J. Intell., Volume 10, Issue 1 (March 2022) – 18 articles

Cognitive epidemiology investigates cognitive predictors of health and disease outcomes. Post-operative cognitive impairment is a common complication of surgery but has been neglected as a health outcome in cognitive epidemiology research. This is despite the fact that knowledge of cognitive predictors of post-operative cognitive impairment can be utilized for risk stratification, informed decision-making (in elective surgery), and personalized care of patients during the postoperative period. In this narrative review, the current literature on cognitive predictors of post-operative cognitive impairment and gaps therein are summarized. Full article

Due to COVID-19, numerous new technologies are being implemented in education, with a growing interest in the metaverse. The term “metaverse” refers to an immersive digital environment where one can interact with virtual avatars. This study aims to analyze the experiences and attitudes of the metaverse for learner-centered education from a constructivist perspective to determine how closely related this virtual environment is to the lives of elementary school students. This study also examined how students are becoming the focal point of new educational technologies. After reviewing the literature on this topic, a survey of 336 elementary school students in Korea was conducted using 18 items for measuring each factor in the metaverse, followed by statistical analyses that included a difference of means and an independent sample t-test. The results revealed that, on average, 97.9% of elementary school students had experiences with the metaverse, with 95.5% of them considering it closely related to their everyday life. In addition, various conclusions according to each metaverse factor and each participant’s gender are provided. Full article

Monitoring the progress of student learning is an important part of teachers’ data-based decision making. One such tool that can equip teachers with information about students’ learning progress throughout the school year and thus facilitate monitoring and instructional decision making is learning progress assessments. In practical contexts and research, estimating learning progress has relied on approaches that seek to estimate progress either for each student separately or within overarching model frameworks, such as latent growth modeling. Two recently emerging lines of research for separately estimating student growth have examined robust estimation (to account for outliers) and Bayesian approaches (as opposed to commonly used frequentist methods). The aim of this work was to combine these approaches (i.e., robust Bayesian estimation) and extend these lines of research to the framework of linear latent growth models. In a sample of N = 4970 second-grade students who worked on the quop-L2 test battery (to assess reading comprehension) at eight measurement points, we compared three Bayesian linear latent growth models: (a) a Gaussian model, (b) a model based on Student’s t-distribution (i.e., a robust model), and (c) an asymmetric Laplace model (i.e., Bayesian quantile regression and an alternative robust model). Based on leave-one-out cross-validation and posterior predictive model checking, we found that both robust models outperformed the Gaussian model, and both robust models performed comparably well. While the Student’s t model performed statistically slightly better (yet not substantially so), the asymmetric Laplace model yielded somewhat more realistic posterior predictive samples and a higher degree of measurement precision (i.e., for those estimates that were either associated with the lowest or highest degree of measurement precision). The findings are discussed for the context of learning progress assessment. Full article

At the level of the 50 U.S. states, an interconnected nexus of well-being variables exists. These variables strongly correlate with estimates of state IQ in interesting ways. However, the state IQ estimates are now more than 16 years old, and the state well-being estimates are over 12 years old. Updated state IQ and well-being estimates are therefore needed. Thus, I first created new state IQ estimates by analyzing scores from both the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competency (for adults), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (for fourth and eighth grade children) exams. I also created new global well-being scores by analyzing state variables from the following four well-being subdomains: crime, income, health, and education. When validating the nexus, several interesting correlations existed among the variables. For example, state IQ most strongly predicted FICO credit scores, alcohol consumption (directly), income inequality, and state temperature. Interestingly, state IQ derived here also correlated 0.58 with state IQ estimates from over 100 years ago. Global well-being likewise correlated with many old and new variables in the nexus, including a correlation of 0.80 with IQ. In sum, at the level of the U.S. state, a nexus of important, strongly correlated variables exists. These variables comprise well-being, and state IQ is a central node in this network. Full article

