Pub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-06-18DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2025.101932
Alexa K. Bushinski, Thomas S. Redick
Spatial navigation is a complex skill that relies on many aspects of cognition. Our study aims to clarify the role of working memory in spatial navigation, and particularly, the potentially separate contributions of verbal and visuospatial working memory. We leverage individual differences to understand how working memory differs among types of navigators and the predictive utility of verbal and visuospatial working memory. Data were analyzed from N = 253 healthy, young adults. Participants completed multiple measures of verbal and visuospatial working memory and a spatial navigation task called Virtual Silcton. We found that better navigators may rely more on visuospatial working memory. Additionally, using a relative weights analysis, we found that visuospatial working memory accounts for a large majority of variance in spatial navigation when compared to verbal working memory. Our results suggest individual differences in working memory are domain-specific in this context of spatial navigation, with visuospatial working memory being the primary contributor.
{"title":"Individual differences in spatial navigation and working memory","authors":"Alexa K. Bushinski, Thomas S. Redick","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101932","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101932","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Spatial navigation is a complex skill that relies on many aspects of cognition. Our study aims to clarify the role of working memory in spatial navigation, and particularly, the potentially separate contributions of verbal and visuospatial working memory. We leverage individual differences to understand how working memory differs among types of navigators and the predictive utility of verbal and visuospatial working memory. Data were analyzed from <em>N</em> = 253 healthy, young adults. Participants completed multiple measures of verbal and visuospatial working memory and a spatial navigation task called Virtual Silcton. We found that better navigators may rely more on visuospatial working memory. Additionally, using a relative weights analysis, we found that visuospatial working memory accounts for a large majority of variance in spatial navigation when compared to verbal working memory. Our results suggest individual differences in working memory are domain-specific in this context of spatial navigation, with visuospatial working memory being the primary contributor.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 101932"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144306984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-06-04DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2025.101931
Joseph L. Nedelec , Curtis S. Dunkel , Dimitri van der Linden
Metacognition is a process that relates to thinking about thinking. Observed variation in metacognitive processes related to intelligence have often been referred to as the Dunning-Kruger effect (DKE). The DKE describes how individuals often overestimate their competence in a field where they lack expertise, while experts tend to slightly underestimate their competence. Applied to general intelligence, the DKE suggests discrepancies between self-assessed intelligence (SAI) and objective measures of intelligence. Recently, however, the methods used to assess the DKE have been subject to critique. The current study innovatively assessed the DKE by using a mechanistic and genetically informed approach. ACE decomposition models were estimated on a large sample of twins (n = 920; [nMZ = 388; nDZ = 532]) drawn from the restricted version of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Findings illustrated that about 44 % of the variance in a traditional measure of the DKE (difference scores: SAI – objective IQ) was accounted for by genetic factors in the full sample. However, the pattern differed over quartiles of objective IQ where genetic factors accounted for less of the variance in the lower quartiles (about 30 %) and increased to over 75 % of the variance in the highest quartile (remaining variance was due to nonshared environmental factors). Limitations notwithstanding (including a weak and relatively isolated DKE), the current study adds potential support for the validity of the DKE.
{"title":"Heritability of metacognitive judgement of intelligence: A twin study on the Dunning-Kruger effect","authors":"Joseph L. Nedelec , Curtis S. Dunkel , Dimitri van der Linden","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101931","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101931","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Metacognition is a process that relates to thinking about thinking. Observed variation in metacognitive processes related to intelligence have often been referred to as the Dunning-Kruger effect (DKE). The DKE describes how individuals often overestimate their competence in a field where they lack expertise, while experts tend to slightly underestimate their competence. Applied to general intelligence, the DKE suggests discrepancies between self-assessed intelligence (SAI) and objective measures of intelligence. Recently, however, the methods used to assess the DKE have been subject to critique. The current study innovatively assessed the DKE by using a mechanistic and genetically informed approach. ACE decomposition models were estimated on a large sample of twins (<em>n</em> = 920; [<em>n</em><sub>MZ</sub> = 388; <em>n</em><sub>DZ</sub> = 532]) drawn from the restricted version of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Findings illustrated that about 44 % of the variance in a traditional measure of the DKE (difference scores: SAI – objective IQ) was accounted for by genetic factors in the full sample. However, the pattern differed over quartiles of objective IQ where genetic factors accounted for less of the variance in the lower quartiles (about 30 %) and increased to over 75 % of the variance in the highest quartile (remaining variance was due to nonshared environmental factors). Limitations notwithstanding (including a weak and relatively isolated DKE), the current study adds potential support for the validity of the DKE.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 101931"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144205195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-06-21DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2025.101933
Jüri Allik, Helle Pullmann
Studies have demonstrated that people's self-reported intelligence (SRI) is only weakly correlated with their psychometrically measured IQ, which challenges the idea that asking someone how intelligent they are can serve as a reliable proxy for formal ability testing. Data collected from a large sample of Estonian schoolchildren aged 7 to 18 years (N = 4544) showed that only by around age of 10 do children's cognitive abilities develop to a level that allows them to make reasonably accurate self-assessments, as measured by the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM). We conclude that meaningful comparisons of one's intellectual abilities with those of peers are only possible once general cognitive development has reached a stage of reflective intelligence, capable of using formal operations and aligning mental concepts with reality. One way to improve the agreement between the SRI and IQ test scores is to increase the reliability of subjective ratings, either by using more items or by enhancing inter-item correlations. However, this agreement has an upper limit, as discrepancies remain between psychologists' definitions of intelligence and lay conceptions, which often conflate intelligence with self-esteem and other unrelated constructs.
