Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Theoretical and Technical Issues in Identifying a Factor of General Intelligence

  • Chapter
Intelligence, Genes, and Success

Abstract

A main thrust of Herrnstein and Murray’s The Bell Curve 1 was to describe the role of intelligence in American society, or, in particular, the role of the famous g factor originally postulated by Spearman.2,3 Early on in their book, they made several assertions about g that they believed were “by now beyond significant technical dispute” (p. 22), including the proposition that “[t]here is such a thing as a general factor of cognitive ability on which human beings differ.” It is understandable that they felt able to make such an assertion, in that at least some of the more prominent current experts in psychometrics were on record as holding the view that g exists 4-13 Moreover, they mentioned, or could have mentioned, various social scientists who assume the existence of g.14-16 In citing Snyderman and Rothman’s (1988) survey of opinions in a large sample of educational psychologists and other scholars, they were correct in inferring that most of the respondents in that survey believed that a general factor of intelligence can be identified.17

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 37.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Herrnstein, R J., and Murray, C. (1994), The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, The Free Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Spearman, C. (1904). ‘General Intelligence’, Objectively Determined and Measured,“ American Journal of Psychology, 15, 201–293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Spearman, C. (1927), The Abilities of Man: Their Nature and Measurement, Macmillan, New York.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  4. Carroll, J.B. (1993a), Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies, Cambridge University Press, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  5. Eysenck, H.J. (1967), “Intellectual Assessment: A Theoretical and Experimental Approach,” British Journal of Educational Psychology, 37, 81–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Eysenck, H.J. (Ed.) (1982), A Model for Intelligence, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Eysenck, H.J. (1988), Editorial: “The Concept of `Intelligence’: Useful or Useless?” Intelligence,12,1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Gustafsson, J.-E. (1984), “A Unifying Model for the Structure of Intellectual Abilities,” Intelligence, 8, 179–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gustafsson, J.-E. (1988), “Hierarchical Models of Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities,” in R.J. Sternberg (Ed.) Advances in the Psychology of Human Intelligence, Vol. 4, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 35–71.

    Google Scholar 

  10. . Gustafsson, J.-E. (1989), “Broad and Narrow Abilities in Research on Learning and Instruction,” in R. Kanfer, P.L. Ackerman, and R. Cudeck (Eds.), Abilities, Motivation, and Methodology: The Minnesota Symposium on Learning and Individual Differences,Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 203–237

    Google Scholar 

  11. Humphreys, L.G. (1979), “The Construct of General Intelligence,” Intelligence, 3, 105–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Humphreys, L.G. (1982), “The Hierarchial Factor Model and General Intelligence,” in N. Hirschberg and L. G. Humphreys (Eds.), Multivariate Applications in the Social Sciences, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ., pp. 223–239.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Jensen, A.R. (1980), Bias in Mental Testing, The Free Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gottfredson, L.S. (1986), “Societal Consequences of the g Factor in Employment,” Journal of Vocational Behavior, 29, 379–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Hunt, E. (1980), “Intelligence as an Information-Processing Concept,” British Journal of Psychology, 71, 449–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Plomin, R., and DeFries, J.C. (1980), “Genetics and Intelligence: Recent Data,” Intelligence, 4, 15–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Snyderman, M., and Rothman, S. (1988), The IQ Controversy, The Media and Public Policy,“ Transaction Books, New Brunswick, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Sternberg, RJ. (1995), “For Whom the Bell Curve Tolls: A Review of The Bell Curve,” Psychological Science, 6, 257–261.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  19. Guilford, J.P. (1967), The Nature of Human Intelligence, McGraw-Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Guilford, J.P. (1985), “The Structure-of-Intellect Model,” in B.B. Wolman (Ed.), Handbook of Intelligence: Theories, Measurements, and Applications, Wiley, New York, pp. 225–266.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Horn, J.L. (1985), “Remodelling Old Models of Intelligence,” in B.B. Wolman (Ed.), Handbook of Intelligence: Theories,Measurements, and Applications, Wiley, New York, pp. 267–300.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Horn, J.L. (1988), “Thinking About Human Abilities,” in J.R. Nesselroade and R.B. Cattell (Eds.), Handbook of Multivariate Experimental Psychology, znd ed., Plenum, New York, pp. 645–685.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  23. Horn, J.L., and Noll, J. (1994), “A System for Understanding Cognitive Capabilities: A Theory and the Evidence on Which it Is Based,” in D.K. Detterman (Ed.), Current Topics in Human Intelligence, Vol. 4, Theories of Intelligence, Ablex, Norwood, NJ., pp. 151–203.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Ceci, S J. (2990), On Intelligence… More or Less: A Bioecological Treatise on Intellectual Development, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Gardner, H. (1983), Frames ofMind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Basic Books, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Gould, S.J. (1994, November 28), “Curveball,” [Review of RJ. Herrnstein and C. Murray, The Bell Curve (The Free Press, New York, 1994)] The New Yorker, pp. 139–149

