On the road again

I'm on the road for business starting tomorrow (11-28-06) and will return late Friday (12-1-06). Blog posts may be minimal. I shall return.

Tech tidbit - Gv oriented search engine

Thanks to Lifehacker for the FYI regarding an interesting new search engine that returns visual screen shots of the search results. I like it.

Technorati Tags: psychology, technology, search engines

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Blog index Gf update

I decided to return to my attempt to go back through old posts and add topic "labels" to old posts, so the topic label index feature of IQs Corner would be more comprehensive. This evening I finished off all the Gf (fluid intelligence) related posts I could find.

For those who receive automatic RSS feeds from IQs Corner...sorry.....you will be receiving "false alarms" that suggest new posts. However, this may be a blessing in disguise. When going back through the archives I found many posts I had forgot about...some which include important stuff.

I will, on a very inconsistent basis, continue with this back-label indexing of IQs Corner...when the mood strikes me

ISIR 2006 program available

The International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR) 2006 program is now available for viewing (click here). The conference is this December in San Francisco. Registration information can be found at the ISIR link above.

I'm officially PUMPED after looking at the program. It should be a great conference.

Please note that the ISIR home page is currently under a state of revision and many of the links are currently not active.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, intelligence, IQ, IQ scores, IQ testing, intelligence quotient, cognition, cognitive, ISIR, conference

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Comments on the achievement gap

Interesting thoughts and analysis over at the Quick and the ED regarding national trends in narrowing the "achievement gap"...as reflected in changes in the most recent NAEP test scores.

Technorati Tags: psychology, education, educational psychology, NAEP, achievement gap, NCLB, learning, achievement

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Grow a brain in a jar

Thanks to Neurofuture for the interesting link to a "grow a brain in a jar" product.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuroscience, neuropsychology, brain, learning

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Recent literature of interest 11-23-06

This weeks recent literature of interest can be found by clicking here.

I'm now experimenting with listing the references by journal title...I find it easier when looking up articles via the university library.

Technorati tags: teaching tool. psychology. educational psychology. school psychology.

IQs Corner Headlines of mind blogsphere 11-21-06

All the news thats fit for IQs Corner readers:

This is the 11th installment of IQs Corner Headlines from the Brain and Mind Blogsphere

educational psychology, intelligence, cognition, cognitive, neuropsychology, brain, neuroscience, headlines, IQs Corner, Kevin McGrew, school psychology, psychology, education, special education, IQ, IQ Testing, IQ scores

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Black-white IQ gap: Flynn and Murray present

I just learned of a special conference presentation (next week in DC) sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) that will feature James "Flynn Effect" Flynn and Charles "Bell Curve" Murray presenting and discussing new research on the "Black-White IQ Gap: Is it Closing? Will it Ever Go Away?" Follow the links for additional information. The program abstract is presented below:

• For decades, the difference in the test scores of blacks and whites on the SAT, National Assessment of Educational Progress test, Armed Forces Qualification Test, and traditional IQ tests has been a vexed issue for American educational policy. Two of the leading scholars of this controversial topic, James R. Flynn of the University of Otago (New Zealand) and Charles Murray of AEI, will debate the causes of the difference, its implications, and recent trends. New studies of the subject by Professor Flynn and by Mr. Murray will be available for distribution at the session.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, education, neuropsychology, intelligence, IQ, IQ scores, IQ tests, cognition, cognitive, race differences, race, black-white, IQ gap, AEI, Flynn Effect, Bell Curve, James Flynn, Charles Murray

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Do the sexes use different brain areas when "planning"?

Mixing Memory has a VERY interesting post regarding recent studies of possible gender differences in "planning" ability (part of executive functioning), as measured by the classic Tower of London task. MM's post speaks for itself. Of particular interest are findings suggesting no manifest performance difference between genders, BUT, significant differences in the areas of the brain's used (based on fMRI analyses). Check it out

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, brain, fMRI, planning, executive function, Tower of London, intelligence, cognition, cognitive, gender differences

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CHC theory: Crystallized intelligence (Gc)

[Note...this is the second in a series of posts I hope to continue in order to provide updated definitions of the major abilities in the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities. See Gf prior post]

The prior knowledge an individual brings to a new task influences their performance on the task. It is commonly assumed (an assumption validated via research) that is much easier to learn and remember something if we have an existing knowledge framework in which to embed the new knowledge (Engle, 1994).

Crystallized intelligence (Gc) is one of the primary human domains of acquired knowledge. Both laypeople and experts agree that Gc is an important part of overall intellectual ability. Gc represented by such behaviors as “displays a good vocabulary,” “reads with high comprehension,” “is verbally fluent,”and “converses easily on a variety of subjects,” was found by Sternberg, et al. (1981) to be the first of three major factors defining intelligence for both experts in the field of intelligence and laypeople (Campito, 1994).

