Jensen article on reaction time measurement and general intelligence

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CHC intelligence theory and testing: Quotes to note from intelligence giants

Regular readers of this blog know that I  frequently reference the need for the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities to be used as the organizational framework for intelligence testing.  I typically provide links to two sources (one a pre-pub version of a book chapter that was eventually published; the other an invited 2009 editorial in the journal Intelligence). 

If readers take time to read these sources, they will learn that CHC theory is the combination of Cattell-Horn Gf-Gc theory and Carroll's three-stratum Gf-Gc theory [Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities:  A survey of factor analytic studies. New York: Cambridge University Press].  I cannot stress enough the importance of the development of CHC theory for evidence-based intelligence theories and test development and interpretation.

To add external credibility to my professional opinion, I suggest skeptical readers read the words of major intelligence scholars as they rendered judgment on the Carroll portion of the CHC model.  Below are a few select quotes.  The conclusion should be obvious. Top notch intelligence scholars recognize the seminal work of Carroll, which is a major cornerstone of CHC theory.  I'll let the words of these giants speak for themselves.

Richard Snow (1993; back cover jacket of Carroll's, 1993 book):

 “John Carroll has done a magnificent thing. He has reviewed and reanalyzed the world’s literature on individual differences in cognitive abilities…no one else could have done it… it defines the taxonomy of cognitive differential psychology for many years to come.”

Burns, R. B. (1994). Surveying the cognitive terrain. Educational Researcher, 35-37.

Carroll’s book “is simply the finest work of research and scholarship I have read and is destined to be the classic study and reference work on human abilities for decades to come” (p. 35).

Horn, J. (1998). A basis for research on age differences in cognitive abilities. In J.J. McArdle, & R.W. Woodcock (Eds.), Human Cognitive Abilities in Theory and Practice (pp. 57-92). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

A “tour de force summary and integration” that is the “definitive foundation for current theory” (p. 58).  Horn compared Carroll’s summary to “Mendelyev’s first presentation of a periodic table of elements in chemistry” (p. 58). 

Jensen, A. R. (2004). Obituary - John Bissell Carroll. Intelligence, 32(1), 1-5.

“…on my first reading this tome, in 1993, I was reminded of the conductor Hans von Bülow’s exclamation on first reading the full orchestral score of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, ‘‘It’s impossible, but there it is!’’

“Carroll’s magnum opus thus distills and synthesizes the results of a century of factor analyses of mental tests. It is virtually the grand finale of the era of psychometric description and taxonomy of human cognitive abilities. It is unlikely that his monumental feat will ever be attempted again by anyone, or that it could be much improved on. It will long be the key reference point and a solid foundation for the explanatory era of differential psychology that we now see burgeoning in genetics and the brain sciences” (p. 5).

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, forensic psychology, criminal psychology, cognition, clinical psychology, neuropsychology, mental retardation, MR, developmental disabilities, CHC theory, Cattell-Horn-Carroll, Gf-Gc, intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, IQ scores, capital punishment, death penalty, Arthur Jensen, Richard Snow, John Horn, Jack Carroll

More supporting evidence IQ Brain Clock

Check out post at sister blog (IQ Brain Clock) re: more evidence supporting the concept and importance of an internal brain clock in intelligence behavior.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, cognition, intelligence, neuropsychology, neuroscience, IQ, intelligence, psychometrics, g, general intelligence, Aruthur Jensen, neural oscillations, neural efficiency, ISIR, brain clock, IQ Brain Clock, temporal processing, temporal g, temporal resolution power hypothesis

IQ Pipeline: Dependability of general (g)-factor loadings

The following article, which is a contemporary update (via more sophisticated statistical methodology) and extension of Thorndike's (1987) classic article on the "Stability of Factor Loadings", is now "in press" in the journal Intelligence.

Floyd, R., Shands, E., Rafaela, F., Bergeron, R & McGrew, K. (2009, in press). The dependability of general-factor loadings: The effects of factor-extraction methods, test battery composition, test battery size, and their interactions. Intelligence

Abstract

To understand the extent to which the general-factor loadings of tests are inherent in their characteristics or due to the sampling of tests, the number of tests in the correlation matrix, and the factor-extraction methods used to obtain them, test scores from a large sample of young adults were inserted into independent and overlapping batteries of varying sizes. Principal factors analysis, maximum-likelihood estimation, and principal components analysis yielded general-factor loadings for each test. Generalizability theory analyses revealed that the characteristics of the tests consistently contributed the largest percentage of variance. Variance attributable to the factor-extraction method and its interactions was sizeable when principal components analysis was included in the analysis but negligible when it was excluded. Psychometric sampling error produced sizeable variance components in some analyses, and its effects were magnified when test batteries diminished in size. When results from principal components analysis were excluded and when the effects of psychometric sampling error were reduced, general-factor loadings were highly dependable across varying conditions.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, cognition, neuropsychology, intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, g, g-loadings, general intelligence, factor analysis, generalizability

Rushton and Jensen's response to Nisbett's "Intelligence and how to get it"

Yesterday I made an FYI post re: an op-ed piece in the NY Times (Rising Above IQ) regarding Richard Nisbett's book on race, culture, schooling and IQ. To say the least, Nisbett's publication has generated considerable response and criticism from intelligence scholars. Thanks to a comment posted to this blog, I was made aware of one of these scholarly responses at Philppe Rushton's web page. He, together with Aruthur Jensen, have a "working paper" in progress and welcome comments on the current draft. A copy can be found by clicking here. Below is the abstract.

Let the games begin.

