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Vocabulary and general intelligence
Abstract
Acquisition of word meanings, or vocabulary, reflects general mental ability (psychometric g) more than than do most abilities measured in test batteries. Among diverse subtests, vocabulary is especially high on indices of genetic influences. Bloom's exposition of the psychological complexities of understanding words, involving the primacy of concepts, the theory of mind, and other processes, explains vocabulary's predominant g saturation.
... Crystalized intelligence is mainly composed of verbal ability, and knowledge, such as vocabulary, but it is the latter factor that is most closely linked to g (Schipolowski, Wilhelm, & Schroeders, 2014). Simply put, a person's lexicon, as measured by their vocabulary, is a better predictor of their general intelligence than any other cognitive measure (Crawford et al., 1989;Jensen, 2001). As an example from clinical sciences, word pronunciation, with assessments such as the National Adult Reading Test (NART), is the principle method used to assess premorbid intelligence in patients with brain damage. ...
... This held even when there was only a single lexical test included, suggesting that the lexical tests were all independently highly g loaded. This replicates previous research that has shown that lexical knowledge is very high on g (Crawford et al., 1989;Gignac, 2006;Jensen, 2001). ...
... The weakness of investment theory is that it implies a 'blank slate'. However, it has been proposed that when children learn vocabulary, they already have a conceptual system that involves innate structure and processes, and that lexical entries are fitted into this conceptual system (Bloom, 2001;Jensen, 2001). The most extreme version of this was presented by Fodor (1975), and has been described as 'radical concept nativism'. ...
Widely recognized in differential psychology, but less so in cognitive science, the positive manifold is the phenomena of all cognitive tests inter-correlating positively. Frequently demonstrated in people, it can also be observed in non-human species. With 217 Ecuadorian adult participants, who performed 11 cognitive tests, we show that all 55 pairwise inter-correlations are positive, and of large magnitude. Additionally, factor analysis revealed a single underlying general, or g factor, often identified as general intelligence. This robustly replicates the positive manifold in a non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) context. We further demonstrate that tests of lexical knowledge, such as word pronunciation, have particularly high loadings on g. We explore explanations for the positive manifold, and the implications for understanding the mind as being composed of independent cognitive processing modules. We propose that the positive manifold reveals a neglected but important role of lexical-conceptual knowledge in high-level, top-down, domain-general cognitive processing.
... TEA-Ch was developed for the functional assessment of attentional components in children aged from 6 to 16 years. A detailed description of the nine subtests and their test items is available elsewhere (Manly et al., 1999;2001). Its construct validity and appropriateness for the use with Greek-speaking school population has been established (Malegiannaki et al., 2014). ...
... The vocabulary subtest of the standardized WISC-III Greek Version (Georgas, Paraskevopoulos, Bezevengis, & Giannitsas, 1997) was administered as the most representative measure of verbal intelligence. The Vocabulary subtest was chosen as an alternative not time consuming option, due to its high correlation with the general IQ score (Jensen, 2001). ...
p>The present study examines the development of basic attentional functions (sustained attention, selective attention, flexibility and divided attention) in 172 elementary school children (6-12 years) by using representative subtests from both a computerized (KITAP) and a traditional battery (TEA-Ch). The results indicate significant age-related improvements between 8 and 10 years in all the attentional functions irrespective of the assessment tool. Specifically, the results from both instruments converge regarding the developmental rates for divided attention, sustained attention and flexibility. However, performance scores in KITAP suggest a developmental plateau after the age of 10 years, whereas TEA-Ch subtests seem to be more sensitive to uncovering attention performance differences beyond the age of 10.</p
... Realistically, baseline data is rarely available in the clinical setting making it necessary to employ alternative strategies [17], such as reliable estimates of premorbid functioning that can guide person-centered assessments. Tests of premorbid functioning (TOPF) serve this purpose, taking the form of lexical tasks, given that vocabulary is correlated highly with other cognitive functions and considered the best single measure of global intelligence [18,19]. TOPFs qualify as 'hold' tests as it is believed impairments such as traumatic brain injuries do not significantly compromise the reliability of their scores [20]. ...
Adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) are reported to have heightened risk of cognitive impairment, notably mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Reports of increased risk of MCI are almost exclusively based on cross-sectional assessments of cognitive function using norm-referenced scores. Norm-referenced single-point assessments do not reflect cognitive decline at the individual level but rather represent between group differences in cognitive function. The practice of relying solely on norm-referenced assessment to study MCI after SCI is therefore problematic as it lends to potential misclassification of MCI. Premorbid intelligence estimates permit comparison of people’s actual versus expected cognitive function and thereby can be used to validate the presence of genuine cognitive decline. These are not utilized in the assessment of MCI after SCI. This study simulated data for 500,000 adults with SCI to compare norm-referenced and premorbid-intelligence methods of screening for MCI to examine the potential extent of MCI misclassification after SCI resulting from the overreliance on norm-referenced methods and exclusion of premorbid intelligence methods. One in five to one in 13 simulated adults with SCI were potentially misclassified as having MCI showing that measures of premorbid cognitive function must be included in assessment of cognitive function after SCI.