The development of a vaccine marks a breakthrough in the fight against infectious diseases. However, to eradicate highly infectious diseases globally, the immunization of large parts of the population is needed. Otherwise, diseases, such as polio, measles, or more recently COVID-19, will repeatedly flare-up, with devastating effects on individuals and, in the worst case, on significant shares of the world population. For example, polio has been almost eradicated over the past three decades through an unprecedented global effort, but complete immunization has not yet been achieved. In this article, we use polio as an example to show how the global effort of developing and administering a vaccine can be understood as solving a complex problem since it involves cultural, political, and geographical barriers that demand solutions in dynamically changing and highly versatile environments. Referring to the literature on problem-solving, higher-order thinking, and complex reasoning, we demonstrate how the ability to deal with real-world environments that are complex and dynamically changing, adapting initial solutions to new circumstances and collaborate efficiently with others, has been essential for this endeavor. We argue that problem-solving abilities form one basis for solving consequential world problems. Full article

In this paper, we discuss the teaching effects of augmented reality (AR) technology in German instruction. We conducted one prestudy and three formal studies on German learners in China’s mainland and Taiwan region. In the formal studies, a total of 120 students participated in the survey, allowing us to compare the differences in interest in learning between AR picture books and traditional picture books. A total of 114 students took part in the survey, which enabled us to compare the contribution of AR picture books to teaching when students’ satisfaction and German proficiency were different. To improve satisfaction, 514 students participated in the survey regarding the influence of the interactive narrative design effect and peer learning on satisfaction with using AR picture books. The results suggest that when learning German with AR picture books, satisfaction is the key construct that determines students’ learning states. Full article

Selection methods are commonly used in talent acquisition to predict future job performance and to find the best candidates, but questionnaire-based assessments can be lengthy and lead to candidate fatigue and poor engagement, affecting completion rates and producing poor data. Gamification can mitigate some of these issues through greater engagement and shorter testing times. One avenue of gamification is image-based tests. Although such assessments are starting to gain traction in personnel selection, few studies describing their validity and psychometric properties exist. The current study explores the potential of a five-minute, forced-choice, image-based assessment of the Big Five personality traits to be used in selection. Study 1 describes the creation of the image pairs and the selection of the 150 best-performing items based on a sample of 300 respondents. Study 2 describes the creation of machine-learning-based scoring algorithms and tests of their convergent and discriminate validity and adverse impact based on a sample of 431 respondents. All models showed good levels of convergent validity with the IPIP-NEO-120 (openness r = 0.71, conscientiousness r = 0.70, extraversion r = 0.78, agreeableness r = 0.60, and emotional stability r = 0.70) and were largely free from potential adverse impact. The implications for recruitment policy and practice and the need for further validation are discussed. Full article

Children’s emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems can be properly identified and assessed based on observations from their teachers and parents. The Motor Behavior Checklist (MBC) was designed to assist classroom teachers and Physical Education (PE) teachers in assessing their students’ motor-related behaviors. The instrument has already been successfully translated and culturally adapted into six languages and used in a number of research studies internationally. The present study aimed to develop the Arabic version of the MBC checklist and proceed with the necessary cross-cultural adaptations for the use of the instrument in Arabic speaking countries and especially in United Arab Emirates (UAE) primary schools. The translation and cultural adaptation of the MBC was based on the ten-step process: forward translation of the original instrument; development of a synthesized version, back-translation; linguistic and semantic comparisons; back translators evaluation of divergent items; development of a synthesized version; based on the back translators’ suggestions; clarity assessment of the synthesized version by professionals (teachers); additional assessment of clarity indicators by a focus group of experts; and development of the final version. Results indicated a satisfactory level of agreement between the original and the back-translated versions, while nine items required minor adjustments and two items needed major adaptations and word replacements to clarify their content and be fully adapted into the UAE culture. In the pilot use, UAE teachers confirmed the clarity of the items in an 84% percentage. The final translated version’s overall content was found sufficiently compatible with the original version of the instrument. The study highlights the importance of a rigorous translation process and the process of cultural adaptation. Full article

