Gordon E. Taub

Effects of General and Broad Cognitive Abilities on Mathematics Achievement.

This study investigated the direct and indirect effects of general intelligence and 7 broad cognitive abilities on mathematics achievement. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the simultaneous effects of both general and broad cognitive abilities on students’ mathematics achievement. A hierarchical model of intelligence derived from the Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) taxonomy of intelligence was used for all analyses. The participants consisted of 4 age-differentiated subsamples (ranging from ages 5 to 19) from the standardization sample of the Woodcock–Johnson III (WJ III; Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001). Data from each of the 4 age-differentiated subsamples were divided into 2 data sets. At each age level, one data set was used for model testing and modification, and a second data set was used for model validation. The following CHC broad cognitive ability factors demonstrated statistically significant direct effects on the mathematics achievement variables: Fluid Reasoning, Crystallized Intelligence, and Processing Speed. In contrast, across all age levels, the general intelligence factor demonstrated indirect effects on the mathematics achievement variable.

Cattell-Horn-Carroll Cognitive Abilities and Their Effects on Reading Decoding Skills: g Has Indirect Effects, More Specific Abilities Have Direct Effects.

This study employed structural equation modeling to examine the effects of Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) abilities on reading decoding skills using five age-differentiated subsamples from the standardization sample of the Woodcock–Johnson III (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001). Using the Spearman Model including only g, strong direct effects of g on reading decoding skills were demonstrated at all ages. Using the Two-Stratum Model including g and broad abilities, direct effects of the broad abilities Long-Term Storage and Retrieval, Processing Speed, Crystallized Intelligence, Short-Term Memory, and Auditory Processing on reading decoding skills were demonstrated at select ages. Using the Three-Stratum Model including g, broad abilities, and narrow abilities, direct effects of the broad ability Processing Speed and the narrow abilities Associative Memory, Listening Ability, General Information, Memory Span, and Phonetic Coding were demonstrated at select ages. Across both the Two-Stratum Model and the Three-Stratum Model at all ages, g had very large but indirect effects. The findings suggest that school psychologists should interpret measures of some specific cognitive abilities when conducting psychoeducational assessments designed to explain reading decoding skills.

A Confirmatory Analysis of the Factor Structure and Cross-Age Invariance of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Third Edition

In the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III; D. Wechsler, 1997), the manual reports several confirmatory factor analyses in support of the instruments latent factor structure. In practice, examiners frequently compare an examinees score from a current administration of the WAIS-III with the results from a previous test administration. Implicit in test-retest score comparisons is evidence that scores retain similar interpretive meaning across time. Establishing an instruments factorial invariance provides the foundation for this practice. This study investigated the factorial invariance of the WAIS-III across the instruments 13 age groups. The overall results from this study generally support both configural and factorial invariance of the WAIS-III when the 11 primary tests are administered.

Relative roles of cognitive ability and practical intelligence in the prediction of success.

Initial investigations into the construct of practical intelligence have identified a new general factor of practical intelligence (gp), which is believed to be independent of general cognitive ability. This construct, gp, is also believed to be a better predictor of success than cognitive ability, personality, or any combination of variables independent of gp. The existence of this construct and its independence from Spearmans g is, however, under debate. The purpose of the present study is to investigate both the relationship between gp and g and the relative roles of practical intelligence and cognitive ability in the prediction of success. The participants included 197 college students. Each completed both the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery and Sternberg and Wagners measure of practical intelligence in academic psychology. The results of structural equation modeling support Sternberg and Wagners assertion that practical intelligence and general cognitive ability are relatively independent constructs. Results of regression analysis, however, do not support their contention that practical intelligence is related to success after controlling for general cognitive ability. Implications of these results for research and theory on practical intelligence are discussed.

Invariance of Woodcock-Johnson III Scores for Students with Learning Disorders and Students without Learning Disorders.