... In fact, at the group level, the best single measure of general cognitive ability is vocabulary (Gignac, 2006;Jensen, 2001). It seems paradoxical that such a specific skill of crystalized, learnt, knowledge is highly associated with all other cognitive abilities. ...
Introduction:
In research, a simple measure of general cognitive ability is often required. One method is the Matrix Matching Test, a brief, free-to-use, language-free assessment of general cognitive ability or intelligence in adults, which taps both fluid and crystalized processes. We investigated its reliability and validity with adolescent participants.
Method:
The Matrix Matching Test was administered to 111 participants, aged 12 to 17 (46% female). Subsamples also completed two standard measures of cognitive ability: Vocabulary (crystalized) and Matrix Reasoning (fluid) tests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV (WISC-IV).
Results:
The Matrix Matching Test was found to have acceptable internal consistency and good retest reliability. Criterion validity was indicated by its ability to distinguish between psychosocially deprived participants living in foster care (n = 40) and controls, and by its positive correlation with grade point average. There were large positive correlations between the Matrix Matching Test and the standard measures of Vocabulary, and Matrix Reasoning, suggesting convergent validity.
Conclusions:
Our preliminary evidence suggests that The Matrix Matching Test is a reliable and valid measure of general cognitive ability for ages 12 to 17.
... Automation and computer engineering ACEF 1994ACEF , 1995ACEF , 1997ACEF -1999ACEF , 2001ACEF , 2002 1991-1996, 1998-2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009Power engineering PEF 1994, 1995, 1997-1999, 2001, 2002, 2004 The non-uniformity of observations leads to the correlation of the corresponding variables and the heterogeneity of the variances. For example, unevenness only by years of testing is well illustrated in Figure 1. ...
In the present paper, we investigate how the general intelligence quotient (IQ) and its subtests changed for students from Russian University from 1991 to 2013. This study of the effect of such factors as gender, department, and year on the IQ response is carried out using the ANOVA model. Given the unevenness of the initial sample by years and departments, and consequently, heterogeneity of variances when divided by the original natural categories, we decided to aggregate the values of explanatory variables to build an adequate model. The paper proposes and investigates an algorithm for joint discretization and grouping, which uses the procedure of partial screening of solutions. It is an intermediate option between the greedy algorithm and exhaustive search. As a goodness function (an optimality criterion), we investigate 26 intermediate options between the AIC and BIC criteria. The BIC turned out to be the most informative and the most acceptable criterion for interpretation, which penalizes the complexity of the model, due to some decrease in accuracy. The resulting partition of the explanatory variables values into categories is used to interpret the modeling results and to arrive at the final conclusions of the data analysis. As a result, it is revealed that the observed features of the IQ dynamics are caused by changes in the education system and the socio-economic status of the family that occurred in Russia during the period of restructuring the society and intensive development of information technologies.
... The ten items in this vocabulary test were taken from the Gallup-Thorndike Verbal Intelligence Test, Form A (Thorndike, 1942, as cited in Beaujean & Sheng, 2010) and the test has been used in large scale surveys (General Social Survey: Smith, Marsden, Hout, & Kim, 2012). It offers a reasonable proxy for general intelligence since it shows a strong correlation (0.87) with measures of intelligence (Jensen, 2001). ...
... Performance in sustained attention was not statistically different from that of controls, but this may be due to the smallness of the simple size since significant results were found in Palermo et al. (2017) with a larger sample that included six more participants and with a mixed English and Italian sample (see Romani et al., in press). No group difficulties were found in inhibitory control, verbal learning and memory, visuospatial learning and memory, and accuracy measures across verbal and visuospatial tasks, with exception of spoken language accuracy where the index includes tasks with a strong abstract reasoning component and/ or strongly related to general intelligence (Similarities and Vocabulary and form the WASI; Jensen, 2001;McCrimmon & Smith, 2013). Variability, however, was high, with about 1/3 of participants showing average or above-average performance (see Palermo et al., 2017 for more details). ...
Introduction: Mental health, physical health, and cognitive skills have been scarcely investigated in the same sample of adults with PKU (AwPKU). This is striking since emotional difficulties may potentially contribute to cognitive impairments and vice-versa. Here we aim to fill this gap.
