844) examined the predictive validity and fairness of the assessment center (AC) and the general mental ability (GMA) test used to select officers for the Swiss Armed Forces. We found that both selection methods predicted candidates’ academic and military performance at the end of their officer training. Furthermore, the AC had incremental validity beyond GMA, meaning that it cannot be replaced by the GMA test. Concerning the fairness of the selection methods, no significant performance differences were found between candidates from the different Swiss language regions. With one exception, no evidence for differential prediction was found, and for the single exception, the selection procedure used was not the source of the differential prediction. Thus, the AC and the GMA test were generally equally predictive for candidates from the German-speaking region as well as from the two other language regions of Switzerland. Taken together, the present study attests to the good predictive validity and fairness of the methods used to select officers.

Group differences in the heritability of items and test scores

It is important to understand potential sources of group differences in the heritability of intelligence test scores. On the basis of a basic item response model we argue that heritabilities which are based on dichotomous item scores normally do not generalize from one sample to the next. If groups differ in mean ability, the functioning of items at different ability levels may result in group differences in the heritability of items, even when these items function equivalently across groups and the heritability of the underlying ability is equal across groups. We illustrate this graphically, by computer simulation, and by focusing on several problems associated with a recent study by Rushton et al. who argued that the heritability estimates of items of Raven's Progressive Matrices test in North-American twin samples generalized to other population groups, and hence that the population group differences on this test of general mental ability (or intelligence) had a substantial genetic component. Our results show that item heritabilities are strongly dependent on the group on which the heritabilities were based. Rushton et al.'s results were artefactual and do not speak to the nature of population group differences in intelligence test performance.

AL03 ADVERSE EVENTS: OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR REPORTING, REVIEWING AND RESPONDING

The sustained production of competent surgeons in sufficient numbers to meet the increasing needs of society commences with recruitment and selection of the most able medical graduates. As the process begins through self‐selection, accurate information must be readily available to enable these graduates make an informed judgement on their career choice.Each surgical discipline aspires to use best practice selection in order to identify those who have the potential to acquire the necessary standard of technical and non technical skills and attributes required to practice as a surgeon.A selection system must rank applicants effectively and be reliable, valid, fair, defensible, cost effective and feasible. Best practice selection commences with an analysis of the relevant knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes associated with successful performance in the particular target job. This information is used to construct a person specification in order to identify selection criteria at a level appropriate for entry to training. Selection methods are then chosen which will best elicit measurable applicant behaviour related to these selection criteria.A number of selection methods are used which include structured references, curriculum vitae and interviews. Other methods available although rarely used include tests of mental ability, aptitude tests and personality inventories. More recently selection or assessment centres (a selection method, not a place) involving a combination of selection techniques such as written exercises, interviews and work simulations have been shown to be highly effective. Eligibility criteria for application (long listing), shortlising for interview, scoring of items within each selection method and overall % weighting for each method are important variables in the selection process.

Identity maintenance and cognitive test performance

Identity maintenance processes can affect performance when that performance is relevant to an important self-identity, including performance on standardized tests of mental ability. Affect control theory proposes that individuals’ performances are motivated to maintain concordance between fundamental sentiments about identities and contextually driven transient meanings. An experimental test used the college major identity and randomly assigned participants to different instruction sets that made an aptitude test either relevant to their major or a contrasting major (All participants took the Raven advanced progressive matrices test.). Participants who took a test of mental ability that they expected would verify their identity scored two and a half points higher than did participants who took a test of mental ability expected to verify a contrasting identity. Results strongly support the fundamental validity of affect control theory’s predictions about situational meaning maintenance [Heise, David R., 1979. Understanding Events: Affect and the Construction of Social Action. Cambridge University Press, New York; Heise, David R., 1985. Affect control theory: respecification, estimation and tests of the formal model. Journal of Mathematical Sociology 11, 191–222; Heise, David R., 2007. Expressive Order: Confirming Sentiments in Social Actions. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, New York; Heise, David R., MacKinnon, Neil J., 1988. Affective bases of likelihood judgments. In: Smith-Lovin, Lynn, Heise, David R. (Eds.), Analyzing Social Interaction: Advances in Affect Control Theory. Gordon and Breach, New York, pp. 133–152].

