IQ - this just in: ISIR Intelligence issue 37(2), 2009

The TOC for the latest issue of Intelligence is listed below.  Major focus on neuroanatomical-intelligence relations research.  So much to read...so little time.

Authors    R Colom, RJ Haier, K Head, J AlvarezLinera, MA Quiroga, PC Shih, RE Jung
Title    Gray matter correlates of fluid, crystallized, and spatial intelligence: Testing the P-FIT model
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 124-135


Authors    RJ Haier, R Colom, DH Schroeder, CA Condon, C Tang, E Eaves, K Head
Title    Gray matter and intelligence factors: Is there a neuro-g?
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 136-144


Authors    S Karama, Y AdDabbagh, RJ Haier, IJ Deary, OC Lyttelton, C Lepage, AC Evans
Title    Positive association between cognitive ability and cortical thickness in a representative US sample of healthy 6 to 18 year-olds
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 145-155


Authors    E Luders, KL Narr, PM Thompson, AW Toga
Title    Neuroanatomical correlates of intelligence
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 156-163


Authors    VJ Schmithorst
Title    Developmental sex differences in the relation of neuroanatomical connectivity to intelligence
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 164-173


Authors    CS Yu, FC Lin, L Zhao, J Ye, W Qin
Title    Occult white matter damage contributes to intellectual disability in tuberous sclerosis complex
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 174-180


Authors    M vanLeeuwen, JS Peper, SM vandenBerg, RM Brouwer, HEH Pol, RS Kahn, DI Boomsma
Title    A genetic analysis of brain volumes and IQ in children
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 181-191


Authors    RE Jung, C Gasparovic, RS Chavez, A Caprihan, R Barrow, RA Yeo
Title    Imaging intelligence with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 192-198


Authors    GD Waiter, IJ Deary, RT Staff, AD Murray, HC Fox, JM Starr, LJ Whalley
Title    Exploring possible neural mechanisms of intelligence differences using processing speed and working memory tasks: An fMRI study
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 199-206


Authors    AC Neubauer, A Fink
Title    Intelligence and neural efficiency: Measures of brain activation versus measures of functional connectivity in the brain
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 223-229


Authors    RJ Haier
Title    Neuro-intelligence, neuro-metrics and the next phase of brain imaging studies
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 121-123


Authors    B Rypma, V Prabhakaran
Title    When less is more and when more is more: The mediating roles of capacity and speed in brain-behavior efficiency
Full source    Intelligence, 2009, Vol 37, Iss 2, Sp. Iss. SI, pp 207-222

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, IQ scores, ISIR

IQs Corner Recent Literature of Interest 4-27-09

This weeks "recent literature of interest" is now available. Click here to access.

Information regarding this feature, its basis, and the reasons for type of references included in each weekly installment can be found in a prior post.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, research, recent literature, IQs Corner

New IRT (item response theory) book from Guilford Press

New IRT (item response theory) book available from Guilford. This is an FYI post. I've not read this book nor have I read any reviews. If anyone reads it and has comments, please feel free to add a comment at this blog.

Technorati Tags: Guilford Press, IRT, item response theory, book, psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, psychometrics

US state persoanlitys as per the Big 5

A bit off task for the focus of this blog, but an interesting post re: a study describing the personality (as per the Big 5 theory) of US states at the

Map Scroll.Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, personality, Big 5, geography

Random tidbits from the mind blogosphere 4-22-09

• Different types of memory loss at Happy Neuron
• The risks of cognitive enhancement article at the ever excellent Mind Hacks
• The neuroscience of magic in Wired magazine as discussed at the Frontal Cortex
  

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neurotechnology, Wird, cognitive enhancement, IQ enhancement, intelligence, cognition, magic, memory, Alzheimers, dementia

TBI in children: Long term outcomes

Thanks to BRAIN INJURY blog for this reasearch summary.

http://braininjury.blogs.com/braininjury/2009/04/long-term-effects-of-traumatic-brain-injury-in-children.html

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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More on nonword repetiton tasks: Recent literature

Follow-up of prior post.  I just searched the IAP Reference DataBase for any recent articles that had the term "nonword repetition" in the title or keyword field.  I found 130 references.  So..there seems to be a growing body of literature regarding this task.  I just wish I had time to read all of the articles and get a good grasp on the topic.