People’s perceptions of their intelligence correlate only moderately with objective intelligence measures. On average, people overestimate themselves. According to the popular Dunning–Kruger effect, this is particularly true for low performers: across many domains, those in the lowest quartile overestimate their abilities the most. However, recent work using improved statistical approaches found little support for a Dunning–Kruger effect in general intelligence. We investigated accuracy and Dunning–Kruger effects for self-estimates of general, verbal, numerical, and spatial intelligence—domains that differed in how well they can be judged in the past. A total of 281 participants completed self-estimates and intelligence measures online. Self-estimates showed mostly moderate correlational accuracy that was slightly higher for numerical intelligence and lower for verbal intelligence. Across domains, participants rated their intelligence as above average. However, as their intelligence was indeed high, this was not an overestimation. While standard analyses indicated Dunning–Kruger effects in general, verbal, and spatial intelligence, improved statistical methods only yielded some support for one in verbal intelligence: people with lower verbal intelligence tended to have less self-knowledge about it. The generalizability of these findings is limited to young, highly educated populations. Nevertheless, our results contribute to a growing literature questioning the generality of the Dunning–Kruger effect. Full article

Consideration of the influence of English language skills during testing is an understandable requirement for fair and valid cognitive test interpretation. Several professional standards and expert recommendations exist to guide psychologists as they attempt to engage in best practices when assessing English learners (ELs). Nonetheless, relatively few evidence-based recommendations for practice have been specified for psychologists. To address this issue, we used a mixed-effects modeling approach to examine the influences of test characteristics (i.e., test directions) and examinee characteristics (i.e., expressive and receptive language abilities) on cognitive test performance. Our results suggest that language abilities appear to have a significant influence on cognitive test performance, whereas test characteristics do not influence performance, after accounting for language abilities. Implications for practice include the assessment of expressive and receptive language abilities of EL students prior to administering, scoring, and interpreting cognitive test scores. Full article

The relation between academic achievement and various measurements of cognitive abilities, problem-solving skills and self-managed learning has been established in the research before the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning. The aim of the current research was to analyze the extent to which these aspects predicted the educational achievement of 9th grade students (mean age 15.4 years) during distance learning, when students had to do relatively more tasks independently, organize their daily learning and deal with problems on their own. Relations between self-assessed problem-solving skills, self-management skills, tests of reasoning abilities and the results of diagnostic tests in Mathematics and Latvian were analyzed for n = 256 and n = 244 students, respectively. The results show that: (1) diagnostic test results in Mathematics are best predicted by the parental education level, fluid nonverbal reasoning and verbal reasoning; (2) the best predictors for the results in the diagnostic test in Latvian are parental education, flexibility to change the solution, fluid nonverbal reasoning and verbal reasoning; (3) self-management cannot significantly predict the results of either of the two tests, although it correlates to the results of the tests in both Mathematics and Latvian; (4) only one of the aspects of problem-solving, flexibility to change the solution, can significantly predict results in diagnostic tests. The results confirm the significance of cognitive abilities as an important predictor of academic achievement, as well as the role of parents’ education level. The results also suggest that the flexibility to change the solution, an aspect of problem-solving, might play a role in students’ success in academic tests. Full article

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of Raven’s colored progressive matrices by estimating the presence of pseudo-guessing and pseudo-carelessness. Participants were 1127 children from ages 5 to 11. Guessing and carelessness were assessed using the lower and upper asymptotes of the 3PL and 4PL item response theory (IRT) models, respectively. Optimal model fit was judged using difference loglikelihood tests and information criteria. Results indicated that guessing, but not carelessness, were evident in the AB and B forms of the CPM, with successful guessing being more prevalent in the AB form. It is concluded that nonverbal IQ estimation in CPM should include variable estimation methods so that aptitude scores are estimated with the highest possible accuracy. Full article

This study aims at investigating the relationship between working memory updating and working memory capacity in preschool children. A sample of 176 preschoolers (36–74 months) was administered a working memory updating task (Magic House) along with three working memory capacity tests that specifically measure their core attentional component (M capacity, as defined in the theory of constructive operators): Backward Word Span, Mr. Cucumber, and Direction Following Task. Correlational analyses and cross-classification prediction analyses were performed. Updating and capacity were significantly correlated, although the correlations were not high when age was partialled out. Capacity increased with age, and mediated the relation between age and updating. More importantly, cross-classification prediction analysis revealed that high updating scores with low M capacity, and low updating scores with relatively high M capacity, are possible events; the only combination ruled out was a low updating score with precocious development of M capacity. These facts demonstrate that updating skills in preschoolers depends on M capacity but does not coincide with it. Therefore, in cognitive developmental theories, the constructs of working memory updating and capacity should be distinguished, and on practical grounds, different tests should be used to measure them. Full article

