Cool brain fitness graphic

From SHARP BRAINS

The State of the Brain Fitness Market: one picture, more than a
thousand words. http://twitgoo.com/d4e9

http://twitter.com/AlvaroF/status/1980586083

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

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IQs Corner Recent Literature of Interest 5-28-09

This weeks "recent literature of interest" is now available. Click here to view and/or download to your hardrive

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

On the road again traveling - blogging lite

I'm on the road again, this time for personal business. I'm in Gainesville, Fl helping my daughter and son-in-law deal with the first week of out-patient chemo for Ezra's (their two year old) just diagnosed ALL (leukemia). My role is to be older bro's (Rowan) playmate while they are off doing hospital visits and other errands.

I anticipate the 4 year old toddler will run me ragged. I return home this Saturday.

If you want to learn more about their adventure, my daughter has a very nice professional blog called Manic Mother. She is a chip of the old blog :)

I don't expect much time to blog...except for possible "push" type FYI posts re: content posted at other blogs.....or...mobile blogging (check out the link.....it is very cool...but, of course, I tend to be a tech nerd)......with pictures of activities, people, etc. at the conference.


I shall return.

CHC intelligence dissertation updates

A feature some of my readers may not be aware of is what I call "Dissertation Dish" posts. You can view all the DD posts I've made to date by clicking here. What are these?

Simple. I have a series of "alerts" set with ProQuest Digital Dissertation services that notifies me when any new dissertation is available via their service that touches on the topics of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities and assessment instruments related to the their. I receive email alerts of new dissertations. I then check the abstracts. If the abstract looks of interest to my readers, I then will make a DD post of the abstract at IQs Corner blog. You can always find all of these by clicking on the "dissertation dish" category label.

More importantly, as part of my roles as Research Director with WMF, I often purchase a PDF copy of the dissertations and share them with Barb Wendling, Education Director of WMF. She then puts together an WMF asbstract brief as part of the WMF Doctoral Dissertation Asbstract Project.

I hope this little service helps researchers and assessment professionals keep in touch with unpublished research.....research that hopefully will eventually reach a journal somewhere.


Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, ISIR, dissertation dish, neuropsychology, intelligence, CHC, Cattell-Horn-Carroll, IQ, IQ tests

European Journal of Psych Assessment V25(2)

A new issue is available for the following Hogrefe & Huber journal:

European Journal of Psychological Assessment

Volume 25, Issue 2

Assessing cognitive failures.

Pages 69-72

Efklides, Anastasia; Sideridis, Georgios D.

FACT-2—The Frankfurt Adaptive Concentration Test: Convergent validity with self-reported cognitive failures.

Pages 73-82

Goldhammer, Frank; Moosbrugger, Helfried; Krawietz, Sabine A.

The Real Animal Size Test (RAST): A new measure of inhibitory control for young children.

Pages 83-91

Catale, Corinne; Meulemans, Thierry

Working memory, but not IQ, predicts subsequent learning in children with learning difficulties.

Pages 92-98

Alloway, Tracy Packiam

Assessing cognitive interference using the Emotional Stroop Task in students with and without attention problems.

Pages 99-106

Sideridis, Georgios D.

Situational variability of experiential and rational information-processing styles in stressful situations.

Pages 107-114

Claes, Laurence; Witteman, Cilia; van den Bercken, John

The Blank in the Mind Questionnaire (BIMQ).

Pages 115-122

Moraitou, Despina; Efklides, Anastasia

Realism of confidence judgments.

Pages 123-130

Stankov, Lazar; Lee, Jihyun; Paek, Insu

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, intelliigence, cognition, IQ, IQ tests, assessment, testing, European Journal of Psychological Assessment

Dissertation Dish: SB5 and WISC-IV Gv predictors of math achievement

Visual-spatial processing and mathematics achievement: The predictive ability of the visual-spatial measures of the Stanford-Binet intelligence scales, Fifth Edition and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition by Clifford, Eldon, Ph.D., University of South Dakota, 2008, 195 pages; AAT 3351188