So much to read...so little time.Technorati Tags: psychology, language, speech, reading, dyslexia, LD, school psychology, educational psychology, education, neuropsychology, cognition, intelligence, nonword repetition, Ga, auditory processing

Whats up with nonword repetition tasks and language learning?

Whats up with nonword repetition tasks?  I previously blogged about an increasing body of literature suggesting that nonword repetition (NWR) tests are proving to be diagnostically important for language.  In that post I also did some arm-chair speculation on the complex CHC factor structure of such tests/tasks---to attempt to explain why they are strongly associated with language learning.

Today I ran across another small study that supports this finding--this time a strong link between NWR and vocabulary development (Gc-VL; lexcial knowledge under crystallized intelligence/comprehension-knowledge) in two year olds.  The article was by Stokes and Klee in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (50:4 [2009], pp 498–505.

Interesting stuff.

Abstract:  Background: This research explored the relative impact of demographic, cognitive, behavioural, and psycholinguistic factors on vocabulary development in two-year-old children. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-two children (24–30 months) were tested on expressive and receptive vocabulary, cognitive development, word learning and working memory skills. Parents completed a British adaptation (Klee & Harrison, 2001) of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI; Fenson et al., 1993), a demographic questionnaire and a questionnaire regarding the child’s social-emotional behaviour. Results: Several demographic, child and processing variables were significantly correlated with CDI (vocabulary) scores, but the only significant unique predictors of CDI scores were nonword repetition (NWR; R2 change = .36), sex (R2 change = .05) and age (R2 change = .04). Scores were only included when a child completed the entire NWR test (77% of toddlers). Conclusions: The NWR task used in this experiment maximised participation in this group of toddlers, and was a strong predictor of vocabulary ability. Longitudinal research is warranted to explore the independent and reciprocal growth in working memory and language skills in children. Keywords: Language development, vocabulary development, working memory.

Technorati Tags: psychology, education, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, preschool, vocabulary, nonword repition, language, Ga, auditory processing, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

NYTimes: How to Raise Our I.Q.

From The New York Times:

OP-ED COLUMNIST: How to Raise Our I.Q.
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

While the view that intelligence is overwhelmingly inherited has been
widely held, the evidence is growing that it is, at a practical level,
profoundly wrong....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/opinion/16kristof.html

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://nytimes.com/iphoneinstaller

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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IQs Corner recent literature of interest 4-16-09

This weeks "recent literature of interest" is now available. Click here to access.

Information regarding this feature, its basis, and the reasons for type of references included in each weekly installment can be found in a prior post.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, research, recent literature, IQs Corner

Random tidbits from mind blogosphere 4-16-09

• Thanks to Mind Hacks for tip regarding article in Nature re: the science of MRI neuroimaging.
• Check out Derick Bounds Mind Blog for recent research on importance of sleeping and learning and memory.
  

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neurotechnology, MRI, sleep, memory, learning

Common seizure drug may harm cognitive functioning of babies?

New study suggests that common seizure control drug, if taken during pregnancy, may lower cognitive functioning of baby. I haven't read the article yet so I will reserve my judgment until I do. This is an FYI post.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, preschool, education, neuropsychology, neuroscience, seizures, epilepsy

WMF Human Cognitive Abilities project update 4-15-09

The free on-line WMF Human Cognitive Abilities (HCA) archive project was updated today. An overview of the project, with a direct link to the archive, can be found at the Woodcock-Muñoz Foundation web page (click on "Current Woodcock-Muñoz Foundation Human Cognitive Abilities Archive") . Also, an on-line PPT copy of a poster presentation I made at the 2008 (Dec) ISIR conference re: this project can be found by clicking here.



