Practical intelligence at work: Relationship between aging and cognitive efficiency among managers in a bank environment.

A study was conducted to determine which better predicts performance among bank managers: tacit practical knowledge as assessed by the Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Managers (TKIM) or 2 psychometric measures of reasoning, the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven's) and the Verbal Reasoning subtest of the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT). Two hundred bank managers (43 experts and 157 nonexperts), ages 24–59 years old, participated. Increased age was associated with lower performance in Raven's and the DAT but less so in the TKIM; best performing older managers on average had high levels of tacit knowledge, although they scored lower on psychometric reasoning measures; TKIM predicted managerial skill; DAT and Raven's did not. These results suggest that stabilization of some aspects of intelligence may occur in old age. Implications of the findings for the study of practical intelligence, expertise, and compensatory abilities are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Which is the stronger correlate of school learning? Time to learn or measured intelligence?

Time to learn (TTL; measured by the number of trials to criterion on single units of material from 6 academic areas) and intelligence (measured by the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test) were correlated with each other and with school achievement (measured by standardized test scores) in a study of 153 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. TTL was a strong correlate of school achievement (.85–.89). Correlations were lower between TTL and IQ (.50–.69) and between IQ and achievement (.59–76). It is concluded that TTL is a stronger correlate of school learning than IQ is. TTL is discussed as a tool for teachers who design individual instruction and as potentially the fairest measure of school performance available at the present time. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Draw-a-Man and Raven's Progressive Matrices (1938) intelligence test performance of reserve Indian children.

Tested 86 7-15 yr. old Canadian reserve Indian children on the D. B. Harris and F. L. Goodenough Draw-a-Man (see 25:4) and J. C. Raven's Progressive Matrices (1938) tests. The Draw-a-Man mean IQs were: girls 100, boys 113; a significant difference. The Raven mean IQs were: girls 79, boys 85; not significantly different. Tests were significantly correlated (raw scores, r = .67; IQs, r = .53). Older Ss had significantly lower IQs on the Raven only. Results caution against assuming that these tests, especially the Raven, are "culture free" measures of intelligence. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cortical evoked potential, personality, and intelligence.

The averaged cortical evoked potential (CEP) was measured from 296 males (84 twins, 149 prisoners, and 63 miscellaneous Ss; mean ages 24.2, 29, and 27 yrs, respectively) in 2 studies and was then correlated with scores on intelligence and personality tests. For both studies, auditory stimuli were used with bipolar electrode placement to the Cz and T3 scalp positions. In the 1st study, stimulus intensity was 95 db. Intelligence was measured with the Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale and personality with the Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism Questionnaire. Study 2 used additional stimuli at 75 and 55 db. Intelligence was measured with Raven's Progressive Matrices. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was also given. Neither study found any relation between the CEP and IQ or personality. However, more bored Ss showed larger CEP amplitudes. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood intellectual development of adult schizophrenics.

Intelligence test scores from the early and later childhoods of 153 schizophrenic adults, 124 with 2 childhood Stanford-Binet tests, and 29 with 2 childhood group tests, were found and analyzed. A statistically significant (.01) loss between early childhood (ages 5-8) and late childhood (ages 11-14) was found on both tests. A control group of 872 children from the same school system showed a gain in score on the 2 group tests between these same years and studies of retest performance of children on the Binet show relatively little loss for children at comparable levels of intelligence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic Performance, Career Potential, Creativity, and Job Performance: Can One Construct Predict Them All?