According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, crystallized abilities are those abilities "such as vocabulary and cultural knowledge, that are a function of learning and experience in a given culture. Crystallized abilities are believed to depend on physiological condition somehwat less than do fluid abilities; thus they may be better sustained in old age. They are also believed by some to derive from fluid abilities." (p. 248)

Crystallized Intelligence (Gc) is the breadth and depth of a person's acquired knowledge of a culture and the effective application of this knowledge. According to Horn (1994), "Gc can be thought of as the intelligence of the culture that is incorporated by individuals through a process of acculturation" (Horn, 1994, p.443). This store of primarily verbal or language-based knowledge represents those abilities that have been developed largely through the “investment” of other abilities during educational and general life experiences (Horn Noll, 1997).

Schematically, Gc might be represented by the interconnected nodes of a fishing net. Each node of the net represents an acquired piece of information, and the filaments between nodes (with many possible filaments leading to and from multiple nodes) represent links between different bits of stored information. A person high in Gc abilities would have a rich “fishing net” of information as represented by many meaningfully organized and interconnected nodes. Gc is one of the abilities mentioned most often by lay persons when they are asked to describe an “intelligent” person (Horn, 1988). The image of a sage captures to a large extent the essence of Gc.

According to Gilhooly (1994), when discussing the knowledge domains (in this case, Gc), certain distinctions generally recur: (a) knowing that versus knowing how, (b) declarative versus procedural knowledge, (c) explicit versus implicit (tacit) knowledge, and (d) semantic versus episodic knowledge/memory. The first three distinctions are virtually synonymous. “Knowing that” (i.e.,declarative, explicit knowledge) is consciously known and can typically be expressed in a commonly understood code (e.g., spoken or written language) or in some form of specialized code (e.g., notation in music or dance movement.). “Knowing how" (i.e., procedural, or implicit, knowledge) is not accessible consciously. Although procedural knowledge can be demonstrated in behavior, it is not explicitly communicable. Gc includes both declarative (static) and procedural (dynamic) knowledge. The final Gc knowledge distinction (semantic vs. episodic knowledge) differentiates between knowledge of general concepts, principles, and word meanings (semantic knowledge) versus autobiographical knowledge of specific experiences (episodic knowledge) (Gilhooly, 1994).

Declarative knowledge is held in long-term memory and is activated when related information is in working memory. Declarative knowledge includes factual information, comprehension, concepts, rules, and relationships, especially when the information is verbal in nature. For example, during pre-clinical training, a medical student acquires declarative knowledge about diagnosing clinical problems—the student learns factual information, concepts, rules, and relationships.

Procedural knowledge refers to the process of reasoning with previously learned procedures in order to transform knowledge. For example, during the second phase of medical training, when medical students study a patient's case, current information in short-term working memory triggers the student to retrieve declarative knowledge and apply it to the patient. Applied declarative knowledge is procedural knowledge.

An individual with poor Gc lacks information or language skills or has an inability to communicate (especially verbally) his or her knowledge. Such a weakness can produce cumulative learning problems as it becomes increasingly difficult to learn from what one is reading or hearing if the words, vocabulary, and concepts in the material are not in a reader’s existing fishing net of knowledge. That is, it is hard to relate and connect a new “node” of information to a net of knowledge where no similar nodes exist. We would all most likely fail a course in quantum physics as few of us have a net of knowledge that includes the “prerequisite” nodes of information to make sense of the new material. The concept of academic course prerequisites reflects an awareness of the importance of prerequisite knowledge in a domain.

Given the limited capacity of working memory, formal human knowledge domains (Gc, as well as other acquired knowledge domains such as Grw, Gq, Gkn), seek "cognitive economy in terms of rules or principles with the widest range and the maximum simplicity." Gilhooly (1994, p. 637). This preference for simplicity (to minimize cognitive effort) can result in over-simplifications at the cost of inaccuracies. Furthermore,because people can only actively focus attention on a limited amount of their vast store of acquired knowledge at any one time, knowledge (e.g., Gc) tends to be organized into hierarchical structures. The hierarchical organization of knowledge helps insure that associations to related information are strongest (Gilhooly, 1994; p.637).

The breadth of Gc is apparent from the number of narrow abilities that it subsumes.

In the arena of intelligence research, Gc has been likened to the wallflower ability. See comments by Earl Hunt for clarification.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, intelligence, IQ, IQ scores, IQ tests, CHC, CHC theory, Cattell-Horn-Carroll, cognition, cognitive, Gc, Gsm, crystallized intelligence, knowledge, declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, memory

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Tech tidbit - WOW--I want this toy

Thanks to Mixing Memory for the link to a YouTube video that demonstrates a COOL new design drawing tool. I also want it for XMAS. I think it would be fun to use such a tool to design new forms of intelligence and achievement test items that include motion and movement.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, design, drawing, drawing tool, YouTube, technology, Gv, psychometrics, test development, IQ tests, intelligence, education, testing

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Encephalon 11: Psychology and neuroscience brain carnival

Check out the 11th installment of Encephalon, the psychology and neuroscience brain carnival.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, brain, Encephalon, intelligence, IQ, cognition

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CHC theory: Fluid intelligence (Gf)

What is fluid intelligence (Gf)?

