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Fluid intelligence and executive functioning more alike than different?
Abstract
Fluid intelligence (Gf) has been related to executive functioning (EF) in previous studies, and it is also known to be correlated with crystallized intelligence (Gc). The present study includes representative measures of Gf, Gc, and EF frequently used in clinical practice to examine this Gf-EF relation. It is hypothesised that the Gf-EF relation is higher than the Gc-EF relation, and that working memory in particular (as a measure of EF) shows a high contribution to this relation.
Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on a mixed neuropsychiatric and non-clinical sample consisting of 188 participants, using the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test, and three executive tasks of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery, covering working memory, planning skills, and set shifting.
The model fitted the data well [χ2(24)=35.25, p=0.07, RMSEA=0.050]. A very high correlation between Gf and EF was found (0.91), with working memory being the most profound indicator. A moderate to high correlation between Gc and EF was present. Current results are consistent with findings of a strong relation between Gf and working memory.
Gf and EF are highly correlated. Gf dysfunction in neuropsychiatric patients warrants further EF examination and vice versa. It is discussed that results confirm the need to distinguish between specific versus general fluid/executive functioning, the latter being more involved when task complexity and novelty increase. This distinction can provide a more refined differential diagnosis and improve neuropsychiatric treatment indication.
... Further investigations are therefore required in this regard. It is, however, important to note that Oluwagbemigun et al. (2022) have observed that Akkermansia and other bacteria (Ruminiclostridium 5, Ruminococcaceae UCG-010, Coriobacteriaceae, Slackia, the Eubacterium hallii group, Peptoclostridium, Lactococcus, Erysipelotrichaceae incertae sedis, Eubacterium nodatum group, Prevotellaceae, Robiginitalea, Pseudomonas, and the Bacteroidales S24-7 group) are associated with fluid intelligence, which in turn, according to van Aken et al. (2016), correlates with cognitive performance. In the absence of a definitive list of bacteria influencing human intelligence, the list provided by Oluwagbemigun et al. (2022) is informative, and represent an important platform from which researchers may launch further investigations, particularly in an HIV infection-related context. ...
... SerotoninValles-Colomer et al.(2019) Produces acetate which has beneficial effects on neurodegenerative conditionsMirzaei et al. (2021) Produces propionate, which has beneficial effects on neurodegenerative conditionsMirzaei et al. (2021) Reduces inflammation by producing indole and indole acetic acid from tryptophan metabolismSchröder et al. (2013), Freedman et al. (2018), and Liu et al. (2020) Eubacterium hallii group Produces propionate which has beneficial effects on neurodegenerative conditions Durack and Lynch (Candida albicans Memory impairmentWu et al. (2019) ...
... More recently (in2019), it was reported that the IQ scores of children who had been perinatally infected with HIV (PHIV) were significantly lower when compared to healthy controls [81 (±11) vs. 97 (±15), p = 0.005] (Van den Hof et al.,2019). One meta-analysis, conducted byMusindo et al. (2022) reported that most published articles (between 2020 and 2022) observed significantly lower intellectual functions in children and adolescents living with HIV compared to their HIV-negative peers. ...
It is now well understood that HIV-positive individuals, even those under effective ART, tend to develop a spectrum of cognitive, motor, and/or mood conditions which are contemporarily referred to as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), and which is directly related to HIV-1 infection and HIV-1 replication in the central nervous system (CNS). As HAND is known to induce difficulties associated with attention, concentration, and memory, it is thus legitimate and pertinent to speculate upon the possibility that HIV infection may well influence human cognition and intelligence. We therefore propose herein to review the concept of intelligence, the concept of cells of intelligence, the influence of HIV on these particular cells, and the evidence pointing to differences in observed intelligence quotient (IQ) scores between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals. Additionally, cumulative research evidence continues to draw attention to the influence of the gut on human intelligence. Up to now, although it is known that HIV infection profoundly alters both the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota and the structural integrity of the gut, the influence of the gut on intelligence in the context of HIV infection remains poorly described. As such, we also provide herein a review of the different ways in which HIV may influence human intelligence via the gut-brain axis. Finally, we provide a discourse on perspectives related to HIV and human intelligence which may assist in generating more robust evidence with respect to this issue in future studies. Our aim is to provide insightful knowledge for the identification of novel areas of investigation, in order to reveal and explain some of the enigmas related to HIV infection.
... It has been suggested that HEF and fluid intelligence are synonymous (Diamond, 2013). However, while there is some correlation between EF-tests and tests of fluid intelligence (Conway et al., 2002;Egger et al., 2011;van Aken et al., 2016) especially when it comes to updating and working memory (Friedman et al., 2006;Friedman and Miyake, 2017;Krumm et al., 2018), the relationship is not complete (Conway et al., 2002;Egger et al., 2011;van Aken et al., 2016). The relation between EF and crystalized intelligence is substantially lower (Conway et al., 2002;Egger et al., 2011;van Aken et al., 2016). ...
... It has been suggested that HEF and fluid intelligence are synonymous (Diamond, 2013). However, while there is some correlation between EF-tests and tests of fluid intelligence (Conway et al., 2002;Egger et al., 2011;van Aken et al., 2016) especially when it comes to updating and working memory (Friedman et al., 2006;Friedman and Miyake, 2017;Krumm et al., 2018), the relationship is not complete (Conway et al., 2002;Egger et al., 2011;van Aken et al., 2016). The relation between EF and crystalized intelligence is substantially lower (Conway et al., 2002;Egger et al., 2011;van Aken et al., 2016). ...
... However, while there is some correlation between EF-tests and tests of fluid intelligence (Conway et al., 2002;Egger et al., 2011;van Aken et al., 2016) especially when it comes to updating and working memory (Friedman et al., 2006;Friedman and Miyake, 2017;Krumm et al., 2018), the relationship is not complete (Conway et al., 2002;Egger et al., 2011;van Aken et al., 2016). The relation between EF and crystalized intelligence is substantially lower (Conway et al., 2002;Egger et al., 2011;van Aken et al., 2016). In line with this, we have previously shown that while EFtest correlated with measurement of successful behaviors, Raven's matrices (Roca et al., 2010), a test that often is used as a proxy for fluid intelligence, did not (Vestberg et al., 2017). ...
Executive functions (EF) represent higher order top-down mechanisms regulating information processing. While suboptimal EF have been studied in various patient groups, their impact on successful behavior is still not well described. Previously, it has been suggested that design fluency (DF)—a test including several simultaneous EF components mainly related to fluency, cognitive flexibility, and creativity—predicts successful behavior in a quickly changing environment where fast and dynamic adaptions are required, such as ball sports. We hypothesized that similar behaviors are of importance in the selection process of elite police force applicants. To test this hypothesis, we compared elite police force applicants (n = 45) with a control group of police officer trainees (n = 30). Although both groups were better than the norm, the elite police force applicants had a significantly better performance in DF total correct when adjusting for sex and age [F(1,71) = 18.98, p < 0.001]. To understand how this capacity was altered by stress and tiredness, we re-tested the elite police force applicants several days during an extreme field assessment lasting 10 days. The results suggested that there was a lower than expected improvement in DF total correct and a decline in the DF3-subtest that includes a larger component of cognitive flexibility than the other subtests (DF1 and DF2). Although there was a positive correlation between the baseline session and the re-test in DF3 [r(40) = 0.49, p = 0.001], the applicants having the highest scores in the baseline test also displayed the largest percentage decline in the re-test [r(40) = −0.46, p = 0.003]. In conclusion, our result suggests that higher order EF (HEF) that include cognitive flexibility and creativity are of importance in the application for becoming an elite police officer but relatively compromised in a stressful situation. Moreover, as the decline is different between the individuals, the results suggest that applicants should be tested during baseline conditions and during stressful conditions to describe their cognitive capacity fully.
... Despite the farreaching implications that validity studies might lead to, discriminant validation of EF against intelligence has been a relatively neglected topic in the literature [35]. Most of the previous validation studies had their methodological grounding in factor-analytic methods e.g., [31,36,[37][38][39] and regression-based methods e.g., [40]. Here we deliberately chose an easily applicable, correlative methodology, in order to encourage clinical neuropsychologists to contribute to the evidence-based validation of the EF construct through the proliferation of future studies. ...
... Some previous studies have addressed relationships between WCST-based indicators of EF and intelligence [30,31,[36][37][38][39][40][73][74][75]. Notably, Jewsbury et al. [31] showed that Wisconsin perseveration errors were subsumable under CHC (cf. ...
Neuropsychological assessment needs a more profound grounding in psychometric theory. Specifically, psychometrically reliable and valid tools are required, both in patient care and in scientific research. The present study examined convergent and discriminant validity of some of the most popular indicators of executive functioning (EF). A sample of 96 neurological inpatients (aged 18-68 years) completed a battery of standardized cognitive tests (Raven's matrices, vocabulary test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, verbal fluency test, figural fluency test). Convergent validity of indicators of intelligence (Raven's matrices, vocabulary test) and of indicators of EF (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, verbal fluency test, figural fluency) were calculated. Discriminant validity of indicators of EF against indicators of intelligence was also calculated. Convergent validity of indicators of intelligence (Raven's matrices, vocabulary test) was good (rxtyt = 0.727; R 2 = 0.53). Convergent validity of fluency indicators of EF against executive cognition as indicated by performance on the Wiscon-sin Card Sorting Test was poor (0.087 ≤ rxtyt ≤ 0.304; 0.008 ≤ R 2 ≤ 0.092). Discriminant validity of indicators of EF against indicators of intelligence was good (0.106 ≤ rxtyt ≤ 0.548; 0.011 ≤ R 2 ≤ 0.300). Our conclusions from these data are clear-cut: apparently dissimilar indicators of intelligence converge on general intellectual ability. Apparently dissimilar indicators of EF (mental fluency, executive cognition) do not converge on general executive ability. Executive abilities, although non-uni-tary, can be reasonably well distinguished from intellectual ability. The present data contribute to the hitherto meager evidence base regarding the validity of popular indicators of EF.
... EF is also highly correlated to dimensions of the concept fluid intelligence i.e. the ability to understand relationships among components, to reason and solve problems [12,20]. We could not find any studies specifically analysing fluid intelligence in patients with anxiety disorders in adults, but a lack of an association of fluid intelligence and anxiety disorders (excluding specific phobia) has been shown in adolescents [21]. ...
... Our study patients scored lower on tests on EFs related to WM and fluid intelligence compared to a normed population. Fluid intelligence is a wider concept including the ability to solve novel problems by using reasoning and not depending on accumulated knowledge such as schooling and acculturation [20]. Fluid intelligence might thus be a factor differentiating individuals with or without a clinical anxiety disorder, while WM deficits might only be obvious among diagnosed patients with more severe anxiety symptoms. ...
Background
Deficits in cognitive performance are reported in patients with anxiety disorders, but research is limited and inconsistent. We aimed to investigate cross-sectional associations between cognitive function, with focus on executive function, and anxiety severity in primary care patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders.
Methods
189 Swedish patients aged 18–65 years (31% men) with anxiety disorders diagnosed according to Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview were included. Severity of anxiety was assessed using Beck Anxiety Inventory self-assessment scale. Digit span, block design and matrix reasoning tests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV, and the design fluency test from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System were used. Multivariable linear regression models were applied to investigate the relationship of anxiety severity and cognitive functioning. Comparisons were also performed to a normed non-clinical population, using the Wilcoxon signed rank test.
Results
More severe anxiety was associated with lower digit span test scores (R² = 0.109, B = -0.040, p = 0.018), but not with block design, matrix reasoning or design fluency tests scores, after adjustment for comorbid major depression in a multivariable model. When compared to a normed population, patients with anxiety performed significantly lower on the block design, digit span forward, digit span sequencing and matrix reasoning tests.
Conclusions
Severity of anxiety among patients with anxiety disorder was associated with executive functions related to working memory, independently of comorbid major depression, but not with lower fluid intelligence. A further understanding of the executive behavioral control in patients with anxiety could allow for more tailored treatment strategies including medication, therapy and interventions targeted to improve specific cognitive domains.
... A number of authors have tried to unify intelligence and neuropsychological assessment based on the CHC model [58,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71]. For example, Jewsbury et al. [65] showed that popular neuropsychological EF tests were subsumable under CHC broad cognitive abilities based on factor analytic methods, although particular EF tests were related to distinct CHC constructs. ...
... Some of the few exceptions to that rule were discussed above in detail. These studies had their methodological grounding in factor analytic methods [64,65,[68][69][70], in regression methods [71], or in neuropsychological patient studies [15,72]. ...
The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) represents a widely utilized neuropsychological assessment technique for executive function. This meta-analysis examined the discriminant validity of the WCST for the assessment of mental shifting, considered as an essential subcomponent of executive functioning, against traditional psychometric intelligence tests. A systematic search was conducted, resulting in 72 neuropsychological samples for the meta-analysis of relationships between WCST scores and a variety of intelligence quotient (IQ) domains. The study revealed low to medium-sized correlations with IQ domains across all WCST scores that could be investigated. Verbal/crystallized IQ and performance/fluid IQ were indistinguishably associated with WCST scores. To conclude, the WCST assesses cognitive functions that might be partially separable from common conceptualizations of intelligence. More vigorous initiatives to validate putative indicators of executive function against intelligence are required.