Method: Thirty-six early-treated AwPKU and 40 controls were given an extensive battery of cognitive tasks assessing complex executive functions, inhibitory control, short-term memory, sustained attention, visuospatial attention, language production (reading and naming), visuomotor coordination, spoken language and orthographic processing. In addition, participants were given tasks tapping emotion recognition and completed questionnaires to assess depression (BDI-II), empathy (IRI) and mental/physical health-related quality of life (SF-36).
Results: As a group, AwPKU performed significantly worse than controls especially in tasks tapping complex executive functions and across tasks when speed was measured but did not differ for emotional-health and physical health. In the PKU group, cognitive measures and measures of physical health-related quality of life were inter-correlated (differently than in the control group), and both measures were associated with metabolic control: better metabolic control, better cognition, and better physical health. Instead, cognitive measures and measures of emotional-health/mental-health-related quality of life did not correlate with one another and better metabolic control was not associated with better emotional health. Instead, some negative correlations were found. Better metabolic control was associated with worse perspective taking and more distress in socially stressful situations. Furthermore, difficulties in keeping the diet were associated with less emotional well-being.
Conclusions: Taken together, these results indicate the advantages, but also possible emotional difficulties related to maintain a PKU diet, suggesting the importance of developing alternative therapy options.
... The second is the NIH Toolbox Picture Vocabulary Test (age-adjusted scale score); it is labeled "Verbal IQ" in Table S1. The correlation between these two tests in the HCP data is 0.45, consistent with the g loadings of roughly 0.7 reported for these two types of test in the literature (Jensen, 2001;Johnson, Bouchard, Krueger, McGue, & Gottesman, 2004;Gignac, 2015). To construct our main dependent variable, we standardized each of these two tests separately, added the standardized scores, and finally standardized the sum. ...
There exists a moderate correlation between MRI-measured brain size and the general factor of IQ performance (g), but the question of whether the association reflects a theoretically important causal relationship or spurious confounding remains somewhat open. Previous small studies (n 〈100) looking for the persistence of this correlation within families failed to find a tendency for the sibling with the larger brain to obtain a higher test score. We studied the within-family relationship between brain volume and intelligence in the much larger sample provided by the Human Connectome Project (n = 1022) and found a highly significant correlation (disattenuated ρ = 0.18, p < .001). We replicated this result in the Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research (n = 2698), finding a highly significant within-family correlation between head circumference and intelligence (disattenuated ρ = 0.19, p < .001). We also employed novel methods of causal inference relying on summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of head size (n ≈ 10,000) and measures of cognition (257,000 < n < 767,000). Using bivariate LD Score regression, we found a genetic correlation between intracranial volume (ICV) and years of education (EduYears) of 0.41 (p < .001). Using the Latent Causal Variable method, we found a genetic causality proportion of 0.72 (p < .001); thus the genetic correlation arises from an asymmetric pattern, extending to sub-significant loci, of genetic variants associated with ICV also being associated with EduYears but many genetic variants associated with EduYears not being associated with ICV. This is the pattern of genetic results expected from a causal effect of brain size on intelligence. These findings give reason to take up the hypothesis that the dramatic increase in brain volume over the course of human evolution has been the result of natural selection favoring general intelligence.
... Wechsler intelligence scale for children-3rd edition in Greek (Georgas et al., 1997) Due to the fact that our access to each child was limited to 1.5 h by the ethics committee, we were unable to administer the full WISC-III. Thus, we considered that applying very strict exclusion criteria, together with the Vocabulary subtest (WISC-III), which is highly correlated to FS IQ (Jensen, 2001), would minimize the possibility of including cases with below average intellectual functioning in our normative sample. Moreover, there was also evidence from many studies of the TEA-Ch indicating no or low correlations of Vocabulary performance to TEA-Ch subtests (Chan et al., 2008;Heaton et al., 2001;Manly et al., 2001). ...
We examined the utility of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch) for Greek children. Discrete and regression-based norms, controlling for demographic characteristics and intelligence, were derived from the performance of 172 children. We also assessed the ability of the TEA-Ch to differentiate children with ADHD-Combined Type (ADHD-C) from healthy matched peers. Children with ADHD-C displayed dysfunction in multiple attentional domains. Discriminant function analysis indicated that two subtests (Sky Search and Walk, Don’t Walk) correctly classified 84.2% of children with ADHD-C.
... Also, Vocabulary and Digit Span subtests from the standardized WISC-III for Greek population (Georgas et al. 1997) were administered, as control variables. The Vocabulary subtest was chosen due to its high correlation with the general IQ score (Jensen 2001). The inclusion of Digit Span was due to its possible involvement in the KITAP tasks that require counting and working memory. ...