Abstract

In the law and the literature there has been a disconnect between the definition of a learning disability and how it is operationalized. For the past 30 years, the primary method of learning disability identification has been a severe discrepancy between an individual's cognitive ability level and his/her academic achievement. The recent 2004 IDEA amendments have included language that allows for changes in identification procedures. This language suggests a specific learning disability may be identified by a student's failure to respond to a research based intervention (RTI). However, both identification methods fail to identify a learning disability based on the IDEA 2004 definition, which defines a specific learning disability primarily as a disorder in psychological processing. Research suggests that processing components play a critical role in academic tasks such as reading, writing and mathematics. Furthermore, there has been considerable research that suggests visual-spatial processing is related to mathematics achievement. The two most well known IQ tests, the Stanford-Binet-Fifth Edition (SB5) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV), were revised in 2003 to align more closely with the most current theory of intelligence, the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of cognitive abilities (CHC). Research supports both instruments have subtests that measure visual-spatial processing. The purpose of the current study is to identify which visual-spatial processing measure (SB5 or WISC-IV) is the better predictor of poor mathematics achievement. The participants were 112 6 th -8 th grade middle school students. Of the 112 original participants, 109 were included in the study. The comparison of the results of two separate sequential logistic regressions found that both measures could significantly predict mathematics achievement. However, given the relatively small amount of variance accounted for by both the SB5 and WISC-IV visual-spatial processing measures, the results had questionable practical significance.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, education, neuropsychology, mathematics, Gv, visual-spatial, SB5, WISC-IV, Stanford Binet, Wecsher, IQs Corner, Disseration Dish

Very personal post: Helping Ezra kick ass on cancer

My two year old grandson, Ezra, was diagnosed with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) this past week. I've never used my professional blogs for personal posts...but this is an exception I must make.

My daughter Beth has a very nice "mommy" blog called Manic Mother [she is a chip off the old bog :) ]. I'm extremely proud of her. The unexpected Dx of ALL has rocked their families life. I'm doing what I can to provide support, but my daughter is seeking support from the social network of the internet.


As a personal favor to me, I'd like to ask my readers to check out my daughters post about their experience. She is seeking support. Don't respond to me. If you want to help, contact my daughter via her excellent blog. If you twitter, she can be found at @manicmother.

I'm proud of my daughter and her family.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, oncology, cancer, ALL, leukemai, Manic Mother

Sharp Brains brain fitness book

SharpBrains, the leading independent source on the rapidly growing brain fitness market, has just published its first book:

The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness:  18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, To Keep Your Brain Sharp

Check it out.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, education, neuropsychology, neurotechnology, brain fitness, Sharp Brains

IQs Corner Recent Literature of Interest 5-20-09

This weeks "recent literature of interest" is now available. Click here to view and/or download to your hardrive

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

Video games improve attention ?

Another research study suggesting video games can improve attention.
Over at MINDBLOG.

http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2009/05/enhanced-attention-skills-in-video-game.html

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

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CHC cognitive-achievement relations: Limitations in prior reviews

This is another post in a continued series of posts re: research synthesis of the CHC cognitve-achievement research literature.

Click here for other posts in this series.

The sheer number of key, review, and individual studies populating the published Flanagan et al. (2006) CHC CB COG-ACH correlates summary tables is impressive. However, the available CHC COG-ACH relations summaries suffer from a number of limitations.

First is a lack of descriptive and operational rigor in the CHC COG-ACH syntheses. The Flanagan research group’s efforts appear to fit the definition of a purposeful research synthesis which “focus on empirical studies and seek to summarize past research by drawing overall conclusions from many separate investigations that address related or identical hypotheses” (Cooper, 1998, p. 3). The available CHC COG- ACH relations research syntheses are narrative as they do not attempt to quantify significance results across studies, an approach typically defined as a meta-analysis (Cooper, 1998). It would be nearly impossible to replicate the CHC COG-ACH relations summaries in Flanagan et al. (2006) due to the lack of: (a) specified and published database search terms and date ranges, (b) significant CHC-ACH relation significance criteria, (c) study inclusion and exclusion criteria, and (d) procedures to control for possible publication bias (see Cooper, 1998; also see Pillemer & Light, 1980). The research summaries to date have largely been informal "tallies" and the continued listing of more and more studies.

Second, the use of the broad dependent variable (DV) domains of reading, math, and writing may cloud important sub-achievement domain findings. From the available CHC COG- ACH synthesis tables it is impossible to ascertain if the salient COG-ACH relations generalize across sub-achievement domains (e.g., basic reading skills vs. reading comprehension). Third, although general developmental CHC COG-ACH trends are briefly discussed by Flanagan et al. (2006), they are only based on the findings from the handful of key CHC studies. The age characteristics of the bulk of the studies included (review and individual studies) are ignored and no attempt is made to present CHC COG-ACH results by age-differentiated sub-samples.

Finally, specification error, sometimes called omitted-variable bias (Keith, 2006), occurs when potentially important variables in predictive or explanatory research are not included in a study’s research design. Specification error is a form of modeling error that can lead to biased estimates of the effects (i.e., relative importance) of individual predictor variables on the dependent variable of interest (Pedhazur, 1997).

Floyd et al. (2003) used an analogy from sports to explain specification error.

"As an analogy, a college basketball coach could construct a regression model that included season-long player statistics of starters in order to predict post-season performance. If the coach omitted the game statistics for the point guards and included only the statistics for the remaining four starters, over- or under- estimates of the importance of one or more of the other four starting positions would probably result. These biased findings might lead the coach to make erroneous decisions about the strengths of certain player positions when developing game strategies. Because of the failure to include measures of potentially important." (p. 156)

Almost all the review and individual studies listed in the contemporary CHC COG- ACH summary tables suffer from some unknown degree of specification error when the intent is to identify the relative importance of the various CHC domains within the CHC framework. Two examples are presented below.