... This is because the β-coefficients may be influenced by both the correlation of the predictors with the dependent variable and the intercorrelation between the predictors (i.e., multicollinearity). An example would be the prediction of flying based on intelligence, EFs, and attention; because all these variables are intercorrelated (Van Aken et al., 2016). To determine the significance of the individual predictors in a multiple regression analysis, the partial or semipartial correlations are needed. ...
Piloting is a complex task that demands robust cognitive functions to handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a constantly changing environment. As a result, cognitive abilities, particularly executive functions (EFs), have gained significant importance in relation to flight performance. However, the specific EFs most critical for predicting flight performance remain unclear. Understanding the exact nature of this relationship has the potential to advance research on pilot selection procedures, cockpit design, and influence cognitive training approaches to ultimately improve flight safety. This systematic review aims to pinpoint the most pertinent EFs for various aspects of airplane piloting. A systematic narrative literature review was conducted with a framework focusing on four EFs: working memory updating, set-shifting, response inhibition, and conflict monitoring, as well as three key aspects of flight performance: flying, navigating, and communicating. The findings suggest that multiple EFs predict flight performance outcomes. Notably, working memory updating significantly predicts the management of communication tasks and the making of critical decisions requiring mental flexibility. However, other specific EFs remain understudied. To advance this research area, we recommend conceptualizing EFs and flying measures based on existing theoretical frameworks, using measures sensitive to specific EFs, evaluating flying performance in simulated or real flights, controlling or accounting for factors that affect EFs and flying performance, and investigating the ameliorative potential of EFs with end results on flight performance.
... First, their study focused on episodic memory as the only indicator of participants' cognitive functioning, and it remained to be investigated whether the observed links also apply to different cognitive abilities relying on different brain networks or whether these links may be speci c to certain cognitive domains. Speci cally, uid cognitive abilities, i.e., those depending on frontal networks and requiring controlled top-down processing, such as executive functions [31], are a crucial hallmark of cognitive functioning as these abilities are key for independence and autonomy and known to decline with age [32,33]. Therefore, here we aimed to examine potential differences between two core aspects of cognition that typically decline with age, episodic memory and executive functions. ...
Hearing impairment affects a growing number of older adults and is associated with worse cognitive aging outcomes. However, the mechanisms linking hearing impairment and cognition are complex, and the role of potential moderating factors remains underexplored. This study examined whether social isolation and loneliness profiles (e.g., non-isolated but lonely) help explain why some older individuals experience faster cognitive decline as their hearing worsens, while others do not. Using longitudinal data from waves 1 to 9 of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we analysed 33,741 individuals (Mage = 61.4, SD = 8.6). Multilevel modelling revealed that both levels and linear and quadratic changes in hearing impairment predicted lower cognitive performance and steeper cognitive decline. Additionally, compared to those who were non-isolated and less lonely, those in the non-isolated but lonelier profile exhibited steeper declines in episodic memory, but not executive functions, with worsening hearing. These findings highlight key psychosocial factors contributing to cognitive decline in the context of hearing impairment, underscoring the importance of targeted social and health interventions to support cognitive health in older adults.
... According to Cattell's theory, general fluid intelligence is related to novel problem-solving skills [37]. Moreover, fluid intelligence is also significantly associated with working memory [38]. The increase in general fluid intelligence was mediated by changes in the processing speed, suggesting a connection between the two [39]. ...
Objectives
In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we aimed to investigate the differences in brain activation between individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) individuals during perspective taking. We also examined the association between brain activation and empathic and interoceptive abilities.
Methods
During scanning, participants from the ASD (n=17) and TD (n=22) groups were shown pain stimuli and asked to rate the level of the observed pain from both self- and other-perspectives. Empathic abilities, including perspective taking, were measured using an empathic questionnaire, and three dimensions of interoception were assessed: interoceptive accuracy, interoceptive sensibility, and interoceptive trait prediction errors.
Results
During self-perspective taking, the ASD group exhibited greater activation in the left precuneus than the TD group. During other-perspective taking, relative hyperactivation extended to areas including the right precuneus, right superior frontal gyrus, left caudate nucleus, and left amygdala. Brain activation levels in the right superior frontal gyrus while taking other-perspective were negatively correlated with interoceptive accuracy, and those in the left caudate were negatively correlated with perspective taking ability in the ASD group.
Conclusion
Individuals with ASD show atypical brain activation during perspective taking. Notably, their brain regions associated with stress reactions and escape responses are overactivated when taking other-perspective. This overactivity is related to poor interoceptive accuracy, suggesting that individuals with ASD may experience difficulties with the self-other distinction or atypical embodiment when considering another person’s perspective.
... According to Cattell's theory, general fluid intelligence is related to novel problem-solving skills [37]. Moreover, fluid intelligence is also significantly associated with working memory [38]. The increase in general fluid intelligence was mediated by changes in the processing speed, suggesting a connection between the two [39]. ...
Objectives
Childhood maltreatment can negatively impact cognitive development, including executive function, working memory, and processing speed. This study investigated the impact of childhood maltreatment on cognitive function in young adults using various measurements, including computerized tests, and their relationship with emotional dysregulation.
Methods
We recruited 149 healthy individuals with and without maltreatment experiences and used the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV (WAIS-IV) and a computerized battery to analyze cognitive function.
Results
Both the WAIS-IV and computerized tests revealed that individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment had decreased cognitive function, especially in terms of working memory and processing speed. These individuals tended to employ maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Among cognitive functions, working memory is negatively related to maladaptive emotion regulation strategies such as catastrophizing.
Conclusion
This study highlights the effects of childhood maltreatment on cognitive function in young adulthood. Moreover, the study suggests clinical implications of cognitive interventions for improving emotion regulation and cognitive function in individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment.
... Building upon the efforts of information processing psychologists, such as Hunt and Baddeley, Kyllonen and Christal (1990), were the first to expressly investigate the relationship between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence, a finding that has since been exhaustively replicated Rey-Mermet et al., 2019;Schmitz & Wilhelm, 2016;van Aken et al., 2016). Kyllonen and Christal (1990) developed tests consistent with A. Baddeley's (1986) multicomponent model of working memory and administered them, along with tests of fluid intelligence, processing speed, and general knowledge, to four samples of Air Force recruits. ...
Individual differences in processing speed and executive attention have both been proposed as explanations for individual differences in cognitive ability, particularly general and fluid intelligence (Engle et al., 1999; Kail & Salthouse, 1994). Both constructs have long intellectual histories in scientific psychology. This article attempts to describe the historical development of these constructs, particularly as they pertain to intelligence. It also aims to determine the degree to which speed and executive attention are theoretical competitors in explaining individual differences in intelligence. We suggest that attention is the more fundamental mechanism in explaining variation in human intelligence.
... Additionally, fluid intelligence has also been found to be closely related to executive function (van Aken et al., 2016). Therefore, in this study we controlled for participant's depressive symptoms and fluid intelligence to isolate the effects of SA and TA on cognitive performance. ...
Mental health traits, such as anxiety, vary on a continuum in the general population, even among participants classified as neurotypical based on the absence of a clinical diagnosis (Crawford et al., 2011). It has previously been estimated that almost a third of neurotypical participants report moderate to extremely severe levels of anxiety (Ichijo et al., 2019). In this within-subjects online correlational study, we recruited a total of 104 neurotypical controls and investigated whether variation in self-reported state and trait anxiety, measured through the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (Spielberger et al., 1983), predicts variation in two measures of cognitive performance. A letter 2-back task (Kirchner, 1958) was employed to estimate working memory performance and a classic colour-word Stroop task (Stroop, 1935) was used to measure cognitive inhibition ability. The results showed that, consistently with our hypothesis, state anxiety significantly modulated working memory accuracy (R2=.04, p=.029) when accounting for the robust effect of fluid intelligence and other control variables, including depression and the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic. This finding was not replicated in the case of cognitive inhibition, where age was found to be the single best predictor of performance. We discuss implications for future research. Finally, based on these findings, we argue that research studies employing case-control designs, especially those relating to working memory, should rigorously control for anxiety and other
mental health traits across clinical and control groups.
... Additionally, different trajectories have been reported across cognitive domains (Teipel et al., 2018;Wu et al., 2021). Some authors (Harada et al., 2013;Lindenberger, 2001;Van Aken et al., 2015) claim cognitive domains that depend upon crystallized or pragmatic ability maintain into older age, and domains that are more dependent on situational cues, or mechanic ability, display agerelated decline. Additionally, among those studies that contemplated more than one domain, differential effects of predictors were found. ...
Objectives:
Cognitive decline is common in the old age, but some evidence suggests it may already occur during adulthood. Previous studies have linked age, gender, educational attainment, depression, physical activity, and social engagement to better cognitive performance over time. However, most studies have used global measures of cognition, which could mask subtle changes in specific cognitive domains. The aim of this study is to examine trajectories of recent and delayed memory recall from a variable-centered perspective, in order to elucidate the impact of age, gender, educational attainment, depression, physical activity, and social engagement on recent and delayed memory both at initial time and across a 10-year period.
Design and participants:
The sample was formed by 56,616 adults and older adults that participated in waves 4 to 8 of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).
Analyses:
We used latent growth modeling to establish latent recent and delayed memory trajectories, and then tested the effects of the aforementioned covariates on the latent intercept and slopes.
Results:
Results showed that both recent and delayed recall display a quadratic trajectory of decline. All covariates significantly explained initial levels of immediate and delayed recall, but only a few had statistically significant effects on the slope terms.
Conclusions:
We discuss differences between present results and those previously reported in studies using a person-centered approach. This study provides evidence of memory decline during adulthood and old adulthood. Further, results provide support for the neural compensation reserve theory.
... It is also worth mentioning that in the case of numeracy and verbal fluency, intellectual activity presented the biggest predictive effect. Executive function has been strongly associated to fluid intelligence (Van Aken et al., 2016), which is the ability to adapt and be flexible in cognitive-demanding contexts (Cattell, 1963). Therefore, intellectual activity participation could be serving as training of such fluid abilities, in line with the cognitive enrichment hypothesis (Hertzog et al., 2008). ...
Theoretical background
A challenge of the ageing of the population is cognitive performance, given its association to optimal ageing. Documented predictors of cognition have included socio-demographics, education or physical factors. However, the association of social and intellectual activity participation to cognition has been less studied.
Aim
This study presents a predictive model of cognitive functioning including these alternative factors as well as more seminal ones to explain cognition in old age.
Materials and methods
The sample was composed by 45475 older adult participants in the 8th Wave of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe, that took place between 2019 and 2020. A correlational design was specified to test the effects of age, gender, years of education, physical inactivity, number of chronic diseases, social activity participation and intellectual activity participation on temporal orientation, numeracy, verbal fluency and memory. A completely a priori Structural Equation Model with latent variables was tested.
Results
The sample had an average of 70 years of age, was well-educated and physically active and engaged in reading. There was a higher proportion of females. The model showed an optimal fit to the data, explaining 8.7%-36.0% of the different cognitive components’ variance. Age, years of education and intellectual activity displayed the largest effects across the cognitive domains.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that social and intellectual activity participation are of relative importance to predict cognition in old age, even when considering other well-documented factors affecting older adults’ cognitive functioning.
... But, the evidence does not support that conclusion. Although few research studies have simultaneously examined the independent and joint influence of all three processes on achievement outcomes, in the studies that have examined these aspects of cognition simultaneously, there is a support that they are distinct (e.g., van Aken et al., 2016). Moreover, evidence suggests that these three cognitive processes differentially relate to achievement (e.g., Hale et al., 2008;McGrew and Wendling, 2010). ...
We live in an age of cancel culture. Things are canceled sometimes for important reasons and sometimes for superficial reasons. Over 100 years since its inception, the concept of IQ still lingers. Here, I make the argument that IQ should be canceled. I conclude with the proposition of a new theory, Specific Processes of Intelligence and Relationships in Academic Learning (SPIRAL), which can be used to guide future research on cognition and achievement.
... To tackle the question of whether relational thinking should be conceptualized as an EF, it is important to test whether it is distinct from the canonical EFs. Many previous studies have noted a relation between reasoning abilities and EFs (e.g., Conway et al., 2003;Duncan et al., 2012;Engle et al., 1999;Friedman et al., 2006;van Aken et al., 2016, see Diamond, 2013. Broadly, these studies demonstrate that individuals who score higher on standard measures of EFs also tend to score higher on standard measures of reasoning. ...
Relational thinking, the ability to represent abstract, generalizable relations, is a core component of reasoning and human cognition. Relational thinking contributes to fluid reasoning and academic achievement, particularly in the domain of math. However, due to the complex nature of many fluid reasoning tasks, it has been difficult to determine the degree to which relational thinking has a separable role from the cognitive processes collectively known as executive functions (EFs). Here, we used a simplified reasoning task to better understand how relational thinking contributes to math achievement in a large, diverse sample of elementary and middle school students ( N = 942). Students also performed a set of ten adaptive EF assessments, as well as tests of math fluency and fraction magnitude comparison. We found that relational thinking was significantly correlated with each of the three EF composite scores previously derived from this dataset, albeit no more strongly than they were with each other. Further, relational thinking predicted unique variance in students’ math fluency and fraction magnitude comparison scores over and above the three EF composites. Thus, we propose that relational thinking be considered an EF in its own right as one of the core, mid‐level cognitive abilities that supports cognition and goal‐directed behavior.
Research Highlights
Relational thinking, the process of identifying and integrating relations, develops over childhood and is central to reasoning.
We collected data from nearly 1000 elementary and middle schoolers on a test of relational thinking, ten standard executive function tasks, and two math tests.