The present study aimed at exploring the effects of distinct attention functions on school grades in primary school children. The sample consisted of 208 Greek primary school children (2 nd up to 6 th grade) of both genders. The participants were examined individually with the Test of Attentional Performance for Children (KITAP). KITAP is a non-verbal computerized test battery designed to assess a variety of attention functions in children (e.g., selective, divided, sustained attention, flexibility). Performance in Language, Mathematics and Average mean performance was rated by the teachers. Vocabulary and working memory measures from WISC were used as control variables. The hierarchical regression analyses results provide empirical evidence for the a unique contribution of distractibility, alertness, sustained attention, divided attention, and inhibitory control scores to school grades after controlling for the effect of gender and verbal intelligence scores. Attention errors, omissions of critical stimuli, and variability scores were found to be the most sensitive indices for predicting school grades. Educational implications are discussed.
... The Vocabulary subtest of the Greek version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; Georgas et al., 1997) for 6-to 16-year-old children was used to produce an estimate of intelligence. The Vocabulary subtest is the best indicator of general intelligence (Groth-Marnat, 2003) and is commonly used as a proxy to measure general intelligence (Albert & Steinberg, 2011;Jensen, 2001;Poon & Ho, 2014). It comprises a list of 30 words. ...
It is unknown whether children with conduct problems (CP) and poor reading (PR) skills exhibit more profound executive function impairments than children with CP only and whether such impairments are explained by coexisting PR. Executive functions were compared in four groups of 7- to 8-year-old children: 26 CP only, 35 PR only, 27 CP-PR, and 31 comparison (COM) children with neither CP nor PR. The Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale–28 and a sentence completion reading test were used to assess CP and PR skills. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Third Edition Backward Digit Span, the Conners’ Continuous Performance Test, and the Tower of London were used to assess three aspects of executive function: verbal working memory, response inhibition, and planning, respectively. The CP-PR group had lower verbal working memory than the CP-only and COM groups, but the difference was not significant after intellectual ability, inattention, and hyperactivity were controlled. The CP-PR group made more errors in the planning task (rule violations) than the COM and CP-only groups, but the difference was not significant after intellectual ability was controlled. No significant group differences were found in response inhibition. A specific PR group effect was found for verbal working memory. Children with CP-PR have more prominent executive function impairments that cannot be attributed to coexisting PR.
... Θεωρήθηκε ότι µε τη χρήση δύο διαφορετικών τύπων µετρήσεων θα υπάρχει µία πιο ακριβής αξιολόγηση του συστήµατος της προσοχής, καθώς θα είµαστε σε θέση να ελέγξουµε την επίδραση µεταβλητών του τρόπου χορήγησης και αξιολόγησης έργων προσοχής (π.χ., µόνο προφορικός ή πάτηµα πλήκτρου) στην επίδοση (βλ.επίσης,Betts et al., 2006).Επίσης, δόθηκαν δύο υπο-δοκιµασίες λεκτικής νοηµοσύνης από το WISC-III, το Λεξιλόγιο και η Μνήµη αριθµών προκειµένου, πρώτον, να αποκλεισθούν κατά το δυνατόν από τη µελέτη παιδιά µε νοητική καθυστέρηση, δεύτερον, να ελεγχθεί η αποκλίνουσα εγκυρότητα των έργων της προσοχής, και, τρίτον, να εξισωθούν τα παιδιά τυπικής ανάπτυξης µε τα παιδιά µε ∆ΕΠ-Υ ως προς τη λεκτική νοηµοσύνη, µε στόχο να διερευνηθεί η διακρίνουσα εγκυρότητα των εργαλείων. Αντί για το συνολικό δείκτη νοηµοσύνης και, προκειµένου να µην υπερβούµε το προβλεπόµενο από την άδεια χρονικό όριο για την εξέταση, επιλέχθηκε το Λεξιλόγιο, καθώς είναι η υπο-κλίµακα που εµφανίζει την υψηλότερη σχέση µε τη συνολική νοηµοσύνη (βλ.Jensen, 2001). Περισσότερες λεπτοµέρειες για τη συγκεκριµένη επιλογή δίνονται στο Μέρος Α του Κεφαλαίου 6 που αφορά τα αποτελέσµατα από την πιλοτική έρευνα. ...
