Cultural influences on cognition: A reanalysis of Vernon's data1

Abstract

Correlations between 50 test scores obtained by Philip Vernon (1969) for four samples of boys (Scots from the Hebrides, Ugandans, Eskimos, and Canadian Indians) were reanalyzed. Seven factors were obtained in each sample and rotated towards the same “target” factor matrix solution: an orthogonal rotation of the seven factors for the combined sample. Four of these factors were interpreted as Verbal‐Acculturation, Ideational Fluency, Piagetian Conservation, and Spatial‐Perceptual‐Motor. Congruence coefficients between the four resulting “congruent” factor matrices were moderately high. Correlations between the four congruent factors in each sample and eight cultural indices were calculated. These showed interesting differences.

Comparability of GATB scores for immigrants and majority group members: Some Dutch findings.

“…Values above .95 are generally considered to be an indication of strong similarity between the various factor structures. For each factor, the values of the congruence coefficient were higher than the values between .83 and .92 reported by Vandenberg and Hakstian (1978) .…”

“…Values above .95 are generally considered to be an indication of strong similarity between the various factor structures. For each factor, the values of the congruence coefficient were higher than the values between .83 and .92 reported by Vandenberg and Hakstian (1978). Table 10 shows the factor loadings; the discrepancies in these loadings indicate that some of the subtests measure something different in the immigrant group than in the majority group or, in other words, that the subtests differ in their construct validity.…”

“…Cross-cultural psychologists have paid particular attention to the dimensional comparability of measuring instruments. In a review of the literature on standardized ability tests, Vandenberg and Hakstian (1978) discussed the mean values of the congruence coefficient between the factor solutions of groups from Western countries and groups from developing countries. The congruence coef-675 This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

“…Cross-cultural psychologists have paid particular attention to the dimensional comparability of measuring instruments. In a review of the literature on standardized ability tests, Vandenberg and Hakstian (1978) discussed the mean values of the congruence coefficient between the factor solutions of groups from Western countries and groups from developing countries. The congruence coefficient (Burt, 1948; Tucker, 1951) is a measure of the proportionality of columns, which, applied to factor loadings, is a good measure of equality of interpretation of factors; a value greater than .85 is generally considered to be high.…”