For disclosure, the data analyzed in this study was part of a larger data collection sample and we reported data that included some of the same tasks in different publications. The following link has a summary of the larger data collection procedure and a reference list of all publications to come out of this data collection sample with information on which tasks were used for each publication: https://osf.io/s5kxb. We reported data on the relationship between sensory discrimination, fluid intelligence, working memory capacity, and attention control in a separate article (Tsukahara, Harrison, Draheim, Martin, & Engle, 2019). We also reported data on visual arrays tasks in a separate paper (Martin et al., 2019) extensively discussing the nature of the tasks and what constructs they measure. We reported data from the attention tasks and a follow-up session in Martin, Mashburn, and Engle (2019) which focuses on predictive validity of the attention measures. The broader issue of measurement concerns in individual differences research, with some discussion of the issues as they pertain to attention control, were discussed in another separate article (Draheim, Mashburn, & Engle, 2019). In addition, data and ideas from the present study were disseminated in various conference presentations (Draheim,

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Intelligence is correlated with the ability to make fine sensory discriminations. Although this relationship has been known since the beginning of intelligence testing, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are still unknown. In two large-scale structural equation modelling studies, we investigated whether individual differences in attention control abilities can explain the relationship between sensory discrimination and intelligence. Across the two studies, we replicated the finding that attention control fully mediated the relationships of intelligence/working memory capacity to sensory discrimination. Our findings show that attention control plays a prominent role in relating sensory discrimination to higher-order cognitive abilities. [Data, analysis scripts, and results output are available via the Open Science

The last decade has seen significant progress identifying genetic and brain differences related to intelligence. However, there remain considerable gaps in our understanding of how cognitive mechanisms that underpin intelligence map onto various brain functions. In this article, we argue that the locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system is essential for understanding the biological basis of intelligence. We review evidence suggesting that the locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system plays a central role at all levels of brain function, from metabolic processes to the organization of large-scale brain networks. We connect this evidence with our executive attention view of working-memory capacity and fluid intelligence and present analyses on baseline pupil size, an indicator of locus coeruleus activity. Using a latent variable approach, our analyses showed that a common executive attention factor predicted baseline pupil size. Additionally, the executive attention function of disengagement––not maintenance––uniquely predicted baseline pupil size. These findings suggest that the ability to control attention may be important for understanding how cognitive mechanisms of fluid intelligence map onto the locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system. We discuss how further research is needed to better understand the relationships between fluid intelligence, the locus coeruleus–norepinephrine system, and functionally organized brain networks.

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