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J. Intell., Volume 8, Issue 4 (December 2020) – 9 articles

Cover Story (view full-size image): Earlier interpretations of the behavior genetic studies led to the conclusion that cognitive training has limited effects and cannot produce lasting effects on intelligence. Today, the opinions are divided. Our re-analysis of the previously published data support a positive view. The experimental group was given exercises in creative problem solving at least once a week for 3 years while the control group attended normal school classes. A battery of IQ tests was given at the start (age 15) and the end of High School (age 19). The progress of the experimental group was 10 to 15 IQ points higher than that of the control group. Therefore, intensive and prolonged training can lead to a substantial increase in IQ. View this paper.
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22 pages, 1566 KiB  
Article
Revealing the Role of Divergent Thinking and Fluid Intelligence in Children’s Semantic Memory Organization
by Clara Rastelli, Antonino Greco and Chiara Finocchiaro
J. Intell. 2020, 8(4), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040043 - 14 Dec 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5835
Abstract
The current theories suggest the fundamental role of semantic memory in creativity, mediating bottom-up (divergent thinking) and top-down (fluid intelligence) cognitive processes. However, the relationship between creativity, intelligence, and the organization of the semantic memory remains poorly-characterized in children. We investigated the ways [...] Read more.
The current theories suggest the fundamental role of semantic memory in creativity, mediating bottom-up (divergent thinking) and top-down (fluid intelligence) cognitive processes. However, the relationship between creativity, intelligence, and the organization of the semantic memory remains poorly-characterized in children. We investigated the ways in which individual differences in children’s semantic memory structures are influenced by their divergent thinking and fluid intelligence abilities. The participants (mean age 10) were grouped by their levels (high/low) of divergent thinking and fluid intelligence. We applied a recently-developed Network Science approach in order to examine group-based semantic memory graphs. Networks were constructed from a semantic fluency task. The results revealed that divergent thinking abilities are related to a more flexible structure of the semantic network, while fluid intelligence corresponds to a more structured semantic network, in line with the previous findings from the adult sample. Our findings confirm the crucial role of semantic memory organization in creative performance, and demonstrate that this phenomenon can be traced back to childhood. Finally, we also corroborate the network science methodology as a valid approach to the study of creative cognition in the developmental population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligence and Creativity)
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22 pages, 924 KiB  
Reply
Mitochondrial Functions, Cognition, and the Evolution of Intelligence: Reply to Commentaries and Moving Forward
by David C. Geary
J. Intell. 2020, 8(4), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040042 - 8 Dec 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3970
Abstract
In response to commentaries, I address questions regarding the proposal that general intelligence (g) is a manifestation of the functioning of intramodular and intermodular brain networks undergirded by the efficiency of mitochondrial functioning (Geary 2018). The core issues include the relative [...] Read more.
In response to commentaries, I address questions regarding the proposal that general intelligence (g) is a manifestation of the functioning of intramodular and intermodular brain networks undergirded by the efficiency of mitochondrial functioning (Geary 2018). The core issues include the relative contribution of mitochondrial functioning to individual differences in g; studies that can be used to test associated hypotheses; and, the adaptive function of intelligence from an evolutionary perspective. I attempt to address these and related issues, as well as note areas in which other issues remain to be addressed. Full article
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12 pages, 423 KiB  
Review
We Can Boost IQ: Revisiting Kvashchev’s Experiment
by Lazar Stankov and Jihyun Lee
J. Intell. 2020, 8(4), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040041 - 26 Nov 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 12069
Abstract
This paper examined the effects of training in creative problem-solving on intelligence. We revisited Stankov’s report on the outcomes of an experiment carried out by R. Kvashchev in former Yugoslavia that reported an IQ increase of seven points, on average, across 28 tests [...] Read more.