According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, fluid abilities are those abilities "such as memory span and mental quickness, that are functionally related to physiological condition and maturation. Fluid abilities appear to increase during childhood and to deteriorate , to some extent, in old age" (p. 381).

Fluid Intelligence (Gf) is a broad (stratum level II) ability in the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities. Gf refers to deliberate and controlled mental operations employed to solve novel (on the spot) problems that cannot be solved or performed automatically. In general, Gf mental operations may invoke drawing inferences, concept formation, classification, generating and testing hypothesis, identifying relations, comprehending implications, problem solving, extrapolating, and transforming information.

Drawing inferences of a generalized conclusion from particular instances (Induction-I) and the ability to derive conclusions by reasoning, specifically: inference in which the conclusion about particulars follows necessarily from general or universal premises (General Sequential Reasoning-RG; aka, deductive reasoning), are generally considered the hallmark indicators of Gf.

Gf has often been linked to cognitive complexity which can be defined as a greater use of a wide and diverse array of elementary cognitive processes during performance. Cognitive complexity is often defined as the ability to deal with a multitude of elements and the relations among the elements. Cognitively complex tasks (compared to cognitively less demanding or simple tasks) require the processing of more components and more flexible and adaptive assembly and reassembly of processing from component to component. Cognitive complexity should not be considered isomorphic with abstract thinking, a characteristic often associated with Gf.

The primary defining feature of cognitive complexity is the mental juggling of multiple elements/stimuli within the confines of working memory. This association with working memory has resulted in the hypothesis that Gf may either be isomorphic with working memory, or, at a minimum, heavily dependent on working memory capacity.

Narrow Gf abilities

• Induction (I) is the ability to discover the underlying characteristic (e.g., rule, concept, principle, process, trend, class membership) that underlies a specific problem or a set of observations, or to apply a previously learned rule to the problem. Reasoning from specific cases or observations to general rules or broad generalizations. Often requires the ability to combine separate pieces of information in the formation of inferences, rules, hypotheses, or conclusions.

• According to Carroll (1993): "Inductive tasks are those that require subjects to inspect a class of stimulus materials (nearly always with more than one instance) and infer (induce, educe) a common characteristic underlying these materials -- a concept , a class membership, a rule, a process, a trend, or a causal relation, for example" (p.238).
  

• According to Fleishman & Reilly (1992), real-world adult occupational/job examples of inductive reasoning might include:

• diagnosing a disease using knowledge from many lab test results
• forecasting the weather from information on wind current, barometric pressure, and other information
• determining the guilty parties from available evidence
• predicting election results based on demographics, polls and voting trends.

• General Sequential (deductive) Reasoning (RG) is the ability to start with stated assertions (rules, premises, or conditions) and to engage in one or more steps leading to a solution to a problem. The processes are deductive as evidenced in the ability to reason and draw conclusions from given general conditions or premises to the specific. Often known as hypothetico-deductive reasoning.

• According to Carroll (1993): "The dominant feature of these RG factors is that they emphasize the ability to reason and draw conclusions from given conditions or premises, often in a series of two of more sequential steps. Above all, the processes are deductive, in the sense that there is very little load of induction or rule-finding" (p. 234). "The best tests of this factor impose little requirement on the subject to induce (educe) relationship or class memberships, since these relations hips and class memberships are stated or otherwise immediately apparent to most subjects. Preferably these tests should be administered without a time limit, or at least scored in such a way that the subject's level of mastery of deductive skills, rather than speed in processing information, is emphasized." ( p. 234)
  

• According to Fleishman & Reilly (1992), real-world adult occupational/job examples of inductive reasoning might include:

• deciding which route to take when considering time, cost, and geography
• designing a new aircraft wing using aierodynamics principles
• deciding what factors to consider in selecting stocks
• deciding if particular laws have been violated by certain actions in criminal cases.
• jobs that require high levels of deductive reasoning include those of an engineer, mathematician, operations-research analyst, computer programmer, physicist, judge, auto mechanic, and pathologist.
  

• Quantitative Reasoning (RQ) is the ability to inductively (I) and/or deductively (RG) reason with concepts involving mathematical relations and properties.

• According to Carroll (1993): "These are factors requiring reasoning based on mathematical properties and relationships. The reasoning processes may be either inductive or deductive, or some combination of them" (p. 238-241)
  

• Speed of Reasoning (RE) is the speed or fluency in performing reasoning tasks (e.g., quickness in generating as many possible rules, solutions, etc., to a problem) in a limited time. It is also listed under Gs (processing speed) in CHC theory.