Request for assistance: The HCA project needs help tracking down copies of old journal articles, dissertations, etc. for a number of datasets being archived. Please visit he special "Requests for Assistance" section of this archive to view a list of manuscripts that we are currently having trouble locating. If you have access to either a paper or e-copy of any of the designated "fugitive" documents, and would be willing to provide them to WMF to copy/scan (we would cover the costs), please contact Dr. Kevin McGrew at the email address listed at the site.

Please join the WMF HCA listserv to receive routine email updates regarding the WMF HCA project.

All posts regarding this project can be found here.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, cognitive, cognition, intelligence, neuropsychology, IQ, IQ tests, IQ scores, HCA, Human Cognitive Abilities, Woodcock-Munoz-Foundation, WMF, John Carroll, CHC, Cattell-Horn-Carroll, HCA project, correlation matrices

Troops tested for TBI

About time. Great idea for our troops

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jZjnR__UMhqB_VXx-xAKYaxCM5AAD97EU9BG0

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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Dyscalculia forum

Blog for serious math disorders. They also are on twitter
@dyscalculiaforum

http://dyscalculiaforum.com/news.php

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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More on memory editing drug research

This time thanks to WIRED.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/memoryedit.html

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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Targeted memory loss

Check out story at MIND HACKS

http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/04/the_future_of_target.html

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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The attack of the psychometricians: Psychological measurement

I'm just in the processing of reading Borsboom's (2006; Psychometrika) provocative article "The attack of the psychometricians."  The article abstract is below.  As I'm reading, I'm loving a number of statements meant to get the attention of psychologists.  Here is the most recent favorite. 

"psychologists have a tendency to endow obsolete techniques with obscure interpretations"

Abstract:  This paper analyzes the theoretical, pragmatic, and substantive factors that have hampered the integration between psychology and psychometrics. Theoretical factors include the operationalist mode of thinking which is common throughout psychology, the dominance of classical test theory, and the use of “construct validity” as a catch-all category for a range of challenging psychometric problems. Pragmatic factors include the lack of interest in mathematically precise thinking in psychology, inadequate representation of psychometric modeling in major statistics programs, and insufficient mathematical training in the psychological curriculum. Substantive factors relate to the absence of psychological theories that are sufficiently strong to motivate the structure of psychometric models. Following the identification of these problems, a number of promising recent developments are discussed, and suggestions are made to further the integration of psychology and psychometrics.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, psychometrics, measurement, Psychometrika, neuropsychology

Brain rhythm? Do you have it? How can we get it?

Does your brain have good rhythm?

[Made this post at IQ Brain Clock sister blog...but thought IQs Corner readers might find interesting]

Very interesting research (Thut & Miniussi, 2009; Trends in Cognitive Sciences) being reported on the synchronization of brain oscillation behavior (brain rhythms) and neurotechnology to stimulate brain rhythm to enhance cognitive and motor performance.

The whole concept of neurological or brain rhythm has permeated a number of strands of research related to the internal mind or brain clock (mental interval timing). Also, if you've viewed my two on-line PPT presentations on (a) mental timing (IQ Brain Clock) and (b) trying to explain the positive effects of Interactive Metronome on a variety of cognitive and motor outcomes, you will see mention of hypothesized mechanisms dealing with synchrony of brain circuits, coordination of brain regions, increased neural efficiency, etc...all that seem to possibly relate to what researchers are now calling brain rhytyms.

Very interesting stuff. Although electronically or magnetically stimluating the brain to increase neural syncrhonization and rhythm is interesting, as noted in the two PPT slides linked above, I've hypothesized that the positive effect of less expensive technologies (e.g., Interactive Metronome ; conflict of interest - I'm on the IM Scientific Advisory Board) might be accomplishing similar effects by "fine-tunning brain rhythms."

Below is the abstract for the above linked article. Warning..it is a very technical article and not an easy read. Make sure your brain rhythms are at peak performance before trying to read the article.