{"title":"How accurately does self-reported intelligence reflect psychometrically measured IQ?","authors":"Jüri Allik, Helle Pullmann","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101933","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101933","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Studies have demonstrated that people's self-reported intelligence (SRI) is only weakly correlated with their psychometrically measured IQ, which challenges the idea that asking someone how intelligent they are can serve as a reliable proxy for formal ability testing. Data collected from a large sample of Estonian schoolchildren aged 7 to 18 years (<em>N</em> = 4544) showed that only by around age of 10 do children's cognitive abilities develop to a level that allows them to make reasonably accurate self-assessments, as measured by the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM). We conclude that meaningful comparisons of one's intellectual abilities with those of peers are only possible once general cognitive development has reached a stage of reflective intelligence, capable of using formal operations and aligning mental concepts with reality. One way to improve the agreement between the SRI and IQ test scores is to increase the reliability of subjective ratings, either by using more items or by enhancing inter-item correlations. However, this agreement has an upper limit, as discrepancies remain between psychologists' definitions of intelligence and lay conceptions, which often conflate intelligence with self-esteem and other unrelated constructs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 101933"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144329659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-07-12DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2025.101936
Timo Gnambs
Information and communication technology (ICT) literacy encompasses a range of cognitive abilities that facilitate the effective use of digital technologies. Two studies on German students investigated the role of reading comprehension and mathematical competence in the development of ICT literacy in adolescence. A variance decomposition analysis (N = 13,335) revealed that both competence domains together accounted for nearly half of the explained item variances in two ICT literacy assessments. Additionally, a cross-lagged panel analysis (N = 4,872) demonstrated that reading and mathematical competencies predicted ICT literacy growth over three years, while ICT literacy also had reciprocal effects on domain-specific competencies. These findings emphasize that ICT literacy is not merely a technical skill set but is also closely related to other cognitive abilities.
{"title":"Reciprocal effects between information and communication technology literacy and conventional literacies","authors":"Timo Gnambs","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101936","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101936","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Information and communication technology (ICT) literacy encompasses a range of cognitive abilities that facilitate the effective use of digital technologies. Two studies on German students investigated the role of reading comprehension and mathematical competence in the development of ICT literacy in adolescence. A variance decomposition analysis (<em>N</em> = 13,335) revealed that both competence domains together accounted for nearly half of the explained item variances in two ICT literacy assessments. Additionally, a cross-lagged panel analysis (<em>N</em> = 4,872) demonstrated that reading and mathematical competencies predicted ICT literacy growth over three years, while ICT literacy also had reciprocal effects on domain-specific competencies. These findings emphasize that ICT literacy is not merely a technical skill set but is also closely related to other cognitive abilities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 101936"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144604507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-05-29DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2025.101923
Sofie Van Cauwenberghe , Stijn Schelfhout , Elisabeth Roels , Jordi Heeren , Lieve De Wachter , Wouter Duyck , Nicolas Dirix
Intelligence is one of the strongest predictors of academic achievement. Fluid intelligence is one part of the construct, that can be measured by deductive and inductive reasoning. We set up a validation study of a free, non-verbal fluid intelligence test (Rules) in the context of study orientation. In this study, we investigate the reliability, distribution and structural validity of Rules, consisting of 28 items. Evidence from confirmatory multidimensional item response theory models suggests structural validity of the non-verbal reasoning test. For construct validity, a cross-validation between Rules and Raven's 2 Progressive Matrices in a sample of 235 last-year secondary school students resulted in a correlation of 0.62. Furthermore, we analyzed the predictive validity of the non-verbal reasoning test, which was administered to 32,585 last-year secondary school students. A standardized mathematics and language test were administered as a proxy for academic achievement scores. The results confirmed the predictive validity of the non-verbal reasoning test for cognitive achievement, with correlations of r = 0.61 for mathematics and r = 0.41 for language. Findings support the use of Rules in psychological practice, in particular for large-scale study exploration tools and low-stakes testing as a proxy for cognition or fluid reasoning.