• Piagetian Reasoning (RP) is the ability to demonstrate the acquisition and application (in the form of logical thinking) of cognitive concepts as defined by Piaget's developmental cognitive theory. These concepts include seriation (organizing material into an orderly series that facilitates understanding of relationships between events), conservation (awareness that physical quantities do not change in amount when altered in appearance), classification (ability to organize materials that possess similar characteristics into categories), etc. The relation between RP with reasoning abilities measured by more conventional tests (I, RG, RQ) is not clear.
  

• According to Carroll (1993): "We can draw only the general conclusion that there are several dimensions of individual differences in Piagetian reasoning ability, perhaps as many as three, but that all measures of Piagetian reasoning tend to have high loadings on a general factor. The relation of possibly different kinds of Piagetian reasoning to the kinds of reasoning measured by more conventional tests is not yet clear from available research."
  

Many psychometric tasks have been devised to measure Gf, with the major design characteristics being the use of figural or symbolic stimuli and the minimization of task components that draw upon a person's store of acquired knowledge.

Technorati Tags: pscyhology, educational psychology, school psychology, intelligence, cognition, cognitive, IQ, IQ scores, flluid reasoning, fluid intelligence, Gf, CHC, CHC theory, John Horn, Jack Carroll, Raymond Cattell, cognitive complexity, working memory, Gsm, psychometrics, Piaget, reasoning

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WJ III NU (normative update)

Warning. This is a shameless plug.

Today, over on the NASP listserv, some questions and answers have been floating around about the Woodock-Johnson Battery--Third Edition (WJ III; conflict of interest notice - I'm a coauthor) Normative Update (NU) that is scheduled for release in December by Riverside Publishing. Rather than take up bandwith on that listserv, I told folks that I would make this post and provide a link to a WJ III NU promotional PDF file that explains the major new features (aside from updated norms). This promo piece can be found by clicking here.

Also, readers may be interested in an ASB (that addresses "cognitve processes" involved in the WJ III tests) that was previously published and mentioned on this blog.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, education, achievement, testing, Woodcock Johnson, WJ III, WJ III NU, normative updated, Riverside Publishing, intelligence, IQ scores, cognition, cognitive

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SharpBrains feature added to sister blog

Interested in keeping abreast with the neurotechnology/brain fitness movement?

If you are, check out the blog post reproduced below from my sister blog...Tick Tock Talk: The IQ Brain Clock blog. If you want to keep abreast you will need to regularly visit the IQ Brain Clock blog....or, routinely check SharpBrains yourself.

I continue to tinker with the focus and direction of the IQ Brain Clock blog. As noted in the blog description, aside from a primary focus on mental time-keeping research, interesting neuroscience research, particularly that related to education, is another focus.

As I've started to monitor more neuroscience-related blogs, I've become increasingly interested in the neurotechnology/brain fitness movement.

Given the above, I've decided that I should not attempt to reinvent the wheel and should let "the" blog in this domain (SharpBrains) speak for itself, and I should simply provide an automatic RSS feed mechanism for readers. Thus, beneath the RSS topic feed from my "mother" blog (IQs Corner), I've now added an RSS feed feature for recent topics posted at SharpBrains. Readers can now readily keep track of whats "happening" over at SharpBrains and then click and go to the mother source.

I hope readers find this useful.

IQs Corner blog receives Wiki recogntion

During the past week I've noticed, via the site stats for IQs Corner, a significant up-tick in "hits" to this humble blog. I'd like to believe this is due, in part, to folks spreading the word to others. However, in looking at the site counter details, I've noticed that many of these new visitors have been directed to this blog from Wikipedia.

This happened once before when some nice soul listed IQs Corner under the external links section of the Wikipedia topic on "Intelligence". The new flurry of Wiki-based referrals is due to IQs Corner now being listed under the Wiki topic of the "Intelligent Quotient".

Couple these two events with the nice mention in Scientific American: Mind, and I'm giddy...and, yes, doing a little brogging (blog bragging) today.

Again, I'd like to thank whomever these Wiki-contributors are. These forms of external validation are what keep me going...they tell me that I must be doing something right and that folks are finding this blog informative and useful.

I shall continue. I appreciate the continued support of others.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, cognition, cognitive, intelligence, cognitive abiliities, IQ, IQ testing, Wikipedia blogging brogging

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Random mind/brain blogsphere tidbits 11-15-06

• Eide Neurolearning blog has a nice post on math,dyscalculia and brains (with some good links to original sources).
• Looking for a safe place for children to do internet searches? Thanks to Lifehacker for the tip re: Zoo.com, a child-friendly search engine that filters out sexually explicit material.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educationaly psychology, school psychology, educaiton, Gq, math, dyscalculia, search engines, neuroscience, neuropsychology

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On-line PPT slides added to IQs Corner

I LOVE it. What? The SlideShare site that I mentioned in my last post. I've now posted three different PowerPoint (PPT) modules to this site. And, at the suggestion of someone who was nice enough to leave a comment, I've added a "On-line PPT slides" link section to the left-side of IQs Corner. I will be posting more in the future.