The purpose of this study was to test the invariance of scores derived from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJ III COG) and Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Academic Achievement (WJ III ACH) across a group of students diagnosed with learning disorders (n = 994) and a matched sample of students without known clinical diagnoses (n = 994). This study focused on scores reflecting broad cognitive abilities and areas of academic achievement in which children may demonstrate learning disabilities. Results of this study support the conclusion that the WJ III COG and WJ III ACH measure similar constructs for students with learning disabilities and students without learning disabilities. However, large and pervasive between-groups differences were found with regard to intercepts. Intercepts can be defined as predicted group means for individual tests, in which predicted group means are based on the factor loadings of these tests on the latent variable they are intended to measure. As many intercepts are not equivalent, it is possible that observed scores may not accurately reflect differences in the construct of interest when testing children with learning disabilities. However, tests displaying the largest intercept differences also displayed the largest group differences in observed scores, providing some support for the conclusion that these differences reflect construct-relevant between-group differences. Implications of this research are discussed.

Effects of Improvements in Interval Timing on the Mathematics Achievement of Elementary School Students.

This article examines the effect of improvements in timing/rhythmicity on mathematics achievement. A total of 86 participants attending 1st through 4th grades completed pre- and posttest measures of mathematics achievement from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Students in the experimental group participated in a 4-week intervention designed to improve their timing/rhythmicity by reducing latency response to a synchronized metronome beat. The intervention required, on average, 18 daily sessions of approximately 50 minutes each. The results from this nonacademic intervention indicate the experimental group’s posttest scores on the measures of mathematics were significantly higher than the nontreatment control group’s scores. This article proposes an integration of psychometric theory and contemporary information processing theory to provide a context from which to develop preliminary hypotheses to explain how a nonacademic intervention designed to improve timing/rhythmicity can demonstrate a statistically significant effect on students’ mathematics achievement scores.

Matters of Consequence: An Empirical Investigation of the WAIS-III and WAIS-IV and Implications for Addressing the Atkins Intelligence Criterion

“Which test provides the better measurement of intelligence, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III) or the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV)?” is an important question to professional psychologists; however, it has become a critical issue in Atkins cases wherein courts are often presented with divergent Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) scores on the WAIS-III and WAIS-IV. In these instances, courts are required to render a decision stating which test provided the better measure of an inmates intellectual functioning. This study employed structural equation modeling to empirically determine which instrument; the WAIS-III or the WAIS-IV, provides the better measure of intelligence via the FSIQ score. Consistent with the publishers representation of intellectual functioning, the results from this study indicate the WAIS-IV provides superior measurement, scoring, and structural models to measure FSIQ when compared to the WAIS-III.

The Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities III's Cognitive Performance Model: Empirical Support for Intermediate Factors within CHC Theory.

The Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability Third Edition is developed using the Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) measurement-theory test design as the instrument’s theoretical blueprint. The instrument provides users with cognitive scores based on the Cognitive Performance Model (CPM); however, the CPM is not a part of CHC theory. Within the instrument’s Technical Manual the authors provide some information about the CPM; however, the structural/theoretical support for the validity of the CPM is limited. Recent research found empirical support for the CPM as intermediate factors within Carroll’s three-stratum theory of intelligence. The results from the present study also provide empirical support of the CPM as intermediate factors lying between the second- and third-strata of a CHC-based theoretical model. In addition, a previously unidentified research-based two-factor CPM is identified as the best-fitting model among several competing CPM.

Moving beyond g: linking theory, assessment and interpretation in the measurement of intelligence

Results from high‐stakes tests of intelligence are used everyday to make decisions that impact the lives of individuals and families. Although many clinicians know how to calculate test scores, few have a firm understanding of the construct intelligence, how tests measure intelligence, and more importantly, how results from intelligence tests may be used to develop client specific recommendations and interventions.

Identifying g: the current role of intelligence

Provides a brief description of Spearman’s g which has become the cornerstone for most theories of intelligence and highlights the social, scientific and political controversy in which this is surrounded. Discusses the identification of g before covering the criticisms, the physiological manifestations and the practical and social implications together with education. Summarizes that this construct routinely accounts for more variance than all other cognitive factors combined and so holds a high position in any model of the structure of human cognitive abilities.