An individual study example is Wagner et al. (1997) a study listed as evidence for the importance of Gc, Ga, and Glr in reading. Specification error is possibly present due to the lack of indicators of the more complete array of potentially important CHC abilities for reading. The CHC cognitive abilities of Ga, Gc, and Glr may have displayed slightly different degrees of relative importance (and might have demonstrated non-significance) in the reported analysis had the predictor models included measures of Gsm, Gf, Gs, and Gv.

In the CHC COG-ACH correlate summary tables published to date, Aaron (1995) is classified as a review study. Inspection of the original article finds it not to be a systematic review in the traditional sense of a literature review (Cooper, 1998). Aaron's article describes a diagnostic procedure for reading disabilities and draws upon select literature sources. This is not a criticism of the original purpose of the Aaron (1995) publication, nor is this a criticism of the categorization of the Aaron study as a review in the published summary tables. The point is that the term review typically has the connotation in the scientific literature of systematic narrative or empirical research synthesis of extant research studies.

CHC cognitive-achievement relations: Flanagan & Fiorello summaries

[DOUBLE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE]

The table above is an attempt to summarize and compare the conclusions reported by the Flanagan and Fiorello researchers in the area of reading and math. Although the comprehensive CHC COG-ACH relations summary tables are not structured to reflect age-differentiated relations, Flanagan et al. (2006) provide insights into potentially important developmental COG- ACH relations. For example, the Flanagan research group reported that Ga, Gs and Glr abilities are important during the early school years and then decline in relative importance while Gc becomes increasingly important with increasing age. Narrow ability COG-ACH differential developmentally-based relations are also briefly summarized by Flanagan et al. (2006).

Despite limited empirical evidence in key CHC studies, both the Flanagan and Fiorello research groups suggest that Gf, specifically the narrow ability of Induction (I), is likely associated with reading comprehension. Both the Flanagan and Fiorello research groups identify other potentially important cognitive abilities (e.g., visual-based orthographic processing; morphological awareness; executive functions) for reading and math, abilities not yet formally integrated in the CHC framework. We will discuss these abilities later in the results and discussion section of the current paper.

Only the Flanagan research group has presented a CHC COG-Math achievement synthesis , a synthesis based on a much more limited pool of research literature (approximately ¼ of the reading literature references). Developmental math differences reported by Flanagan et al. (2006) were: (a) Gf abilities are consistently related to math achievement across all ages, (b) Gc abilities increased monotonically in importance with age, and, (c) Gs abilities were strongest during the elementary school-age years.

Click here for other posts in this series.

CHC theory: Prior cognitive-achievement relations research summaries

The first attempt to summarize the cognitive-achievement relations research vis-à-vis a CHC lens (CHC COG-ACH) was presented in McGrew and Flanagan's (1998) Intelligence Test Desk Reference: Gf-Gc Cross-Battery Assessment (ITDR). The closest other effort of note is the blended CHC-neuropsychological research integration efforts of Fiorello and colleagues (Fiorello, Hale & Snyder, 2006; Fiorello & Primerano, 2005; Hale & Fiorello, 2004).


According to Flanagan et al. (2006), studies were identified for potential inclusion in their CHC COG-ACH summaries via three search methods. First, research studies that investigated the relations between cognitive abilities and reading, math, and writing achievement were identified via a search of the PsycINFO electronic database. Second, an ancestral search strategy of the references identified in step one revealed potentially useful other articles for review. Third, the original McGrew and Flanagan (1998) CHC COG- ACH summary table results were incorporated with the new-found research literature.

Studies deemed to have reported a significant COG-ACH relation by the Flanagan research group were then listed in tabular form in one of three categories: (a) key CHC studies—CHC- organized studies that included markers for most broad CHC cognitive abilities; (b) reviews—non- CHC organized narrative or meta-analytic research syntheses reporting significant relations between cognitive abilities and school achievement; and (c) individual studies—single non-CHC empirical studies that investigated the relations between cognitive abilities and school achievement. For most of the reviews and individual studies the Flanagan group translated the described non-CHC cognitive abilities as per the nomenclature of the CHC taxonomy (e.g., phonemic awareness = narrow ability of phonetic coding under the broad domain of Ga).

Flanagan et al.’s (2006) summary is impressive. A total of 138 references were presented for reading (8 key CHC studies; 23 reviews; 107 individual studies) and 37 references were presented for math (3 key CHC studies; 5 reviews; 29 individual studies).