Rushton, P. & Jensen, A. Race and IQ: A Theory-Based Review of the Research in Richard Nisbett’s Intelligence and How to Get It. Manuscript in preparation.

Abstract

We provide a detailed review of data from psychology, genetics, and neuroscience in a point-counterpoint format to enable readers to identify the merits and demerits of each side of the debate over whether the culture-only (0% genetic-100% environmental) or hereditarian (50% genetic-50% environmental) model best explains observed mean ethnic group differences in intelligence test scores: Jewish (mean IQ = 113), East Asian (106), White (100), Hispanic (90), South Asian (87), African American (85), and sub-Saharan African (70). We juxtapose Richard Nisbett’s position, expressed in his book Intelligence and How to Get It, with our own, to examine his thesis that cultural factors alone are sufficient to explain the differences and that the hereditarian model we have presented over the last 40 years is unnecessary. We review the evidence in 14 topics of contention: (1) data to be explained; (2) malleability of IQ test scores; (3) culture-loaded versus g-loaded tests; (4) stereotype threat, caste, and “X” factors; (5) reaction-time measures; (6) within-race heritability; (7) between-race heritability; (8) sub-Saharan African IQ scores; (9) race differences in brain size; (10) sex differences in brain size; (11) trans-racial adoption studies; (12) racial admixture studies; (13) regression to the mean effects; and (14) human origins research and life-history traits. We conclude that the preponderance of evidence demonstrates that in intelligence, brain size, and other life history traits, East Asians average higher than do Europeans who average higher do South Asians, African Americans, or sub-Saharan Africans. The group differences are between 50 and 80% heritable.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, cognition, intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, IQ scores, genetics, heredity, race, Nisbett, IQs Corner, ISIR

Jensen's Clocking the Mind: Another book review

I've previously posted two reviews of Arthur Jensen's "Clocking the Mind" book. I just found a third review (click here to view). Readers now have three different reviews of this high profile book in the field of intelligence research.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, IQ, intelligence, g, general intelligence, reaction time, Clocking the Mind, chronometry, Arthur Jensen

Jensen's "Clocking the Mind" book reviews

I purchased a copy of Jensen's "Clocking the Mind: Mental Chronometry and individual differences" and it has sat on my pile of "to read" publications for a good year. So...I have no first-hand knowledge from which to render a review. However, other reviews are now becoming available. Click here for prior post regarding a review at the DI blog.

Two reviews (one quite positive; the other more negative) are now "in press" in the journal Intelligence. Check out Detterman's review and a review by Wagenmakers.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, iQ scores, general intelligence, g, Arthur Jensen, mental chronometry, reaction time

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Howard Garnder slamed again--by Dr. "g" (Arthur Jensen)

There is little doubt that Howard Gardner, and his theory of multiple intelligences, has received considerable attention from the lay public and mass media. A trip to the psychology section of any Barnes and Nobles store always finds one staring at yet another book from this prolific scholar.

Unfortunately, IMHO, his work has received more attention than it deserves, while more serious empirically based research on the structure of intelligence (e.g., psychometrcally-based CHC theory) is ignored by the popular press and public. I understand many of the reasons for the differential treatment of these two different approaches, and will not delve into this controversy in this post. I've previously posted the essence of my thoughts re: Gardner's work--which I believe does have some heuristic merit if properly conceptualized (see my prior post for my ruminations)

I just skimmed Arthur "g" Jensen's review of the book (click here)--"Howard Gardner Under Fire: The Rebel Psychologist Faces His Critics)"

As one would expect, Jensen does not have many favorable comments regarding Gardner's work nor this supposed "critique" by others. Jensen feels that the reviewers who comment on Gardner's work were largely self-selected "like-minded" folks. The significant criticism that Jensen (and most other intelligence scholars from a more empirical/psychometric tradition) have for Gardner's work is captured in the following quote (from the review):

• " Probably many educationists with little interest in acquiring a clear understanding of scientific psychology and psychometrics have uncritically embraced Gardner's psychology out of desperation. The persistent frustration of the educational system's dealing realistically with the wide range of scholastic aptitude in the nation's schools creates a fertile ground for seemingly attractive educational nostrums. Gardner's invention of the term “multiple intelligences” capitalizes on the high valuation the public accords to the word “intelligence.” The appeal of Gardner's terminology has been parodied as the Marie Antoinette theory of schooling: if the people have no bread, let them eat cake."

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, education, school psychology, neuropsychology, Gardner, Jensen, g, general intelligence, multiple intelligences, CHC, CHC theory, IQ, IQ tests, intelligence, book review

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Brain clock = g (general intelligence)?

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Check out intriguing post at my sister blog (the IQ Brain Clock) re: another study that suggests that temporal processing (temporal g) may be more related to psychometric intelligence/g than the classic reaction time g paradigm.

Book review. Jensen's Clocking the Mind

The first available review that I've seen of Arthur Jensen's recent book, Clocking the Mind, has just been posted at the Developing Intelligence blog. Take a peak. I do know that formal journal published reviews of this work are in the works (click here).

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, intelligence, IQ test, IQ scores, IQ, cognitive, cognition, g, general intelligence, Aruther Jensen, book review

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IQ, skew and reaction time measurs of general intelligence

A thought provoking Developing Intelligence post (stimulated by Chris Chatham, the DI blogmaster, reading of Jensen's "Clocking the Mind" regarding "IQ & Skew, or why not to log-transform RTs (reaction times)."

Primarily for those interested in the statistical handling of cognitive reaction time measures.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, g, general intelligence, Arthur Jensen, reaction time, processing speed, IQ, IQ tests, IQ scores
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