Heiner Rindermann

The g-Factor of International Cognitive Ability Comparisons: The Homogeneity of Results in PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS and IQ-Tests Across Nations

International cognitive ability and achievement comparisons stem from different research traditions. But analyses at the interindividual data level show that they share a common positive manifold. Correlations of national ability means are even higher to very high (within student assessment studies, r = .60–.98; between different student assessment studies [PISA‐sum with TIMSS‐sum] r = .82–.83; student assessment sum with intelligence tests, r = .85–.86). Results of factor analyses indicate a strong g‐factor of differences between nations (variance explained by the first unrotated factor: 94–95%). Causes of the high correlations are seen in the similarities of tests within studies, in the similarities of the cognitive demands for tasks from different tests, and in the common developmental factors at the individual and national levels including known environmental and unknown genetic influences. Copyright

Cognitive Capitalism The Effect of Cognitive Ability on Wealth, as Mediated Through Scientific Achievement and Economic Freedom

Traditional economic theories stress the relevance of political, institutional, geographic, and historical factors for economic growth. In contrast, human-capital theories suggest that peoples’ competences, mediated by technological progress, are the deciding factor in a nation’s wealth. Using three large-scale assessments, we calculated cognitive-competence sums for the mean and for upper- and lower-level groups for 90 countries and compared the influence of each group’s intellectual ability on gross domestic product. In our cross-national analyses, we applied different statistical methods (path analyses, bootstrapping) and measures developed by different research groups to various country samples and historical periods. Our results underscore the decisive relevance of cognitive ability—particularly of an intellectual class with high cognitive ability and accomplishments in science, technology, engineering, and math—for national wealth. Furthermore, this group’s cognitive ability predicts the quality of economic and political institutions, which further determines the economic affluence of the nation. Cognitive resources enable the evolution of capitalism and the rise of wealth.

The influence of personality on three aspects of cognitive performance: processing speed, intelligence and school performance

Abstract According to the mental speed approach, measures of speed of information processing represent cognitive ability in a comparatively ‘pure’ form, i.e. less influenced by cultural and learning factors than psychometric intelligence tests. In contrast school performance is assumed to be strongly influenced by cultural and personality factors like motivation, diligence, relationship to teachers etc. Former research has shown, that the speed-intelligence relationship cannot be explained by higher cognitive processes like motivation. But no research has simultaneously investigated the impact of personality on processing speed measures, psychometric intelligence test scores and school performance in comparison. The more ‘culture fair’ processing speed tests should be less influenced by personality. To test this hypothesis, stepwise regressions between personality scales and different processing speed measures (Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test, Coding Test), psychometric intelligence tests (Kognitiver Fahigkeits-Test, Advanced Progressive Matrices) and school performance (grades) were calculated. In a sample of 280 students from German gymnasiums (class-levels 9 and 10) results show a weak multiple correlation of personality with processing speed (R=0.32), a medium correlation with intelligence (R=0.51) and a high correlation with grades (R=0.69). Processing speed tests allows one to measure cognitive abilities in a less biased form than intelligence tests, whereas school performance could be influenced in a positive or negative way by personality factors like self-concept, anxiety or motivation.

Educational Policy and Country Outcomes in International Cognitive Competence Studies.

Prior studies of studentsqqaposxx and adultsqqaposxx cognitive competence have shown large differences between nations, equivalent to a difference of 5 to 10 years of schooling. These differences seem to be relevant because studies using different research paradigms have demonstrated that population-level cognitive abilities are related to a number of important societal outcomes, including productivity, democratization, and health. In this overview of transnational differences, we document a number of positive predictors of international differences in student competence, including the amount of preschool education, student discipline, quantity of education, attendance at additional schools, early tracking, the use of centralized exams and high-stakes tests, and adult educational attainment. We found rather negative relationships for grade retention rates, age of school onset, and class size. Altogether, these results, when combined with the outcomes of earlier studies, demonstrate that international differences in cognitive competence can be explained in part by aspects of the respective countriesqqaposxx educational systems and that these differences consequently can be reduced by reform of their educational policy. This has important implications not just for closing gaps in educational achievement, but for narrowing international gaps in wealth, health, and democracy.

