scholarly journals Scoring Alternatives for Mental Speed Tests: Measurement Issues and Validity for Working Memory Capacity and the Attentional Blink Effect

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Schmitz ◽  
Dominik Rotter ◽  
Oliver Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Diffusion Model ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
General Factor

Research suggests that the relation of mental speed with working memory capacity (WMC) depends on complexity and scoring methods of speed tasks and the type of task used to assess capacity limits in working memory. In the present study, we included conventional binding/updating measures of WMC as well as rapid serial visual presentation paradigms. The latter allowed for a computation of the attentional blink (AB) effect that was argued to measure capacity limitations at the encoding stage of working memory. Mental speed was assessed with a set of tasks and scored by diverse methods, including response time (RT) based scores, as well as ex-Gaussian and diffusion model parameterization. Relations of latent factors were investigated using structure equation modeling techniques. RT-based scores of mental speed yielded substantial correlations with WMC but only weak relations with the AB effect, while WMC and the AB magnitude were independent. The strength of the speed-WMC relation was shown to depend on task type. Additionally, the increase in predictive validity across RT quantiles changed across task types, suggesting that the worst performance rule (WPR) depends on task characteristics. In contrast to the latter, relations of speed with the AB effect did not change across RT quantiles. Relations of the model parameters were consistently found for the ex-Gaussian tau parameter and the diffusion model drift rate. However, depending on task type, other parameters showed plausible relations as well. The finding that characteristics of mental speed tasks determined the overall strength of relations with WMC, the occurrence of a WPR effect, and the specific pattern of relations of model parameters, implies that mental speed tasks are not exchangeable measurement tools. In spite of reflecting a general factor of mental speed, different speed tasks possess different requirements, supporting the notion of mental speed as a hierarchical construct.

scholarly journals Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin: Clerical Speed and Elementary Cognitive Speed are Different by Virtue of Test Mode Only

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Florian Schmitz ◽  
Oliver Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Task Type ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Cognitive Speed ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Paper And Pencil

Current taxonomies of intelligence comprise two factors of mental speed, clerical speed (Gs), and elementary cognitive speed (Gt). Both originated from different research traditions and are conceptualized as dissociable constructs in current taxonomies. However, previous research suggests that tasks of one category can be transferred into the other category by simply changing the mode of administration, i.e., in form of a paper-and-pencil test or in from of a computer-based elementary cognitive task. However, cross-mode correlations for specific tasks are usually only moderate. In the present study, mental speed was assessed as a broad construct across different tasks and stimulus materials. This allowed modeling mental speed as a hierarchical construct for paper-and-pencil as well as for computer-based tests. Cross-mode correlations of the respective general factors were moderate (r = 0.64), while the cross-mode correlations of task-specific components depended on task type (r = 0.12 to r = 0.71). Only the g factors of mental speed, but not the task-specific components, were found to be related with working memory capacity as a marker of cognitive ability. The speed general factor modeled across computer-based tests was more highly correlated with working memory capacity (r = 0.66) than the general factor modeled across paper-and-pencil tests (r = 0.46). These findings corroborate a crucial role of the assessment method and imply that validity of speed tests is affected by the choice of the test format.

Understanding the Relationship Between Rationality and Intelligence: A Latent-Variable Approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Burgoyne ◽  
Cody Mashburn ◽  
Jason S. Tsukahara ◽  
Zach Hambrick ◽  
Randall W Engle
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Variable Approach ◽  
The Relationship

A hallmark of intelligent behavior is rationality—the disposition and ability to think analytically to make decisions that maximize expected utility or follow the laws of probability, and therefore align with normative principles of decision making. However, the question remains as to whether rationality and intelligence are empirically distinct, as does the question of what cognitive mechanisms underlie individual differences in rationality. In a large sample of participants (N = 331), we used latent variable analyses to assess the relationship between rationality and intelligence. The results indicated that there was a common ability underpinning performance on some, but not all, rationality tests. Latent factors representing rationality and general intelligence were strongly correlated (r = .54), but their correlation fell well short of unity. Indeed, after accounting for variance in performance attributable to general intelligence, rationality measures still cohered on a latent factor. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that rationality correlated significantly with fluid intelligence (r = .56), working memory capacity (r = .44), and attention control (r = .49). Structural equation modeling revealed that attention control fully accounted for the relationship between working memory capacity and rationality, and partially accounted for the relationship between fluid intelligence and rationality. Results are interpreted in light of the executive attention framework, which holds that attention control supports information maintenance and disengagement in service of complex cognition. We conclude by speculating about factors rationality tests may tap that other cognitive ability tests miss, and outline directions for further research.

Individual Differences in Value-Directed Remembering

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake L. Elliott ◽  
Samuel M. McClure ◽  
Gene Arnold Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Human Memory ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Memory Encoding ◽  
Capacity Limits

Prioritized encoding and retrieval of valuable information is an essential component of human memory due to capacity limits. Individual differences in value-directed encoding may derive from variability in stimulus valuation, memory encoding, or from strategic abilities related to maintenance in working memory. We collected multiple cognitive ability measures to test whether variation in episodic memory, working memory capacity, or both predict differences in value-directed remembering among a large sample of participants (n=205). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used to assess the contributions of episodic and working memory to value sensitivity in value-directed remembering tasks. Episodic memory ability, but not working memory capacity, was predictive of value-directed remembering. These results suggest that cognitive processes may be differentially related to value-based memory encoding.

scholarly journals The Good, the Bad, and the Clever: Faking Ability as a Socio-Emotional Ability?