The developmental pattern of basic aspects of attention (selective, sustained, divided, and shift in attention) and meta-attention in children aged from 6 to 12 years was investigated in the present study. One hundred and seventy two typically developing children between the age of 6 and 12 years (88 girls) and a clinical sample of 19 children (14 boys) diagnosed with the Combined Type of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD-C) participated in the study. Children were tested individually with both attention batteries and meta-attention tasks. For the evaluation of attention, tasks from a traditional “paper-and-pencil” assessment battery for attention (Test of Everyday Attention for Children) and a computerized battery (Test of Attentional Performance for Children) were adjusted for the Greek population and administered to the participants. Meta-attention was evaluated as metacognitive knowledge of attention through a semi-structured interview, a self-report questionnaire, and hypothetical scenarios for the assessment of awareness of attention limitations. Results from the validation of the tools in Greek population yielded good factorial, divergent, convergent, predictive, and discriminant validity. After controlling for verbal intelligence and both parents’ educational level, a rapid improvement of attentional performance between the ages of 8 to 10 years was detected. No such period of rapid improvement was observed, however, in meta-attention. In constrast, the findings indicated a gradual development in children’s awareness regarding factors affecting attention, while other aspects of meta-attention investigated in the present study probably improve only later in the developmental course. Finally, the results provide evidence that children with ADHD-C present not only executive control deficits, but also metacognitive deficits concerning the awareness of attention limitations. More specifically, the severly impaired performance of children with ADHD-C both in identifying internal limitation factors of attention (e.g., interest, fatigue, emotional state) in hypothetical scenarios and in perceiving the function of attention as a cognitive process, support the idea of a potential dysfunction of meta-attention in ADHD-C. Such deficits may affect monitoring and regulation of attention during the learning procedure.
... In addition, a well-validated vocabulary measure was used that allowed us to control for children's receptive language skills when assessing the joint influence of EF and mathematical abilities in preschoolers, some of whom were considered dual language learners. This is important because early receptive language ability has been highly associated with general intelligence (Jenson, 2001), academic achievement in reading and math (Best, Miller, & Naglieri, 2011;DeVries, 2012;Fitzpatrick et al., 2014), and to some extent EF abilities (e.g., Carlson & Meltzoff, 2008;Weiland, Barata, & Yoshikawa, 2014). Concomitant improvements in receptive vocabulary and EF skills also have been reported from the beginning to the end of preschool (Weiland et al., 2014), particularly in children from low-income and diverse linguistic backgrounds (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2007), who have been found to possess less extensive verbal abilities (Duncan et al., 2007;Fitzpatrick et al., 2014), exhibit lower mathematical knowledge (Hampden-Thompson, Mulligan, Kinukawa, & Halle, 2008;, and exhibit less developed EF skills (Calvo & Bialystok, 2014) in comparison to their same-age middle-income peers. ...
Research Findings: The contribution of 3 executive function skills (shifting, inhibitory control, and working memory) and their relation to early mathematical skills was investigated with preschoolers attending 6 Head Start centers. Ninety-two children ranging in age from 3 years, 1 month, to 4 years, 11 months, who were native English or Spanish speakers were assessed for these executive function skills as well as their receptive vocabulary skills and early mathematical abilities using the Child Math Assessment (Starkey, Klein, & Wakeley, 2004), which captures an array of skills across 4 domains. Hierarchal regression analyses revealed that inhibitory control and working memory made unique contributions to children’s early mathematical abilities in the domains of numeracy, arithmetic, spatial/geometric reasoning, and patterning/logical relations after we controlled for age, receptive vocabulary, and previous Head Start experience. Furthermore, receptive vocabulary also accounted for significant variance in children’s early mathematical abilities above and beyond executive function skills. No group differences emerged between English-only and dual language learners on the fit of the regression models. Practice or Policy: These findings extend previous research highlighting the interface of executive function skills and mathematical learning in early childhood with further evidence to support this relationship beyond early numeracy and counting using a broad measure of critical early math skills. In addition, the intricate role of language in the development of early mathematical competence is considered. Implications of these findings for scaffolding executive function skills and vocabulary within prekindergarten math curricula are discussed, with particular consideration for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds.
... Consequently, in higher-order models of the WISC-V data, if a Verbal Comprehension factor was not strongly defined (or the verbal subtests had strong loadings on a different factor), then g would not have a sizable relationship with these subtests, which is contrary to the corpus of literature examining the relationship with verbal abilities and g (e.g. Carroll, 1993;Jensen, 2001). ...
... Vocabulary and Digit span subtests from the standardized WISC-III for Greek population (Georgas, Paraskevopoulos, Bezevengis, & Giannitsas, 1997) were administered. The Vocabulary subtest was chosen due to its high correlation with the general IQ score (Jensen, 2001). The inclusion of Digit Span was due to its possible involvement in the TEA-Ch tasks that require counting and working memory. ...
