Processing speed subtests are components of widely used intellectual assessment instruments. Many researchers interpret these measures as assessing a unitary construct, but there is a question concerning the constructs assessed by these measures and, ultimately, their interpretative utility. Coding and Symbol Search from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (Wechsler, 1991), Visual Matching and Cross Out from the Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability-Revised (Woodcock & Johnson, 1989), and Speed of Information Processing from the Differential Ability Scales (Elliott, 1990) were administered to 102 volunteer participants. Using regression analyses, performance on each of these tests was predicted by motor speed and/or number facility factors. Individual differences in motor speed were found to be related to each of the five processing speed measures, whereas number facility was related to three of the measures.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baron, M. B., & Kaye, D. B. (1984). A validity study of the WISC-R Coding B subtest. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 2, 191-197.
2.
Buckhalt, J. A. (1991). Reaction time measures of processing speed: Are they yielding new information about intelligence?Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 683-688.
3.
Buckhalt, J. A., & Jensen, A. R. (1989). The British Ability Scale Speed of Information Processing subtest: What does it measure?British Journal of Educational Psychology, 59, 100-107.
4.
Byrd, D. P., & Buckhalt, J. A. (1991). A multitrait-multimethod construct validity study of the Differential Ability Scales. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 9, 121-129.
5.
Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor analytic studies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
6.
Christal, R. E. (1958). Factor analytic study of visual memory. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 72 (13, Whole No. 466).
7.
Coombs, C. H. (1941). A factorial study of number ability. Psychometrika, 6, 161-189.
8.
Ekstrom, R. B., French, J. W., & Harman, H. H. (1979). Cognitive factors: Their identification and replication. Multivariate Behavioral Research Monographs, 79, 2.
9.
Ekstrom, R. B., French, J. W., Harman, H. H., & Dirmen, D. (1976). Manual for kit of factor-referenced cognitive tests (3rd ed.). Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
10.
Elliott, C. D. (1990). Differential Ability Scales: Introductory and technical handbook. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
11.
Fleishman, E. A., & Hempel, W. E. (1954). Changes in factor structure of a complex psychomotor test as a function of practice. Psychometrika, 19, 239-251.
12.
French, J. W. (1957). The factorial invariance of pure-factor tests. TheJournal of Educational Psychology, 48, 93-109.
13.
Fry, A. F., & Hale, S. (1996). Processing speed, working memory, and fluid intelligence: Evidence of a developmental cascade. Psychological Science, 7, 237-241.
14.
Glosser, G., Butters, N., & Kaplan, E. (1977). Visuospatial processes in brain damaged patients on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. International Journal of Neuroscience, 7, 59-66.
15.
Guilford,J. P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill.
16.
Guilford, J. P. (1982). Cognitive psychology's ambiguities: Some suggested remedies. Psychological Review, 89, 48-59.
17.
Guilford, J. P. (1988). Some changes in the Structure of Intellect Model. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 48, 1-4.
18.
Horn,J. L. (1989). Models of intelligence. In R. L. Linn (Ed.), Intelligence: Measurement, theory, and public policy (pp. 29-73). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
19.
Kail, R. (1997). Phonological skill and articulation time independently contribute to the development of memory span. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 67, 57-68.
20.
Kail, R., & Salthouse, T. A. (1994). Processing speed as mental capacity. ACTA Psychologica, 86, 199-225.
21.
Kamphaus, R. W., Benson, J., Hutchinson, S., & Platt, L. O. (1994). Identification of factor models for the WISC-III. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 54, 174-186.
22.
Kaufman, A. S. (1994). Intelligent testing with the WISCIII. New York: Wiley.
23.
Keith, T. Z. (1990). Confirmatory and hierarchical confirmatory analysis of the Differential Ability Scales. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 8, 391-405.
24.
Keith, T. Z. (1997). What does the WISC-III measure? A reply to Carroll and Kranzler. School Psychology Quarterly, 12, 117-118.
25.
Keith, T. Z., & Witta, E. L. (1997). Hierarchical and cross-age confirmatory factor analysis of the WISGIII: What does it measure?School Psychology Quarterly, 12, 89-117.
26.
Kelley, H. P. (1964). Memory abilities: A factor analysis. Psychometric Monographs. (Psychometric Society No. 11). Richmond, VA: William Byrd Press.
27.
Kranzler, J. H. (1997). What does the WISCIII measure? Comments on the relationship between intelligence, working memory capacity and information processing speed and efficiency. School Psychology Quarterly, 12, 110-116.
28.
Kush, J. C. (1996). Factor structure of the WISCIII for students with learning disabilities. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 14, 3240.
29.
Kyllonen, P. C. (1993). Aptitude testing inspired by information processing: A test of the four-source model. The Journal of General Psychology, 120, 375-405.
30.
Lindley, R. H., Smith, W. R., & Thomas, T. J. (1988). The relationship between speed of information processing as measured by timed paper and pencil tests and psychometric intelligence. Intelligence, 12, 17-25.
31.
McGrew, K. S. (1994). Clinical interpretation of the Wood cock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability-Revised. Boston: Allyn & Baron.
32.
McGrew, K. S., & Flanagan, D. P. (1998). The Intelligence Test Desk Reference (ITDR). Needham, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
33.
Neubauer, A. C., & Bucik, V. (1996). The mental speed-IQ relationship: Unitary or modular?Intelligence, 22, 23-48.
34.
Nunnally, J.C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
35.
Pemberton, C. (1952). The closure factors related to other cognitive processes. Psychometrika, 17, 267-288.
36.
Riccio, C. A., Cohen, M.J., Hall, J., & Ross, C. M. (1997). The third and fourth factors of the WISC-III: What they don't measure. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 15, 27-39.
37.
Roff, M. E. (1952). A factorial study of the tests in the perceptual areas. Psychometric Monographs. (Psycometric Society No. 8). Colorado Springs, Co.: Denton Printing Company.
38.
Sattler, J. M. (1992). Assessment of children: Revised and updated (3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: Jerome M. Sattler, Publisher.
39.
Scheier, I. H., & Ferguson, G. A. (1952). Further factorial studies of tests of rigidity. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 6, 18-30.
40.
Shum, D. H. K., McFarland, K. A., & Bain, J. D. (1990). Construct validity of eight tests of attention: Comparison of normal and closed head injured samples. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 4, 151-162.
41.
Stone, B. J. (1992). Joint confirmatory factor analyses of the DAS and WISC-R. Journal of School Psychology, 30, 185-195.
42.
Wechsler, D. (1991). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
43.
Wechsler, D. (1997). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
44.
Wechsler, D. (2003). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
45.
Williams, J., & Dykman, R. A. (1994). Nonverbal factors derived from children's performance on neuropsychological test instruments. Developmental Neuropsychology, 10, 19-26.
46.
Woodcock, R. W., & Johnson, M. B. (1989). Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised. Chicago: Riverside.
47.
Woodcock, R. W., & Mather, N. (1989). W&J-R Tests of Cognitive Ability-Standard and Supplemental Batteries: Examiner's manual. In R. W. Woodcock & M. B. Johnson, Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised. Chicago: Riverside.
48.
Woodcock, R. W., McGrew, K. S., & Mather, N. (2001). Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities. Itasca, IL: Riverside.