In contrast, the Fiorello research group, in the process of promoting the use of CHC assessment in school neuropsychology practice (Fiorello & Primerano, 2005; Fiorello et al., 2006), reviewed many of the same key CHC-reading studies included in the Flanagan research group’s summary tables. The Fiorello group’s most important contribution was their “cross- walk” of neuropsychology research on reading disorders to the CHC framework. For example, Fiorello et al. (2006) related one component of the “double deficit” reading disability (rapid automatized naming or RAN; Wolf & Bowers, 1999) to CHC when they stated that “ideational fluency, together with Gs, is related to Rapid Automatized Naming” (p. 839). Since the Fiorello research group’s information was not based on an explicit research literature search and synthesis strategy, their interpretations are presented as supplemental to the more comprehensive Flanagan research group’s CHC COG-ACH synthesis efforts.

Stay tuned. The results of these prior research syntheses, as well as limitations of these syntheses will be posted next,followed by the description of the methods used to provide a more systematic and organized literature review (McGrew & Wendling, manuscript submitted for publication)

Click here for other posts in this series.

Save IQs Corner material to PDF file option

You can now save your favorite IQs Corner posts to PDF files for on-offline viewing.  I'm starting this service as I believe that e-readers are going to become more popular.  I accumulate PDF files (esp. journal articles) like a pack rat and have put my name on the Kindle DX pr-order list.  I anticipate others to eventually join the e-reader movement.  If you do not plan to adopt the e-reader technology, you may still enjoy the option of saving copies of select IQs corner posts to your hard drive as PDF files for later off-line veiwing or printing.

There is now a button down on the left-hand side of my blog to activate the save function.  An example of the result can be seen by clicking here.  This nifty service is free from Web2PDF.

I hope users find this useful.

Technorati Tags: psychology, IQs Corner, PDF, Web2PDF

BRAIN BLOGGING brain carnival #45

Click linknto view

http://brainblogger.com/2009/05/15/brain-blogging-forty-fifth-edition/

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

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The promise of CHC theory of intelligence

Combine the past 20 years of CHC-driven intelligence test development and research activities (click here and here) with the ongoing refinement and extension of CHC theory (McGrew, 2005; 2009) and one concludes that these are exciting times in the field of intelligence testing. But is this excitement warranted in school psychology? Has the drawing of a reasonably circumscribed “holy grail” taxonomy of cognitive abilities led us to the promised land of intelligence testing in the schools—using the results of cognitive assessments to better the education of children with special needs? Or, have we simply become more sophisticated in the range of measures and tools used to “sink shafts at more critical points” in the mind (see Lubinksi, 2000) which, although important for understanding and studying human individual differences, fails to improve diagnosis, classification, and instruction in education?

It is an interesting coincidence that McDermott, Fantuzzo, and Glutting’s (1990) now infamous and catchy admonition to psychologists who administer intelligence tests to “just say no to subtest analysis” occurred almost 20 years ago—the time when contemporary CHC intelligence theory and assessment was emerging. By 1990, McDermott and colleagues had convincingly demonstrated, largely via core profile analysis of the then current Wechsler trilogy of batteries (WPPSI, WISC-R, WAIS-R) that ipsative strength and weakness interpretation of subtest profiles was not psychometrically sound. In essence, “beyond g (full scale IQ)—don’t bother.”

I believe that optimism is appropriate regarding the educational relevance of CHC- driven test development and research. Surprisingly, cautious optimism has been voiced by prominent school psychology critics of intelligence testing. In a review of the WJ-R, Ysseldyke (1990) described the WJ-R as representing “a significant milestone in the applied measurement of intellectual abilities” (p. 274). More importantly, Ysseldyke indicated he was “excited about a number of possibilities for use of the WJ-R in empirical investigations of important issues in psychology, education, and, specifically, in special education…we may now be able to investigate the extent to which knowledge of pupil performance on the various factors is prescriptively predictive of relative success in school. That is, we may now begin to address treatment relevance.” (p. 273). Reschly (1997), in response to the first CHC-based cognitive-achievement causal modeling research report (McGrew, Flanagan, Keith & Vanderwood, 1997) which demonstrated that some specific CHC abilities are important in understanding reading and math achievement above and beyond the effect of general intelligence (g), concluded that “the arguments were fairly convincing regarding the need to reconsider the specific versus general abilities conclusions. Clearly, some specific abilities appear to have potential for improving individual diagnoses. Note, however, that it is potential that has been demonstrated” (Reschly, 1997, p. 238).

Clearly the potential and promise of improved intelligence testing, vis-à-vis CHC organized test batteries, has been recognized since 1989. But has this promise been realized during the past 20 years? Has our measurement of CHC abilities improved? Has CHC-based cognitive assessment provided a better understanding of the relations between specific cognitive abilities and school achievement? Has it improved identification and classification? More importantly, in the current educational climate, where does CHC- grounded intelligence testing fit within the context of the emerging Response-to-Intervention (RTI) paradigm?