Relational thinking predicts unique variance in math achievement not accounted for by canonical EFs throughout middle childhood.
We propose that relational thinking should be conceptualized as a core executive function that supports cognitive development and learning.
... On the construct level, studies have demonstrated a differential relation between EF and fluid intelligence (g f ) in adults, with working memory being a profound indicator of intelligence performance [35]. Further results show high correlations between cognitive flexibility (shifting) and fluid intelligence (g f ) [36]. ...
Various studies have addressed the relationship between intelligence and executive functions (EF). There is widespread agreement that EF in preschool children is a unitary construct in which the subordinate factors of Updating, Inhibition, and Shifting are still undifferentiated and correlate moderately with a general factor of intelligence (g). The aim of this study is to investigate the common structural relationship between these two constructs using confirmatory factor analysis. Furthermore, we intend to close the gap of more daily life-associated executive functions and replicate findings in preschool-aged children. Data from a sample of N = 124 average developed children without severe impairments (aged 4 years 0 months–6 years 11 months) were analyzed using the data pool of the standardization and validation studies on the German Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence—Fourth Edition. Additionally, Executive functions were assessed using a standardized parent-completed questionnaire (BRIEF-P) on their children’s everyday behavior. A second-order factor solution revealed that a model with a loading of the common factor of general intelligence (g-factor) onto the EF factor fits the data best. To specify possible method effects due to different sources of measurements, a latent method factor was generated. The results indicate a heterogeneous method effect and a decreasing factor loading from g on to EF while controlling for the method factor.
... These domains were (1) general intelligence, (2) working memory (WM), and (3) executive aspect of language. All of which were related to the executive function (EF) (Miyake et al., 2000;Van Aken et al., 2016;Tamura et al., 2018). ...
Background
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is a complex cerebrocerebellar disease primarily characterized by ataxia symptoms alongside motor and cognitive impairments. The heterogeneous clinical presentation of SCA3 necessitates correlations between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical findings in reflecting progressive disease changes. At present, an attempt to systematically examine the brain-behavior relationship in SCA3, specifically, the correlation between MRI and clinical findings, is lacking.
Objective
We investigated the association strength between MRI abnormality and each clinical symptom to understand the brain-behavior relationship in SCA3.
Methods
We conducted a systematic review on Medline and Scopus to review studies evaluating the brain MRI profile of SCA3 using structural MRI (volumetric, voxel-based morphometry, surface analysis), magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and diffusion tensor imaging, including their correlations with clinical outcomes.
Results
Of 1,767 articles identified, 29 articles met the eligibility criteria. According to the National Institutes of Health quality assessment tool for case-control studies, all articles were of excellent quality. This systematic review found that SCA3 neuropathology contributes to widespread brain degeneration, affecting the cerebellum and brainstem. The disease gradually impedes the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia in the late stages of SCA3. Most findings reported moderate correlations (r = 0.30–0.49) between MRI features in several regions and clinical findings. Regardless of the MRI techniques, most studies focused on the brainstem and cerebellum.
Conclusions
Clinical findings suggest that rather than individual brain regions, the connectivity between different brain regions in distributed networks (i.e., cerebellar-cerebral network) may be responsible for motor and neurocognitive function in SCA3. This review highlights the importance of evaluating the progressive changes of the cerebellar-cerebral networks in SCA3 patients, specifically the functional connectivity. Given the relative lack of knowledge about functional connectivity on SCA3, future studies should investigate possible functional connectivity abnormalities in SCA3 using fMRI.
... In addition to the differentiation between the different EFs, research suggests a differential relation of fluid and crystallized intelligence to EFs as well. Some researchers found that EFs are more closely linked to fluid than to crystallized intelligence [49,50]. Others did not find such a differential relationship but rather argued that a latent EF variable accounts for the commonality of fluid and crystallized intelligence [10,48]. ...
Despite their separate research traditions, intelligence and executive functioning (EF) are both theoretically and empirically closely related to each other. Based on a subsample of 8- to 20-yearolds of the standardization and validation sample (N = 1540) of an internationally available instrument assessing both cognitive abilities, this study aimed at investigating a comprehensive structural model of intelligence and EF tasks and at gaining insight into whether this comprehensive model is applicable across sexes and age groups as well as to a subsample of participants with (borderline) intellectual disabilities (IQ <= 85, n = 255). The results of our exploratory factor analysis indicated one common EF factor that could be sufficiently integrated into the intelligence model within our confirmatory factor analyses. The results suggest that the EF factor can be added into the model as a sixth broad ability. The comprehensive model largely showed measurement invariance across sexes and age groups but did not converge within the subsample of participants with (borderline) intellectual disabilities. The results and implications are discussed in light of the current literature.
... In addition, we did not measure cognitive performance as broadly or deeply as some of the previous studies. However, it was demonstrated that fluid intelligence correlates with other measures of cognitive performance [60]. Therefore, it is likely that our findings would be similar for other measures of cognitive performance. ...
Background
There is emerging evidence that the gut microbiome composition is associated with several human health outcomes, which include cognitive performance. However, only a few prospective epidemiological studies exist and none among young adults. Here we address the gap in the literature by investigating whether the gut microbiome composition is prospectively linked to fluid intelligence among healthy young adults.
Methods
Forty individuals (65% females, 26 years) from the DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) study provided a fecal sample for gut microbiome composition and subsequently (average of 166 days) completed a cognitive functioning test using the Cattell’s Culture Fair Intelligence Test, revised German version (CFT 20-R). The assessment of the gut microbiome at the genera level was by 16S rRNA V3-V4 Illumina sequencing. The relative abundance of 158 genera was summarized into bacterial communities using a novel data-driven dimension reduction, amalgamation. The fluid intelligence score was regressed on the relative abundance of the bacterial communities and adjusted for selected covariates.
Results
The 158 genera were amalgamated into 12 amalgams (bacterial communities), which were composed of 18, 6, 10, 14, 8, 10, 16, 13, 12, 12, 3, and 11 genera. Only the 14-genera bacterial community, named the “Ruminococcaceae- and Coriobacteriaceae-dominant community” was positively associated with fluid intelligence score (β = 7.8; 95% CI: 0.62, 15.65, P = 0.04).
Conclusion
Among healthy young adults, the abundance of a gut bacterial community was associated with fluid intelligence score. This study suggests that cognitive performance may potentially benefit from gut microbiome-based intervention.
... Research suggests that the prefrontal cortex plays a major role in such adaptability, given its involvement in the flexibility of behavior, executive functions (EF), FI and SC (22,23). It should be noted that not all EF are related to FI (24)(25)(26). Similarly, SC tasks and FI (27,28) or mental flexibility have been associated with this area (29,30). ...
The concept of cognitive reserve –CR– postulates two forms that prevent cognitive impairment: neural reserve and neural compensation. Both have been primarily linked to the protective role played by genetic factors, educational level, occupation or socioeconomic status. Though it is true that it has been related to executive functions, so far very little attention has been paid to its predictive capacity with other variables more related to social cognition and psychosocial adaptation. Considering socially vulnerable contexts with reduced cultural capital and educational levels, the neural reserve function would be the most relevant and best predictor of aspects related to social cognition and executive functions. We suggest that variables such as fluid and crystallized intelligence influence social cognition and executive functions. This study included a sample of 27 participants over 60 years old from varied contexts of social vulnerability. The procedure included data collection using various cognitive measures. Results show that elderly people with high intelligence—mainly fluid intelligence—have better executive functions, emotional recognition and theory of mind. These results focus on cognitive reserve and its importance because they show that elderly people in vulnerable contexts who strengthen these aspects protect themselves against the deterioration of cognitive skills. This study is the first preliminary research to present a relationship between cognitive reserve and social cognition factors in elderly subjects. Fluid intelligence functions as a highly related factor to protect the performance of executive functions, along with other social-cognitive factors relevant to facilitating the conditions of social adaptation.
... Although several longitudinal studies investigated the associations between early trauma and later executive functioning (Bos et al., 2009;McDermott et al., 2012McDermott et al., , 2013, these studies did not make any attempt to control for early executive functioning making it impossible to draw conclusions about the direction of effects between trauma exposure and executive functioning. However, two longitudinal studies on trauma exposure in relation to intelligence and academic skills (which is closely related to executive functioning) (van Aken et al., 2016), did take early cognitive functioning into account. A longitudinal study among 206 children found that children exposed to interpersonal trauma exposure between birth and 64 months had lower scores on cognitive outcomes such as memory learning, problem solving, abstract thinking, and mathematical concept formation at 24 months (Bayley Mental Development Scale). ...
This study is the first to distinguish two possible predictive directions between trauma exposure and executive functioning in children in a community sample. The sample consists of 1006 children from two time points with a seven years’ time interval of a longitudinal Dutch birth cohort study, the ABCD-study (Van Eijsden et al., 2011). We analyzed the longitudinal associations between trauma exposure and executive functioning using structural equation modeling. The results demonstrated that (after controlling for prenatal substance exposure and mothers’ educational level) trauma exposure before age 5 is predictive of poorer executive functioning at age 12 and trauma exposure between age 6 and 12. However, the association between executive functioning at age 5 and trauma exposure between age 6 and 12 was not statistically significant. Our results indicate that early life trauma exposure has a long term impact on later executive functioning and not the other way around. On top of that, trauma exposure seems to accumulate across childhood when children are exposed to a traumatic event before the age of 5. When looking at the potential moderating role of parenting behavior we found no evidence for such a moderating effect of parenting behavior. Our findings showed that children exposed to trauma early in life may experience problems in executive functioning later in life and they seem at higher risk for cumulative trauma exposure. Clinical practice should take this into account in both the way they provide (early) mental health care and in prevention and recognition of early trauma exposure.
... Conversely, the impairment of general intelligence reported by one study can be attributed to substantially impaired nonverbal reasoning [18]. This could be due to the overlap between nonverbal reasoning and the EF construct [52]. ...
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), the commonest dominantly inherited ataxia worldwide, is characterized by disruption in the cerebellar-cerebral and striatal-cortical networks. Findings on SCA3-associated cognitive impairments are mixed. The classification models, tests and scoring systems used, language, culture, ataxia severity, and depressive symptoms are all potential confounders in neuropsychological assessments and may have contributed to the heterogeneity of the neurocognitive profile of SCA3. We conducted a systematic review of studies evaluating neurocognitive function in SCA3 patients. Of 1304 articles identified, 15 articles met the eligibility criteria. All articles were of excellent quality according to the National Institutes of Health quality assessment tool for case–control studies. In line with the disrupted cerebellar-cerebral and striatal-cortical networks in SCA3, this systematic review found that the neurocognitive profile of SCA3 is characterized by a core impairment of executive function that affects processes such as nonverbal reasoning, executive aspects of language, and recall. Conversely, neurocognitive domains such as general intelligence, verbal reasoning, semantic aspect of language, attention/processing speed, recognition, and visuospatial perception and construction are relatively preserved. This review highlights the importance of evaluating neurocognitive function in SCA3 patients. Considering the negative impact of cognitive and affective impairment on quality of life, this review points to the profound impairments that existing or future treatments should prioritize.
... Executive functions are also more closely related to early mathematical skills than fluid intelligence is (Friedman et al., 2006;Kroesbergen et al., 2009). Fluid intelligence, or problem solving and adaptive reasoning, is stronger related to executive functioning than crystalized intelligence or the ability to solve problems with existing knowledge (Van Aken et al., 2015). Tamnes et al. (2010) showed that the neuroanatomical correlates differ between updating, inhibition, and shifting. ...
Numerical skills encompass a variety of cognitive processes and are crucial for performance in today’s modern world but vary greatly between individuals. Several approaches of numerical cognition have been studied ranging from behavioral to neuroimaging studies. Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) has become a promising tool to influence numerical cognition and is frequently used in clinical settings. The main aim of this chapter is to shed light onto current tES research as an intervention in this domain. We first provide a brief overview of the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms of basic and advanced mathematical skills, such as working memory, executive functions, and (non)symbolic number skills, since tES allows to intervene and further unravel the role of these mechanisms. In addition, we discuss the need for tES research to focus on the transfer of these skills to a similar numerical task to determine facilitation by means of neuroplasticity. Therefore we emphasize studies using tES as a numerical intervention and focus on transfer effects since these outcomes could contribute to implications for educational practice.
... It has been claimed that the ability to effectively suppress irrelevant information while rapidly processing relevant information is the basis of both higher surround suppression and higher intelligence [31,52]. A strong link between EpiTrack performance and intelligence, especially fluid intelligence (following Cattell's model of intelligence [53]), has been reported previously ( [54], see also [55][56][57]). In contrast, crystallized intelligence (assessed by the vocabulary IQ) showed no relationship with surround suppression. ...
Purpose
Following reports that an index of visual surround suppression (SI) may serve as a biomarker for an imbalance of cortical excitation and inhibition in different psychiatric and neurological disorders including epilepsy, we evaluated whether SI is associated with seizure susceptibility, seizure spread, and inhibitory effects of antiseizure medication (ASM).
Methods
In this prospective controlled study, we examined SI with a motion discrimination task in people with genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE) and focal epilepsy with and without focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures. Cofactors such as GABAergic ASM, attentional-executive functioning, and depression were taken into account.
Results
Data of 45 patients were included in the final analysis. Suppression index was not related to epilepsy or seizure type, GABAergic ASM treatment or mood. However, SI correlated with attentional-executive functioning (r = 0.32), which in turn was associated with ASM load (r = −0.38). Repeated task administration (N = 7) proved a high stability over a one-week interval (rtt = 0.89).