{"title":"Validating Rules: A non-verbal free fluid intelligence test","authors":"Sofie Van Cauwenberghe , Stijn Schelfhout , Elisabeth Roels , Jordi Heeren , Lieve De Wachter , Wouter Duyck , Nicolas Dirix","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101923","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101923","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intelligence is one of the strongest predictors of academic achievement. Fluid intelligence is one part of the construct, that can be measured by deductive and inductive reasoning. We set up a validation study of a free, non-verbal fluid intelligence test (Rules) in the context of study orientation. In this study, we investigate the reliability, distribution and structural validity of Rules, consisting of 28 items. Evidence from confirmatory multidimensional item response theory models suggests structural validity of the non-verbal reasoning test. For construct validity, a cross-validation between Rules and Raven's 2 Progressive Matrices in a sample of 235 last-year secondary school students resulted in a correlation of 0.62. Furthermore, we analyzed the predictive validity of the non-verbal reasoning test, which was administered to 32,585 last-year secondary school students. A standardized mathematics and language test were administered as a proxy for academic achievement scores. The results confirmed the predictive validity of the non-verbal reasoning test for cognitive achievement, with correlations of <em>r</em> = 0.61 for mathematics and <em>r</em> = 0.41 for language. Findings support the use of Rules in psychological practice, in particular for large-scale study exploration tools and low-stakes testing as a proxy for cognition or fluid reasoning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 101923"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144170440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-07-02DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2025.101934
Gilles E. Gignac , Katja Schlegel
One criterion for considering emotional intelligence (EI) a true intelligence is the observation of an increase in EI across age. However, findings in this area have been mixed and predominantly based on a single measure, the MSCEIT. This study examined the relationship between age and ability-based emotional intelligence (EI) using the Geneva Emotional Competence Test (GECo) in a sample of 456 adults. Results indicated that total EI increases from early adulthood to approximately age 40 (≈ 9 EQ points), after which it plateaus and shows a modest decline in later adulthood. Notably, the emotion regulation subdimension showed no evidence of decline. Overall, these findings support the view that EI may be considered an intelligence, one that may be shaped by gains in crystallized abilities, but also potentially susceptible to later declines in fluid cognitive functioning.
{"title":"Age and ability-based emotional intelligence: Evidence from the Geneva Emotional Competence Test","authors":"Gilles E. Gignac , Katja Schlegel","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101934","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101934","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>One criterion for considering emotional intelligence (EI) a true intelligence is the observation of an increase in EI across age. However, findings in this area have been mixed and predominantly based on a single measure, the MSCEIT. This study examined the relationship between age and ability-based emotional intelligence (EI) using the Geneva Emotional Competence Test (GECo) in a sample of 456 adults. Results indicated that total EI increases from early adulthood to approximately age 40 (≈ 9 EQ points), after which it plateaus and shows a modest decline in later adulthood. Notably, the emotion regulation subdimension showed no evidence of decline. Overall, these findings support the view that EI may be considered an intelligence, one that may be shaped by gains in crystallized abilities, but also potentially susceptible to later declines in fluid cognitive functioning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 101934"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144524339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Declines in cognitive performance have been observed in many Western countries in the 21st century, but it is still unclear whether similar declines are occurring in East Asian countries. We examined trends in cognitive performance over a 20-year period in Japan and analyzed how these trends varied from infancy to adulthood and between males and females. Data were collected between 1998 and 2001 (n = 2677; 49 % females) and 2014 and 2019 (n = 3243; 51 % females) using the Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development and analyzed using linear regression models. We found that cognitive performance had improved over the years for boys and girls aged 3 to 10 years old, with only minor changes observed at younger and older ages. Girls showed an advantage in cognitive development over boys from 1 to 3 years of age, while boys outperformed girls from 10 years of age into adulthood. We found suggestive evidence of slightly faster improvement in cognitive development over the years in boys compared to girls. These results were roughly similar for general cognitive development, cognitive-adaptive development, and language-social development. These findings suggest that the cognitive performance of Japanese children has continued to improve over the past two decades. Japan provides an example that the decline in cognitive performance observed in many industrialized countries in the 21st century is not inevitable.