This meta-analysis addresses the question of whether 1 general cognitive ability measure developed for predicting academic performance is valid for predicting performance in both educational and work domains. The validity of the Miller Analogies Test (MAT; W. S. Miller, 1960) for predicting 18 academic and work-related criteria was examined. MAT correlations with other cognitive tests (e.g., Raven's Matrices [J. C. Raven, 1965]; Graduate Record Examinations) also were meta-analyzed. The results indicate that the abilities measured by the MAT are shared with other cognitive ability instruments and that these abilities are generalizably valid predictors of academic and vocational criteria, as well as evaluations of career potential and creativity. These findings contradict the notion that intelligence at work is wholly different from intelligence at school, extending the voluminous literature that supports the broad importance of general cognitive ability (g). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical assessment of spasticity in spinal cord injury: a multidimensional problem

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relation between various components of spasticity evaluated clinically in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Case series evaluating spasticity using clinical scales commonly referenced in contemporary literature, including the Penn Spasm Frequency Scale, the Ashworth Scale, and standard scales of tendon taps, clonus, and plantar stimulation. SETTING. A Veterans Affairs Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Center. PATIENTS. Eighty-five spinal cord injured individuals with varying degrees of spasticity. RESULTS: Correlations demonstrated weak relationships between Spasm Frequency Scale and self-report scales of interference with function (.407) and painful spasms (.312). No clinical examination score correlated with self-report scores greater than 0.4. Three clinical examination scores correlated modestly (> 0.5)-Ashworth score with patellar tendon taps (.553), ankle clonus with Achilles tendon tap (.663), and patellar tendon tap with adductor tendon tap (.512). Two other clinical scales correlated weakly (> 0.4)-Achilles tendon tap with patellar tendon tap (.417) and plantar reflex with adductor tendon taps (.423). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical scales currently used to evaluate spasticity in SCI correlate poorly with each other, suggesting that they each assess different aspects of spasticity. The use of any single scale is likely to underrepresent the magnitude and severity of spasticity in the SCI population. In the absence of agreement among these various scales and with the absence of an appropriate criterion standard for evaluation of spasticity, assessments of spasticity, whether clinical or neurophysiological in nature, should be comprehensive in scope.     

Does intelligence account for the link between maternal literacy and child survival?

The strong and consistent correlation between maternal education and child health is now well known, and numerous studies have shown that wealth and income cannot explain the link. Policy-makers have therefore assumed that the relationship is causal and explicitly advocate schooling as a child health intervention. However, there are other factors which could account for the apparent effect of maternal education on child morbidity and mortality, one of which is intelligence. This paper examines the effect of maternal intelligence on child health and looks at the degree to which it can explain the literacy associations with child survival and risk of malnutrition. The data are from a retrospective cohort study of 1294 mothers and their 7475 offspring, of whom 454 were women who had learned to read and write as adults in Nicaragua's literacy programme, 457 were illiterate, and 383 had become literate as young girls attending school. The women's intelligence was tested using Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices. Acquisition of literacy was strongly related to intelligence. Statistically significant associations with maternal literacy were found for under five mortality, infant mortality, and the risk of low mid-upper-arm circumference (MUAC) for age, before and after controlling for a wide range of socio-economic factors. Under five, child (one to four years), infant and post-neonatal mortality plus the risk of low height for age were significantly correlated with intelligence, but only with infant and under mortality rates did the association remain significant after controlling for socio-economic factors. A significant interaction between intelligence and literacy for under five mortality was due to literacy having a strong effect in the women of low intelligence, and a negligible effect among those of high intelligence. This study provides evidence that intelligence is an important determinant of child health among the illiterate, and that education may have the greatest impact on child health for mothers of relatively low intelligence.     

A cross-cultural study of the factorial composition of mechanical aptitude.

Considers mechanical aptitude to encompass a number of distinctive abilities: general intelligence; spatial ability; mechanical knowledge and comprehension; and relevant manual dexterity and coordination. Although mechanical aptitude and its assumed structure are the products of a technological culture, it is proposed that both the factorial structure and absolute levels of mechanical abilities may be usefully examined in groups undergoing acculturation. A battery of tests (e.g., Raven's Progressive Matrices) was administered to 12-14 yr. old Canadian-Indian and Metis males from diverse cultural environments, along with a comparison sample of 35 urban whites. Several factorial procedures were applied to the data to evaluate the congruence of factors emerging in the different groups. It is concluded that the factorial composition of mechanical aptitude shows marked differences across groups, although comparison is facilitated by the presence of certain common components. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting achievement in medical school: a comparison of preclinical and clinical criteria.