This paper examined the effects of training in creative problem-solving on intelligence. We revisited Stankov’s report on the outcomes of an experiment carried out by R. Kvashchev in former Yugoslavia that reported an IQ increase of seven points, on average, across 28 tests of intelligence. We argue that previous analyses were based on a conservative analytic approach and failed to take into account the reductions in the IQ test variances at the end of the three-years’ training. When standard deviations of the initial test and 2nd retest were pooled in the calculation of the effect sizes, the experimental group’s performance was 10 IQ points higher on average than that of the control group. Further, with the properly defined measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence, the experimental group showed a 15 IQ points higher increase than the control group. We concluded that prolonged intensive training in creative problem-solving can lead to substantial and positive effects on intelligence during late adolescence (ages 18–19). Full article
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11 pages, 279 KiB  
Article
Communicating Intelligence Research
by Jonathan Wai
J. Intell. 2020, 8(4), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040040 - 19 Nov 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4351
Abstract
Despite intelligence research being among the most replicable bodies of empirical findings—a Rosetta stone across the social sciences—the communication of intelligence research with non-intelligence researchers and the public remains a challenge, especially given ongoing public controversies throughout the history of the field. Hunt [...] Read more.
Despite intelligence research being among the most replicable bodies of empirical findings—a Rosetta stone across the social sciences—the communication of intelligence research with non-intelligence researchers and the public remains a challenge, especially given ongoing public controversies throughout the history of the field. Hunt argued that “we have a communication problem.” This article is a call for intelligence researchers to consider communication at multiple levels—communication with other intelligence researchers, communication with non-intelligence researchers, and communication with the public, defined here as policymakers, practitioners, students, and general readers. It discusses ongoing tensions between academic freedom and social responsibility and provides suggestions for thinking about communication and effective research translation and implementation of intelligence research from the frameworks of science and policy research communication. It concludes with some recommendations for effective communication and stresses the importance of incentivizing more scholars to responsibly seek to educate and engage with multiple publics about the science of intelligence. Full article
3 pages, 215 KiB  
Editorial
Analysis of an Intelligence Dataset
by Nils Myszkowski
J. Intell. 2020, 8(4), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040039 - 19 Nov 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2383
Abstract
It is perhaps popular belief—at least among non-psychometricians—that there is a unique or standard way to investigate the psychometric qualities of tests [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of an Intelligence Dataset)
20 pages, 1616 KiB  
Article
A Reappraisal of the Threshold Hypothesis of Creativity and Intelligence
by Selina Weiss, Diana Steger, Ulrich Schroeders and Oliver Wilhelm
J. Intell. 2020, 8(4), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040038 - 11 Nov 2020
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 7489
Abstract
Intelligence has been declared as a necessary but not sufficient condition for creativity, which was subsequently (erroneously) translated into the so-called threshold hypothesis. This hypothesis predicts a change in the correlation between creativity and intelligence at around 1.33 standard deviations above the population [...] Read more.
Intelligence has been declared as a necessary but not sufficient condition for creativity, which was subsequently (erroneously) translated into the so-called threshold hypothesis. This hypothesis predicts a change in the correlation between creativity and intelligence at around 1.33 standard deviations above the population mean. A closer inspection of previous inconclusive results suggests that the heterogeneity is mostly due to the use of suboptimal data analytical procedures. Herein, we applied and compared three methods that allowed us to handle intelligence as a continuous variable. In more detail, we examined the threshold of the creativity-intelligence relation with (a) scatterplots and heteroscedasticity analysis, (b) segmented regression analysis, and (c) local structural equation models in two multivariate studies (N1 = 456; N2 = 438). We found no evidence for the threshold hypothesis of creativity across different analytical procedures in both studies. Given the problematic history of the threshold hypothesis and its unequivocal rejection with appropriate multivariate methods, we recommend the total abandonment of the threshold. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligence and Creativity)
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20 pages, 1158 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Situational Cues on Children’s Creativity in an Alternative Uses Task and the Moderating Effect of Selective Attention
by Marloes van Dijk, Elma Blom, Evelyn H. Kroesbergen and Paul P. M. Leseman
J. Intell. 2020, 8(4), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040037 - 19 Oct 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5100
Abstract
Taking a perception-action perspective, we investigated how the presence of different real objects in children’s immediate situation affected their creativity and whether this effect was moderated by their selective attention. Seventy children between ages 9 and 12 years old participated. Verbal responses on [...] Read more.
