Elementary Cognitive Tasks as Measures of Intelligence
Roznowski, Mary Ann
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/69707
Description
Title
Elementary Cognitive Tasks as Measures of Intelligence
Author(s)
Roznowski, Mary Ann
Issue Date
1987
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Psychology, Experimental
Psychology, Industrial
Psychology, Psychometrics
Abstract
In recent years strong interest has arisen in the area of human intellectual ability as assessed through various types of relatively simple cognitive tasks. These tasks have included the following: simple and choice reaction, memory span, simple reasoning, Sternberg memory, sentence-picture comparison, semantic memory, iconic memory and many others. Many reasons for the interest in these tasks as measures of individual differences in ability are available but one of the most frequently called upon explanation and hypothesis concerning these tasks is that individual differences in performance on these tasks may be less subject to an individual's particular background and educational experiences. Regardless of the origin of the interest in these measures, countless research efforts investigating the area have been seen in recent years. The current study investigated a subset of the above tasks in terms of their reliability and relations with traditional ability criteria. It was hypothesized that the more complex and resource-demanding tasks would show larger test-retest reliabilities and would overlap more with traditional measures of general ability than the very simple tasks. It was found that the very simple cognitive tasks did not show reasonable test-retest reliabilities over a two week time period although the more complex ones did. Large sex differences in early performance as assessed by reaction latencies were found on all tasks although these differences moderated substantially in later performance. Low to modest degrees of overlap with traditional measures were found. The importance of looking at number right scores in addition to reaction latencies is discussed. Possible reasons for the observed sex differences as well as limitations of the measures are given.
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