Conclusions
Our results do not support the hypothesis that SI is a reliable biomarker for mechanisms related to inhibition of seizure spread or seizure frequency, i.e., it does not seem to reflect inhibitory capacities in epilepsy. Likewise, SI did not differentiate GGE from focal epilepsy, nor was it influenced by ASM load or mode of action. Thus, in epilepsy, no added value of including SI to routine diagnostics can be concluded.
... Gf, or "intelligence-as-process," involves the ability to efficiently generate, transform, manipulate, and reason with novel information to accomplish goals and solve problems (McGrew, 2009). It is often measured by cognitive tests of information processing speed (Gf-PS) and executive functioning (Gf-EF) (Diamond, 2013;Kievit et al., 2016;Sheppard and Vernon, 2008;Van Aken et al., 2015). Clarifying the empirical delineation of wisdom and Gf as constructs is not only important from a theoretical perspective but carries important practical implications as well. ...
Objectives
The relationship between wisdom and fluid intelligence (Gf) is poorly understood, particularly in older adults. We empirically tested the magnitude of the correlation between wisdom and Gf to help determine the extent of overlap between these two constructs.
Design
Cross-sectional study with preregistered hypotheses and well-powered analytic plan ( https://osf.io/h3pjx ).
Setting
Memory and Aging Center at the University of California San Francisco, located in the USA.
Participants
141 healthy older adults (mean age = 76 years; 56% female).
Measurements
Wisdom was quantified using a well-validated self-report-based scale (San Diego Wisdom Scale or SD-WISE). Gf was assessed via composite measures of processing speed (Gf-PS) and executive functioning (Gf-EF). The relationships of SD-WISE scores to Gf-PS and Gf-EF were tested in bivariate correlational analyses and multiple regression models adjusted for demographics (age, sex, and education). Exploratory analyses evaluated the relationships between SD-WISE and age, episodic memory performance, and dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortical volumes on magnetic resonance imaging.
Results
Wisdom showed a small, positive association with Gf-EF (r = 0.181 [95% CI 0.016, 0.336], p = .031), which was reduced to nonsignificance upon controlling for demographics, and no association with Gf-PS (r = 0.019 [95% CI −0.179, 0.216], p = .854). Wisdom demonstrated a small, negative correlation with age (r = −0.197 [95% CI −0.351, −0.033], p = .019), but was not significantly related to episodic memory or prefrontal volumes.
Conclusions
Our findings indicate that most of the variance in wisdom (>95%) is unaccounted for by Gf. The independence of wisdom from cognitive functions that reliably show age-associated declines suggests that it may hold unique potential to bolster decision-making, interpersonal functioning, and other everyday activities in older adults.
... No investigations have specifically evaluated the potential association between indecisiveness, anxiety and attention control; however, some findings suggest an intriguing link. In a large study of Italian high school students, Di Fabio and Palazzeschi (2013) found that indecisiveness was predicted by difficulties in fluid intelligence, commonly conceptualized as a complex attention control process due to its strong correlation with working memory (Van Aken et al. 2016). Di Fabio and Palazzeschi's (2013) results also indicated that self-appraised attention control difficulties (assessed using a questionnaire) were predictive of indecisiveness and accounted for unique variance over that explained by fluid intelligence and personality domains, such as emotional stability. ...
In this investigation, we performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis on the Revised Indecisiveness Scale with a large sample (N = 500) of undergraduate students. Our results supported a two-factor structure consisting of Aversive Indecisiveness (RIS-AI) and Positive Attitudes Towards Decision-Making (RIS-Positive). RIS-AI was strongly related to risks and symptoms of anxiety and avoidance. RIS-AI was also a strong predictor of difficulties in self-appraised attentional focus.RIS-Positive was uniquely predictive of low anhedonic depression and self-appraised attentional shifting.
... As performance IQ reflects fluid intelligence abilities that are postulated to be sensitive to brain insults, it may mean that participants with methamphetamine dependence had general cognitive alterations that may have pre-dated methamphetamine use or have been impacted by methamphetamine-related effects (Dean et al., 2013(Dean et al., , 2018. Since performance-IQ is also highly correlated with executive functions required to perform episodic and working memory tasks (Salthouse and Pink, 2008;Van Aken et al., 2015), there are three possible explanations to the link between IQ and memory/working memory performance: (1) it reflects shared variance between the tasks, (2) poorer episodic and working memory affects performance on IQ tests, or (3) there is a temporal/ causal relationship, such that poorer performance-IQ leads to greater progressive deterioration of episodic and working memory in the context of methamphetamine dependence. Longitudinal studies are needed to resolve this question. ...
Background:
Methamphetamine's effects on brain function have been associated with cognitive deficits, which have a negative impact on clinical outcomes. However, it remains unclear if cognitive deficits relate to methamphetamine dependence (potentially amenable to abstinence and retraining) or background characteristics, mental health and other drug use. We tested the association between methamphetamine dependence and cognitive performance, while factoring in the impact of background characteristics, depressive symptoms and tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use.
Method:
The sample comprised 108 treatment-seeking participants who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV TR) criteria for methamphetamine dependence and 50 socio-demographically matched controls. We administered a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery (delay discounting, decision making, disinhibition, episodic and working memory) and examined cognitive deficits in methamphetamine users after taking into account socio-demographic characteristics, tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use, and depressive symptoms.
Results:
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that methamphetamine dependence was associated with poorer performance in decision-making and disinhibition over and above other predictors, while IQ better explained performance in episodic and working memory. Although duration of methamphetamine use was linked to disinhibition, other patterns of methamphetamine use (including dose and frequency) were not consistently related to performance.
Conclusions:
Methamphetamine dependence impacts inhibitory control and decision-making, whereas lower IQ associates with memory/working memory deficits among methamphetamine users. Findings suggest the need to target disinhibition and impulsive decision-making as part of methamphetamine dependence treatment, while buffering the impact of IQ on memory systems.
... Although this subtest is traditionally considered a measure of fluid reasoning, researchers have argued that the definitions of executive functions and fluid reasoning share a common element in describing the use of strategies to reason and solve novel problems (Decker et al. 2007). Furthermore, factor analytic studies have demonstrated that the Matrix Reasoning subtest loads with other tests of executive functions, such as the WCST and the Stroop test (van Aken et al. 2016). ...
Stress is a common experience that can spillover into parenting, which in turn has important implications for child behavior. Parents’ executive functioning (EF) may buffer the association between feelings of stress and parenting. However, using lower socioeconomic status (SES) and household chaos as indicators of stress, research has demonstrated inconsistent patterns with regard to this moderating role of EF. This study’s first aim examined the moderating role of maternal EF on the associations between SES and household chaos, and harsh parenting. The second aim investigated the effects of experimentally induced stress on harsh parenting and whether maternal EF moderated these effects. A final sample of 101 mothers of 6 to 10-year-old children participated by completing measures of EF, household chaos, SES, and harsh parenting. Additionally, mothers were randomly assigned to either a stress group or a control group. Throughout the stress (or control) induction, mothers rated their harsh parenting in response to child misbehavior vignettes. Findings revealed that stronger EF reduced the association between household chaos and harsh parenting. There were no significant effects of SES or experimentally induced stress on harsh parenting, and EF was not a significant moderator for these stressors. These results highlight the buffering role of EF for more chronic stressors such as household chaos. SES and more acute stress, as manipulated by the TSST, at least in the current sample, may be less relevant.
... Recently, much attention has been paid to the relationship between executive functions (EFs) and intelligence (e.g., Arffa, 2007;Buczylowska & Petermann, 2017;Floyd, Bergeron, Hamilton, & Parra, 2010; van Aken, Kessels, Wingbermuhle, van der Veld, & Egger, 2016). Both constructs are particularly hard to define. ...
Substantial overlap between executive functions (EFs) and intelligence has been reported. Yet further research is required with respect to how the specific components of the two constructs are interrelated. The present study was aimed at exploring the relationship between EFs and intelligence by examining the latent structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) and the Executive Functions Module from the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB). The aim was also to test the correspondence of the two measures to the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory. 205 healthy participants, aged 18–89 years, were administered the NAB and WAIS-IV. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to explore the latent constructs underlying the two test batteries. Models based on the current WAIS-IV index structure showed worse model fit than models based on the CHC theory. In particular, factors representing broad CHC abilities comprehension knowledge (Gc), fluid reasoning (Gf), visual processing (Gv), processing speed (Gs), and working memory capacity (Gwm) proved model fit improvement. The best model fit, however, provided a five-factor model combining the Gf and Gwm abilities into one factor and additionally including a retrieval fluency (Gr) factor. The results demonstrate strong relationships between the WAIS-IV and the NAB Executive Functions Module and suggest substantial overlap between EFs and intelligence within the CHC framework. Nevertheless, according to the recent update of the CHC theory, the NAB fluency tasks may represent a distinct EF factor comprising Gr abilities independent from the WAIS-IV.
... 8,9 Fluid intelligence has been strongly associated with executive functioning. 23 Problems in executive functioning have frequently been reported in VPT/EPT children. 12 These problems often become apparent at primary school age, when these higher order functions rapidly develop and become increasingly important. ...
Aim:
This study determined possible discrepancies between verbal IQ and performance IQ in eight-year-old very preterm (VPT) and extremely preterm (EPT) children, and examined associations between verbal IQ and performance IQ, and sociodemographic factors, perinatal factors, early cognitive outcomes and also with school achievement scores.
Methods:
This prospective cohort study included 120 eight-year-old VPT/EPT children. Cognitive development was assessed at the ages of two, five and eight years. Eight years' school achievement results in arithmetic, reading and spelling were collected. Multiple regression analyses were performed to determine predictors of verbal IQ and performance IQ at the age of eight years and to determine associations with school achievement scores.
Results:
Mean performance IQ (89.8) was significantly lower than mean verbal IQ (99.4; Cohen's d = 0.59) at the age of eight years. Gestational age, small for gestational age status, and cognitive scores at the ages of two and five years, significantly predicted verbal IQ and performance IQ at the age of eight years. Performance IQ at age eight years was an important predictor for arithmetic scores (β = 0.42).
Conclusion:
Performance IQ was more strongly affected than verbal IQ in eight-year-old VPT/EPT children and was strongly related to mathematical difficulties.
... KS patients, like other patients with brain injury, are expected to be preserved on tests of Gc (Krabbendam et al., 2000;Maharasingam et al., 2013). The concept of Gf, in turn, strongly overlaps with the neuropsychological construct of executive functioning (EF) (Ardilla, 1999;Duncan, Burgess, & Emslie, 1995;Duncan, Schramm, Thompson, & Dumontheil, 2012;Roca et al., 2010;Van Aken, Kessels, Wingbermühle, Van der Veld, & Egger, 2016). Myake, Friedman, Emerson, Witzki, and Howerter (2000) defined EF as "general purpose control mechanisms that modulate the operation of various cognitive subprocesses and thereby regulate the dynamics of human cognition" (p. ...
Objective: Although alcoholic Korsakoff patients show profound cognitive impairments (including amnesia), intellectual function has typically been assumed to be preserved. Based on more recent models on intelligence, however, it can be hypothesized that although preserved verbal or crystallized abilities may be expected in Korsakoff patients, fluid reasoning may be significantly reduced. Aim of this study was to gain insight in intelligence profiles of patients with alcohol-related cognitive disorders with and without Korsakoff’s syndrome (KS).
Method: Test performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) and the National Adult Reading Test (NART) was assessed in 34 patients diagnosed with KS, 40 patients with chronic alcohol-related cognitive disorder without Korsakoff’s syndrome (ALC), and 47 non-alcoholic psychiatric controls (non-ALC).
Results: Analysis revealed significant lower WAIS-IV Full-Scale IQ scores compared to the estimated premorbid NART-IQ in both groups with alcohol-related cognitive disorders (KS and ALC). With respect to the index scores, KS patients performed worse than non-ALC patients on the Perceptual Reasoning and Processing Speed Indices. Performance on the Verbal Comprehension and Working Memory Indices did not differ between groups.
Conclusion: Not all aspects of intelligence are preserved in Korsakoff’s syndrome and implications of assessment of intellectual function in patients with alcohol-use disorder are discussed.
... They are crucial for just about every aspect of life, including mental and physical health, school and vocational success and quality of life (Diamond, 2013) and closely related to the concept of fluid intelligence (i.e. reasoning; Van Aken et al., 2016). Typically, executive functions are often referred to as higher-order functions, such as planning, reasoning and problem solving, that are poorly defined as cognitive constructs. ...
Aims:
In addition to amnesia, executive deficits are prominent in Korsakoff's syndrome (KS), yet poorly studied. This study investigates the degree of executive dysfunction in patients with KS for the three main executive subcomponents shifting, updating and inhibition using novel, theory-driven paradigms.
Short summary:
Compared to healthy controls, patients with KS show impairments on the executive subcomponents shifting and updating, but not on inhibition.
Methods:
Executive functions were measured with six carefully designed tasks in 36 abstinent patients with KS (mean age 62.3; 28% woman) and compared with 30 healthy non-alcoholic controls (mean age 61.8; 40% woman). ANOVAs were conducted to examine group differences and effect sizes were calculated.
Results:
Compared to healthy controls, patients with KS were impaired on the executive subcomponents shifting and updating. No statistically significant group difference was found on the factor inhibition.