You gotta love technology.

CHC theory overview PPT slide show

I just learned of a new file-sharing service (SlideShare) for PowerPoint presentations. I decided to give it a try. I uploaded a short/brief PPT file that presents a very brief overview of the definitions of the major broad abilities in the CHC theory of human cognitive abilities. It can be viewed by clicking here. I'd appreciate comments on the value of this way of presenting material.

I have a TON of PPT slide modules that I could share if this is deemed valuable to folks.

Yes...I do know that the text in the cartoon captions may be hard to read...I just wanted to upload a small file quickly to see if the service worked. I like it.....seems simple and efficient.

All the news thats fit for IQs Corner readers:

This is the 10th installment of IQs Corner Headlines from the Brain and Mind Blogsphere

educational psychology, intelligence, cognition, cognitive, neuropsychology, brain, neuroscience, headlines, IQs Corner, Kevin McGrew, school psychology, psychology, education, special education, IQ, IQ Testing, IQ scores

Random tidbits from the mind and brain blogsphere 11-14-06

• Interesting post by BPS Research Digest that face recognition may be impaired by cryptic crossword puzzles
• The Eide Neurolearning Blog has a interesting article on "big picture thinking" by those with severe reading disabilities (dyslexia)
• Thanks to Mind Hacks for the fun and interesting post regarding the Haynes Brain Manual for men.
• Sharp Brains features four different brain fitness programs--MinzFit, IntelliGym, RoboMemo, and Freeze-Framer. SB is THE blog if you are interested in keeping abreast of the brain fitness movement.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, education, reading, dyslexia, face recogntion, thinking, Gf, neuroscience, neuropsychology, brain fitness, MinzFit, IntelliGym, RoboMemo, Freeze-Framer

Random tidbits from the mind and brain blogsphere 11-11-06

• Scientific American has an article summarizing the recent buzz surround the theory that autism may be related to the functioning of mirror neurons.
• An interesting example of the use of Chernoff Faces, a visual-graphic method for presenting multivariate statistics (I've played with these but have never done anything formal with them), over at the Social Science Statistics Blog. The example uses major league baseball team statistics as the data. Interesting stuff.
• 20 Craziest scientific researches list over at 2spare.com.
• Nice post (Why do you turn down the readio when your'e lost?) regarding divided attention over at Sharp Brains.
  

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, autism, mirror neurons, neuroscience, Chernoff faces, statistics, Gv, research, divided attention, attention, cognitive, cognition, intelligence

New black white IQ (g) comparison study

Bias in intelligence testing, particularly black-white IQ differences, has been a contentious area of study in the field of intelligence. A new study by Edwards and Oakland (reference, abstract, select findings, and article link provided below) adds new information to this area of study.

Briefly, using the K-12 (school-age) standardization data from the Woodcock-Johnson--Third Edition (WJ III; conflict of interest disclosure: I'm a co-auther of the WJ III), Edwards and Oakland examined, across blacks and whites, (a) the similarity of the structure of g (general intelligence), (b) mean differences in general intelligence, and (c) the similarity in predictive validity (do the WJ III g-scores predict achievement similarily across both groups). Given my potential conflict of interest, I'm only going to report the abstract and select direct quotes from the article. Readers are encouraged to read and digest the complete article.

The one comment I will make is not specifically WJ III related, but is theory related. Consistent with Carroll's (1993) conclusion that the structure of cognitive abilities is largely the same (invariant) as a function of gender and race, Edwards and Oakland's findings indicate that the structure of g (general intelligence), when operationalized by seven different CHC ability indicators (Gf, Gc, Glr, Gsm, Gv, Ga, Gs), is similar across whites and blacks.

Edwards. O. & Oakland, T. (2006). Factorial Invariance of Woodcock-Johnson III Scores for African Americans and Caucasian. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 24 (4), 358-366. (click here to view)

Abstract

• Bias in testing has been of interest to psychologists and other test users since the origin of testing. New or revised tests often are subject to analyses that help examine the degree of bias in reference to group membership based on gender, language use, and race/ethnicity. The pervasive use of intelligence test data when making critical and, at times, life-changing decisions warrants the need by test developers and test users to examine possible test bias on new and recently revised intelligence tests. This study investigates factorial invariance and criterionrelated validity of the Woodcock-Johnson III for African American and Caucasian American students. Data from this study suggest that although their mean scores differ, Woodcock-Johnson III scores have comparable meaning for both groups.