Mental Ability in Childhood and Cognitive Aging

Background: Identifying the determinants of cognitive aging is a research priority; however, few studies are able to examine the influence of pre-morbid cognitive ability on later changes in cognitive function. Objective: To examine the association between childhood cognitive ability and cognitive change from age 79 to 83 in the presence of other demographic and lifestyle indicators. Methods: The participants took a test of mental ability when aged 11 as part of the Scottish Mental Survey 1932. Cognitive ability based on Raven’s Matrices, Verbal Fluency, and Logical Memory was assessed at ages 79 and 83. We used both linear regression and latent variable growth curve modeling to compare methods and results. Results: Using linear regression, childhood mental ability was a significant predictor of cognitive change from 79 to 83, accounting for about 1.4% of the variance. Sex, education, social class, smoking status and alcohol intake were non-significant. In contrast, using latent variable growth curve modeling, there was no association between childhood mental ability and cognitive change. Sex (male), years of education, drinking status (positive), and childhood IQ were associated with better cognitive ability at age 79. The difference in results was due to the inability of linear regression to account completely for test-specific variance. Conclusion: Within a group of non-demented older people, greater childhood mental ability was associated with level of cognitive ability at age 79, but not with change in cognitive ability to age 83. To obtain accurate results regarding covariates of change, it is important to use methodology that can appropriately allocate all measured sources of variance.

Childhood Mental Ability and Adult Alcohol Intake and Alcohol Problems: The 1970 British Cohort Study

We examined the potential relation of mental ability test scores at age 10 years with alcohol problems and alcohol intake at age 30 years. We used data from a prospective observational study involving 8170 members of a birth cohort from Great Britain born in 1970. Data included mental ability scores at age 10 years and responses to inquiries about alcohol intake and problems at age 30 years. After adjustment for potential mediating and confounding factors, cohort members with higher childhood mental ability scores had an increased prevalence of problem drinking in adulthood. This association was stronger among women (odds ratio [OR](1 SD increase in ability) = 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16, 1.64) than men (OR(1 SD increase in ability) = 1.17; CI = 1.04, 1.28; P for interaction = .004). Childhood mental ability was also related to a higher average intake of alcohol and to drinking more frequently. Again, these gradients were stronger among women than among men. In this large-scale cohort study, higher childhood mental ability was related to alcohol problems and higher alcohol intake in adult life. These unexpected results warrant examination in other studies.

Do patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures produce trustworthy findings on neuropsychological tests?

Drane et al. (2006) has recently raised the possibility that patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) may make poor effort in taking neuropsychological tests in comparison with patients with epilepsy (ES). Therefore, findings previously reported with PNES patients may be in error, especially with regard to tests of mental abilities. Using the same measure of effort used by Drane et al. (2006) but with more broadly selected patients, this paper attempts to replicate their findings with new samples of ES (n = 65) and PNES (n = 32) cases. However, their findings could not be replicated, and no differences in test taking effort could be demonstrated across the groups. The highly selected samples of Drane et al. (2006) appear to be responsible for their results, and neuropsychological findings with PNES patients appear to be as trustworthy as those with ES patients.

The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936: a study to examine influences on cognitive ageing from age 11 to age 70 and beyond.