There is renewed interest in the functional role of oscillatory brain activity in specific frequency bands, investigated in humans through electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings. In parallel, there is a growing body of research on noninvasive direct stimulation of the human brain via repetitive (rhythmic) transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and on those frequencies that have the strongest behavioural impact. There is, therefore, great potential in combining these two lines of research to foster knowledge on brain rhythms, in addition to potential therapeutic applications of rhythmic brain stimulation. Here, we review findings from this rapidly evolving field linking intrinsic brain oscillations to distinct sensory, motor and cognitive operations. The findings emphasize that brain rhythms are causally implicated in cognitive functions.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neurotechnology, brain stimulation, brain clock, brain rhytm, neural efficiency

IQs Corner Recent Literature of Interest 4-9-09

This weeks "recent literature of interest" is now available. Click here to access.

Information regarding this feature, its basis, and the reasons for type of references included in each weekly installment can be found in a prior post.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, research, recent literature, IQs Corner

Quantoids corner: Psych Methods journal 14-1

Titles and abstracts.

http://m.beta.bloglines.com/items?mode=unread&subid=68940596&sort=desc

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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Developmental Psych. Journal Vol 45-2

http://m.beta.bloglines.com/items?mode=unread&subid=68940618&sort=desc

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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Brain investment return rate of early education

Fascinating post re: research on the rate-of-return for investing in brain development via early education.  Check it out at the Frontal Cortex.

Technorati Tags: psychology, brain fitness, plasticity, early education, IQ, IQ enhancement, intelligence, cognition, school psychology, education, educational psychology, neuropsychology

A day brightened: Elderly piano duet

Found this fun video at Mayo Clinic blog. Enjoy.

http://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2009/04/07/mayo-clinic-music-fun/

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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Journal of Educational Psychology - Volume 101, Issue 2

A new issue is available for the following APA journal:

Journal of Educational Psychology

Volume 101, Issue 2

Inaugural editorial for Journal of Educational Psychology.

Pages 259-261

Graesser, Arthur C.

Instructional approaches that significantly increase reading comprehension.

Pages 262-281

Block, Cathy Collins; Parris, Sheri R.; Reed, Kelly L.; Whiteley, Cinnamon S.; Cleveland, Maggie D.

Coherence formation when learning from text and pictures: What kind of support for whom?

Pages 282-293

Bartholomé, Tobias; Bromme, Rainer

Shared book reading: When and how questions affect young children's word learning.

Pages 294-304

Blewitt, Pamela; Rump, Keiran M.; Shealy, Stephanie E.; Cook, Samantha A.

The effects of multimedia-enhanced instruction on the vocabulary of English-language learners and non-English-language learners in pre-kindergarten through second grade.

Pages 305-314

Silverman, Rebecca; Hines, Sara

Modeling oral reading fluency development in Latino students: A longitudinal study across second and third grade.

Pages 315-329

Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Petscher, Yaacov; Pappamihiel, N. Eleni; Williams, Rihana S.; Dyrlund, Allison K.; Connor, Carol

Are first- and second-language factors related in predicting second-language reading comprehension? A study of Spanish-speaking children acquiring English as a second language from first to second grade.

Pages 330-344

Gottardo, Alexandra; Mueller, Julie

The nature of preschool phonological processing abilities and their relations to vocabulary, general cognitive abilities, and print knowledge.

Pages 345-358

Lonigan, Christopher J.; Anthony, Jason L.; Phillips, Beth M.; Purpura, David J.; Wilson, Shauna B.; McQueen, Jessica D.

Mental number line, number line estimation, and mathematical achievement: Their interrelations in grades 5 and 6.

Pages 359-372

Schneider, Michael; Grabner, Roland H.; Paetsch, Jennifer

The contributions of working memory and executive functioning to problem representation and solution generation in algebraic word problems.