For 129 medical students, scores on an aptitude test battery were correlated with general grade averages at the end of both the first and third years of medical school. The trial battery, administered at the beginning of the first year, included (1) USAFI Reading Interpretation, (2) Miller Analogies, (3) DAT Space Relations, and (4) AGCT Validities with first-year grades (.44 to .04) were about the same as validities with third-year grades (.39 to .13), Reading Interpretation having the highest validity in each case. Correlations between the criteria and scores on the medical Professional Aptitude Test followed the same pattern. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New rule use drives the relation between working memory capacity and Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices.

The correlation between individual differences in working memory capacity and performance on the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) is well documented yet poorly understood. The present work proposes a new explanation: that the need to use a new combination of rules on RAPM problems drives the relation between performance and working memory capacity scores. Evidence for this account is supported by an item-based analysis of performance during standard administration of the RAPM and an experiment that manipulates the need to use new rule combinations across 2 subsets of RAPM items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Seeing the forest for the trees: Prevalence of low scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, fourth edition (WISC-IV).

Low scores across a battery of tests are common in healthy people and vary by demographic characteristics. The purpose of the present article was to present the base rates of low scores for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, fourth edition (WISC-IV; D. Wechsler, 2003). Participants included 2,200 children and adolescents between 6 and 16 years of age from the WISC-IV U.S. standardization sample. Measures considered in the base rates analyses included the 10 core subtests and the 4 index scores. Analyses were conducted for the entire standardization sample as well as stratified by different classifications of intelligence and different years of parental education. In the total sample, it is uncommon to have 6 or more subtest scores or 2 or more Index scores ≤ 9th percentile. The prevalence of low scores typically increased with lesser intelligence and fewer years of parental education (e.g., children with below-average intelligence were 75 times more likely than children with above-intelligence to have at least one impaired subtest score). Consistent with existing studies of the base rates of low scores, some low scores on the WISC-IV were common in children and adolescents, and the frequency was related to a child's level of intelligence and parental education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intellectual Differences Between Suburban Preschizophrenic Children and Their Siblings.

The intelligence test scores of 56 suburban school children who later became schizophrenic adults were found to be significantly lower than the intelligence test scores of their siblings on tests taken at the same ages. Early intellectual deficit of future schizophrenics which is not easily discernible in suburban children, whose intelligence test scores often are above average but near the average of their own schools, shows up in comparisons with the performance of their own siblings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of the standard and computerized versions of the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices Test

Computerized psychological assessment is potentially a viable alternative to the traditional method of examiner based assessment. 15 children, 4 females and 11 males, ranging in age from 7 to 14 yr., were administered a computerized version of the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices test. The necessary software for computerizing this test was developed and programmed for use with an Apple II Plus microcomputer. Scores obtained from the computerized and traditional versions of the Raven's test were compared on total mean score, correlation with the WISC-R, Raven's subscale intercorrelations, and Raven's total mean score composition. In general, results indicate that the two versions of the Raven's Matrices do not statistically significantly differ on the dimensions tested in the present study. The relatively small number of subjects and the lack of rigorous experimental control limit generalization of the results. Continued research into the use of computerized psychological assessment is warranted.     

Long-term predictive validity of the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Studied the ability of the Scholastic Aptitude Test-Verbal (SAT-V) and Quantitative (SAT-M) scores to predict achievement over the entire period of college attendance. In Exp I which used a sample of 318 students who earned a mean of 71.6 credits before terminating their college careers, the correlations of terminal GPAs and SAT-V and SAT-M were .52 and .43, respectively. Correlations of .26 and .22 were found between cumulative GPAs and SAT-V and SAT-M scores for 520 graduating seniors in EXP II. The lower correlations in the senior group were attributed to a restriction in range of the grades. Correlations of the Undergraduate Record Examination Field Tests and SAT-V (.47) and SAT-M (.43) were also reported for the senior group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of scholastic aptitude to socioeconomic status and to a rural-to-urban continuum.