Taking a perception-action perspective, we investigated how the presence of different real objects in children’s immediate situation affected their creativity and whether this effect was moderated by their selective attention. Seventy children between ages 9 and 12 years old participated. Verbal responses on a visual Alternative Uses Task with a low stimulus and high stimulus condition were coded on fluency, flexibility, and originality. Selective attention was measured with a visual search task. Results showed that fluency was not affected by stimulus condition and was unrelated to selective attention. Flexibility was positively associated with selective attention. Originality, net of fluency and flexibility, showed a main effect of stimulus condition in an unexpected direction, as children gave more original responses in the low stimulus condition compared to the high stimulus condition. A significant moderation effect revealed that children with better selective attention skills benefitted from a low stimulus environment, whereas children with weaker selective attention performed better in a high stimulus environment. The findings demonstrate differential effects of the immediate situation and selective attention, and support the hypothesis that creativity is impacted by immediate situation and selective attention, yet in unexpected ways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intelligence and Creativity)
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24 pages, 1188 KiB  
Article
Effect Sizes, Power, and Biases in Intelligence Research: A Meta-Meta-Analysis
by Michèle B. Nuijten, Marcel A. L. M. van Assen, Hilde E. M. Augusteijn, Elise A. V. Crompvoets and Jelte M. Wicherts
J. Intell. 2020, 8(4), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040036 - 2 Oct 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 8689
Abstract
In this meta-study, we analyzed 2442 effect sizes from 131 meta-analyses in intelligence research, published from 1984 to 2014, to estimate the average effect size, median power, and evidence for bias. We found that the average effect size in intelligence research was a [...] Read more.
In this meta-study, we analyzed 2442 effect sizes from 131 meta-analyses in intelligence research, published from 1984 to 2014, to estimate the average effect size, median power, and evidence for bias. We found that the average effect size in intelligence research was a Pearson’s correlation of 0.26, and the median sample size was 60. Furthermore, across primary studies, we found a median power of 11.9% to detect a small effect, 54.5% to detect a medium effect, and 93.9% to detect a large effect. We documented differences in average effect size and median estimated power between different types of intelligence studies (correlational studies, studies of group differences, experiments, toxicology, and behavior genetics). On average, across all meta-analyses (but not in every meta-analysis), we found evidence for small-study effects, potentially indicating publication bias and overestimated effects. We found no differences in small-study effects between different study types. We also found no convincing evidence for the decline effect, US effect, or citation bias across meta-analyses. We concluded that intelligence research does show signs of low power and publication bias, but that these problems seem less severe than in many other scientific fields. Full article
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10 pages, 1158 KiB  
Commentary
How to Compare Psychometric Factor and Network Models
by Kees-Jan Kan, Hannelies de Jonge, Han L. J. van der Maas, Stephen Z. Levine and Sacha Epskamp
J. Intell. 2020, 8(4), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence8040035 - 2 Oct 2020
Cited by 53 | Viewed by 11344
Abstract
In memory of Dr. Dennis John McFarland, who passed away recently, our objective is to continue his efforts to compare psychometric networks and latent variable models statistically. We do so by providing a commentary on his latest work, which he encouraged us to [...] Read more.
In memory of Dr. Dennis John McFarland, who passed away recently, our objective is to continue his efforts to compare psychometric networks and latent variable models statistically. We do so by providing a commentary on his latest work, which he encouraged us to write, shortly before his death. We first discuss the statistical procedure McFarland used, which involved structural equation modeling (SEM) in standard SEM software. Next, we evaluate the penta-factor model of intelligence. We conclude that (1) standard SEM software is not suitable for the comparison of psychometric networks with latent variable models, and (2) the penta-factor model of intelligence is only of limited value, as it is nonidentified. We conclude with a reanalysis of the Wechlser Adult Intelligence Scale data McFarland discussed and illustrate how network and latent variable models can be compared using the recently developed R package Psychonetrics. Of substantive theoretical interest, the results support a network interpretation of general intelligence. A novel empirical finding is that networks of intelligence replicate over standardization samples. Full article
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