An attempt to answer these questions will be forthcoming in a manuscript submitted for publication (McGrew & Wendling, 2009) as well as a revision of the CHC COG-ACH Relations Research Synthesis Project available at IQs Corner (warning - current posted material is now outdated and does not reflect the final conclusions of the McGrew & Wendling (2009) review. This material is in the process of being revised and will be posted soon. Stay tuned to IQs Corner Blog or announcements via the NASP and CHC listservs.

Click here for other posts in this series.

CHC theory: Emergence, test instruments and school-related research brief

Contemporary Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) intelligence test development, interpretation and applied research can be traced to a fortuitous meeting of Richard Woodcock, John Horn, and John “Jack” Carroll in the fall of 1985, a meeting also attended by the first author of this web-resource ( McGrew, 2005). This meeting resulted in the 1989 publication of the first individually-administered, nationally standardized CHC-based intelligence battery, the Woodcock- Johnson- Revised (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 1989). This landmark event, which occurred 20 years ago, provided the impetus for the major CHC- driven evolution of school- based intelligence testing practice.

Subsequent important CHC events followed during this 20 year period, and included: (a) the first set of CHC- organized joint test battery factor analysis studies (Woodcock, 1990) which planted the seeds for the concept of CHC cross-battery (CB) assessment, (b) the first attempt to use the WJ-R, via a Kaufman-like supplemental testing strategy (Kaufman, 1979), to implement the yet to be named and operationalized CHC CB approach to testing ( McGrew, 1993), (c) the articulation of the first integrated Cattell-Horn-Carroll model and classification of the major intelligence batteries as per the CHC framework (McGrew, 1997), (d) the first description of the assumptions, foundations, and operational principles for CHC CB assessment and interpretation (Flanagan & McGrew, 1997; McGrew & Flanagan, 1998), (e) the publication of the first intelligence theory and assessment book to prominently feature CHC theory and assessment methods (Contemporary Intellectual Assessment: Theories, Tests, and Issues; Flanagan, Genshaft & Harrison, 1997; click here for link to 2nd edition), (f) the publication of the CHC CB assessment series ( Flanagan, McGrew & Ortiz, 2000; Flanagan, Ortiz, Alfonso & Mascolo, 2006; Flanagan, Ortiz & Mascolo, 2001, 2007; McGrew & Flanagan, 1998), (g) the completion of a series of CHC-organized studies that investigated the relations between CHC cognitive abilities and reading, math, and writing achievement (what you are reading now), (h) the articulation of CHC-grounded SLD assessment and eligibility frameworks (see Flanagan & Fiorello, manuscript in preparation) and (h) the subsequent CHC- grounded revisions or interpretations of a number of comprehensive individually administered intelligence test batteries ( Differential Abilities Scales—II, DAS-II;Stanford- Binet—5^thEdition, SB5;Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children—2^ndEdition, KABC- II). Although not overtly stated, the impact of CHC theory can be seen in the recent revisions of the venerable Wechsler trilogy ( WPPSI-III; WISC- IV; WAIS- IV) as well as the presentation of CHC CB procedures for interpreting the three Wechsler batteries ( Flanagan et al., 2000).

Click here for other posts in this series.

Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of intelligence: Brief overview with links

[Double click on image to enlarge]

The Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of cognitive abilities (CHC; Carroll, 1993; Cattell & Horn) is a hierarchical model of intelligence that combines the Cattell- Horn Gf-Gc (1987) and the Carroll tri-stratum models (1993) of human cognitive abilities (see McGrew, 2005, 2009 ). Carroll expanded on the Cattell- Horn Gf- Gc theory and proposed a three-stratum model that contains over 70 narrow or specific abilities at stratum one, eight primary second-order abilities at stratum two, and an overall g ability (general intelligence)at stratum three. The primary broad CHC abilities that relate to the content of contemporary intelligence batteries include fluid reasoning or intelligence (Gf), comprehension-knowledge or crystallized intelligence (Gc), visual- spatial ability (Gv), long-term storage and retrieval (Glr), auditory processing (Ga), cognitive processing speed (Gs), short-term memory (Gsm), and quantitative reasoning (Gq). Definitions of these broad CHC abilities, the narrow abilities subsumed under each domain, as well as additional abilities (e.g., tactile abilities—Gh) now being considered part of a more comprehensive CHC human ability model, are available here . An visual-graphic overview of the evolution of the CHC model, and its current status, is presented at the top of this post (from McGrew, 2009) Click here for other posts in this series.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, education, neuropsychology, cognition, IQ, IQ tests, intelligence, CHC theory, Cattell-Horn-Carroll

g (generl intelligence) t-shirt

I was picking and poking around the intelligence web today and re-visited the London School of Individual Differences web page.  I found they had a few t-shirts for sale.  One is a simple "g" (general intelligence) shirt.  Maybe a nice B-day or XMAS gift for your favorite IQ nut or psychometric quantoid.