Select author conclusions from the article

• Results from factor analysis, SEM, congruence coefficients, correlations coefficients, and Fisher’s Z statistic are uniform in indicating the factor structure of the WJ III is consistent for African Americans and Caucasian Americans.

• The high congruence coefficient of .99 suggests the g factor structure is essentially identical for African Americans and Caucasian Americans. In addition, all fit indices are > .95, indicative of excellent fit and suggests covariant structural equivalence between the two groups. Although the mean IQs for the groups differ, the WJ III scores from the Cognitive Battery have comparable meaning for African American and Caucasian American students. Additionally, correlations between GIA and three achievement clusters and nine achievement subtests are similarly high and statistically significant for both groups.

• The collective findings from this and other studies using the WJ III provide some support for Carroll’s (1993) assertion that CHC theory, one that forms the theoretical basis for the WJ III, is essentially invariant across racial/ethnic groups.

• Thus, when using the WJ III Cognitive with African American and Caucasian American students, practitioners can be somewhat assured that possible score differences reflect differences in the underlying latent constructs rather than variations in the measurement operation itself (Watkins & Canivez, 2001).

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, WJ III, Woodcock Johnson, race, IQ scores, IQ score differences, g, general intelligence, bias, test bias, psychometrics, cognition, cognitive, Jack Carroll, genetics, race differences

WJ III and D-KEFS validity study published

Randy Floyd et al. (2006) have just published, in the Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, a correlation study that compared the relations between select WJ III (Woodcock-Johnson Battery--Third Edition) clinical clusters (viz., Working Memory, Cognitive Fluency, Broad Attention, Executive Processes) and measures from the D-KEFS (Delis-Kaplin Executive Function System). Being a co-author of the WJ III, I have an obvious potential conflict of interest regarding any conclusions (positive or negative) drawn by the authors. Thus, this is a simple FYI post. The reference, abstract, and link to the article is provided below for interested readers.

Floyd, R. et al. (2006). Relations Between the Woodcock-Johnson III Clinical Clusters and Measures of Executive Functions From the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 24 (4), 303-317. (click here to view)

Abstract

• This study examined the convergent relations between scores from four clinical clusters from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III) and measures of executive functions using a sample of school-aged children and a sample of adults. The WJ III clinical clusters included the Working Memory, Cognitive Fluency, BroadAttention, and Executive Processes clusters, and the measures of executive functions were from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS). Across both samples, all clinical clusters demonstrated evidence of statistically significant and moderate positive relations with at least some measures of executive functions. The Executive Processes cluster demonstrated relations with measures of executive functions that tended to be the strongest and most consistent of the WJ III clinical clusters. When these relations between the clinical clusters and the measures of executive functions were contrasted with the relations between the WJ III Comprehension-Knowledge cluster and the same measures of executive functions, results called into question the distinction between process and content but suggested that there is a common ability or common abilities underlying performance across all of the WJ III and D-KEFS measures.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, WJ III, D-KEFS, Woodcock Johnson, Delis-Kaplin, executive function, working memory, Gsm, attention, fluency, testing, intelligence, IQ scores

Autism - special issue of Child Neuropsychology

A special issue of Child Neuropsychology has just been published that deals with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, education, special education, autism, autistic spectrum disorders, neuroscience, neuropsychology, developmental disorders

Psych Corp WAIS-IV and WMS-IV data collection invitation

I received, via US snail mail, a flyer from PsychCorp inviting individuals to participate in collecting data for the standardization of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) and the Wechsler Memory Scale--Fourth Edition (WMS-IV).

Folks who may have interest should contact the WAIS-IV/WMS-IV team at the following:

• Phone - 1-800-233-5686
• Email - clinsampl@harcourt.com
  

Technorati Tags: Psych Corp, Psychological Corporation, Wechsler, WAIS-IV, WMS-IV, WAIS, WMS, intelligence, IQ scores, testing, standardization, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology

IQ Scholars feature added to IQs Corner blog

As part of my remodeling of IQ's Corner, I've added, under the usual web/blog link section, a new link section that lists prominent intelligence research scholars (IQ Scholars). Each link should take you to the respective intelligence scholars web page. I'll keep adding new folks as I see fit and would appreciate "nominations" from my readers.

Blog remodeling may flood your IQs Corner RSS feed

As some of you who use an RSS feed (to keep track of postings to IQs Corner) may have noticed, all of a sudden many old posts are showing up as new posts in your notifications. This is all because I'm doing some major remodeling of the blog. I'm going back through old posts and adding "labels"....which will make it much easier to search IQs Corner for all posts dealing with specific topics (like a book index). Be patient. I'm sorry for the flood of "false" RSS feed notifications...but, in the long run, this remodeling will improve IQs Corner.