The present study aimed at exploring the psychometric properties of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch) in normally developing Greek-speaking school population (6-12 years old). TEA-Ch is an assessment that captures the multidimensional nature of the developing attentional system with child-friendly test tasks. The sample consisted of 174 Greek-speaking primary school children of both genders (N = 88 girls). Children were assessed individually using the TEA-Ch and two tasks (Vocabulary and Working Memory) from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-3rd edition (WISC-III)-Greek Version. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the factorial validity of the TEA-Ch in the Greek-speaking population. The results verified both a two-factor (attentional control/switching and sustained attention) and a theory-driven three-factor structure of the TEA-Ch, namely selective attention, attentional control/switching and sustained attention. Moreover, the weak correlations of TEA-Ch tasks with vocabulary and working memory tasks provide evidence for its divergent validity and its usefulness as an additional measure of abilities that are not captured by well-known conventional intelligence tasks. Furthermore, TEA-Ch appears to be an age-sensitive assessment tool.
... Tests of vocabulary are presumed to assess word familiarity, and also (1) concept formation (without which the correct definition cannot be given) and (2) the ability to deduce meaning of unfamiliar words based on known roots or syllables, using answer choices provided. 21 The second VIQ test, the WAIS-R Similarities test, 22 presents persons with successively more difficult questions about how two different things are alike. For instance, an easy question might be 'how are a fly and a mouse related?' ...
IQ is thought to explain social gradients in mortality. IQ scores are based roughly equally on Verbal IQ (VIQ) and Performance IQ tests. VIQ tests, however, are suspected to confound true verbal ability with socioeconomic status (SES), raising the possibility that associations between SES and IQ scores might be overestimated. We examined, first, whether two of the most common types of VIQ tests exhibited differential item functioning (DIF) favouring persons of higher SES and/or majority race/ethnicity. Second, we assessed what impact, if any, this had on estimates of the extent to which VIQ explains social gradients in mortality.
Data from the General Social Survey-National Death Index cohort, a US population representative dataset, was used. Item response theory models queried social-factor DIF on the Thorndike Verbal Intelligence Scale and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales, Revised Similarities test. Cox models examined mortality associations among SES and VIQ scores corrected and uncorrected for DIF.
When uncorrected for DIF, VIQ was correlated with income, education, occupational prestige and race, with correlation coefficients ranging between |0.12| and |0.43|. After correcting for DIF, correlations ranged from |0.06| to |0.16|. Uncorrected VIQ scores explained 11-40% of the Relative Index of Inequalities in mortality for social factors, while DIF-corrected scores explained 2-29%.
Two of the common forms of VIQ tests appear confound verbal intelligence with SES. Since these tests appear in most IQ batteries, circumspection may be warranted in estimating the amount of social inequalities in mortality attributable to IQ.
... Despite its brevity, the test has a correlation of 0.71 with the Army General Classification Test, an IQ exam developed by the U.S. Military [25]. In addition, there is abundant psychometric evidence that individuals with higher IQs have larger vocabularies [26,27]. Prior to taking the vocabulary test, the respondent is told the following by the interviewer [24]: ''We would like to know something about how people go about guessing words they do not know. ...
Generalized trust refers to trust in other members of society; it may be distinguished from particularized trust, which corresponds to trust in the family and close friends. An extensive empirical literature has established that generalized trust is an important aspect of civic culture. It has been linked to a variety of positive outcomes at the individual level, such as entrepreneurship, volunteering, self-rated health, and happiness. However, two recent studies have found that it is highly correlated with intelligence, which raises the possibility that the other relationships in which it has been implicated may be spurious. Here we replicate the association between intelligence and generalized trust in a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. We also show that, after adjusting for intelligence, generalized trust continues to be strongly associated with both self-rated health and happiness. In the context of substantial variation across countries, these results bolster the view that generalized trust is a valuable social resource, not only for the individual but for the wider society as well.
... The AHPVT contains half the items from the original PPVT-R and uses the same illustrations ; thus there is a strong correlation (0.96) between scores on the two instruments. Vocabulary tests are often used as a measure of cognitive ability in health research [30], as vocabulary is consistently found to be one of the strongest measures of overall cognitive ability313233. Moreover, some even advocate its usage over other measures when using a sample of highly diverse individuals [34], and, because measures like the AHPVT require no comprehensive reading skills, it is particularly appropriate for measuring cognitive abilities of people at the lower end of the ability spectrum. ...
Purpose:
There is literature indicating cognitive ability and depression are related, but few studies have examined the direction of the relationship. This study examined the relationship between depression levels and cognitive abilities from adolescence to early adulthood.
Methods:
Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 14,322), this study used path modeling to investigate the relationship between depression and cognitive ability at baseline and again 8 years later.
