Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests
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Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational Psychologist
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http://www.internationalbrain.org/?q=node/130
Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational Psychologist
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http://www.woodcock-munoz-foundation.org/newsnotes.html
Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational Psychologist
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Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational Psychologist
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This study was an empirical analysis of the relationship between cerebral white matter volume and measures of intelligence, attention, processing speed and academic achievement among healthy children and adolescents. To date, there have been no studies that correlated a broad range of cognitive measures in relation to volumetric measurements of white matter via Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in healthy children and adolescents. This study sought to explore the supposition set forth by previous research, especially with regard to children treated with radiation therapy for cancer, that white matter is the neuroanatomical substrate that can account for variation in performance on select cognitive tasks. Additionally, the purpose of this study was to generate further hypotheses and research questions pertaining to key relationships between cerebral white matter volume and cognition in childhood and adolescence.
This study draws on a dataset created by the recent NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development, which utilized a large and demographically representative sample of children and adolescents. Archival cognitive data were drawn from select subtests of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence (WASI), Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children - III (WISC-III), Woodcock Johnson - III (WJ-III), and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Volumetric measurements of white matter volume were obtained using archival magnetic resonance imaging data. Significant correlations between white matter volume and WASI Block Design, WASI Matrix Reasoning, CANTAB Spatial Span, and WJ-III Passage Comprehension were found; however, follow-up regression analyses revealed that white matter volume was a predictor only for WASI Block Design and WJ-III Passage Comprehension. The results of this study suggest that, in a healthy population of children and adolescents, white matter volume may be related to those academic and intelligence abilities that are complex and dependent upon the integration of disparate cortical regions.
Comprehensive academic achievement tests are routinely used by school psychologists in psycho-educational assessment batteries to identify learning disabled students. A variety of assessment measures are used across age groups to determine if a discrepancy exists between academic achievement and intellectual functioning; however, among the most commonly used tests there are limitations as to how well they can accurately detect this discrepancy. This failure is due, in part, to test construction problems such as item gradient steepness that negatively impacts floor and ceiling effects. These construction problems are particularly salient with certain age ranges, indicating that the accuracy of these tests will vary depending on the age of the child being tested. This dissertation will review test construction issues for the most predominant comprehensive academic achievement tests, the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - Second Edition (WIAT-II), the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III ACH), and the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement - Second Edition (KTEA-II), to determine the test most suitable for a particular age group.
Journal of Neurology, Vol. 257, Issue 5 - New Issue
| Validation studies of the Portuguese experimental version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA): confirmatory factor analysis | |||
| Author(s) | Diana Duro, Mário R. Simões, Emanuel Ponciano & Isabel Santana | ||
| DOI | 10.1007/s00415-009-5399-5 | ||
| November 25, 2009 | |||
| Page | 728 - 734 | ||
Diana Duro1 
, Mário R. Simões3 , Emanuel Ponciano2 and Isabel Santana1
| (1) | Neurology Department, Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra, Praceta Mota Pinto, 3000-075 Coimbra, Portugal |
| (2) | Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, Celas, 3000-354 Coimbra, Portugal |
| (3) | Psychological Evaluation Department, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, Apartado 6153, 3001-802 Coimbra, Portugal |
Received: 20 August 2009 Revised:9 November 2009 Accepted:12 November 2009 Published online: 25 November 2009
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This study evaluates the use of the original and updated norms of the Woodcock Johnson-III in making educational decisions. The method of collection involved placing the raw score obtained from the updated norms into the original Compuscore program to see if there is a difference between the two scoring systems. The scores were then placed in a figure to see how much the scores varied from each other. Results of the study showed that there was a 1 to 3 point difference between specific skill areas, with some skill areas obtaining a 5 to 6 point difference. Suggestions are made for Practitioners when using the updated norms.
http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2010/04/26/new-resource-brain-fitness-for-all/
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In higher order factor models, general intelligence (g) is often found to correlate perfectly with lower-order common factors, suggesting that g and some well-defined cognitive ability, such as working memory, may be identical. However, the results of studies that addressed the equivalence of g and lower-order factors are inconsistent. We suggest that this inconsistency may partly be attributable to the lack of statistical power to detect the distinctiveness of the two factors. The present study therefore investigated the power to reject the hypothesis that g and a lower-order factor are perfectly correlated using artificial datasets, based on realistic parameter values and on the results of selected publications. The results of the power analyses indicated that power was substantially influenced by the effect size and the number and the reliability of the indicators. The examination of published studies revealed that most case studies that reported a perfect correlation between g and a lower-order factor were underpowered, with power coefficients rarely exceeding 0.30. We conclude the paper by emphasizing the importance of considering power in the context of identifying g with lower-order factors.
What determines success and failure in dual-task situations? Many theories propose that the extent to which two activities can be performed concurrently depends on the nature of the information involved in the activities. In particular, verbal and visuospatial activities are thought to be fueled by distinct resources, so that interference occurs between two verbal activities or two visuospatial activities, but little or no interference occurs between verbal and visuospatial activities. The current study examined trade-offs in four dual-task situations in which participants maintained verbal or visuospatial information while concurrently processing either verbal or visuospatial information. We manipulated the cognitive load of concurrent processing and assessed recall performance in each condition. Results revealed that both verbal and visuospatial recall performance decreased as a direct function of increasing cognitive load, regardless of the nature of the information concurrently processed. The observed trade-offs suggest strongly that verbal and visuospatial activities compete for a common domain-general pool of resources.