Random tidbits from the brain and mind blogsphere 11-09-06

• Eat more fish = better brain function? (click here)
• Thanks to BPS for note on research that suggests that electrcial simulation may boost benefical effect of sleep on memory.
• Also, check out the BPS "special issue spotter" post for forthcommng special journal issues in select areas.
• Another voice (Brain Waves) recognizes the growing "buzz" surrounding the brain fitness technology/software market, this time by plugging one of my favorite blogs...Sharp Brains. Brain Waves also has posted information on neurotechnology conferences during Fall 2006.
  

Technorati Tags: psychology, sleep, memory, Glr, Gsm, brain fitness, Sharp Brains, health, neurotechnology, neuropsychology, school psychology, educational psychology

IQs Corner being remodeled

Regular readers of this humble blog will note that it now has a completely new look and feel. The folks at Blogger offered a way to upgrade old blogs to incorporate new features. I decided to take the jump, and in the process, also give IQs Corner a new look and feel.

Be patient as I continue with this remodeling.

The feature I'm most excited about is the "Labels" section. This section will allow users to quickly locate all posts at IQs Corner that deal with a specific topic....an index for the blog. The problem I now have is going back and inserting these labels in all the posts. I've started on it today and plan to stick with it until I get all, or almost all, of my posts so categorized. I think this is important...so I will take the time. It will decrease my time to post new material, but I think it will be worth the time and effort.

Tech tidbit - free online drawing program

I'm always on the hunt for new (and free) software toys.  Thanks to the Download Squad for the "heads up" about a new open-source online drawing program.  Not sure what I'll use it for (as I use a fully functional software program called Inspiration), but maybe some of my readers may find it of value.  If nothing else, my 8 year old granddaughter might like it.  She always seems to enjoy playing with such software when I bring it up on my computer.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, education, drawing, drawing software, Download Squad, IQs Corner

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Technorati's "state of the blogsphere" quarterly report

David Sifry's Technorati-based quarterly "state of the blogsphere" is out and can be viewed by clicking here. The blogsphere doubles iin since every 236 days, which is a slight decrease. A lot of interesting facts if you are a regular blog reader or are considering joining the ranks of blogging.



Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, intelligence, IQ, IQs Corner, blogging, blogs, blogsphere, Technorati

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The nose "knows" - Importance of olfactory (Go) abilities in mental disorders

In my book chapter, CHC Theory: Past, Present, and Future (this is on-line version of a chapter published in Flanagan and Genshaft's 2005 CIA book) I alerted folks to the fact that the CHC taxonomy of cognitive abilities needed to be expanded to include tactile (Gh), kinesthetic (Gk), and olfactory abilities (Go) (click here). Many of my educational/school psychology colleagues have often asked me what possible relevance Go abilities would have for psychological assessment. To make a long story short, I have reminded my educationally-based friends and associates that cognitive assessments are used in many non-educational settings (e.g., aging research and clinical work; occupational settings; industrial settings; personnel selection settings, etc.).

In my 2005 chapter, I stated: "although largely ignored in structural investigations of human cognitive abilities, olfactory abilities (Go) are important to study given the use of the olfactory sense by blind or partially sighted people, and experts such as “gourmets, wine connoisseurs, coffee experts, and the like” (Danthiir, Roberts, Pallier, G. & Stankov, 2001, p. 357). In addition, recent clinical research has suggested that declines in olfactory abilities may be associated with a variety of clinical disorders and diseases ranging from Azheimer’s, idiopathic Parkinson’s, alcoholism and drug abuse, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, severe- stage anorexia nervosa, Down’s syndrome, head trauma, multiple sclerosis, restless leg syndrome, seasonal affective disorder, and others (see Doty, 2001, for a complete review)"

I have now run across two new empirical articles that continue to suggest that assessment and monitoring of Go abilities may be important for the possible early detection of eventual mental decline/disorders as well as helping us better understand the underlying neurological structural/functional mechanisms of certain mental/cognitive disorders. Both studies were published in the Journal of Experimental and Clinical Neuropsychology (2006, Vol 28). For those who want to be in the "nose", I've reproduced the references and abstracts below, along with links to the original articles. One articles deals with Go and schizophrenia while the other deals with Go and Huntingon's Disease

Larsson et al. (2006). Olfactory Functions in Asymptomatic Carriers of the Huntington Disease Mutation

• Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder initially affecting the basal ganglia and especially the head of the caudate nucleus. Neuropsychological research has indicated that olfactory dysfunction may appear early in HD, prior to the onset of significant motor or cognitive dysfunction. The aim of this study was to examine whether asymptomatic carriers of the Huntington disease mutation also exhibit olfactory dysfunction. To address this issue we presented an extensive olfactory test battery comprising tasks assessing olfactory sensitivity, intensity discrimination, quality discrimination, episodic odor memory, and odor identification, to a group of gene carriers and nonmutation carriers of the disease. The results showed that gene carriers were selectively impaired in discriminating odor quality, although performance did not differ from noncarriers across the other tasks. The role played by striatum and then in particular the caudate nucleus for olfactory processing in general, and for odor quality discrimination in particular, is discussed.