BackgroundCognitive ageing is a major burden for society and a major influence in lowering people's independence and quality of life. It is the most feared aspect of ageing. There are large individual differences in age-related cognitive changes. Seeking the determinants of cognitive ageing is a research priority. A limitation of many studies is the lack of a sufficiently long period between cognitive assessments to examine determinants. Here, the aim is to examine influences on cognitive ageing between childhood and old age.Methods/DesignThe study is designed as a follow-up cohort study. The participants comprise surviving members of the Scottish Mental Survey of 1947 (SMS1947; N = 70,805) who reside in the Edinburgh area (Lothian) of Scotland. The SMS1947 applied a valid test of general intelligence to all children born in 1936 and attending Scottish schools in June 1947. A total of 1091 participants make up the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. They undertook: a medical interview and examination; physical fitness testing; extensive cognitive testing (reasoning, memory, speed of information processing, and executive function); personality, quality of life and other psycho-social questionnaires; and a food frequency questionnaire. They have taken the same mental ability test (the Moray House Test No. 12) at age 11 and age 70. They provided blood samples for DNA extraction and testing and other biomarker analyses. Here we describe the background and aims of the study, the recruitment procedures and details of numbers tested, and the details of all examinations.DiscussionThe principal strength of this cohort is the rarely captured phenotype of lifetime cognitive change. There is additional rich information to examine the determinants of individual differences in this lifetime cognitive change. This protocol report is important in alerting other researchers to the data available in the cohort.

Will Practitioners Benefit from Meta-Analysis?

This article discusses the use of general mental ability tests in hiring decisions. The premise of this assessment suggests that general mental ability is predictive of an individual's job performance and that the ability-performance relationship is more evident in higher-status jobs. Mental ability tests are also indicative of such factors as dollar value changes in an individual's job performance. Meta-analysis is a valuable research tool that has summarized and confirmed the importance of mental ability tests and has disciplined scientific discourse in many areas.

Implications of Methodological Advances for the Practice of Personnel Selection: How Practitioners Benefit from Meta-analysis

We discuss how meta-analysis, a method for synthesizing research findings, can meaningfully impact personnel selection practices. Specifically, we review important changes in professional and legal practices from the past 30 years resulting from meta-analytic findings. The implications of using meta-analysis methods for evaluating utilities of selection procedures and for assessing relative predictive capabilities of three popular selection tools (general mental ability tests, personality tests, and structured interviews) are further discussed. Based on these implications, we propose that meta-analysis can play an important role in bridging the gap between academic research and organizational practices.

The Flynn effect and its relevance to neuropsychology

Evidence from several nations indicates that performance on mental ability tests is rising from one generation to the next, and that this “Flynn effect” has been operative for more than a century. No satisfactory explanation has been found. Nevertheless, the phenomenon has important implications for clinical utilization of IQ tests. This article summarizes the empirical basis of the Flynn effect, arguments about the nature of the skill that is increasing, and proposed explanations for the cause of the increase. Ramifications for clinical neuropsychology are discussed, and some of the broader implications for psychology and society are noted.

Childhood mental ability in relation to cause-specific accidents in adulthood: the 1970 British Cohort Study

Few data link childhood mental ability (IQ) with risk of accidents, and most published studies have methodological limitations. To examine the relationship between scores from a battery of mental ability tests taken in childhood, and self-reported accidents between the ages of 16 and 30 years. In the British Cohort study, a sample of 8172 cohort members born in Great Britain in 1970 had complete data for IQ score assessed at 10 years of age and accident data self-reported at age 30 years. The relationship between childhood IQ score and later risk of accident was complex, differing according to sex and the type of accident under consideration. Women with higher childhood IQ were more likely than those with lower scores to report having had an accident(s) while at work, in a vehicle, engaging in sports, and in unspecified circumstances. Adjustment for markers of socioeconomic position weakened or eliminated some of these relations, but higher childhood IQ remained associated with increased risk of sporting and unspecified accidents. Men with higher childhood IQ scores were less likely than those with lower scores to report accidents at work, but more likely to report accidents at home, playing sports or in unspecified circumstances. After adjustment for socioeconomic circumstances, higher childhood IQ in men remained associated with an increased risk of accidents at home or in unspecified circumstances. The relationship between childhood mental ability and accidents in adulthood is complex. As in other studies, socioeconomic position has an inconsistent relationship with non-fatal accident type.