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Fourth Edition (WISC–IV; D. Wechsler, 2003a) is often utilized to assess children with traumatic brain injury (TBI), although little information is available regarding its psychometric properties in these children. The current study examined WISC–IV performance in a sample of 61 children with TBI. As compared to the standardization sample, results indicated that the TBI group exhibited relative deficits on all subtest and index scores, with the greatest deficits on the Processing Speed Index (PSI) and Coding subtest scores. However, the Perceptual Reasoning Index score was not uniquely sensitive to brain injury, and the Cognitive Processing Index score was less sensitive to TBI than the PSI score. Also, the PSI did not uniquely predict learning and memory abilities, as had been reported in previous studies of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Third Edition (WISC–III; D. Wechsler, 1991). The present findings indicate substantive differences between the WISC–III and WISC–IV profiles of children with TBI.
Published empirical evidence for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Fourth Edition (WAIS–IV) does not address some essential questions pertaining to the applied practice of intellectual assessment. In this study, the structure and cross-age invariance of the latest WAIS–IV revision were examined to (a) elucidate the nature of the constructs measured and (b) determine whether the same constructs are measured across ages. Results suggest that a Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC)–inspired structure provides a better description of test performance than the published scoring structure does. Broad CHC abilities measured by the WAIS–IV include crystallized ability (Gc), fluid reasoning (Gf), visual processing (Gv), short-term memory (Gsm), and processing speed (Gs), although some of these abilities are measured more comprehensively than are others. Additionally, the WAIS–IV provides a measure of quantitative reasoning (QR). Results also suggest a lack of cross-age invariance resulting from age-related differences in factor loadings. Formulas for calculating CHC indexes and suggestions for interpretation are provided.
If a thing exists, it can be measured. Measurement is a central component of assessment if we believe that fear, anxiety, intelligence, self-esteem, attention, and similar latent variables exist and are useful to us in developing an understanding of the human condition and leading us to ways to improve it. Much of what is published in Psychological Assessment deals with the development and the application of measurement devices of various sorts with the end goal of applications in assessment practice. What is submitted but not published largely deals with the same topics. As the new Editor writing the inaugural editorial, I am focusing on this topic for two major reasons. The first is that the most frequent reason why manuscripts are rejected in the peer-review process for Psychological Assessment and other high-quality journals devoted to clinical or neuropsychological assessment is inadequate attention to sound and high-quality measurement practices. The second reason is my surmise that measurement as a science is no longer taught with the rigor that characterized the earlier years of professional psychology. One of the tasks of Psychological Assessment is to promote a strong science of clinical assessment as practiced throughout professional psychology. To that end, I have attempted to pull together an eclectic group of Associate Editors and Consulting Editors. Our hope is to attract more and better manuscripts that deal with issues focusing on all aspects of clinical assessment
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-04/uouh-sow042210.php
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The transient enhancement of performance on spatial tasks in standardized tests after exposure to the first movement “allegro con spirito” of the Mozart sonata for two pianos in D major (KV 448) is referred to as the Mozart effect since its first observation by Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky (1993). These findings turned out to be amazingly hard to replicate, thus leading to an abundance of conflicting results. Sixteen years after initial publication we conduct the so far largest, most comprehensive, and up-to-date meta-analysis (nearly 40 studies, over 3000 subjects), including a diversity of unpublished research papers to finally clarify the scientific record about whether or not a specific Mozart effect exists. We could show that the overall estimated effect is small in size (d = 0.37, 95% CI [0.23, 0.52]) for samples exposed to the Mozart sonata KV 448 and samples that had been exposed to a non-musical stimulus or no stimulus at all preceding spatial task performance. Additionally, calculation of effect sizes for samples exposed to any other musical stimulus and samples exposed to a non-musical stimulus or no stimulus at all yielded effects similar in strength (d = 0.38, 95% CI [0.13, 0.63]), whereas there was a negligible effect between the two music conditions (d = 0.15, 95% CI [0.02, 0.28]). Furthermore, formal tests yielded evidence for confounding publication bias, requiring downward correction of effects. The central finding of the present paper however, is certainly the noticeably higher overall effect in studies performed by Rauscher and colleagues than in studies performed by other researchers, indicating systematically moderating effects of lab affiliation. On the whole, there is little evidence left for a specific, performance-enhancing Mozart effect.
In this Editorial we correct the false claim that g loadings and inbreeding depression scores correlate with the secular gains in IQ. This claim has been used to render the logic of heritable g a “red herring” and an “absurdity” as an explanation of Black–White differences because secular gains are environmental in origin. In point of fact, while g loadings and inbreeding depression scores on the 11 subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children correlate significantly positively with Black–White differences (0.61 and 0.48, P < 0.001), they correlate significantly negatively (or not at all) with the secular gains (mean r = -0.33, P < 0.001; and 0.13, ns, respectively). Moreover, heritabilities calculated from twins also correlate with the g loadings (r = 0.99, P < 0.001 for the estimated true correlation), providing biological evidence for a true genetic g, as opposed to a mere statistical g. While the secular gains are on g-loaded tests (such as the Wechsler), they are negatively correlated with the most g-loaded components of those tests. Also, the tests lose their g loadedness over time with training, retesting, and familiarity. In an analysis of mathematics and reading scores from tests such as the NAEP and Coleman Report over the last 54 years, we show that there has been no narrowing of the gap in either IQ scores or in educational achievement. From 1954 to 2008, Black 17-year-olds have consistently scored at about the level of White 14-year-olds, yielding IQ equivalents of 85 for 1954, 82 for 1965, 70 for 1975, and 81 for 2008. We conclude that predictions about the Black–White IQ gap narrowing as a result of the secular rise are unsupported. The (mostly heritable) cause of the one is not the (mostly environmental) cause of the other. The Flynn Effect (the secular rise in IQ) is not a Jensen Effect (because it does not occur on g).
NeuropathLrng: How poverty can affect children's developing brains:
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