Moberg et al. (2006). Olfactory Functioning in Schizophrenia: Relationship to Clinical, Neuropsychological, and Volumetric MRI Measures

• Deficits in odor identification and detection threshold sensitivity have been observed in schizophrenia but their relationship to clinical, cognitive, and biologic measures have not been clearly established. Our objectives were to examine the relationship between measures of odor identification and detection threshold sensitivity and clinical, neuropsychological, and anatomic brain measures. Twenty-one patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls were administered psychophysical tests of odor identification and detection threshold sensitivity to phenyl ethyl alcohol. In addition, clinical symptom ratings, neuropsychological measures of frontal and temporal lobe function and whole brain MRIs were concurrently obtained. Patients exhibited significant deficits in odor identification but normal detection threshold sensitivity. Poorer odor identification scores were associated with longer duration of illness, increased negative and disorganized symptoms, and the deficit syndrome, as well as impairments in verbal and nonverbal memory. Better odor detection thresholds were specifically associated with first-rank or productive symptoms. Larger left temporal lobe volumes with MRI were associated with better odor identification in controls but not in patients. Given the relevance of the neural substrate, and the evidence of performance deficits, psychophysical probes of the integrity of the olfactory system hold special promise for illuminating aspects of the neurobiology underlying schizophrenia.

Finally, I ran a quick search of the IAP reference database and located the following additional references...for those who want to read more.

• Elsner, R. J. F. (2001). Odor memory and aging. Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition, 8(4), 284-306.
• Larsson, M., Oberg, C., & Backman, L. (2005). Odor identification in old age: Demographic, sensory and cognitive correlates. Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition, 12(3 ), 231-244.
• Lowen, S. B., & Lukas, S. E. (2006). A low-cost, MR-compatible olfactometer. Behavior Research Methods, 38(2), 307-313.
• Danthiir, V., Roberts, R. D., Pallier, G., & Stankov, L. (2001). What the nose knows: Olfaction and cognitive abilities. Intelligence, 29, 337-361.
• Miles, C., & Hodder, K. (2005). Serial position effects in recognition memory for odors: A reexamination. Memory & Cognition, 33(7), 1303-1314.
• Doty, R. L., & Kerr, K. L. (2005). Episodic odor memory: Influences of handedness, sex, and side of nose. Neuropsychologia, 43(12), 1749-1753.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, olfaction, olfactory, Go, CHC theory, CHC, intelligence, IQ, cognition, cognitive, tactile, kinesthetic, psychological assessment, psychological testing, schizophrenia, Huningtons disease, nose, smell, aging

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IQs Corner Headlines from the mind and brain blogsphere 11-7-06

All the news thats fit for IQs Corner readers:

This is the 9th installment of IQs Corner Headlines from the Brain and Mind Blogsphere

educational psychology, intelligence, cognition, cognitive, neuropsychology, brain, neuroscience, headlines, IQs Corner, Kevin McGrew, school psychology, psychology, education, special education, IQ, IQ Testing, IQ scores

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Blogging good for the brain - ideaphoria or Glr enhancement?

I enjoy blogging for the heck of it. Now, over at the Eide Neurolearning Blog, they have advanced the hypothesis that blogging may be good for cognitive development and the brain. I hope this is true. It is an interesting hypotheses.

Idealawg picked up on this post and discusses the idea of ideaphoria....that is, bloggers get high on the flow of ideas required by, and the result of, blogging. Although ideaphoria is a neat popular sounding term, folks may want to ground these interesting speculations in the most empirically established psychometric theory of intelligence (CHC Theory of Cognitive Abilities).

According to CHC theory, under the broad domain of Glr (long-term storage and retrieval) lies a number of narrow cognitive fluency abilities (e.g., Ideational Fluency, Expressional Fluency, Associational Fluency, etc.). So.....if blogging enhances certain cognitive abilities (which is an empirical question requiring research), a place to look may be under the CHC domain of Glr.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, idea production, ideational fluency, ideaphoria, CHC, CHC theory of intelligence, intelligence, IQ, blogging, blog, neuroplasticity, brain fitness, IQs Corner, Idealawg, Eide Neurolearning Blog, brain fitness

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Random tidbits from the brain and mind blogsphere 11-2-06

• DailyIndia.com has news article on handheld memory aid device
• Chris Chatham over at the DI blog continues his series on nativism, domain-specificity, etc in language development.

Technorati Tags: IQs Corner, intelligence, IQ, cognition, cognitive, memory, Gsm, Ga, neurotechnology, language, Developing Intelligence

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