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

2009 ISIR Intelligence Conference registration open

Registration for the Tenth Annual Conference of the International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR) is now open. The conference announcement can be found here. The conference is from December 17-19 in Madrid Spain. Detailed event information is also available.

IMHO, the ISIR conferences I've attended have been the best professional conferences re: intelligence research I've ever attended. I particularly like the format where all participants (because of the relatively small size of the conference, when compared to APA, AERA, NASP, etc.) hear all paper presentations together. This gives all attendies the same shared content and many opportunities to ask questions, discuss, argue, etc. between sessions and at the end of the day.

Technorati Tags: psychology, intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, IQ scores, cognition, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, conference, ISIR, International Soceity for Intelligence Research, IQs Corner

IQs Corner Recent Literature of Interest 5-14-09

This weeks "recent literature of interest" is now available. Actually, I've been behind.  It is now two weeks worth.  Click here and here.

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

Fluid IQ (Gf), personality and emotional IQ: Guest post by Walter Howe

This is a guest post by Walter Howe, Director of Psychological Assessments Australia. This is the third time he has guest blogged (click here and here for prior posts that dealt with cognitive load theory and working memory). I would urge others to take up my standing offer to provide guest posts, especially if a reader sees a journal article of interest and doesn't have access to the journal. I can typically secure a PDF copy of most articles and would send them privately to individuals in exchange for a guest blog post about the article. Come one----many of you are dying to read and comment on the blogosphere. I would LOVE to have a number of regular contributors.

DiFabio, R. & Palazzeschi, L. (2009). An in-depth look at scholastic success: Fluid intelligence, personality traits or emotional intelligence? Personality and Individual Differences, 49 (2009) 581 585.

I must confess I am a fan of the construct of emotional intelligence because it bridges the sometimes artificial divide between cognition and affect. It provides a useful framework for understanding the interaction of cognition and affect. Emotions not only influence how we think but also what we think about, which makes them even more powerful than most people would acknowledge.

Di Fabio and Palazzeschi’s study is an attempt to validate emotional intelligence as a predictor of school success (teacher rated GPA). Their sample was drawn from senior high school students (mostly girls) in Tuscany. They examined the influence of fluid intelligence (Gf) (Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices); personality (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – Extraversion; Neuroticism & Psychoticism) and two measures of emotional intelligence, one trait based (BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory - EQi) and the other ability based (Mayer Salovey Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test - MSCEIT) on school success as measured by GPA.

Their results show that emotional intelligence added incremental validity over both fluid intelligence (Gf) and personality as predictors of school success, especially ability based emotional intelligence, with the skill of managing emotions working the best.

Some studies with adults using different outcome measures, such as business success, have also shown the positive predictive power of ability based emotional intelligence, and of managing emotions.

The work of Mark Brackett at Yale also supports the contention that emotional intelligence can contribute to school academic success. Students who undertook a program he designed, achieved higher grades than those who didn’t. He is currently involved in a large, school district wide training program in the UK.

Many school psychologists are involved in whole school, evidence-based, primary prevention programs, but most of these programs have a mental health focus. Programs based on ability based emotional intelligence theory have the added advantage of also improving school grades, something all us wholeheartedly support. School psychologists might also consider a measure of ability based emotional intelligence, as part of an assessment of academic difficulties. Multi Health Systems (MHS), publishers of the MSCEIT has an adolescent version currently in development.

Technorati Tags: psychology, personality, school psychology, education, educational psychology, neuropsychology, emotional intelligence, EI, IQ, Gf.fluid intelligence, IQs Corner

Working memory summary brief by Avner Stern

I recently was sent a copy of a nice brief summary re: the construct of working memory. Consider it a nice brief fact sheet. The brief was provided by Dr. Avner Stern of Behavioral Health Specialists, a provider of the Cogmed Working Memory Training program.

This is a pass-along FYI notice to my readers. It does not represent an endorsement of the Cogmed program by me.

Technorati Tags: psychology, education, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neurotechnology, working memory, Gsm, brain fitness, IQ, intelligence, ADHD, ADD, Cogmed

Brain training glossary

Nice little definitions from. MIND360

http://www.mind360.com/scientificbackground/glossary

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

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Encephalon brain blog carnival #70

This is now available at SHARP BRAINS

http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2009/05/11/encephalon-70-on-mysteries-and-ilussions/

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

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HBO series on Alzheimers

http://www.psycport.com/showArticle.cfm?xmlFile=ap%5F2009%5F05%5F09%5Fap%2Eworldstream%2Eenglish%2Ehealth%5FD982UMKG0%5Fnews%5Fap%5Forg%2Eanpa%2Exml&provider=

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

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Working memory post at SHARP BRAINS

Nice overview.

http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2009/05/10/10-students-may-have-working-memory-problems-why-does-it-matter/

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

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Now this is a major hangover

Thanks to MIND HACKS for this unusual drinking related neurology story.

http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/05/the_morning_after_th.html

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

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RTI and math interventions

From Education Week.