No association of CETP genotype with cognitive function or age-related cognitive change

A cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) genotype (V/V homozygosity for I405V, NCBI dbSNP rs5882) has been associated with preservation of cognitive function in old age, in addition to its associations with exceptional longevity and cardiovascular disease. We tested the hypotheses that this polymorphism was associated with either level of cognitive function or lifetime cognitive change in 525 participants who took part in the Scottish Mental Survey of 1932. Participants took the same well-validated mental ability test at ages 11 and 79. Scores were also available for several other mental ability tests at age 79, and history of cardiovascular disease was available. Frequency of the V/I genotype was slightly greater than expected in the sample, possibly consistent with some role for the V polymorphism in longevity, and the V/V genotype was associated with a lower rate of cardiovascular disease history. There were, however, no significant associations of CETP genotype with either childhood IQ or current cognitive function in old age, or with lifetime change in cognitive function.

Androgens and eye movements in women and men during a test of mental rotation ability

Eye movements were monitored in 16 women and 20 men during completion of a standard diagram-based test of mental rotation ability to provide measures of cognitive function not requiring conscious, decisional processes. Overall, women and men allocated visual attention during task performance in very similar, systematic ways. However, consistent with previous suggestions that sex differences in attentional processes during completion of the mental rotation task may exist, eye movements in men compared to women indicated greater discrimination and longer processing of correct alternatives during task performance. Other findings suggested that androgens may enhance cognitive processes that are recruited differentially by women and men as a function of the task. Specifically, smaller (i.e., more masculine) digit ratios were associated with men's shorter fixations on distracters, suggesting that perinatal androgen action may influence brain systems that facilitate the identification of relevant task stimuli. In women, higher circulating testosterone levels appeared to contribute to more general processes engaged during task performance, for example higher levels of visual persistence. It is possible that variability in the relative contribution of such hormone sensitive cognitive processes to accuracy scores as a function of different sample characteristics or assessment methods may partially account for the inconsistent findings of previous research on hormonal factors in mental rotation ability.

No evidence that polymorphisms of brain regulator genes Microcephalin and ASPM are associated with general mental ability, head circumference or altruism

We test the hypothesis that polymorphisms of the brain regulator genes MCPH1 and ASPM contribute to variations in human brain size and its correlates. We measured general mental ability, head circumference and social intelligence in 644 Canadian adults (496 Caucasians, 36 Orientals, 84 Mixed Race/Other and 28 Blacks; 257 men and 387 women). The gene polymorphisms were assessed from buccal DNA; mental ability by Wonderlic Personnel Test and Multidimensional Aptitude Battery; head circumference by stretchless tape; and social intelligence by prosocial attitude questionnaires. Although all measures were construct valid and the allele frequencies showed expected population differences, no relationship was found between the genes and any of the criteria. Among Caucasian 18–25 year olds, for example, the two mental ability tests correlated with each other (r=0.78, N=476, p<0.001), with head circumference (r=0.17, N=182, p<0.05) and with prosocial attitudes (r=0.23, N=182, p<0.001).

Childhood Mental Ability in Relation to Food Intake and Physical Activity in Adulthood: The 1970 British Cohort Study

The purpose of this work was to examine the relation of scores on tests of mental ability in childhood with food consumption and physical activity in adulthood. Based on a cohort of >17,000 individuals born in Great Britain in 1970, 8282 had complete data for mental ability scores at 10 years of age and reported their food intake and physical activity patterns at 30 years of age. Children with higher mental ability scores reported significantly more frequent consumption of fruit, vegetables (cooked and raw), wholemeal bread, poultry, fish, and foods fried in vegetable oil in adulthood. They were also more likely to have a lower intake of chips (French fries), nonwholemeal bread, and cakes and biscuits. There was some attenuation in these associations after adjustment for markers of socioeconomic position across the life course, which included educational attainment, with statistical significance lost in some analyses. Higher mental ability was positively associated with exercise habit, in particular, intense activity (defined by being out of breath/sweaty). The associations between mental ability and these behaviors were similar in both men and women, and they were somewhat stronger for verbal than nonverbal ability. It is plausible that the skills captured by IQ tests, such as the ability to comprehend and reason, may be important in the successful management of a person's health behaviors.