{"title":"Cognitive performance from infancy to adulthood in Japan from 1998–2001 to 2014–2019: A study using the Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development","authors":"Hideyo Goma , Shun Tanaka , Toshiki Matsuoka , Hiroyuki Shimizu , Satomi Shimizu , Yui Zen , Emi Adachi , Motoko Ishikawa , Karri Silventoinen","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101937","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101937","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Declines in cognitive performance have been observed in many Western countries in the 21st century, but it is still unclear whether similar declines are occurring in East Asian countries. We examined trends in cognitive performance over a 20-year period in Japan and analyzed how these trends varied from infancy to adulthood and between males and females. Data were collected between 1998 and 2001 (<em>n</em> = 2677; 49 % females) and 2014 and 2019 (<em>n</em> = 3243; 51 % females) using the Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development and analyzed using linear regression models. We found that cognitive performance had improved over the years for boys and girls aged 3 to 10 years old, with only minor changes observed at younger and older ages. Girls showed an advantage in cognitive development over boys from 1 to 3 years of age, while boys outperformed girls from 10 years of age into adulthood. We found suggestive evidence of slightly faster improvement in cognitive development over the years in boys compared to girls. These results were roughly similar for general cognitive development, cognitive-adaptive development, and language-social development. These findings suggest that the cognitive performance of Japanese children has continued to improve over the past two decades. Japan provides an example that the decline in cognitive performance observed in many industrialized countries in the 21st century is not inevitable.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 101937"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144611600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-05-01Epub Date: 2025-05-22DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2025.101922
Gilles E. Gignac , David Ilić
Large Language Model (LLM) benchmark evaluation tests often comprise thousands of questions. Based on psychometric principles, reliable and valid benchmark tests can likely be developed with as few as 60 items, comparable to human intelligence tests, which typically include only 15 to 60 items. The establishment of shorter benchmark tests offers numerous potential benefits, including more efficient evaluation of LLMs, the practical feasibility of creating parallel forms, and the ability to directly compare LLM performance with human capabilities. Consequently, we analysed the performance of 591 LLMs across three widely recognized benchmarks—HellaSwag, Winogrande, and GSM8K—and developed short-forms (≈ 60 questions each) using psychometric principles. The short-forms exhibited high internal consistency reliability, with coefficient omega values ranging from 0.96 for Winogrande to 0.99 for HellaSwag and GSM8K. Additionally, strong correlations between short- and long-form scores (r ≈ 0.90) provided evidence of concurrent validity. Finally, model size (number of parameters) was a slightly stronger predictor of overall LLM performance for the short-forms compared to the long-forms, indicating that the short forms exhibited comparable, if not slightly superior, convergent validity. It is concluded that shorter benchmarks may accelerate AI development by enabling more efficient evaluations. Additionally, research into the nature of intelligence may be facilitated by benchmark short-forms by enabling direct comparisons between AI and human performance.
{"title":"Psychometrically derived 60-question benchmarks: Substantial efficiencies and the possibility of human-AI comparisons","authors":"Gilles E. Gignac , David Ilić","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101922","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101922","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Large Language Model (LLM) benchmark evaluation tests often comprise thousands of questions. Based on psychometric principles, reliable and valid benchmark tests can likely be developed with as few as 60 items, comparable to human intelligence tests, which typically include only 15 to 60 items. The establishment of shorter benchmark tests offers numerous potential benefits, including more efficient evaluation of LLMs, the practical feasibility of creating parallel forms, and the ability to directly compare LLM performance with human capabilities. Consequently, we analysed the performance of 591 LLMs across three widely recognized benchmarks—HellaSwag, Winogrande, and GSM8K—and developed short-forms (≈ 60 questions each) using psychometric principles. The short-forms exhibited high internal consistency reliability, with coefficient omega values ranging from 0.96 for Winogrande to 0.99 for HellaSwag and GSM8K. Additionally, strong correlations between short- and long-form scores (<em>r</em> ≈ 0.90) provided evidence of concurrent validity. Finally, model size (number of parameters) was a slightly stronger predictor of overall LLM performance for the short-forms compared to the long-forms, indicating that the short forms exhibited comparable, if not slightly superior, convergent validity. It is concluded that shorter benchmarks may accelerate AI development by enabling more efficient evaluations. Additionally, research into the nature of intelligence may be facilitated by benchmark short-forms by enabling direct comparisons between AI and human performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 101922"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144115844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-05-01Epub Date: 2025-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2025.101909
Morten Nordmo , Tore Nøttestad Norrøne , Ole Christian Lang-Ree
