María Dolores Prieto

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test in Three International Samples

Summary: In the current study we compare different theoretical models of the underlying structure of the STAT (Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test), Level-H, by using the techniques of confirmatory factor analysis on a combined sample of 3278 school students from the United States, Finland, and Spain. The results of the comparison of a number of models - using the strategy of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (HCFA) and comparing nested and alternative models, specified under different assumed theories relative to a unidimensional concept of general intelligence, a traditional factorial concept, and a triarchic model - illustrate that the second-order factor model based on the triarchic theory of intelligence achieves the best (albeit far from perfect) fit to the empirical data.

Trait emotional intelligence and academic performance : controlling for the effects of IQ, personality, and self-concept

This article analyses the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and academic performance, controlling for the effects of IQ, personality, and self-concept dimensions. A sample of 290 preadolescents (11-12 years old) took part in the study. The instruments used were (a) Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire—Adolescents Short Form (TEIQue-ASF); (b) Children’s Personality Questionnaire (CPQ; Form A, Part A); (c) IQ test TIDI-2; (d) Adaptation Questionnaire (CAI-1); and (e) academic performance. A positive and significant correlation coefficient between trait EI measured by the TEIQue-ASF and general academic performance was found. The TEIQue-ASF showed incremental validity to predict general academic performance, after controlling for intelligence, personality, and self-concept characteristics.

creative abilities in early childhood

The aim of this study is to explore creativity in Spanish children during their early years and to explore differences regarding gender and age. We have used a sample of 285 children between five and seven years old. To measure their creativity we used the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT). We have used the test of figured expression that is orientated to evaluate the level of imagination in producing pictures. It consists of three subtests: making a picture; finishing a picture; and making different patterns using parallel lines. The abilities that are assessed with this test are: originality, which consists in considering innovative answers, neither familiar nor inappropriate; elaboration, which refers to the amount of detail the child adds to the picture with the aim of enriching it; flexibility, the variety of categories in the answers; and fluency or the number of pictures with titles (Torrance, 1966, 1974). The results show significant evidence of differences relating to gender and age.

Characteristics leading teachers to nominate secondary students as gifted in Spain

What are the characteristics leading teachers to nominate gifted students in Spain? To answer this question, several demographic (i.e., gender, grade) and psychological (i.e., multiple intelligences, emotional intelligence, intellectual aptitude, and divergent thinking) characteristics of 563 secondary students nominated as gifted by their teachers were analyzed. Results showed a general gifted profile of the nominated students defined by higher scores in their naturalist and social intelligences, stress management, and verbal, mechanical, and spatial reasoning. Additional analysis indicated that students’ gender and grade also influenced teachers’ nominations of gifted students. Based on the associations among the demographic and psychological characteristics included in this study, nominated students could be classified in five specific gifted profiles, namely, moderately gifted students, social-emotionally gifted students, artistically gifted students, intellectually gifted students, and generally gifted students. Discussion of the limitations of the study, directions for future research, and educational implications of the study are provided.

Inteligencia y Pensamiento Científico- Creativo: su convergencia en la explicación del rendimiento académico de los alumnos

Introduction. Academic performance is usually generatly explained by students’ intelligence, although other factors such as personality and motivation also a...

Gardner’s multiple inteligences: Is it possible to think about inteligence without a g factor?

As an answer to the reviews stating the lack of innovation in test methodology as well as the little attention given to the social and cultural variables in intelligence assessment, Gardner (1983, 1999) develops the Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory with more ecological tasks which are closer to the subjects’ daily routines so that these may be evaluated. In the Spectrum Project framework, several tasks were developed to measure MI, 6 of which were chosen and measure specific intelligences, namely, verbal-linguistic, corporal-kinesthetic, visual-spatial and musical, mathematics. A total of 294 children aged 5 to 7 were evaluated on those tasks. Results show that if at a precision level, the internal consistence indices may be considered reasonable, than there must be some concerns in regards to the construct validity in Gardner’s theoretical model. In fact, and contrarily to Gardner’s position, it is possible to find a general factor, despite not measuring more than 40% of the explained variance. Evidence was not found concerning factors that could group some of these intelligences, as recently proposed by Gardner.