Pages 373-387

Lee, Kerry; Ng, Ee Lynn; Ng, Swee Fong

The ABCs of math: A genetic analysis of mathematics and its links with reading ability and general cognitive ability.

Pages 388-402

Hart, Sara A.; Petrill, Stephen A.; Thompson, Lee A.; Plomin, Robert

"The relationship between the discourse knowledge and the writing performance of elementary-grade students": Correction to Olinghouse and Graham (2009).

Page 402

Olinghouse, Natalie G.; Graham, Steve

Earning its place as a pan-human theory: Universality of the big-fish-little-pond effect across 41 culturally and economically diverse countries.

Pages 403-419

Seaton, Marjorie; Marsh, Herbert W.; Craven, Rhonda G.

"Signaling in expository hypertexts compensates for deficits in reading skill": Correction to Naumann et al. (2007).

Page 419

Naumann, Johannes; Richter, Tobias; Jurgen, Flender; Christmann, Ursula; Groeben, Norbert

Promoting academic achievement: The role of racial identity in buffering perceptions of teacher discrimination on academic achievement among African American and Caribbean Black adolescents.

Pages 420-431

Thomas, Oseela N.; Caldwell, Cleopatra Howard; Faison, Nkesha; Jackson, James S.

The joint influence of personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures on achievement-relevant outcomes.

Pages 432-447

Murayama, Kou; Elliot, Andrew J.

Effectiveness of comprehensive professional development for teachers of at-risk preschoolers.

Pages 448-465

Landry, Susan H.; Anthony, Jason L.; Swank, Paul R.; Monseque-Bailey, Pauline

Observed reductions in school bullying, nonbullying aggression, and destructive bystander behavior: A longitudinal evaluation.

Pages 466-481

Frey, Karin S.; Hirschstein, Miriam K.; Edstrom, Leihua V.; Snell, Jennie L.

Identified versus introjected approach and introjected avoidance motivations in school and in sports: The limited benefits of self-worth strivings.

Pages 482-497

Assor, Avi; Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Kaplan, Avi

The differential impact of early father and mother involvement on later student achievement.

Pages 498-508

McBride, Brent A.; Dyer, W. Justin; Liu, Ying; Brown, Geoffrey L.; Hong, Sungjin

The development and correlates of academic interests from childhood through adolescence.

Pages 509-519

Dotterer, Aryn M.; McHale, Susan M.; Crouter, Ann C.

How pervasive are relative age effects in secondary school education?

Pages 520-528

Cobley, Stephen; McKenna, Jim; Baker, Joeseph; Wattie, Nick

---

To edit your profile or discontinue receiving table of contents alerts, visit http://psycalert.apa.org or your MyPsycNET page on APA PsycNET.

Cognitive benefits of being a sports fan

http://blog.80percentmental.com/2009/04/cognitive-benefits-of-being-sports-fan.html

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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ADHD long term benefit study

Check it out at ENL blog.

http://eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/adhd-drugs-no-long-term-benefits.html

Kevin McGrew PhD
Educational/School Psych.
IAP (www.iapsych.com)

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IQs Corner Reading Inbox 4-3-09

What's in IQ's Corner reading inbox for 4-3-09? Click here to find out. Articles about effectiveness of Fastforward program, math disabilities (dyscalculia), and reading disabilities (dyslexia).

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, education, special eduction, SLD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, reading, math, FastForward, IQs Corner

IQs Corner Recent Literature of Interest 4-3-09

This weeks "recent literature of interest" is now available. Click here to access.

Information regarding this feature, its basis, and the reasons for type of references included in each weekly installment can be found in a prior post.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, reseach, recent literature, IQs Corner

Do animals think about their thinking?

Can animals think about their thinking?

A recent brief research summary by Kornell (2009) in Current Directions in Psychological Science (one of my favorite reads for quick synopses of research areas) suggests that for some animals the answer is "yes." Metacognition (thinking about one's thinking) may not unique to the human species. So...next time you are looking at an animal at a zoo....think about this finding.