Conclusions:
Executive dysfunction in long-abstinent patients with alcoholic KS shows a profile in which shifting and updating ability are affected most. It also highlights that executive dysfunction is an important feature of KS and requires more attention in scientific and clinical practice, as these deficits may also affect daily functioning.
... Friedman et al [18] encuentran que inteligencia flui da y cristalizada se relacionan con actualización, pe ro no con inhibición y alternancia. Van Aken et al [19] describen una correlación de 0,91 entre fun ciones ejecutivas e inteligencia fluida (la memoria de trabajo es el principal indicador ejecutivo que contribuye a dicha relación), mientras que la rela ción es moderada con la inteligencia cristalizada. Los resultados de Miyake et al han sido replica dos posteriormente. ...
75 www.neurologia.com Rev Neurol 2017; 64 (2): 75-84 rEVISIÓN Introducción Las funciones ejecutivas se han definido como pro cesos que asocian ideas, movimientos y acciones, y los orientan a la resolución de problemas, pero Mu riel Lezak utiliza el término por primera vez en 1982 [1] refiriéndose a capacidades mentales esen ciales para llevar a cabo una conducta eficaz, creati va y aceptada socialmente, con cuatro componen tes: formulación de metas (capacidad de generar y seleccionar estados deseables en el futuro), planifi cación (selección de acciones, elementos y secuen cias necesarios para alcanzar un objetivo), desarro llo (habilidad para iniciar, detener, mantener y cam biar entre acciones planificadas) y ejecución (capa cidad para monitorizar y corregir actividades). La alteración de estas capacidades puede comportar problemas de iniciación, modificación, control o in terrupción de la acción, y derivar en una disminu ción de conducta espontánea y un aumento de per severación e impulsividad. Las funciones ejecutivas se consideran un con junto de habilidades implicadas en la generación, supervisión, regulación, ejecución y reajuste de con ductas adecuadas para alcanzar objetivos comple jos, especialmente los novedosos para el individuo y que precisan una solución creativa [2]. En este sentido, en nuestra vida cotidiana afrontamos si tuaciones para las que no tenemos un plan de ac ción predeterminado, por lo que no resulta exa gerada la afirmación de Lezak cuando sostiene que las funciones ejecutivas son el eje central que guía las conductas adaptativas y socialmente aceptadas y aceptables. Es destacado el papel que han tenido en la investigación neuropsicológica, y son múltiples los modelos que intentan clarificar los procesos im plicados en las funciones ejecutivas y su relación con diferentes regiones cerebrales, preferentemente de la corteza prefrontal. En el contexto de la diversidad funcional de la corteza frontal se enmarca uno de los debates cru ciales sobre la naturaleza de las funciones ejecuti vas: si constituyen un constructo unitario o un sis tema multimodal de procesamiento múltiple con distintos componentes independientes, aunque in terrelacionados. La visión de las funciones ejecuti Propuesta de un modelo de funciones ejecutivas basado en análisis factoriales Introducción. Desde que Lezak acuñara el término de funciones ejecutivas como las capacidades mentales esenciales para llevar a cabo una conducta eficaz, creativa y aceptada socialmente, éstas han adquirido progresivo protagonismo en la investigación neuropsicológica. Diversos modelos han sido planteados para explicar su naturaleza, pero no existe consen-so respecto a si nos encontramos ante un constructo unitario o un sistema de procesamiento multimodal con componen-tes independientes, pero interconectados. Para conocer la estructura de este constructo se han utilizado estudios de le-sión, neuroimagen y, recientemente, el análisis factorial, que se plantea como una metodología prometedora para ampliar nuestro conocimiento sobre un concepto tan genérico como las funciones ejecutivas. Desarrollo. El propósito de este estudio es realizar una revisión sistemática de modelos factoriales de atención y control ejecutivo en adultos, entre los años 1991-2016, utilizando las bases de datos PubMed, OvidSP y PsycINFO. En total, se revi-saron 33 artículos. A partir de la bibliografía, se realiza una propuesta integradora de los procesos ejecutivos. Conclusiones. Aunque no disponemos de un único modelo que pueda explicar la complejidad de las funciones ejecutivas, sí parece existir acuerdo respecto a su multidimensionalidad. En análisis factoriales, actualización, inhibición y alternancia gozan de fuerte evidencia, si bien hay trabajos que plantean factores novedosos. Nuestra propuesta integradora trata de combinar los procesos ejecutivos hallados en la bibliografía con sus correspondientes correlatos neuroanatómicos, defen-diendo que la metodología ideal debería utilizar información procedente de estudios de lesión, técnicas de neuroimagen y modelos psicométricos-computacionales. Palabras clave. Análisis factoriales. Atención. Flexibilidad cognitiva. Fluidez verbal. Funciones ejecutivas. Inhibición. Me-moria de trabajo.
... Friedman et al [18] encuentran que inteligencia flui da y cristalizada se relacionan con actualización, pe ro no con inhibición y alternancia. Van Aken et al [19] describen una correlación de 0,91 entre fun ciones ejecutivas e inteligencia fluida (la memoria de trabajo es el principal indicador ejecutivo que contribuye a dicha relación), mientras que la rela ción es moderada con la inteligencia cristalizada. Los resultados de Miyake et al han sido replica dos posteriormente. ...
75 www.neurologia.com Rev Neurol 2017; 64 (2): 75-84 rEVISIÓN Introducción Las funciones ejecutivas se han definido como pro cesos que asocian ideas, movimientos y acciones, y los orientan a la resolución de problemas, pero Mu riel Lezak utiliza el término por primera vez en 1982 [1] refiriéndose a capacidades mentales esen ciales para llevar a cabo una conducta eficaz, creati va y aceptada socialmente, con cuatro componen tes: formulación de metas (capacidad de generar y seleccionar estados deseables en el futuro), planifi cación (selección de acciones, elementos y secuen cias necesarios para alcanzar un objetivo), desarro llo (habilidad para iniciar, detener, mantener y cam biar entre acciones planificadas) y ejecución (capa cidad para monitorizar y corregir actividades). La alteración de estas capacidades puede comportar problemas de iniciación, modificación, control o in terrupción de la acción, y derivar en una disminu ción de conducta espontánea y un aumento de per severación e impulsividad. Las funciones ejecutivas se consideran un con junto de habilidades implicadas en la generación, supervisión, regulación, ejecución y reajuste de con ductas adecuadas para alcanzar objetivos comple jos, especialmente los novedosos para el individuo y que precisan una solución creativa [2]. En este sentido, en nuestra vida cotidiana afrontamos si tuaciones para las que no tenemos un plan de ac ción predeterminado, por lo que no resulta exa gerada la afirmación de Lezak cuando sostiene que las funciones ejecutivas son el eje central que guía las conductas adaptativas y socialmente aceptadas y aceptables. Es destacado el papel que han tenido en la investigación neuropsicológica, y son múltiples los modelos que intentan clarificar los procesos im plicados en las funciones ejecutivas y su relación con diferentes regiones cerebrales, preferentemente de la corteza prefrontal. En el contexto de la diversidad funcional de la corteza frontal se enmarca uno de los debates cru ciales sobre la naturaleza de las funciones ejecuti vas: si constituyen un constructo unitario o un sis tema multimodal de procesamiento múltiple con distintos componentes independientes, aunque in terrelacionados. La visión de las funciones ejecuti Propuesta de un modelo de funciones ejecutivas basado en análisis factoriales Introducción. Desde que Lezak acuñara el término de funciones ejecutivas como las capacidades mentales esenciales para llevar a cabo una conducta eficaz, creativa y aceptada socialmente, éstas han adquirido progresivo protagonismo en la investigación neuropsicológica. Diversos modelos han sido planteados para explicar su naturaleza, pero no existe consen-so respecto a si nos encontramos ante un constructo unitario o un sistema de procesamiento multimodal con componen-tes independientes, pero interconectados. Para conocer la estructura de este constructo se han utilizado estudios de le-sión, neuroimagen y, recientemente, el análisis factorial, que se plantea como una metodología prometedora para ampliar nuestro conocimiento sobre un concepto tan genérico como las funciones ejecutivas. Desarrollo. El propósito de este estudio es realizar una revisión sistemática de modelos factoriales de atención y control ejecutivo en adultos, entre los años 1991-2016, utilizando las bases de datos PubMed, OvidSP y PsycINFO. En total, se revi-saron 33 artículos. A partir de la bibliografía, se realiza una propuesta integradora de los procesos ejecutivos. Conclusiones. Aunque no disponemos de un único modelo que pueda explicar la complejidad de las funciones ejecutivas, sí parece existir acuerdo respecto a su multidimensionalidad. En análisis factoriales, actualización, inhibición y alternancia gozan de fuerte evidencia, si bien hay trabajos que plantean factores novedosos. Nuestra propuesta integradora trata de combinar los procesos ejecutivos hallados en la bibliografía con sus correspondientes correlatos neuroanatómicos, defen-diendo que la metodología ideal debería utilizar información procedente de estudios de lesión, técnicas de neuroimagen y modelos psicométricos-computacionales. Palabras clave. Análisis factoriales. Atención. Flexibilidad cognitiva. Fluidez verbal. Funciones ejecutivas. Inhibición. Me-moria de trabajo.
Objective
Dispersion is a form of intra-individual variability across neuropsychological tests that has been shown to predict cognitive decline. However, few studies have investigated the stability and predictive utility of both across- and within-domain dispersion. The current study aims to fill these gaps in the literature by examining multiple indices of dispersion in a longitudinal clinical sample of individuals diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at baseline.
Method
Two hundred thirty-eight MCI patients from a cognitive disorders clinic underwent testing at baseline and after approximately 1.5 years. Linear regression was used to examine whether baseline across- and within-domain dispersion predicted cognitive decline in individuals whose diagnostic classification progressed to dementia (i.e., MCI-Decline) and those who retained an MCI diagnosis at follow-up (i.e., MCI-Stable). Cognitive decline was operationalized dichotomously using group status and continuously using standardized regression-based (SRB) z-scores.
Results
Dispersion variables at baseline and follow-up were positively correlated in both groups, with the exception of within-domain executive functioning and language dispersion in the MCI-Decline group. None of the dispersion variables predicted diagnostic conversion to MCI. Using SRB z-scores, greater across-domain dispersion predicted greater overall cognitive decline at follow-up, but this was not the case for within-domain variables with the exception of visuospatial skills.
Conclusions
Results suggest that across- and within-domain dispersion are relatively stable across time, and that across-domain dispersion is predictive of subtle cognitive decline in patients with MCI. However, these results also highlight that findings may differ based on the tests included in dispersion calculations.
Introduction:
Prospective memory has received relatively little attention from a clinical perspective, yet it is an important part of daily functioning. Executive functions have been linked with prospective memory abilities, and age differences are found in both executive functions and prospective memory. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether age cohort differences in prospective memory abilities are mediated by executive functions, specifically inhibition.
Method:
Participants (N = 108) consisted of young adults (n= 53) and older adults (n= 55) without any neurocognitive impairment. Participants completed a clinical interview and a battery of neuropsychological tests that included the Mini-Mental Status Exam-2 Standard Version (MMSE-2-SV), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-64 (WCST-64), the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System Color-Word Interference Test (D-KEFS CWIT), and the Virtual Kitchen Protocol (VKP).
Results:
Young adults had higher prospective memory scores than older adults. Inhibition (i.e., D-KEFS CWIT) mediated the relationship between age cohort and prospective memory, while cognitive flexibility did not mediate the relationship.
Conclusions:
Older adults may have diminished inhibition abilities that may negatively affect their ability to complete prospective memory tasks.
This chapter recaps the key conclusions in relation to bilingualism, intelligence, and executive functioning. The chapter also briefly considers similarities between fluid intelligence and executive functioning, and theoretical frameworks relevant to the bilingual executive functioning advantage.KeywordsBilingualismExecutive functioningIntelligenceReplication crisis
Objective
Attention and executive function (EF) are vulnerable to aging. However, whether all these functions generally decline with aging is not known. Furthermore, most evidence is based on cross-sectional data and fewer follow-up data are available in the literature. Longitudinal follow-up studies are necessary to characterize individualized and precise changes in cognitive function. Additionally, relatively few aging studies have included middle-aged adults to examine age-related differences in attention and EF. Therefore, this study aims to examine whether general or specific attention and EF decline with aging from adulthood to old age by combining cross-sectional and longitudinal follow-up approaches.
Methods
This study recruited 253 participants aged 20 to 78 years. passing a prescreening procedure (see main text for detail) for the baseline session, and 123 of them were invited to return 1 ~ 2 years after their first visit to participate in the follow-up session. The participants completed a series of attention and EF tasks at both the baseline and follow-up sessions, which measured alerting, orienting, conflict control, stopping, memory updating, and switching abilities. We applied linear and nonlinear regression models to evaluate the cross-sectional age effect on attention and EF and employed a modified Brinley plot to inspect follow-up performance against baseline in attention and EF.
Results
The results of cross-sectional data showed that older adults exhibited decreased efficiency in alerting, stopping, and memory updating but paradoxically increased efficiency in conflict control and switching abilities and no changes in orienting efficiency with age. However, the results of longitudinal data showed that only alerting and memory updating continued to show decreased efficiency. Furthermore, conflict control and switching showed increased efficiency with aging, whereas the orienting network, and stopping no longer showed decreased efficiency.