Results:
After controlling for initial levels of depression, cognitive ability, and other covariates, depressive symptoms in adolescence are related to cognitive ability in early adulthood, but adolescent cognitive ability is not related to adult depression levels. Moreover, after controlling for adolescent levels of depression and cognitive ability, the cognitive ability-depression relationship disappears in adulthood.
Conclusions:
The cognitive ability-depression relationship appears early in life, and it is likely that the presence of depressive symptoms leads to lower cognitive ability. Thus, intervening at early signs of depression not only can help alleviate depression, but will likely have an effect of cognitive ability as well.
... While vocabulary knowledge is not synonymous with intelligence , the relationship between the two variables is very strong (Jensen, 2001 ). For example, Carroll (2003, pp. ...
a b s t r a c t Most studies of the Flynn Effect (FE) use classical test theory (CTT)-derived scores, such as summed raw scores. In doing so, they cannot test competing hypotheses about FE, such as it is caused by a real change in cognitive ability versus it is a change in the tests that measure cognitive ability. An alternative to CTT-derived scores is to use latent variable scores, such as those from item response theory (IRT). This study examined the FE on the Vocabulary test in the General Social Survey using IRT. The results indicate that while there has been a decrease–increase trend since the 1970s, the IRT-based scores never differed from the 1970s comparison point more than would be expected from random fluctuation. In contrast, while the CTT-derived summed scores showed the same decrease–increase pattern, all comparisons among the time points and the 1980s group were outside a 95% confidence interval. Multiple reasons for these results are discussed, with the conclusion being there is a need for more multiple-time point studies of the FE using IRT.
Objective: Estimation of premorbid function is essential to accurate identification of cognitive impairments. We explored how lexical tasks can be used to estimate various cognitive functions.
Methods: Adults with cognitive impairment due to neurological illness (n = 15) and a non-clinical sample of adults (n = 143) completed tests of word pronunciation, lexical decision, and stem-completion naming. In three studies lexical-task performance associations with intelligence (WAIS-IV), episodic memory, executive functioning, and theory of mind were explored.
Results: At the group level, word pronunciation was robust in the presence of cognitive impairment. However, as a case series, patients showed idiosyncratic patterns of preservation of lexical skills. All of the lexical tasks were highly correlated with IQ scores in the non-clinical sample, suggesting that they may function well as estimators of premorbid intelligence. Simulated impairments in non-clinical adults revealed that the median score from the three different tasks had the highest correlation with, and provided the most accurate and precise estimates of, measured IQ, and was also the least sensitive to impairment. We also show that these methods predict executive functions, in particular, proverb interpretation, phonemic/semantic alternating verbal fluency, and working memory span performance.
Conclusions: Several lexical tasks are potentially useful in predication of pre-illness cognitive ability. However, due to the heterogeneity of impairments between patients, estimation of premorbid levels could be improved by the use of average estimated values from multiple tests. This could potentially improve diagnostic accuracy and quantification of neuropsychological impairments.
The aging process is associated with the gradual decline of several cognitive functions, and working memory is particularly affected. Although the majority of older adults experience a deterioration of their working memory, some individuals maintain their working memory in older age, and some suffer an extreme deterioration of their working memory. The purpose of the present study was to identify, among a total of 120 potential predictors, those that significantly contributed to these two extreme outcomes in working memory. A sample of 588 healthy adults was examined with the n-back task in the spatial and verbal domains using a 2-back level of difficulty. Individuals were classified as working memory maintainers or decliners if their discrimination level in the two domains was superior to the 80th percentile or inferior to the 20th percentile, respectively. Logistic regression identified eight and six significant predictors of working memory maintenance and decline, respectively. High vocabulary scores and smoking more were significant predictors of working memory maintenance; however, in the opposite direction, these same variables predicted working memory decline. Several consumption habits that influenced cerebrovascular function were found in both models. Psychological traits and everyday activities were present in both models. We identified specific predictors that contribute to extremely high or low working memory performance in older age.
We examined trends over time in vocabulary, a key component of verbal intelligence, in the nationally representative General Social Survey of U.S. adults (n = 29,912). Participants answered multiple-choice questions about the definitions of 10 specific words. When controlled for educational attainment, the vocabulary of the average U.S. adult declined between the mid-1970s and the 2010s. Vocabulary declined across all levels of educational attainment (less than high school, high school or 2-year college graduate, bachelor's or graduate degree), with the largest declines among those with a bachelor's or graduate degree. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses separating the effects of age, time period, and cohort suggest that the decline is primarily a time period effect. Increasing educational attainment has apparently not improved verbal ability among Americans. Instead, as educational attainment has increased, those at each educational level are less verbally skilled even though the vocabulary skills of the whole population are unchanged.