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Mattis Geiger ◽  
Romy Bärwaldt ◽  
Oliver Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
General Factor ◽  
General Mental Ability ◽  
Good Ability ◽  
Large Correlation ◽  
Pain Expression ◽  
Ability Tests ◽  
Emotional Ability

Socio-emotional abilities have been proposed as an extension to models of intelligence, but earlier measurement approaches have either not fulfilled criteria of ability measurement or have covered only predominantly receptive abilities. We argue that faking ability—the ability to adjust responses on questionnaires to present oneself in a desired manner—is a socio-emotional ability that can broaden our understanding of these abilities and intelligence in general. To test this theory, we developed new instruments to measure the ability to fake bad (malingering) and administered them jointly with established tests of faking good ability in a general sample of n = 134. Participants also completed multiple tests of emotion perception along with tests of emotion expression posing, pain expression regulation, and working memory capacity. We found that individual differences in faking ability tests are best explained by a general factor that had a large correlation with receptive socio-emotional abilities and had a zero to medium-sized correlation with different productive socio-emotional abilities. All correlations were still small after controlling these effects for shared variance with general mental ability as indicated by tests of working memory capacity. We conclude that faking ability is indeed correlated meaningfully with other socio-emotional abilities and discuss the implications for intelligence research and applied ability assessment.

scholarly journals Binding Costs in Processing Efficiency as Determinants of Cognitive Ability

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Benjamin Goecke ◽  
Florian Schmitz ◽  
Oliver Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Elementary Cognitive Tasks

Performance in elementary cognitive tasks is moderately correlated with fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. These correlations are higher for more complex tasks, presumably due to increased demands on working memory capacity. In accordance with the binding hypothesis, which states that working memory capacity reflects the limit of a person’s ability to establish and maintain temporary bindings (e.g., relations between items or relations between items and their context), we manipulated binding requirements (i.e., 2, 4, and 6 relations) in three choice reaction time paradigms (i.e., two comparison tasks, two change detection tasks, and two substitution tasks) measuring mental speed. Response time distributions of 115 participants were analyzed with the diffusion model. Higher binding requirements resulted in generally reduced efficiency of information processing, as indicated by lower drift rates. Additionally, we fitted bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis to the elementary cognitive tasks to separate basal speed and binding requirements of the employed tasks to quantify their specific contributions to working memory capacity, as measured by Recall−1-Back tasks. A latent factor capturing individual differences in binding was incrementally predictive of working memory capacity, over and above a general factor capturing speed. These results indicate that the relation between reaction time tasks and working memory capacity hinges on the complexity of the reaction time tasks. We conclude that binding requirements and, therefore, demands on working memory capacity offer a satisfactory account of task complexity that accounts for a large portion of individual differences in ability.

Roles of working memory capacity and intelligence in the attentional blink

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenza S. Colzato ◽  
Michiel Spape ◽  
Merel Pannebakker ◽  
Bernhard Hommel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity

Attention and Intelligence

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas R. Burns ◽  
Ted Nettelbeck ◽  
Jason McPherson
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
General Factor

Carroll (1993 ) found few factor-analytic studies that addressed attentional abilities. We reviewed and reanalyzed some of these studies and concluded that an exploratory approach to the study of the relationships between tests of attention and cognitive abilities was warranted. We sampled N = 147 adults from the general community and administered 17 tests of attention, including well-known neuropsychological tests along with tests drawn from the differential and experimental literatures on attention. We also administered 14 tests of cognitive ability designed to measure constructs described in Carroll’s taxonomy of intelligence, including a higher-order general ability factor. Regression of a general factor from the abilities battery onto a general factor from the attentional battery showed these two latent variables to be near identical (β = .98). Exploratory structural equation modeling, which allowed a model wherein the abilities part of the model was a confirmatory measurement model but the attention variables were modeled by three rotated exploratory factors, clarified this outcome. There were two sustained attention factors and one working-memory capacity factor with differential relationships with the latent abilities variables and with age. Results are discussed in the context of the network of processes that underlies a description of general cognitive ability at the psychological level, which includes mental speed, working memory, and sustained attention.

scholarly journals Binding Costs in Processing Efficiency as Determinants of Cognitive Ability

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Goecke ◽  
Florian Schmitz ◽  
Oliver Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Elementary Cognitive Tasks

Performance in elementary cognitive tasks is moderately correlated with fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. These correlations are higher for more complex tasks, presumably due to increased demands on working memory capacity. In accordance with the binding hypothesis, which states that working memory capacity reflects the limit of a person’s ability to establish and maintain temporary bindings (e.g., relations between items or relations between items and their context), we manipulated binding requirements (i.e., 2, 4, and 6 relations) in three choice reaction time paradigms (i.e., two comparison tasks, two change-detection tasks, and two substitution tasks) measuring mental speed. Response time distributions of N = 115 participants were analyzed with the diffusion model. Higher binding requirements resulted in generally reduced efficiency of information processing, as indicated by lower drift rates. Additionally, we fitted bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis to the elementary cognitive tasks to separate basal speed and binding requirements of the employed tasks to quantify their specific contributions to working memory capacity, as measured by Recall-1-Back tasks. A latent factor capturing individual differences in binding was incrementally predictive of working memory capacity, over and above a general factor capturing speed. These results indicate that the theory-driven task complexity manipulation in terms of binding requirements moderated the relation of mental speed tasks with cognitive ability in the predicted way. We conclude that binding requirements and, therefore, demands on working memory capacity offer a satisfactory account of task complexity that accounts for a large portion of individual differences in ability.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document