The study was an attempt to identify factors that might bias performance on a college aptitude test. For a group of 100 southern white college freshmen, three measures were collected: ACE Psychological Examination scores, scores on a socioeconomic status scale, and scores on a residence history scale. No significant correlation was found between scholastic aptitude and socio-economic status. A significant low (.245-.308) correlation was found between residence history and scholastic aptitude, students with more urban backgrounds tending to earn higher scholastic aptitude scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validation of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire and the Reasons for Living Inventory in an adult psychiatric inpatient sample.

This study investigated the factor structure of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (ASIQ) and the Linehan Reasons for Living Inventory (LRFI) in a sample of 205 adult psychiatric inpatients. Confirmatory factor analyses provided moderate support for the construct validity of each instrument. Coefficient alphas for the ASIQ (.98) and LRFL (.93) were high. In addition, a range of different clinical cutoff points was derived for each instrument. Both instruments were also better than chance in differentiating between the suicide attempter and psychiatric control groups. High ASIQ and low LRFL scores were significantly associated with scores on selected Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Content scales. The analyses also indicated that only the ASIQ added to the symptoms of hopelessness and negative affect in differentiating between the suicide attempter and psychiatric control groups. Results suggest that both instruments may be useful screening tests for suicidal behavior in psychiatric long-term care inpatient samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pulsed magnetization transfer contrast for MR imaging with application to breast

The relative populations and transverse relaxation times of the solid-like hydrogen pool (PB and T2B) and the magnetization transfer (MT) rates between the solid-like and liquid-like hydrogen pools (kappa) have been determined for three different agar gel concentrations (2%, 4%, and 8% by weight) as well as excised fibroglandular breast tissue specimens. PB was determined to be .003(.001), .01(.002), .02(.01), and .06(.01); T2B was determined to be 13.0(.2), 14.0(.1), 14.5(.1) and 15.2(1.3) microseconds; and kappa was determined to be 0.78(.01), 1.15(.02), 2.00(.02), and 3.55(1.5) sec-1 for the 2%, 4%, and 8% agar gels and the fibroglandular tissue, respectively. The image signal intensities of a pulsed MTC-prepared gradient-echo imaging technique are predicted using these MT parameters and are shown to agree well with experimental data obtained from a clinical MR imaging system. This technique is shown to suppress signal intensity of fibroglandular breast tissue by 40%-50% without exceeding SAR limits (< or = 8 W/kg) and is helpful for visualizing lesions and silicone implants.     

The role of IQ and education in predicting later labor market outcomes: Implications for affirmative action.

The authors examine the complex relationships among intelligence, educational attainment, and labor market outcomes. First discussed are differences between psychometric and bioecological approaches to the study of intelligence. Next, the authors describe a study examining the relationship among scores on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) taken in adolescence, educational attainment, and the labor market outcomes of wages, personal income, and occupational status 15 years later. At all levels of labor market outcomes, there were greater mean Black–White differences for AFQT scores than for educational attainment. Educational attainment strongly mediated the effects of AFQT scores; there were also substantial racial and gender differences in effects. The article closes by considering the implications of using intelligence test scores and educational attainment as selection criteria. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can professionalism be measured? The development of a scale for use in the medical environment

PURPOSE: To assess a scale that measures professional attitudes and behaviors associated with the medical education and the residency training environment. METHOD: In 1995-96, the authors surveyed medical students and residents from five institutions in the northeast region of the United States. RESULTS: Of 757 distributed questionnaires, 565 were returned (75% response rate). Of those, 529 (94%) were used in the analysis. The mean score for the retained 12 items was 92.9 (SD, 11.9), with higher scores indicating more positive perceptions. The internal reliability of the scale was moderately high (alpha = .71). A factor analysis identified three subscales: excellence, honor/integrity, and altruism/respect, with eigenvalues (alpha coefficients) of 3.18 (.72), 1.70 (.60), and 1.20 (.59), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results are interpreted as an encouraging first step toward the development of a reliable scale that measures professionalism within the environment of medical education and residency training.