The big g-factor of national cognitive ability

The response deals with several controversial issues: theoretical concepts of cognitive abilities, their cultural relativity in definition or level, the meaning and validity of national cognitive ability, methodological questions like the ecological fallacy, the variance of intelligence at different levels of observation, multi‐level analysis, the correctness and importance of levels of analysis in cognitive‐ability research, the aggregation and adjustment process, and the similarities of different cognitive assessment approaches. Central to this research are questions of causality (the causes and consequences of national cognitive‐ability homogeneity and level), of malleability of these levels, and of ethical and political consequences of intelligence research. Copyright

Was messen internationale Schulleistungsstudien

Zusammenfassung. Uber Aufgabenanalysen und die Analyse empirischer Beziehungen lasst sich bestimmen, was Tests wie die der internationalen Schulleistungsstudien (PISA, IGLU, TIMSS u.a.) messen. Inhaltliche Aufgabenanalysen belegen, dass Aufgaben unterschiedlicher Skalenzuordnung einander sehr ahnlich sind: Leseaufgaben enthalten Tabellen und Grafiken, Naturwissenschaftsaufgaben umfangreiche Lesetexte, Mathematikitems mit viel Text versehene alltagsnahe Denkaufgaben. Problemlosen ist konzeptuell am geringsten von Intelligenz zu unterscheiden. Zur Losung der Aufgaben sind in unterschiedlichem Mase innerhalb der Bereiche Denken, Allgemeinwissen und Schulwissen notwendig. Empirische Beziehungen in Form von Korrelationen der Skalen untereinander, mit Intelligenztests und von Faktorenanalysen lassen sich in der Literatur nur schwierig oder gar nicht finden. Skaleninterkorrelationen bei Individualdaten liegen weit uber den gangigen Skaleninterkorrelationen bei Intelligenztests. Skaleninterkorrelationen auf Ebene...

Auswahl von Studienanfängern durch Universitäten - Kriterien, Verfahren und Prognostizierbarkeit des Studienerfolgs

Zusammenfassung: Bei der Auswahl von Studienanfangern erhalten deutsche Hochschulen zukunftig einen groseren Spielraum. Dies fordert Profilbildung zwischen Universitaten und den Wettbewerb um beson...

The Benefit of Gifted Classes and Talent Schools for Developing Students' Competences and Enhancing Academic Self-Concept

Summary: In a vast amount of educational research, it has been documented that a negative causal relationship exists between class or school ability level and ability self-concept. However, the aim of educational institutions is not to improve self-concept, but rather to support cognitive ability development (acquisition of new knowledge, school performance, etc.). A recent 11-year-long study of six grammar schools in Baden-Wurttemberg (Germany) involving 22 classes and 544 pupils demonstrated over a 2-year interval that mean class ability lowers individual ability self-concept. Yet it also revealed that this negative effect was compensated for by a positive school effect on self-concept. In particular, it showed that the sum of the effects of class and school level on individual ability development was positive (teachers adapted teaching to the class ability level, and students were stimulated by classmates). Selective schools have a positive effect.

GENERALIZABILITY OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL STUDENT RATINGS OF UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTION ACROSS COURSES AND TEACHERS

Course quality is multifaceted, being determined by instructor, students, and external conditions. Consequently, any attempt at measurement should reflect this diversity, so that stable evaluations can be made that reflect both personal (instructor) and situational (student and external conditions) variables. This study extends previous research by examining the stability of both dimensions across different courses, student populations, and universities. In addition, the sample (N = 692 courses) was drawn from 6 traditional and technical German universities that have a different ethos of student interaction with academic staff than those in many other Western countries. Using the Heidelberg Inventory, it was found that instructor variables were reliable across courses given by the same instructor, but student scales or background variables were less consistent across courses in which the content was identical. It was concluded that the instrument was both reliable and valid for student evaluations of both teaching performance and course quality within a European context.

Informationsverarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit und Schulerfolg:Weisen basale Maße der Intelligenz prädiktive Validität auf?

Zusammenfassung. Neben Lehrerurteilen gelten Intelligenztests als die besten Pradiktoren zur Vorhersage des Schulerfolgs. In “klassischen” Intelligenztestverfahren werden Aufgabentypen mittleren Komplexitatsgrades mit steigendem Schwierigkeitsgrad eingesetzt. Im Gegensatz dazu stehen Verfahren, die uber die Informationsverarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit (IVG) grundlegende Prozesse der allgemeinen Intelligenz messen wollen: Beispielsweise werden im Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test und im Kodierungs-Test einfache, nicht im Schwierigkeitsgrad ansteigende Aufgaben wie Zahlenverbinden oder Buchstabenreihung verwendet. Erhebungen an Gymnasien (N = 445 Schuler) erlaubten Analysen des Zusammenhangs zwischen verschiedenen IVG- und Fahigkeits-Tests sowie Schulnoten. IVG und Intelligenz korrelieren im Schnitt mit r = .26, IVG und Kreativitat mit r = .31. Zwischen IVG und Schulnoten besteht eine Beziehung in der Hohe von r = |.37|, Intelligenz und Schulnoten korrelieren zu r = |.43|. Diese Zusammenhange konnen nicht durch eine geme...