Conclusion
Thus, converging the cross-sectional and longitudinal data showed that the alerting and memory updating function exhibited the most robust deficit with age (cross-sectional) and aging (longitudinal). Alerting and memory updating abilities are crucial survival skills for human beings. Therefore, developing methods to prevent and improve an individual’s alertness and working memory ability is an important practical issue in aging research.
This paper uses new psychometric data to reconsider the composition of cities, the role of sorting in urban learning, and the generation of agglomeration economies more generally. The analysis establishes that individuals in large cities tend to have greater learning capacity. The spatial distribution of learning capacity is most strongly related to the age composition of cities, specifically to the location choices of young workers with high learning capacity. This indicates that observed patterns of dynamic agglomeration economies are influenced by the sorting of learners into cities. This, in turn, has implications for placed-based and other policies.
Executive function (EF) training has shown promise for remedying general EF deficiencies faced by students with mathematics difficulty (MD) and for improving their performance. However, latest research also suggests that the instant and sustained effects of EF training remain inconsistent. In this study, 32 students with MD, age 7 to 10 years, were recruited and randomly divided into two groups: the training group ( n = 16, 25 training sessions) and the control group ( n = 16). Both groups took a pretest, a posttest, and a follow-up test (after 6 months) on EF, fluid intelligence, and mathematics skills. In the posttest, the training group’s performance significantly improved in 2-back, number shifting, letter shifting, calculation fluency, and mathematics problem-solving tasks, but not in Stroop, Flanker, 1-back, numerical operations, and colored progressive matrices tasks. In the follow-up test after 6 months, the effects of training only on 2-back and letter shifting tasks were sustained. The effect on the numerical operations task appeared, however, the effects on number shifting, calculation fluency, and mathematics problem-solving tasks disappeared. The results of this study show that EF training has instant effects of improving EF and mathematics skills of students with MD, and 6-month sustained effects on some of the improved skills. However, for fluid intelligence, the effects may be very limited.
Dementia is a global health priority, with huge human and financial costs. Over 50 million people worldwide live with dementia, a figure which is set to rise to 130 million by 2050. The current cost of dementia to the global economy is a staggering $1 trillion per year.
Around 60% of people with dementia live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), countries in which population ageing is occurring at the most rapid rate and which already have the least capacity to cope. Key challenges in these regions include limited reliable epidemiological data, poor public understanding of dementia, inadequate health and social care systems and a lack of coherent, national or transnational dementia strategies. These challenges require concerted effort towards innovative, collaborative and technology-driven solutions involving clinicians, academics, engineers, economists and policymakers.
LMICs also present new opportunities for globally relevant dementia research: for example, the study of novel genetic and environmental factors that modify vulnerability and resilience to disease, as well as innovative approaches to dementia diagnosis and care in resource-poor situations. Whilst some established institutions in the developing world are already engaged in exploring these research opportunities, there is enormous potential for benefit from greater international exposure and collaboration.
The 2015 World Health Organization First Ministerial Conference on dementia concluded that “A sustained global effort is required to promote action on dementia and address the challenges posed by dementia and its impacts. No single country, sector or organization can tackle these challenges alone.” The aim of this Research Topic is to bring together, in one volume, research addressing problems that specifically relate to the impact of dementia in the developing world. In doing so, we hope to identify new challenges for future investigation.
We welcome submissions from a broad range of disciplines and are particularly interested in work that illustrates the collaborative coming together of disciplines and centers. Topics that will be considered include, but are not restricted to, epidemiology, diagnosis (clinical, neuropsychology, biomarkers, imaging), genetics, modifiable risk factors, treatment, diversity and under-represented populations, health economics, social science and public policy. Whilst submissions covering the full range of article types are encouraged, we are particularly interested in Original Research on dementia that specifically addresses issues relating to the LMIC context.
Japan is the oldest society in the world. It has the highest proportion of the population aged 65 and over, a demographic indicator that has been used by demographers for more than a century. One of the main objectives of this study is to apply a new indicator—the cognition-adjusted dependency ratio (CADR)—to remeasure the level of population aging from an innovative point of view. To compute this new index, we apply the mean age-group-specific immediate recall scores for Japan and four other Asian countries, and we compare the results with those derived from the United States and various developed nations in Europe. Our analysis shows that Japan’s pattern and level of age-related decline in cognitive functioning are highly comparable to those of many other developed nations, particularly in Continental Europe. Among the other Asian countries, Malaysia shows a pattern of change similar to countries in Southern Europe, although Malaysia has slightly lower scores than Southern Europe in all age groups. More importantly, these comparative results based on CADR are astonishingly different from the corresponding results obtained from conventional old-age dependency ratios. The Japanese case is the most salient example.
Aim:
The aim of the current study was to assess whether executive function and prefrontal oxygenation are dependent on fitness level and age in older adults.
Methods:
Twenty-four healthy males aged between 55 and 69 years old were recruited for this study. They were stratified by age, leading to the creation of two groups: 55-60 years old and 61-69 years old. A median split based on CRF creates higher- and lower-fit categories of participants. Cerebral oxygenation was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during a computerized Stroop task. Accuracy (% of correct responses) and reaction times (ms) were used as behavioural indicators of cognitive performances. Changes in oxygenated (∆HbO2) and deoxygenated (∆HHb) hemoglobin were measured to capture neural changes. Repeated measures ANOVAs (CRF x Age x Stroop conditions) were performed to test the null hypothesis of an absence of interaction between CRF, Age and executive performance. Results: We also found an interaction between CRF and age on reaction times (p = .001), in which higher fitness levels were related to faster reaction times in the 61-69 year olds but not in the 55-60 year olds. Regarding ΔHHb, the ANOVA revealed a main effect of CRF in the right PFC (p = .04), in which higher-fit participants had a greater ΔHHb than the lower-fit (d = 1.5). We also found fitness by age interaction for ΔHHb in the right PFC (p = .04).
Conclusion:
Our results support the positive association of CRF on cerebral oxygenation and Stroop performance in healthy older males. They indicated that high-fit individuals performed better in the 61-69 year olds group, but not in the 55-60 years old group. We also observed a greater PFC oxygenation change (as measured by ΔHHb) in the high-fit individuals.
Despite intense research, performance in working memory tasks of people with intellectual disabilities of non-specific etiology is far from clear (Henry, 2012). The presented review systematically analyzes the performance of people with intellectual disabilities compared to mental or chronological age control groups in all areas of the working memory model by Baddeley (2000, 2012). A literature search for peer-reviewed articles in the databases ERIC, PsycInfo, PSYNDEX, FIS Bildung yielded 16 articles which met the inclusion cri-teria. Results indicate a relative impairment within the phonological loop but contradict the presumption of a relative strength of the visuo-spatial sketchpad. However, the central executive demonstrates mostly MA-equivalent functionality. Besides the analysis of work-ing memory components, the review gives implications for future research and practice. Among other things the choice of suitable assessment instruments and possible support for students with working memory challenges are discussed.
[Zusammenfassung]: Trotz intensiver Forschungsbemühungen ist die Ausprägung der einzelnen Arbeitsgedächt-niskomponenten bei Personen mit sogenannter geistiger Behinderung unspezifischer Ätio-logie weiterhin umstritten (Henry, 2012). Ziel des systematischen Reviews ist es deshalb, die Leistungen von Personen, die als geistig behindert bezeichnet werden, vor dem Hinter-grund des Arbeitsgedächtnismodells von Baddeley (2012, 2000) systematisch aufzuarbeiten und auszuwerten. Auf Basis einer Literaturrecherche in deutsch- und englischsprachigen Datenbanken (ERIC, PsycInfo, PSYNDEX, FIS Bildung) wurden 16 durch ein Peer-Review-Verfahren geprüfte Artikel aufgenommen und ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse deuten auf eine relative Schwäche in der phonologischen Schleife hin, widersprechen jedoch der Annah-me einer relativen Stärke im visuell-räumlichen Notizblock. Die überwiegende Mehrzahl der verschiedenen Funktionen der zentralen Exekutive scheint dagegen dem mentalen Entwicklungsalter zu entsprechen. Neben der Auswertung des Arbeitsgedächtnisprofils werden auf Basis des systematischen Reviews Implikationen für Forschung und Praxis ab-geleitet. Dazu gehören u. a. die Auswahl geeigneter Erhebungsinstrumente sowie der son-derpädagogische Umgang mit spezifischen Schwächen in der Arbeitsgedächtnisleistung.
While there is a clear link between impairments of executive functions (EFs), i.e. cognitive control mechanisms that facilitate goal-directed behavior, and speech problems, it is so far unclear exactly which of the complex subdomains of EFs most strongly contribute to speech performance, as measured by verbal fluency (VF) tasks. Furthermore, the impact of intra-individual variability is largely unknown. This study on healthy participants (n = 235) shows that the use of a relevance vector machine approach allows for the prediction of VF performance from EF scores. Based on a comprehensive set of EF scores, results identified cognitive flexibility and inhibition as well as processing speed as strongest predictors for VF performance, but also highlighted a modulatory influence of fluctuating hormone levels. These findings demonstrate that speech production performance is strongly linked to specific EF subdomains, but they also suggest that inter-individual differences should be taken into account.
Eine erhöhte intra-individuelle Variabilität (IIV) und Defizite des Arbeitsgedächtnisses (AG) werden beide bei Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-/Hyperaktivitätsstörungen beobachtet und beide unabhängig voneinander als primärer neurokognitiver Indikator vorgeschlagen. Diese Studie untersucht und vergleicht die Zusammenhänge der beiden Faktoren mit der ADHS-Symptomatik, um die Hypothese zu überprüfen, ob Parameter der IIV die ADHS-Symptomatik besser voraussagen können bzw. wesentlicher beeinflussen, als Defizite im AG. Zu diesem Zweck haben 63 Kinder und Jugendliche mit ADHS zusammen mit 63 gesunde Probanden (nach Alter, Geschlecht und IQ-Wert gepaart) an einer Reihe von PC-Aufgaben teilgenommen zur Erfassung der Reaktionsvariabilität (anhand von choice reaction time tasks) und dreier Komponenten des Arbeitsgedächtnisses nach dem Facettenmodell. Die ADHS-Symptomatik wurde anhand des SWAN-Fragebogens erfasst, welcher von den Eltern der Probanden ausgefüllt wurde.
Ergebnisse zeigten signifikante Gruppenunterschiede für alle Aufgaben und SWAN-Scores, außer für nsMonit, RT und Sigma. Korrelationsanalysen zeigten signifikante schwache bis mäßige Korrelationen von IIV- und AG-Parametern mit Aktivität-Scores in der ADHS-Stichprobe. Es waren keine signifikanten Korrelationen in der Stichprobe gesunder Probanden und bei Aufmerksamkeit-Scores in der ADHS-Stichprobe vorhanden, mit Ausnahme von nsSpan und Aufmerksamkeit-Scores in der Kontrollgruppe (KG). Die Korrelationskoeffizienten der IIV-Parameter waren nicht statistisch signifikant stärker, als die der AG-Aufgaben – weder in der ADHS-Stichprobe, noch in der KG. Dies bestätigt die Hypothese für die ADHS-Gruppe nicht. In einer multiplen Regressionsanalyse waren nur signifikant die IIV-Parameter RTSD und Tau mit Aktivität-Scores in der ADHS-Stichprobe, nachdem Multikollinearitätsprobleme behoben wurden. Dies bestätigt somit zum Teil die Hypothese. Die Ergebnisse deuten aber nur auf einen schwachen Zusammenhang zwischen erhöhter IIV und Defiziten im AG mit Hyperaktivität hin. Verglichen mit Defiziten im AG kann IIV ADHS-Symptome also nur mäßig und beschränkt besser voraussagen. Zwischen IIV- und AG-Parametern besteht auch ein mäßiger bis starker Zusammenhang. Defizite im AG und eine erhöhte IIV befinden sich somit wahrscheinlich weit unten in der Kaskade der Symptomentstehung und sind wahrscheinlich auch beide Folgen bzw. Manifestationen derselben Grundursache der ADHS-Symptomatik.
Background:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has complex genetic underpinnings, particularly in its early-onset form, which places siblings at a 10-fold increased risk of developing the disorder. Examination for neurocognitive markers preceding pediatric OCD onset has not been conducted, although markers have been identified in adult OCD. This study compared neurocognition across groups of OCD-affected youth (n = 87), unaffected siblings of those with early-onset OCD (n = 67), and healthy controls (HC; n = 79).
Methods:
A total of 233 participants aged 6-18 years old completed standardized neurocognitive tests of cognitive flexibility, decision making, planning, response inhibition, spatial working memory, attention, recognition nonverbal memory, and intelligence. They were administered the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Parent version (ADIS-P) and completed self-report anxiety and OCD questionnaires. Linear mixed-effects models tested for differences between groups, adjusting for age, gender, IQ, state anxiety, and ethnicity, and accounting for random effects of family membership.
Results:
OCD-affected youth and unaffected siblings performed significantly worse on planning in comparison to HCs (Cohen's d = 0.74; 95% CI = [0.11, 1.36]; Cohen's d = 0.75; 95% CI = [0.12, 1.38], respectively; omnibus group effect p = .007). No other significant between-group differences were identified.
Conclusions:
Neurocognitive performance differences between groups identified planning as a preexisting trait marker of pediatric OCD, while no other domain presented as a marker of pediatric OCD. This differs from adult OCD, which is associated with broader cognitive impairments. Investigating longitudinal trajectories and predictive significance of neurocognition in those affected by, and at risk for, early-onset OCD is warranted. Ideally, this will enhance individualized risk stratification and inform future prevention and early intervention strategies.
