The Structure, Organization, and Correlates of Cognitive Speed and Accuracy: A Cross-Cultural Study Using Computerised Tests

Verster, J. M.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-2151-2_19

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The findings can be explained with reference to Sternberg's (1988) triarchic theory of intelligence and its application in different cultures. The explanation, as argued by Verster (1983Verster ( , 1986, is that so-called performance processes (the basic building blocks of cognition) are relatively independent of cultural variables while executive processes (or metacognitive processes that drive the execution of tasks) are the locus of culturally determined differences in cognition that arise from socialisation, learning, cultural habits and ecological processes. What this would mean for the present study is that the poorer performance may be explained by limitations in the required ability to deploy cognitive processes because of a lack of the necessary opportunities to develop them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploratory Study of the Use of the Austin Maze in South Africa

Grieve

Viljoen

2000

South African Journal of Psychology

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A software version of the Austin Maze together with the Halstead-Reitan Category Test and Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices were administered to 30 students at the University of Venda, South Africa. For the entire sample, the average number of trials taken to reach criterion (that is, three consecutive error-free trials) on the Austin Maze was 19. The performance of male subjects was generally better than that of females. No significant correlations were found between performance on the Austin Maze and scores on the other psychometric tests. This is seen as implying that, for this group of subjects, the Austin Maze measures a different construct, as documented in the literature. The complexity of a contextual interpretation of the subjects poorer performance on the measures is discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploratory Study of the Use of the Austin Maze in South Africa

Grieve

Viljoen

2000

South African Journal of Psychology

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“…A source of bias that is the same over conditions (e.g., differential familiarity with the testing situation) should have no differential effect on score patterns. Studies can be mentioned here like those of Cole, Gay and Glick (1968) and later of Verster (1983) and Van de Vijver (1991) on cross-cultural differences in score patterns with items of increasing cognitive complexity.…”

Section: Three Approaches To Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Bias in Assessment: Historical and Thematic Issues

Poortinga

1995

European Journal of Psychological Assessment

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In this introductory article the development of ideas on cultural bias in tests since the sixties is briefly reviewed and three approaches are mentioned. A distinction is made between the tradition of culture fair use of tests that is directed more towards selection in a multicultural society and the tradition of cross-cultural comparison that is concerned more with theoretical questions about cultural differences in behavior. The concerns of the former tradition have formed the main impetus for the development of psychometric analysis techniques. It is argued that some key problems of bias cannot be solved by further sophistication of statistical procedures, suggesting that a broadening of perspective in the field of bias analysis is desirable. Directions in which this can be achieved are indicated.

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“…In the simplest reaction time task, with a single clear stimulus to which the participant has to react as fast as possible, mean or modal response times have an approximately equal distribution in all cultural samples that have been investigated (Jensen, 1982(Jensen, ,1985Poortinga 1971 ). As soon as a task consists of more than one stimulus and one response, cross-cultural differences in mean reaction time begin to emerge (Jensen, 1985;Verster, 1983). For example, in experiments with four colored lights that were all very clearly distinguishable and similarly with a set of four sounds, Poortinga (1971) found differences between samples of African and European students in South Africa who did not show such differences on a simple reaction time task.…”

Section: Cross-cultural Differences In Information Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultures and Cognition: Performance Differences and Invariant Structures.

Poortinga¹,

Vijver²

Culture and Competence: Contexts of Life Success.

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Cross-cultural differences in score distributions of cognitive tasks are often substantial. Such findings are of practical significance; high scores on intelligence tests reflect skills or competencies that tend to be an asset for educational and economic advancement, at least in urban industrial settings. The present chapter focuses on the challenge these results offer for theoretical analysis. In our view the relationship between culture and cognition is a fascinating field of study. However, research often yields differences that are difficult to interpret. Do differences in Raven scores (Raven, 1938) obtained with children from different countries reflect differences in reasoning, as we are often inclined to conclude? And what is the role of educational differences? Do children learn to reason better in school or does their everyday environment make them more familiar with the abstract figures and tasks of the Raven? In our view these questions are too infrequently dealt with. We question the wisdom of uncritically interpreting observed differences as reflecting differences in the traits the tests are supposed to measure, without examining the validity of the interpretation. In particular, if participants come from rather dissimilar cultures it is very easy to find (replicable) signifi-139

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The Structure, Organization, and Correlates of Cognitive Speed and Accuracy: A Cross-Cultural Study Using Computerised Tests

Cited by 7 publications

References 9 publications

An Exploratory Study of the Use of the Austin Maze in South Africa

An Exploratory Study of the Use of the Austin Maze in South Africa

Cultural Bias in Assessment: Historical and Thematic Issues

Cultures and Cognition: Performance Differences and Invariant Structures.

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