Background: Increased parental stress is strongly related to the severity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptomatology. Parents’ coping strategies and social support issues add to the complexity of this relationship. Aim: The present study investigated the relationship between self-regulation skills and parenting stress in parents of nonverbal children with ASD. Methods and procedure: The Parenting Stress Index–Short Form (PSI-SF) was administered to 75 families, and self-regulation scores on a Motor Behavior Checklist for children (MBC) were recorded by students’ class teachers (level of functioning-behavioral problems). In addition, interviews were conducted with a focus group of six parents (four mothers and two fathers) to explore the underline factors of parental stressin-depth. Results: Correlation analyses revealed that parenting stress was positively correlated with elevated scores on MBC children’s self-regulation subscale. On the other hand, parenting stress was negatively correlated with the level of social functional support reported. Qualitative data were analyzed using transcripts, revealing additional stressors for families and parents, and resulting in recommendations to overcome these factors. Conclusions and implications: Aiming at developing strategies to improve self-regulation skills in nonverbal children with ASD may be particularly important in reducing parental stress for families having nonverbal children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Parents’ stressors and suggestions during interviews are also discussed. Full article

Cultural intelligence is an individual’s ability to recognize, understand, and adapt to cross-cultural contexts in order to change his or her self-capacity. Hence, this study explores the relationship between cultural intelligence and interpersonal communication, psychological capital (PsyCap), and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among teachers in Indonesia and investigates the possibility of finding relevant new models. A Likert questionnaire was used to collect research data. The research participants included 450 Indonesian junior high school teachers selected by accidental sampling. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis, supported by descriptive statistics and correlational matrices. The results indicate that cultural intelligence is significantly related to teachers’ interpersonal communication, PsyCap, and OCB. Additionally, this study also produces a new model regarding the relationship between cultural intelligence and a teacher’s OCB, mediated by interpersonal communication and PsyCap. Therefore, researchers and practitioners can discuss and adopt a new empirical model to increase cultural intelligence. Full article

The worst performance rule (WPR) describes the phenomenon that individuals’ slowest responses in a task are often more predictive of their intelligence than their fastest or average responses. To explain this phenomenon, it was previously suggested that occasional lapses of attention during task completion might be associated with particularly slow reaction times. Because less intelligent individuals should experience lapses of attention more frequently, reaction time distribution should be more heavily skewed for them than for more intelligent people. Consequently, the correlation between intelligence and reaction times should increase from the lowest to the highest quantile of the response time distribution. This attentional lapses account has some intuitive appeal, but has not yet been tested empirically. Using a hierarchical modeling approach, we investigated whether the WPR pattern would disappear when including different behavioral, self-report, and neural measurements of attentional lapses as predictors. In a sample of N = 85, we found that attentional lapses accounted for the WPR, but effect sizes of single covariates were mostly small to very small. We replicated these results in a reanalysis of a much larger previously published data set. Our findings render empirical support to the attentional lapses account of the WPR. Full article

Processing speed is divided into general (including perceptual speed and decision speed) and specific processing speed (including reading fluency and arithmetic fluency). Despite several study findings reporting the association between processing speed and children’s mathematical achievement, it is still unclear whether general or specific processing speed differentially predicts mathematical achievement. The current study aimed to examine the role of general and specific processing speed in predicting mathematical achievements of junior high school students. Cognitive testing was performed in 212 junior school students at the beginning of the 7th grade year, along with assessment of general and specific processing speed. Relevant academic achievement scores were also recorded at the end of the 7th and 9th grade years. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that specific processing speed made a significant unique contribution in mathematical achievement by the end of the 7th grade and could significantly predict mathematical achievements in the high school entrance examinations by end of the 9th grade after controlling for age, gender, and general cognitive abilities. However, general processing speed could not predict mathematical achievements. Moreover, specific processing speed could significantly predict all academic achievements for both the 7th and 9th grade. These results demonstrated that specific processing speed, rather than general processing speed, was able to predict mathematical achievement and made a generalised contribution to all academic achievements in junior school. These findings suggest that specific processing speed could be a reflection of academic fluency and is therefore critical for long-term academic development. Full article