Since 1954, the Norwegian Armed Forces have annually administered an unchanged general mental ability test to male cohorts, comprising figure matrices, word similarities, and mathematical reasoning tests. These stable and representative data have supported various claims about shifts in general mental ability (GMA) levels, notably the Flynn effect and its reversal, influencing extensive research linking these scores with health and other outcomes. This study examines whether observed temporal trends in scores reflect changes in latent intelligence or are confounded by evolving test characteristics and specific test-taking abilities in numerical reasoning, word comprehension, and figure matrices reasoning. Our findings, using multiple-group factor analysis and multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) models, indicate that while there was a general upward trend in observed scores until 1993, this was predominantly driven by enhancements in the fluid intelligence task, specifically figure matrices reasoning. Notably, these gains do not uniformly translate to a rise in underlying GMA, suggesting the presence of domain-specific improvements and test characteristic changes over time. Conversely, the observed decline is primarily due to decreases in word comprehension and numerical reasoning tests, also reflecting specific abilities not attributable to changes in the latent GMA factor. Our findings further challenge the validity of claims that changes in the general factor drive the Flynn effect and its reversal. Furthermore, they caution against using these scores for longitudinal studies without accounting for changes in test characteristics.
{"title":"Reevaluating the Flynn effect, and the reversal: Temporal trends and measurement invariance in Norwegian armed forces intelligence scores","authors":"Morten Nordmo , Tore Nøttestad Norrøne , Ole Christian Lang-Ree","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101909","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101909","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since 1954, the Norwegian Armed Forces have annually administered an unchanged general mental ability test to male cohorts, comprising figure matrices, word similarities, and mathematical reasoning tests. These stable and representative data have supported various claims about shifts in general mental ability (GMA) levels, notably the Flynn effect and its reversal, influencing extensive research linking these scores with health and other outcomes. This study examines whether observed temporal trends in scores reflect changes in latent intelligence or are confounded by evolving test characteristics and specific test-taking abilities in numerical reasoning, word comprehension, and figure matrices reasoning. Our findings, using multiple-group factor analysis and multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) models, indicate that while there was a general upward trend in observed scores until 1993, this was predominantly driven by enhancements in the fluid intelligence task, specifically figure matrices reasoning. Notably, these gains do not uniformly translate to a rise in underlying GMA, suggesting the presence of domain-specific improvements and test characteristic changes over time. Conversely, the observed decline is primarily due to decreases in word comprehension and numerical reasoning tests, also reflecting specific abilities not attributable to changes in the latent GMA factor. Our findings further challenge the validity of claims that changes in the general factor drive the Flynn effect and its reversal. Furthermore, they caution against using these scores for longitudinal studies without accounting for changes in test characteristics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 101909"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143748461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-05-01Epub Date: 2025-04-18DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2025.101919
Robert J. Sternberg
Intelligence in action, or as performance, is almost inevitably at a different level from intelligence as some theoretical level of competence. The article considers a metaphor of an obstacle race as illustrating how intelligence functions in everyday practice. Intelligence as performance always includes responses to the obstacles one confronts. The article opens with an introduction explaining the racetrack metaphor. The article then considers the various obstacles to the deployment of intelligence, including both primarily internal and primarily external obstacles. The article then considers three models for the relationship between intelligence as competence and intelligence as performance. Finally, the article draws some conclusions about intelligence as it acts in the everyday world.
{"title":"The other half of intelligence: An obstacle-racecourse performance-based model of intelligence in action","authors":"Robert J. Sternberg","doi":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101919","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.intell.2025.101919","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intelligence in action, or as performance, is almost inevitably at a different level from intelligence as some theoretical level of competence. The article considers a metaphor of an obstacle race as illustrating how intelligence functions in everyday practice. Intelligence as performance always includes responses to the obstacles one confronts. The article opens with an introduction explaining the racetrack metaphor. The article then considers the various obstacles to the deployment of intelligence, including both primarily internal and primarily external obstacles. The article then considers three models for the relationship between intelligence as competence and intelligence as performance. Finally, the article draws some conclusions about intelligence as it acts in the everyday world.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13862,"journal":{"name":"Intelligence","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 101919"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143848083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}