It is well known that individuals with so-called liberal or leftist views are overrepresented in American academia. By bringing together data on American academics, the general population and a high-IQ population, the present study investigates how much of this overrepresentation can be explained by intelligence. It finds that intelligence can account for most of the disparity between academics and the general population on the issues of abortion, homosexuality and traditional gender roles. By contrast, it finds that intelligence cannot account for any of the disparity between academics and the general population on the issue of income inequality. But for methodological reasons, this finding is tentative. Furthermore, the paper finds that intelligence may account for less than half of the disparity on liberal versus conservative ideology, and much less than half the disparity on Democrat versus Republican identity. Following the analysis, eight alternative explanations for liberal and leftist overrepresentation are reviewed.
This book celebrates two triumphs in modern psychology: the successful development and application of a solid measure of general intelligence; and the personal courage and skills of the man who made this possible - Arthur R. Jensen from Berkeley University. The volume traces the history of intelligence from the early 19th century approaches, to the most recent analyses of the hierarchical structure of cognitive abilities, and documents the transition from a hopelessly confused concept of intelligence to the development of an objective measure of psychometric g. The contributions illustrate the impressive power g has with respect to predicting educational achievement, getting an attractive job, or social stratification. The book is divided into six parts as follows: Part I presents the most recent higher-stream analysis of cognitive abilities, Part II deals with biological aspects of g, such as research on brain imaging, glucose uptake, working memory, reaction time, inspection time, and other biological correlates, and concludes with the latest findings in g-related molecular genetics. Part III addresses demographic aspects of g, such as geographic-, race-, and sex-differences, and introduces differential psychological aspects as well. Part IV concentrates on the g nexus, and relates such highly diverse topics as sociology, genius, retardation, training, education, jobs, and crime to g. Part V contains chapters critical of research on g and its genetic relationship, and also presents a rejoinder. Part VI looks at one of the greatest contemporary psychologists, Professor Emeritus Arthur R. Jensen as teacher and mentor.
Recent evidence indicates that cognitive ability has a monotonically positive relation to socially liberal beliefs and some measures of fiscally conservative beliefs, and that it has a non-monotonic relation to other measures of fiscally conservative beliefs. This study examines the relationship between cognitive ability and political beliefs in a recent, nationally representative sample of American adults. It finds that cognitive ability is positively associated with both socially liberal beliefs and fiscally conservative beliefs. The relationships with socially liberal beliefs are monotonically positive. In contrast, some of the relationships with fiscally conservative beliefs are non-monotonic: Americans of highest ability are less fiscally conservative than those of high ability. The association between cognitive ability and a dimension of fiscal conservatism is reduced substantially when controlling for socio-economic position.
Research has consistently shown that intelligence is positively correlated with socially liberal beliefs and negatively correlated with religious beliefs. This should lead one to expect that Republicans are less intelligent than Democrats. However, I find that individuals who identify as Republican have slightly higher verbal intelligence than those who identify as Democrat (2–5 IQ points), and that individuals who supported the Republican Party in elections have slightly higher verbal intelligence than those who supported the Democratic Party (2 IQ points). I reconcile these findings with the previous literature by showing that verbal intelligence is correlated with both socially and economically liberal beliefs (β = .10–.32). My findings suggest that higher intelligence among classically liberal Republicans compensates for lower intelligence among socially conservative Republicans.
Mensen verschillen onderling in intelligentie. Deze verschillen worden sterk genetisch beïnvloed: er wordt geschat dat tot tachtig procent van de variatie kan worden toegeschreven aan verschillen in genen. Toch betekent dat niet dat intelligentie vrijwel vaststaat vanaf de geboorte, zo stelt Kees-Jan Kan. Uit zijn onderzoek blijkt dat hoe meer educatieve en culturele aspecten meespelen bij het maken van een intelligentietest, hoe belangrijker de genen zijn voor het verklaren van onderlinge verschillen tussen testscores. Zo zijn de erfelijkheidsschattingen voor duidelijk aangeleerde vaardigheden zoals woordenschat en algemene kennis de hoogste van alle vaardigheden gemeten in een verzameling van intelligentietests. Met traditionele intelligentietheorieën waarin intelligentie wordt opgevat als een biologische eigenschap kan dit resultaat niet verklaard worden. Kan ontwikkelde daarom een nieuw model, waarbij genetische en omgevingsinvloeden dynamisch interacteren. Zijn bevindingen hebben belangrijke implicaties voor onderzoek naar (bijvoorbeeld raciale) groepsverschillen in intelligentietestscores en voor de zoektocht naar ‘genen voor intelligentie’.
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