The Modified Card Sorting Test (MCST) is a widely used variation of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. It is faster to administer, less frustrating for respondents and less ambiguous in its scoring but has been criticized for its task impurity and low discriminability between control participants and clinical groups prone to executive dysfunction. This study aimed to examine the executive functions (EF) underlying traditional (number of categories completed, perseverative errors) and novel scores for the MCST, and compare their ability to differentiate between control and clinical samples. Novel and traditional MCST scores were compared between 94 control participants, 87 with bipolar disorder and 64 with major depression. The relationship between MCST scores and traditional EF tasks was examined through correlation and regression analyses. All MCST scores were associated with at least one measure of EF, the most common of which were the Trail Making or Hayling Tests. IQ predicted most scores on the MCST, save for nonperseverative errors and categorizing efficiency. Traditional and novel scores differentiated between clinical and control groups. These findings support the utility of the MCST in detecting executive dysfunction and highlight the importance of new scoring methods in increasing the specificity and interpretability of this task.
RESUMEN El siguiente trabajo es una revisión de las investigaciones sobre la re-lación de la inteligencia con la personalidad, funciones ejecutivas y creatividad realizada desde el año 2000 al presente, con el requisito que los trabajos correspondieran a estudios empíricos y realizados en sujetos sanos. La búsqueda se realizó en las bases de datos Dialnet, Scielo y Medline/Pubmed. Se encontró un total de 3.793 artículos, de los cuales 32 cumplían con los criterios de inclusión. Los tres trabajos de inteligencia y personalidad muestran relación entre el primer cons-tructor y algún rasgo del segundo, de los 14 estudios entre inteligen-cia y funciones ejecutivas el 93% muestra relación o predictibilidad de ambos constructos, sobre todo de la memoria de trabajo, y de los 15 trabajos sobre inteligencia y creatividad la mayoría evidencia relación entre ambas funciones. Se concluye que la inteligencia, entendida como coeficiente intelectual, es independiente, pero al mismo tiempo posee elementos en común con la personalidad, funciones ejecutivas y creatividad.
Background
Assessment of intelligence and executive function (EF) is common in complex neuropsychiatric practice. Although previous studies have shown that EF and intelligence are related, it is unknown whether these constructs relate to one another in a similar manner across different ability groups (mild intellectual disability, borderline intellectual disability and normal/high intelligence). This study therefore examines the relation between three EFs (inhibition, shifting and updating) and intelligence in a heterogeneous psychiatric sample. It is hypothesised that the strength of the relation between intelligence and the three EFs decreases when the level of intelligence increases, in accordance with Spearman's Law of Diminishing Returns.
Methods
In a cross‐sectional, between and within subject design, one of the three intelligence tests (Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – third and fourth editions) and several EF tests (Stroop Colour–Word Test, Trail Making Test and Spatial Working Memory task) were administered to 250 neuropsychiatric inpatients and outpatients (Mage = 39.8, standard deviation = 14.3, 52.8% male). Based upon their full‐scale IQ score, patients were divided into three ability groups (mild intellectual disability, borderline intellectual disability or normal/high intelligence). The relation between EF and intelligence was assessed through analyses of the correlation pattern; groups were compared using analysis of covariance.
Results
Analyses showed significant correlations between the constructs of EF and intelligence. A significant interaction effect was found for shifting, with highest correlations in the normal to high intelligence group, but not for inhibition and updating.
Conclusions
Results support a specific role for shifting in this EF–intelligence relation. The correlational pattern of updating and intelligence, as well as the differential relation of shifting and intelligence across ability groups, suggests that EF tasks may not measure distinct EFs in lower intellectual ability but rely on cognitive primitives such as processing speed. EF tasks can be considered less valid indicators of EF ability. Implications in terms of the need for development of specific tasks to measure cognition in low intellectual ability are discussed.
Much effort has been made to understand the role of attention in perception; much less effort has been placed on the role attention plays in the control of action. Our goal in this chapter is to account for the role of attention in action, both when performance is automatic and when it is under deliberate conscious control. We propose a theoretical framework structured around the notion of a set of active schemas, organized according to the particular action sequences of which they are a part, awaiting the appropriate set of conditions so that they can become selected to control action. The analysis is therefore centered around actions, primarily external actions, but the same principles apply to internal actions—actions that involve only the cognitive processing mechanisms. One major emphasis in the study of attentional processes is the distinction between controlled and automatic processing of perceptual inputs (e.g., Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977). Our work here can be seen as complementary to the distinction between controlled and automatic processes: we examine action rather than perception; we emphasize the situations in which deliberate, conscious control of activity is desired rather than those that are automatic.
An enduring question is unity vs. separability of executive deficits resulting from impaired frontal lobe function. In previous studies, we have asked how executive deficits link to a conventional measure of fluid intelligence, obtained either by standard tests of novel problem-solving, or by averaging performance in a battery of novel tasks. For some classical executive tasks, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Verbal Fluency, and Trail Making Test B (TMTB), frontal deficits are entirely explained by fluid intelligence. However, on a second set of executive tasks, including tests of multitasking and decision making, deficits exceed those predicted by fluid intelligence loss. In this paper we discuss how these results shed light on the diverse clinical phenomenology observed in frontal dysfunction, and present new data on a group of 15 schizophrenic patients and 14 controls. Subjects were assessed with a range of executive tests and with a general cognitive battery used to derive a measure of fluid intelligence. Group performance was compared and fluid intelligence was introduced as a covariate. In line with our previous results, significant patient-control differences in classical executive tests were removed when fluid intelligence was introduced as a covariate. However, for tests of multitasking and decision making, deficits remained. We relate our findings to those of previous factor analytic studies describing a single principal component, which accounts for much of the variance of schizophrenic patients' cognitive performance. We propose that this general factor reflects low fluid intelligence capacity, which accounts for much but not all cognitive impairment in this patient group. Partialling out the general effects of fluid intelligence, we propose, may clarify the role of additional, more specific cognitive impairments in conditions such as schizophrenia.
Most neuropsychological assessments include at least one measure that is administered, scored, or interpreted by computers or other technologies. Despite supportive findings for these technology-based assessments, there is resistance in the field of neuropsychology to adopt additional measures that incorporate technology components. This literature review addresses the research findings of technology-based neuropsychological assessments, including computer- and virtual reality-based measures of cognitive and functional abilities. We evaluate the strengths and limitations of each approach, and examine the utility of technology-based assessments to obtain supplemental cognitive and behavioral information that may be otherwise undetected by traditional paper-and-pencil measures. We argue that the potential of technology use in neuropsychological assessment has not yet been realized, and continued adoption of new technologies could result in more comprehensive assessment of cognitive dysfunction and in turn, better informed diagnosis and treatments. Recommendations for future research are also provided.
Numerous studies have found that working memory capacity and perceptual speed predict variation in fluid intelligence. Within the cognitive ageing literature, perceptual speed accounts for substantial ageing variance in working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. However, within young adults, the interrelationships among these three abilities are less clear. The current work investigated these relationships via confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling using tasks with verbal, spatial, and numerical content. The results indicate that working memory capacity and perceptual speed were not related in a large, cognitively diverse sample of young adults. However, both working memory capacity and perceptual speed accounted for unique variance in fluid intelligence. The results are discussed in relation to previous research with young and older adults.
Recently (Roca et al., 2010), we used the relationship with general intelligence (Spearman's g) to define two sets of frontal lobe or "executive" tests. For one group, including Wisconsin Card Sorting and Verbal Fluency, reduction in g entirely explained the deficits found in frontal patients. For another group, including tests of social cognition and multitasking, frontal deficits remained even after correction for g. Preliminary evidence suggested a link of the latter tasks to more anterior frontal regions. Here we develop this distinction in the context of behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), a disorder which progressively affects frontal lobe cortices. In bvFTD, some executive tests, including tests of social cognition and multitasking, decline from the early stage of the disease, while others, including classical executive tests such as Wisconsin Card Sorting, Verbal Fluency or Trail Making Test part B, show deficits only later on. Here we show that, while deficits in the classical executive tests are entirely explained by g, deficits in the social cognition and multitasking tests are not. The results suggest a relatively selective cognitive deficit at mild stages of the disease, followed by more widespread cognitive decline well predicted by g.
Executive functions (EFs) make possible mentally playing with ideas; taking the time to think before acting; meeting novel, unanticipated challenges; resisting temptations; and staying focused. Core EFs are inhibition [response inhibition (self-control-resisting temptations and resisting acting impulsively) and interference control (selective attention and cognitive inhibition)], working memory, and cognitive flexibility (including creatively thinking "outside the box," seeing anything from different perspectives, and quickly and flexibly adapting to changed circumstances). The developmental progression and representative measures of each are discussed. Controversies are addressed (e.g., the relation between EFs and fluid intelligence, self-regulation, executive attention, and effortful control, and the relation between working memory and inhibition and attention). The importance of social, emotional, and physical health for cognitive health is discussed because stress, lack of sleep, loneliness, or lack of exercise impairs EFs. That EFs are trainable and can be improved with practice is addressed, including diverse methods tried thus far. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology Volume 64 is November 30, 2012. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/catalog/pubdates.aspx for revised estimates.
Data from over 3400 individuals ranging from 5 to 93 years of age were analyzed to investigate the structural organization of cognitive variables, and to use that structure to examine relations between cognitive abilities and neuropsychological variables. The results indicated that the variables could be organized into the same cognitive ability factors in both children and adults, and that in both segments of the lifespan a large proportion of the age-related influences on measures of cognitive functioning was shared across different cognitive abilities. Another set of analyses revealed that many neuropsychological variables were closely related to established cognitive abilities, although the pattern of influences varied somewhat across different age groups. Finally, variables assumed to reflect executive functioning were found to lack construct validity because there was nearly perfect overlap of the individual differences in what these variables had in common and a construct of fluid intelligence.
Many varieties of working memory have been linked to fluid intelligence. In Duncan et al. (Journal of Experimental Psychology:General 137:131-148, 2008), we described limited working memory for new task rules: When rules are complex, some may fail in their control of behavior, though they are often still available for explicit recall. Unlike other kinds of working memory, load is determined in this case not by real-time performance demands, but by the total complexity of the task instructions. Here, we show that the correlation with fluid intelligence is stronger for this aspect of working memory than for several other, more traditional varieties-including simple and complex spans and a test of visual short-term memory. Any task, we propose, requires construction of a mental control program that aids in segregating and assembling multiple task parts and their controlling rules. Fluid intelligence is linked closely to the efficiency of constructing such programs, especially when behavior is complex and novel.
BACKGROUND: We recently demonstrated that decline in fluid intelligence is a substantial contributor to frontal deficits. For some classical 'executive' tasks, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Verbal Fluency, frontal deficits were entirely explained by fluid intelligence. However, on a second set of frontal tasks, deficits remained even after statistically controlling for this factor. These tasks included tests of theory of mind and multitasking. As frontal dysfunction is the most frequent cognitive deficit observed in early Parkinson's disease (PD), the present study aimed to determine the role of fluid intelligence in such deficits.Method
We assessed patients with PD (n=32) and control subjects (n=22) with the aforementioned frontal tests and with a test of fluid intelligence. Group performance was compared and fluid intelligence was introduced as a covariate to determine its role in frontal deficits shown by PD patients. RESULTS: In line with our previous results, scores on the WCST and Verbal Fluency were closely linked to fluid intelligence. Significant patient-control differences were eliminated or at least substantially reduced once fluid intelligence was introduced as a covariate. However, for tasks of theory of mind and multitasking, deficits remained even after fluid intelligence was statistically controlled. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that clinical assessment of neuropsychological deficits in PD should include tests of fluid intelligence, together with one or more specific tasks that allow for the assessment of residual frontal deficits associated with theory of mind and multitasking.
Tests of fluid intelligence predict success in a wide range of cognitive activities. Much uncertainty has surrounded brain lesions producing deficits in these tests, with standard group comparisons delivering no clear result. Based on findings from functional imaging, we propose that the uncertainty of lesion data may arise from the specificity and complexity of the relevant neural circuit. Fluid intelligence tests give a characteristic pattern of activity in posterolateral frontal, dorsomedial frontal, and midparietal cortex. To test the causal role of these regions, we examined fluid intelligence in 80 patients with focal cortical lesions. Damage to each of the proposed regions predicted fluid intelligence loss, whereas damage outside these regions was not predictive. The results suggest that coarse group comparisons (e.g., frontal vs. posterior) cannot show the neural underpinnings of fluid intelligence tests. Instead, deficits reflect the extent of damage to a restricted but complex brain circuit comprising specific regions within both frontal and posterior cortex.
Attentional control has been conceptualized as executive functioning by neuropsychologists and as working memory capacity by experimental psychologists. We examined the relationship between these constructs using a factor analytic approach in an adult life span sample. Several tests of working memory capacity and executive function were administered to more than 200 subjects between 18 and 90 years of age, along with tests of processing speed and episodic memory. The correlation between working memory capacity and executive functioning constructs was very strong (r = .97), but correlations between these constructs and processing speed were considerably weaker (rs ≈ .79). Controlling for working memory capacity and executive function eliminated age effects on episodic memory, and working memory capacity and executive function accounted for variance in episodic memory beyond that accounted for by processing speed. We conclude that tests of working memory capacity and executive function share a common underlying executive attention component that is strongly predictive of higher level cognition.