IRS info.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2009/05/response_to_intervention_and_m.html

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

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Can kids recover from autism

This story is all over the popular press. Not my area of expertise.
Just and FYI pass along post.

http://www.child-psych.org/2009/05/more-evidence-for-autism-recovery.html

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

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Timing and ADHD neuropsych article

Click link for abstract

http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=search.displayRecord&uid=2009-02621-014

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

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Higher IQ and better health in men

From NEWSCIENTIST

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17098-brainy-men-may-be-healthier-men.html

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

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Brain rhythm research: Check on the Time Doc Inbox

Interested in recent brain rhythm perception research?  Check out the Time Doc Inbox (5-9-09) over at IQ's Corner sister blog--the IQ Brain Clock.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, intelligence, IQ, cognition, music perception, temporal processing, rhythm perception, brain rhythm, IQs Corner, IQ Brain Clock, Time Doc Inbox

IQs Corner Reading Inbox: 5-6-09

What's in IQ's Corner reading inbox for 5-6-09? Click here to find out. Articles about intelligence, g, neuroscience, vocabulary development....etc. Lots of good stuff from the journal Intelligence.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, education, special eduction, IQs Corner

Publish Post

Uses and Abuses of Intelligence book: Reviews and responses

I previously made a post mentioning the recent and controversial book by John Raven - Uses and Abuses of Intelligence. Dr. Raven was courteous enough to send me a copy a year ago...and despite good intentions, I've not got around to reading it (so much to read...so little time). Thus, I thought it would be a good idea to post some reviews and a response to one of the reviews by Raven. This way people can make their own informed decisions.

An overview description of the book can be found here.

Independent reviews by Sutherland, Belgrev, and Hunt can also be viewed.

A response by Raven to Sutherland can be found here.

This is an FYI announcement. As noted above, I've not had time to read the book and have formed no judgment at this time.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, intelligence, cognition, IQ, IQ test, Ravens, RPM

ISIR web page update: International Society for Intelligence Research

I just revisited the ISIR web page and see that there have been some changes and additions. I would urge folks to take a peak. Probably of greatest interest is the "link" section where ISIR member web pages are being added. Mine is currently not listed, but I've sent a request to have it listed. In the meantime you can find it here.

Intelligence scholars stay current. Keep checking the ISIR web page for more-and-more information.

Technorati Tags: psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, neuropsychology, neuroscience, intelligence, cognition, IQ, IQ test, IQ score, ISIR

Mystery portfolio enjoys work afternoon on deck

Dissertation Dish: Dimensionality of processing speed tests

Exploring the relationships among various measures of processing speed in a sample of children referred for psychological assessments by Nelson, Megan A., Ph.D., University of Virginia, 2009, 102 pages; AAT 3348732

Abstract (Summary)

Processing speed is a robust psychometric factor in modern tests of cognitive ability (Carroll, 1993), but the common factors underlying mental speed and its contributions to individual differences in functioning are not well understood. The goal of the current study was to further explore mental speed by conducting a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on 11 speeded subtest scores. It was hypothesized that the 11 subtests would be best represented by a four-factor model. These four factors were then submitted to a cluster analysis to identify whether certain patterns of factor scores were related to different demographic characteristics, diagnoses, or referral questions. It was hypothesized that Learning Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder, and comorbid LD/ADHD diagnoses would be most likely to have unique processing speed factor patterns.

Participants were 186 children (ages 6 - 18 years old) referred to a university-based clinic for a comprehensive psychological evaluation. The CFA indicated that although the 11 measures are all speeded, they are best represented as four distinct constructs, labeled perceptual speed, naming facility, academic facility, and reaction time in this study. The clusters produced in this study appeared to be most highly differentiated by level (likely influenced by intelligence level) and by pattern only in respect to reaction time factor scores. Therefore, both the CFA and cluster analyses lend support to Cattell-Horn-Carroll cognitive theory's distinction between cognitive processing speed (Gs) and decision/reaction time (Gt). Additionally, the CFA results suggest that Gs may be multifaceted, but the cluster analysis did not differentiate clusters based on the processing speed factors. Although the results of this study have important implications for both assessment clinicians and cognitive theory, further research is needed to clarify the constructs of processing speed and reaction time as well as to identify the clinical implications of different processing speed patterns.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, education, cognition, neuropsychology, special education, intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, processing speed, Gs, CFA, dissertation

Developmental Psychology - Volume 45, Issue 3

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Subject: Developmental Psychology - Volume 45, Issue 3

A new issue is available for the following APA journal:

Developmental Psychology

Volume 45, Issue 3

A structured observation of behavioral self-regulation and its contribution to kindergarten outcomes.