This reminds me of the recent story that was reported on a number of blogs (sorry...I no longer have the link) of a monkey, living in a zoo, who demonstrated "planning ability" (part of executive functions) by gathering a stash of rocks, saving them, and then hurling them at zoo visitors when they came by.

ABSTRACT—It has long been assumed that metacognition—thinking about one’s own thoughts—is a uniquely human ability.Yet decade of research suggests that, likehumans, other animals can differentiate between what they know and what they do not know. They opt out of difficult trials; they avoid tests they are unlikely to answer correctly; and they make riskier ‘‘bets’’ when their memories are accurate than they do when their memories are inaccurate. These feats are simultaneously impressive and, by human standards, somewhat limited; new evidence suggests, however, that animals can generalize metacognitive judgments to new contexts and seek more information when they are unsure. Metacognition is intriguing, in part, because of parallels with self-reflection and conscious awareness. Consciousness appears to be consistent with, but not required by, the abilities animals have demonstrated thus far.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, comparative psychology, education, school psychology, intelligence, metacognition

WAIS-III brain injury lession mapping research

Interesting 2006 WAIS-III brain injury lesion mapping study by Glascher et al. in Neuron.  I have some concerns about the interpretation of the results (see below), but see this as a neat study because of the large sample size for lesion-specific subjects (n=241) and the very interesting visual-graphic presentation of the results...esp. the grand summary figure in the discussion section.  Also, a supplementary report to the article is also available.

My concerns are related to the presence of construct irrelvant variance (when viewed from a CHC lense - and the results of CHC-based cross-battery studies) in some of the WAIS-III index scores used.  The Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) is a good indicator of Gc.  Processing Speed (PSI) is a good index for Gs.  However, the Working Memory Index (WMI) is a mixed measure of Gsm (Digit Span and Letter-Number Sequencing) and Gq (see prior post about Arithmetic test Gq classification), and the Perceptual Organization Index (POI) is a mixed measure of Gv (Block Design and Picture Completion) and Gf (Matris Reasoning).  This suggests caution when trying to interpret the research findings from a CHC perspective.  However, I can see the practical and functional utility of knowing the relations between WAIS-III index scores, even if some are not the most valid CHC indicators, and possible brain lessions.

We need more research like this using more construct valid indicators of CHC abilities.

Abstract

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) assesses a wide range of cognitive abilities and impairments. Factor analyses have documented four underlying indices that jointly comprise intelligence as assessed with the WAIS: verbal comprehension (VCI), perceptual organization (POI), working memory (WMI), and processing speed (PSI). We used nonparametric voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping in 241 patients with focal brain damage to investigate their neural underpinnings. Statistically significant lesion-deficit relationships were found in left inferior frontal cortex for VCI, in left frontal and parietal cortex for WMI, and in right parietal cortex for POI. There was no reliable single localization for PSI. Statistical power maps and cross-validation analyses quantified specificity and sensitivity of the index scores in predicting lesion locations. Our findings provide comprehensive lesion maps of intelligence factors, and make specific recommendations for interpretation and application of the WAIS to the study of intelligence in health and disease.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, neuron, WAIS-III, Wechsler, intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, IQ scores, Gs, Gsm, Gc, Gf, Gv, CHC theory

WISC-IV cognitive proficiency index

Just learned that the WISC-IV now has a way to provide a "cognitive proficiency" index.  See Technical Report 6.

Interesting.  Composition is conceptually identical to WJ III Cognitive Efficiency cluster (Gsm+Gs), one of the most sensitive clusters for all kinds of deficits and disorders.  Welcome aboard WISC-IV.  Imitation is the best form of flattery [conflict of interest - I'm a coauthor of the WJ III)

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, education, cognition, intelligence, neuropsychology, IQ, IQ scores, WISC-IV, cognitive efficiency, cognitive proficiency, Gsm, Gs, working memory, processing speed

More on rapid naming (RAN, phonemic awareness (PA) and reading: Genetic evidence

The importance of RAN (rapid automatic naming) and PA (phonemic awareness) for reading (and Dx of dyslexia) has been blogged and logged at this blog previously.

