Saturday, March 25, 2023

The cross-cultural generalizability of cognitive ability measures: A systematic literature review. - ScienceDirect

Cross-cultural invariance of CHC theories

The cross-cultural generalizability of cognitive ability measures: A systematic literature review. - ScienceDirect 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289623000326?via%3Dihub

Abstract
Examining factorial invariance provides the strongest test of the generalizability of psychological constructs across populations and should be investigated prior to cross-cultural interpretation of cognitive assessments. The aim of this systematic review was to critically evaluate the current evidence regarding the factorial invariance and the generalizability of cognition models across cultures. The review was structured using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The literature search identified 57 original studies examining the factorial invariance of cognitive ability assessments across cultures. The results were strongly supportive of the cross-cultural generalizability of the underlying cognitive model. Ten studies found configural invariance, 20 studies found weak or partial weak factorial invariance, 12 found strong or partial strong factorial invariance, and 13 found strict factorial invariance. However, the quality of the factorial invariance analyses varied between studies, with some analyses not adopting the hierarchical approach to factorial invariance analysis, leading to ambiguous results. No study that provided interpretable results in terms of the hierarchical approach to factorial invariance found a lack of factorial invariance. Overall, the results of this review suggest that i) the factor analytic models of cognitive abilities generalize across cultures, ii) the use of the hierarchical approach to factorial invariance is likely to find strong or strict factorial invariance, iii) the results are compatible with well-established Cattell-Horn-Carroll constructs being invariant across cultures. Future research into factorial invariance should follow the hierarchical analytic approach so as not to misestimate factorial invariance. Studies should also use the Cattell-Horn-Carroll taxonomy to systematize intelligence research.

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Kevin S. McGrew, PhD
Educational & School Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
https://www.themindhub.com
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Saturday, March 11, 2023

Color-Evasive Cognition: The Unavoidable Impact of Scientific Racism in the Founding of a Field - Ayanna K. Thomas, Maxine McKinney de Royston, Shameka Powell, 2023

 Color-Evasive Cognition: The Unavoidable Impact of Scientific Racism in the Founding of a Field - Ayanna K. Thomas, Maxine McKinney de Royston, Shameka Powell, 2023 
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09637214221141713

Cognitive psychology has traditionally focused on investigating principles of cognition that are universal across the human species. The motivation to identify "cognitive universals" stems from the close relationship between biology and human cognition and from the theoretical architecture presupposed by the information-processing model. In this article, we argue that the underlying theoretical assumption of universality also stems from epistemological and methodological assumptions that laws of cognition can be effectively developed only by controlling for variables deemed to be outside the scope of internal cognition. These assumptions have resulted in the development of a science of human cognition based on the performance and behavior of a White, English-speaking, normatively invisible, racially color-evasive, socially dominant (WEIRD) class. In this article, we identify how scientific racism has influenced the study of cognition and offer perspective on how researchers may reconsider many of the premises that undergird our approach.

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Kevin S. McGrew, PhD
Educational & School Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
https://www.themindhub.com
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Wednesday, March 08, 2023

Detecting Unusual Score Patterns in the Context of Relevant Predictors-Joel Schneider on a neuropsych assessment issue

Anytime Dr. Joel Schneider drops an article that provides "smart" routines/software to help solve some of the persistent and complex problems in cognitive test interpretation, I make sure to pay attention.  Progress is and can be made.

Detecting Unusual Score Patterns in the Context of Relevant Predictors | SpringerLink 
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40817-022-00137-x

Abstract

Neuropsychological assessment requires integrating new information with what is already known about an examinee. In constructing a case conceptualization, it can be helpful to quantify how unusual a pattern of scores is in the context of other quantitative data. This tutorial explains how two powerful statistical and psychometric concepts, conditional distributions and the Mahalanobis distance, are especially useful when used together to identify unusual score patterns after controlling for other scores. Graphical illustrations, R code, and instructions for a free and user-friendly web app are provided.

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Kevin S. McGrew, PhD
Educational & School Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
https://www.themindhub.com
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Tuesday, March 07, 2023

From MDPI: "It Runs in the Family: Testing for Longitudinal Family Flynn Effects"

https://www.mdpi.com/2177634:

It Runs in the Family: Testing for Longitudinal Family Flynn Effects

The Flynn effect refers to increases over time in measured (particularly fluid) intelligence of approximately 3 IQ points per decade. We define the Flynn effect at the family level, using longitudinal data and two new family-level cohort definitions. Multilevel growth curve analyses of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 data showed that children in families with later-born mothers had higher average PIAT math scores, and lower average reading comprehension scores and growth, in young and middle childhood. Children in families where the first child was born later had higher average PIAT math, reading recognition, and reading comprehension scores, as well as larger developmental growth. The latter family-level Flynn effects were of higher magnitudes than the usual individual-level Flynn effect found in previous studies. Our results, showing family level-intercept and slope Flynn effects for both maternal birthyear and first child birthyear, have implications for research aiming to explain the Flynn effect.


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Kevin McGrew, PhD
Educational Psychologist
Director, Institute for Applied Psychometrics
IAP
www.themindhub.com
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Friday, March 03, 2023

Looking for Flynn effects in a recent online U.S. adult sample: Examining shifts within the SAPA Project - ScienceDirect

 Looking for Flynn effects in a recent online U.S. adult sample: Examining shifts within the SAPA Project - ScienceDirect 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289623000156?via%3Dihub

Compared to European countries, research is limited regarding if the Flynn effect, or its reversal, is a current phenomenon in the United States. Though recent research on the United States suggests that a Flynn effect could still be present, or partially present, among child and adolescent samples, few studies have explored differences of cognitive ability scores among US adults. Thirteen years of cross-sectional data from a subsample of adults (n 

= 394,378) were obtained from the Synthetic Aperture Personality Assessment Project (SAPA Project) to examine if cognitive ability scores changed within the United States from 2006 to 2018. Responses to an overlapping set of 35 (collected 2006–2018) and 60 (collected 2011–2018) items from the open-source multiple choice intelligence assessment International Cognitive Ability Resource (ICAR) were used to examine the trends in standardized average composite cognitive ability scores and domain scores of matrix reasoning, letter and number series, verbal reasoning, and three-dimensional rotation. Composite ability scores from 35 items and domain scores (matrix reasoning; letter and number series) showed a pattern consistent with a reversed Flynn effect from 2006 to 2018 when stratified across age, education, or gender. Slopes for verbal reasoning scores, however, failed to meet or exceed an annual threshold of |0.02| SD. A reversed Flynn effect was also present from 2011 to 2018 for composite ability scores from 60 items across age, education, and gender. Despite declining scores across age and demographics in other domains of cognitive ability, three-dimensional rotation scores showed evidence of a Flynn effect with the largest slopes occurring across age stratified regressions.

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Kevin S. McGrew, PhD
Educational & School Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
https://www.themindhub.com
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