Many tests of specific 'executive functions' show deficits after frontal lobe lesions. These deficits appear on a background of reduced fluid intelligence, best measured with tests of novel problem solving. For a range of specific executive tests, we ask how far frontal deficits can be explained by a general fluid intelligence loss. For some widely used tests, e.g. Wisconsin Card Sorting, we find that fluid intelligence entirely explains frontal deficits. When patients and controls are matched on fluid intelligence, no further frontal deficit remains. For these tasks too, deficits are unrelated to lesion location within the frontal lobe. A second group of tasks, including tests of both cognitive (e.g. Hotel, Proverbs) and social (Faux Pas) function, shows a different pattern. Deficits are not fully explained by fluid intelligence and the data suggest association with lesions in the right anterior frontal cortex. Understanding of frontal lobe deficits may be clarified by separating reduced fluid intelligence, important in most or all tasks, from other more specific impairments and their associated regions of damage.
The 23 factors previously identified as representing primary mental abilities and 8 factors previously defined as general personality dimensions were factored, using a sample of 297 adults, to provide evidence for hypotheses stipulating that general visualization, fluency, and speediness functions, as well as fluid and crystallized intelligence functions, are involved in the performances commonly said to indicate intelligence. 9 principal axes factors were sufficient to account for the observed, generally positive, intercorrelations among the 31 primary factors. These were rotated blindly to oblique simple structure. The resulting structure was consistent with predictions based upon refinements of the general theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Positive manifold for the intercorrelations among the 2nd-order factors was interpreted as indicating a social fact of interdependence between intraperson and environmental influences determining behavioral attributes. (30 ref.)
Critical requirements for the hypothesis that executive functioning is a potential mediator of age-related effects on cognitive functioning are that variables assumed to reflect executive functioning represent a distinct construct and that age-related effects on other types of cognitive functioning are reduced when measures of executive functioning are statistically controlled. These issues were investigated in a study involving 261 adults between 18 and 84 years of age. Although age-related effects on various cognitive abilities were substantially reduced after statistical control of the variance in measures hypothesized to represent executive functioning, there was only weak evidence for the existence of distinct constructs corresponding to executive functioning or to aspects of executive control concerned with inhibition, updating, or time sharing.
A latent-variable study examined whether verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) capacity measures reflect a primarily domain-general construct by testing 236 participants in 3 span tests each of verbal WM. visuospatial WM, verbal short-term memory (STM), and visuospatial STM. as well as in tests of verbal and spatial reasoning and general fluid intelligence (Gf). Confirmatory' factor analyses and structural equation models indicated that the WM tasks largely reflected a domain-general factor, whereas STM tasks, based on the same stimuli as the WM tasks, were much more domain specific. The WM construct was a strong predictor of Gf and a weaker predictor of domain-specific reasoning, and the reverse was true for the STM construct. The findings support a domain-general view of WM capacity, in which executive-attention processes drive the broad predictive utility of WM span measures, and domain-specific storage and rehearsal processes relate more strongly to domain-specific aspects of complex cognition.
The Tower of London (ToL) test is widely used for measuring planning and aspects of problem solving. The primary focus of this study was to asses the relationship among different measures on the ToL. A secondary purpose was to examine the putative relationship between intelligence and working memory with that of ToL performance. Analyses of the interrelation of several ToL parameters indicated that better ToL performance was associated with longer preplanning time and shorter movement execution time. Good performers showed a stronger increase in preplanning duration with task difficulty then intermediate or poor planners. Stepwise multiple regression analysis yield fluid intelligence as the only significant predictor of ToL performance. These result suggest that the Tower of London assesses predominantly planning and problem solving and could not be explained by other cognitive domains.
In goal neglect, a person ignores some task requirement though being able to describe it. Goal neglect is closely related to general intelligence or C. Spearman's (1904) g (J. Duncan, H. Emslie, P. Williams, R. Johnson, & C. Freer, 1996). The authors tested the role of task complexity in neglect and the hypothesis that different task components in some sense compete for attention. In contrast to many kinds of attentional limits, increasing the real-time demands of one task component does not promote neglect of another. Neither does neglect depend on preparation for different possible events in a block of trials. Instead, the key factor is complexity in the whole body of knowledge specified in task instructions. The authors suggest that as novel activity is constructed, relevant facts, rules, and requirements must be organized into a "task model." As this model increases in complexity, different task components compete for representation, and vulnerable components may be lost. Construction of effective task models is closely linked to g.
Nearly 1,000 adults performed a battery of cognitive tests and working memory tasks requiring simultaneous storage and processing of information. Because the amount of to-be-remembered information, or set size, varied randomly across trials, the relation between fluid intelligence and working memory could be examined across different levels of complexity and across successive trials in the working memory tasks. Strong influences of fluid intelligence were apparent in the simplest versions and on the initial trials in the working memory tasks, which suggests that the relation between working memory and fluid intelligence is not dependent on the amount of information that must be maintained, or on processes that occur over the course of performing the tasks.
Several tests from the CANTAB neuropsychological test battery previously shown to be sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction were administered to a large group of normal volunteers (N = 341) ranging in age from 21 to 79 years. The main tests included a computerized form of the Tower of London test of planning, a self-ordered spatial working memory task, and a test of attentional set formation and shifting. A computerized form of the Corsi spatial span task was also given. Age-related graded declines in performance were seen, sometimes in a discontinuous manner, especially for the attentional set shifting task (at the extradimensional shift stage). Patterns of deficits reminiscent of frontal lobe or basal ganglia damage were observed in the oldest age group (74490.)
Although cognitive neuroscience has made valuable progress in understanding the role of the prefrontal cortex in human intelligence, the functional networks that support adaptive behavior and novel problem solving remain to be well characterized. Here, we studied 158 human brain lesion patients to investigate the cognitive and neural foundations of key competencies for fluid intelligence and working memory. We administered a battery of neuropsychological tests, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the N-Back task. Latent variable modeling was applied to obtain error-free scores of fluid intelligence and working memory, followed by voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping to elucidate their neural substrates. The observed latent variable modeling and lesion results support an integrative framework for understanding the architecture of fluid intelligence and working memory and make specific recommendations for the interpretation and application of the WAIS and N-Back task to the study of fluid intelligence in health and disease.
Growing out of a child's cognitive developmental history, formal operations become established at about the age of 12-15 years. Reflected in his ability to reason hypothetically and independently on concrete states of affairs, these structures may be represented by reference to combinatorial systems and to 4-groups. The essence of the logic of cultured adults and the basis for elementary scientific thought are thereby provided. The rate at which a child progresses through the developmental succession may vary, especially from one culture to another. Different children also vary in terms of the areas of functioning to which they apply formal operations, according to their aptitudes and their professional specializations. Thus, although formal operations are logically independent of the reality content to which they are applied, it is best to test the young person in a field which is relevant to his career and interests.
A major contribution to the neuropsychology of man. The first half is a review of theory and data, and the second half describes methods, chiefly developed by the author, for studying changes in behavior after brain damage in man. Translated from the Russian. Harvard Book List (edited) 1971 #152 (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article examines the adequacy of the “rules of thumb” conventional cutoff criteria and several new alternatives for various fit indexes used to evaluate model fit in practice. Using a 2‐index presentation strategy, which includes using the maximum likelihood (ML)‐based standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR) and supplementing it with either Tucker‐Lewis Index (TLI), Bollen's (1989) Fit Index (BL89), Relative Noncentrality Index (RNI), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Gamma Hat, McDonald's Centrality Index (Mc), or root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA), various combinations of cutoff values from selected ranges of cutoff criteria for the ML‐based SRMR and a given supplemental fit index were used to calculate rejection rates for various types of true‐population and misspecified models; that is, models with misspecified factor covariance(s) and models with misspecified factor loading(s). The results suggest that, for the ML method, a cutoff value close to .95 for TLI, BL89, CFI, RNI, and Gamma Hat; a cutoff value close to .90 for Mc; a cutoff value close to .08 for SRMR; and a cutoff value close to .06 for RMSEA are needed before we can conclude that there is a relatively good fit between the hypothesized model and the observed data. Furthermore, the 2‐index presentation strategy is required to reject reasonable proportions of various types of true‐population and misspecified models. Finally, using the proposed cutoff criteria, the ML‐based TLI, Mc, and RMSEA tend to overreject true‐population models at small sample size and thus are less preferable when sample size is small.
In covariance structure analysis, alternative methods of estimation are now regularly available. A variety of statistics, such as estimators, test statistics, and residuals, are computed. The sampling variability of these statistics is known to depend on a matrix Γ which is based on the fourth-order moments of the data. Estimates of these fourth-order moments are expensive to compute, require a lot of computer storage, and have high sampling variability in small to moderate samples. By exploiting the linear relations that typically generate the covariance structure, we have developed conditions under which a matrix Γ*, which depends only on second-order moments of the data, can be used as a substitute for Γ to obtain correct asymptotic distributions for the statistics of interest. In contrast to related work on asymptotic robustness in covariance structure analysis, our theory is developed in the general setting of arbitrary discrepancy functions and addresses a broader class of statistics that include, for instance, goodness of fit statistics that are not necessarily asymptotically χ2 distributed, and statistics based on the residuals. Basically, our theory shows that the normal theory form Γ* for Γ can be used whenever an independence assumption (not only uncorrelatedness), which will always hold under normality, carries over to the model with nonnormal variables. This theory is spelled out in sufficient detail and simplicity so that it can be used in every day practice.
Complex (working memory) span tasks have generally shown larger and more consistent correlations with higher-order cognition than have simple (or short-term memory) span tasks. The relation between verbal complex and simple verbal span tasks to fluid abilities as a function of list-length was examined. The results suggest that the simple span-fluid abilities correlation changes as a function of list-length, but that the complex span-fluid abilities correlation remains constant across list-lengths from lists as short as two items. Furthermore, regression and factor analytic results suggested that the longest simple span list-lengths and all of the complex span list-lengths had both unique and shared variability in predicting fluid abilities, but that estimates of primary memory did not uniquely predict fluid abilities. It is suggested that complex spans, generally, predict higher-order cognition to a greater extent than do simple spans because complex spans require retrieval of items that have been displaced from primary memory due to the processing component of these tasks. Items in simple spans will also be displaced from primary memory but only after primary memory has become overloaded.
Twenty-six patients with unilateral or bilateral frontal lobe excisions were compared with age and IQ matched controls on a computerized battery of tests of spatial working memory and planning. A computerized test of spatial short term memory capacity revealed no significant impairment in the patients' ability to execute a given sequence of visuo-spatial moves. In contrast, a paradigm designed to assess spatial working memory capacity, revealed significant impairments in the patient group in both possible types of search errors. Furthermore, additional analysis showed that the frontal lobe patients were less efficient than controls in their usage of a strategy for improving performance on this test.Higher level planning was also investigated using a test based on the “Tower of London” problem [Shallice, T. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. 298, 199–209, 1982]. Patients with frontal lobe damage required more moves to complete the problems and a yoked motor control condition revealed that movement times were significantly increased in this group. Taking both of these factors into consideration, initial thinking (planning) time was unimpaired in the patient group although the thinking time subsequent to the first move was significantly prolonged. These data are compared to previous findings from patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and are discussed in terms of an impairment of higher cognitive functioning following frontal lobe damage.
In the preceding chapters disturbances of the higher cortical functions associated with lesions of the cortical divisions of the auditory, optic, cutaneokinesthetic, and motor analyzers and of the overlapping cortical areas of these zones were examined. Cortical malfunctioning as a result of lesions of the primary and secondary fields of the cortical nuclei of the motor analyzer, the sensorimotor and premotor divisions of the cerebral cortex, was considered. In the present chapter we turn to the analysis of functional defects caused by lesions of the most complex cortical divisions of the motor analyzer, the frontal divisions of the brain.
Asymptotic properties of estimators for the confirmatory factor analysis model are discussed. The model is identified by restrictions on the elements of the factor loading matrix; the number of restrictions may exceed that required for identification. It is shown that a particular centering of the maximum likelihood estimator derived under assumed normality of observations yields an asymptotic normal distribution that is common to a wide class of distributions of the factor vectors and error vectors. In particular, the asymptotic covariance matrix of the factor loading estimator derived under the normal assumption is shown to be valid for the factor vectors containing a fixed part and a random part with any distribution having finite second moments and for the error vectors consisting of independent components with any distributions having finite second moments. Thus the asymptotic standard errors of the factor loading estimators computed by standard computer packages are valid for virtually any type of nonnormal factor analysis. The results are extended to certain structural equation models.
Structural equation models are widely used in economic, social and behavioral studies to analyze linear interrelationships among variables, some of which may be unobservable or subject to measurement error. Alternative estimation methods that exploit different distributional assumptions are now available. The present paper deals with issues of asymptotic statistical inferences, such as the evaluation of standard errors of estimates and chi--square goodness--of--fit statistics, in the general context of mean and covariance structures. The emphasis is on drawing correct statistical inferences regardless of the distribution of the data and the method of estimation employed. A (distribution--free) consistent estimate of , the matrix of asymptotic variances of the vector of sample second--order moments, will be used to compute robust standard errors and a robust chi--square goodness--of--fit squares. Simple modifications of the usual estimate of will also permit correct inferences in the case of multi-- stage complex samples. We will also discuss the conditions under which, regardless of the distribution of the data, one can rely on the usual (non--robust) inferential statistics. Finally, a multivariate regression model with errors--in--variables will be used to illustrate, by means of simulated data, various theoretical aspects of the paper.