Toady I skimmed a nice bit of behavioral genetic research (Naples et al., 2009) in the journal Biological Psychology that reports on the unique and shared genetic variance of the constructs/traits of RAN and PA. Although a lengthy, and at times, complex article, the bottom line is that behavioral genetic evidence suggests that RAN (placed under Glr in CHC taxonomy) and PA (under Ga in CHC taxonomy) are different constructs, although they do have some shared genetic variance.

As articulated by the late John Horn, evidence for differences in constructs comes from multiple sources--structural (factor analytic), behavioral genetic, developmental, criterion-outcome, and neurocognitive. This study provides construct validity evidence in the form of behavioral genetic evidence.

This work’s objective was to offer additional insights into the psychological and genetic bases of reading ability and disability, and to evaluate the plausibility of a variety of psychological models of reading involving phonological awareness (PA) and rapid naming (RN), both hypothesized to be principal components in such models. In Study 1, 488 unselected families were assessed with measures of PA and RN to investigate familial aggregation and to obtain estimates of both the number and effect-magnitude of genetic loci involved in these traits’ transmission. The results of the analyses from Study 1 indicated the presence of genetic effects in the etiology of individual differences for PA and RN and pointed to both the shared and unique sources of this genetic variance,which appeared to be exerted by multiple (3–6 for PA and 3–5 for RN) genes. These results were used in Study 2 to parameterize a simulation of 3000 families with quantitatively distributed PA and RN, so that the robustness and generalizability of the Study 1 findings could be evaluated. The findings of both studies were interpreted according to established theories of reading and our own understanding of the etiology of complex developmental disorders.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, cognition, intelligence, education, special education, reading, dyslexia, LD, learning disabilities, SLD, genetics, behavioral genetics, rapid naming, phonemic awareness, RAN, PA, CHC theory

Divergent thinking (creative problem solving) is content-specifc?

Results from a large scale study (n=1300+) of German subjects (Kuhn & Holing, 2009;  European Journal of Psychological Assessment) suggests that the factor structure of divergent thinking (idea generation, creative problem solving, etc.) abilities may be domain-specific (numerical, verbal, figural), consistent with the BIS intelligence theory (which was the framework for the study). 

My only criticism is that no attempt was made to relate (test a model?) or interpret the results as per the divergent abilities that are subsumed as the fluency/rate factors under Glr in the CHC theory of intelligence.  Without detailed descriptions of the tests in the manuscript, it is not possible to do a post-hoc BIS-CHC "cross-walk."  My hunch is that the content-classified divergent thinking tests used in this study may tap a content facet or intermediate stratum of the CHC taxonomy.  A number of the CHC Glr fluency factors would appear, at face value, to be readily classified (on a logical basis) as per these three content dimensions/facets.

I find these BIS-based results interesting and in need of integration within the CHC taxonomy (click here for recent CHC overview article in Intelligence)...and vice-versa.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, cognition, intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, IQ scores, ISIR, BIS, Berlin intelligence model, CHC, Cattell-Horn-Carroll, factor analysis

Quantoids corner: Rasch psychological measurement (IRT) references

Someone just asked me a question about Rasch (item response theory) measurement. I ran a search of the IAP Reference Database and flagged any reference that had "Rasch" as a keyword (in Procite). I've posted a copy in case anyone is looking for a relatively list of contemporary Rasch psychometric references.

IQs Corner now using twittter

I've bit the bullet. I've now opened a twitter account (@iqmobile). Readers of IQs Corner can sign up to follow my "tweets" (which will be a mixture of professional and some misc stuff) on left-side of this blog.

We shall see if this is something worthwhile. As regular readers have noticed, I've been trying to find ways to efficiently/quickly "pass along" information I find without having to be at my computer. I do mobile blogging via my iPhone. I'm now adding this.

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Made me laugh

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