Pages 605-619

Ponitz, Claire Cameron; McClelland, Megan M.; Matthews, J. S.; Morrison, Frederick J.

The neural correlates of infant and adult goal prediction: Evidence for semantic processing systems.

Pages 620-629

Reid, Vincent M.; Hoehl, Stefanie; Grigutsch, Maren; Groendahl, Anna; Parise, Eugenio; Striano, Tricia

Children's attention to interactions directed to others: Guatemalan mayan and european american patterns.

Pages 630-641

Correa-Chávez, Maricela; Rogoff, Barbara

Neither colorblind nor oppositional: Perceived minority status and trajectories of academic adjustment among Latinos in elite higher education.

Pages 642-651

Rivas-Drake, Deborah; Mooney, Margarita

New approaches to studying problem behaviors: A comparison of methods for modeling longitudinal, categorical adolescent drinking data.

Pages 652-676

Feldman, Betsy J.; Masyn, Katherine E.; Conger, Rand D.

Alternate models of sibling status effects on health in later life.

Pages 677-687

Falbo, Toni; Kim, Sunghun; Chen, Kuan-yi

The acquisition of gender labels in infancy: Implications for gender-typed play.

Pages 688-701

Zosuls, Kristina M.; Ruble, Diane N.; Tamis-LeMonda, Catherine S.; Shrout, Patrick E.; Bornstein, Marc H.; Greulich, Faith K.

Processes and content of narrative identity development in adolescence: Gender and well-being.

Pages 702-710

McLean, Kate C.; Breen, Andrea V.

Learning to form a spatial category of tight-fit relations: How experience with a label can give a boost.

Pages 711-723

Casasola, Marianella; Bhagwat, Jui; Burke, Anne S.

The relations of temperament reactivity and effortful control to children's adjustment problems in China and the United States.

Pages 724-739

Zhou, Qing; Lengua, Liliana J.; Wang, Yun

Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement.

Pages 740-763

Hill, Nancy E.; Tyson, Diana F.

The cognitive and linguistic foundations of early reading development: A Norwegian latent variable longitudinal study.

Pages 764-781

Lervåg, Arne; Bråten, Ivar; Hulme, Charles

Setting goals to switch between tasks: Effect of cue transparency on children's cognitive flexibility.

Pages 782-797

Chevalier, Nicolas; Blaye, Agnès

Longitudinal associations between emotion regulation and depression in preadolescent girls: Moderation by the caregiving environment.

Pages 798-808

Feng, Xin; Keenan, Kate; Hipwell, Alison E.; Henneberger, Angela K.; Rischall, Michal S.; Butch, Jen; Coyne, Claire; Boeldt, Debbie; Hinze, Amanda K.; Babinski, Dara E.

Goal directedness and decision making in infants.

Pages 809-819

Kenward, Ben; Folke, Sara; Holmberg, Jacob; Johansson, Alexandra; Gredebäck, Gustaf

Genetic variance in processing speed drives variation in aging of spatial and memory abilities.

Pages 820-834

Finkel, Deborah; Reynolds, Chandra A.; McArdle, John J.; Hamagami, Fumiaki; Pedersen, Nancy L.

Parent–adolescent discrepancies in adolescents' competence and the balance of adolescent autonomy and adolescent and parent well-being in the context of Type 1 diabetes.

Pages 835-849

Butner, Jonathan; Berg, Cynthia A.; Osborn, Peter; Butler, Jorie M.; Godri, Carine; Fortenberry, Katie T.; Barach, Ilana; Le, Hai; Wiebe, Deborah J.

Early math matters: Kindergarten number competence and later mathematics outcomes.

Pages 850-867

Jordan, Nancy C.; Kaplan, David; Ramineni, Chaitanya; Locuniak, Maria N.

Do perceived popular adolescents who aggress against others experience emotional adjustment problems themselves?

Pages 868-872

Rose, Amanda J.; Swenson, Lance P.

Preschoolers infer ownership from "control of permission".

Pages 873-876

Neary, Karen R.; Friedman, Ori; Burnstein, Corinna L.

Achieving a new dimension: Children integrate three stimulus dimensions in volume estimations.

Pages 877-883

Ebersbach, Mirjam

Generic language and speaker confidence guide preschoolers' inferences about novel animate kinds.

Pages 884-888

Stock, Hayli R.; Graham, Susan A.; Chambers, Craig G.

Adults' autonomic and subjective emotional responses to infant vocalizations: The role of secure base script knowledge.

Pages 889-893

Groh, Ashley M.; Roisman, Glenn I.

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