Individual differences in cognition: British contributions over a century

Abstract

Research on individual differences in mental abilities is discussed from three viewpoints: the psychometric structure of ability differences, the predictive validity of mental test scores, and some putative causes of psychometric intelligence differences in terms of psychometric and cognitive components and biological indices. A hierarchical descriptive structure for mental ability differences, as it emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, prominently displays British discoveries and suggestions, especially those of Spearman, Burt and P. E. Vernon from the first half of the 20th century. Galton and Spearman's largely unproductive search for the origins of ability differences has seen new activity since the 1970s, and there are several replicable associations that are yet to be explained. Over the 20th century the emphasis has been on measuring mental ability differences; at its beginning there was an emphasis (largely British) on understanding psychometric intelligence. The new century is likely to see a continuation of this re-emphasis on explaining human ability differences.

Evolutionary conserved longevity genes and human cognitive abilities in elderly cohorts

“…Cognitive ageing is a much-feared aspect of growing old and is the major cause of older people's losing independence and lowering their quality of life. 2 There are marked individual differences in agerelated cognitive changes, 3,4 and among the causes of this variation are genetic, medical, psychological, and social and lifestyle factors. 5,6 Beyond APOE, and excluding the dementias, there are no solid associations between genetic variants and cognitive functions in old age, despite many suggestions and replication attempts.…”

Psychological Testing in a Multicultural Society: Universal or particular competencies?

“…Snow (1986) for a sketch of the implications of this for American schools]. Deary (2001), in commenting on British contributions to the study of individual differences in cognition, has this to say:…”

“…(i) The Psychometric Structure of Ability Differences Deary (2001) states the following facts about psychometric intelligence: "mental ability differences may be described as a hierarchy of more or less speci c packets of variance with g on top; … psychometrics will never explain intelligence differences; and … ability factors, especially g, should be treated as discoveries to be explained rather than things in the brain" (p. 221). Only in-depth and longitudinal studies could answer the questions about whether there are indeed differences between groups regarding the psychometric structure of ability differences.…”

“…Our response to this problem is not the rst or last time that testing comes up for scrutiny by those who acknowledge the dif culties with testing in multicultural societies (cf. Bochhah et al, 2001;Carroll, 1993;Evers et al, 2000;Deary, 2001;Tellegen, 2000;Te Nijenhuis & Evers, 2000a, b;Van den Berg & Van Leest, 1999;Vorst, 2001).…”

Genetic Variations inFTSJ1Influence Cognitive Ability in Young Males in the Chinese Han Population

“…Individuals differ from one another in their performance on diverse psychometric tests of cognitive abilities, such as verbal, memory, and processing speed . The nature of intelligence and cognition has been a central question for research on human intelligence since the psychometric definition of intelligence was described and measured as ''general cognitive ability'' by Charles Spearman in the early 20th century (Deary, 2001). Cognitive ability is classified as general (g) and specific(s) cognitive abilities, according to Spearman's theory.…”