    Google Scholar 

  27. Gould, S J. (1981), The Mismeasure of Man, Norton, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Carroll, J.B. (1995a), Editorial: “Reflections on Stephen Jay Gould’s The Mismeasure of Man (1981): A Retrospective Review,” Intelligence, 2 1, 121–134

    Google Scholar 

  29. Wall Street Journal, December 13, 1994, p. A18.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Neisser, U., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T.J., Jr., Boykin, A.W., Brody, N., Ceci, S J., Halpern, D.F., Loehlin, J.C., Perloff, R., Sternberg, RJ., and Urbina, S. (1996), “Intelligence: Known and Unknowns,” American Psychologist, 51, 77–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Galton, F. (1869), Hereditary Genius: An Inquiry Into its Laws and Consequences, Collins, London, England.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  32. Johnson, R.C., McClearn, G.E., Yuen, S., Nagoshi, C.T., Ahern, F.M., and Cole, R.E. (1985), “Galton’s Data a Century Later,” American Psychologist, 4o, 875–892.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Pearson, K. (1895), “Regression, Heredity and Panmixia (Abstract),” Proceedings of the Royal Society, 59, 69–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Binet, A., and Simon, T. (1905), “Méthodes Nouvelles pour le Diagnostic du niveau Intellectuel des Anormaux” [New Methods for Diagnosing the Intellectual Level of Abnormal Persons], Année Psychologique, 1 1, 191–336.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Stem, W. (1916), “Der Intelligenz Quotient als Masz der kindlichen Intelligenz, inbesondere der Unternormal” [The Intelligence Quotient as Measure of Children’s Intelligence, Especially for those Below Normal],“ Zeitschrift fiir angewandte Psychologie, 11, 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Spearman, C., and Wynn Jones, L. (1950), Human Ability: A Continuation of “The Abilities of Man,” Macmillan, London, England.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Holzinger, K.J., and Harman, H.H. (1938), “Comparison of Two Factorial Analyses,” Psychometrika, 3, 45–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Thurstone, L.L. (1938), “Primary Mental Abilities.” Psychometric Monographs, No. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Spearman, C. (1939), “Thurstone’s Work Reworked,” Journal of Educational Psychology, 30, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. . Eysenck, HJ. (1939) Review of Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities, 1938, British journal of Educational Psychology, 9, 270–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Thurstone, L.L. (1947) Multiple Factor Analysis: A Development and Expansion of The Vectors of Mind, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Thurstone, L.L., and Thurstone, T.G. (1941), “Factorial Studies of Intelligence,” Psychometric Monographs, No. 2.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Schmid, J., and Leiman, J.M. (1957), “The Development of Hierarchical Factor Solutions,” Psychometrika,22, 53–61.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  44. Carroll, J.B. (1993b), Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies, Appendix B: Hierarchical Factor Matrix Files (Diskettes), Cambridge University Press, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  45. Guilford, J.P., and Hoepfner, R. (1971), The Analysis of Intelligence, McGraw—Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Burt, C. (1949), “The Structure of Mind- A Review of the Results of Factor Analysis,” British Journal of Educational Psychology, 19, 100–111, 176–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Burt, C. (1955) “The Evidence for the Concept of Intelligence,” British Journal of Educational Psychology, 25, 158–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Vernon, P. E. (1950), The Structure of Human Abilities, Methuen, London, England.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Carroll, J.B. (1968), Review ofJ.P. Guilford’s The nature of human intelligence, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967), American Educational Research Journal, 5, 249–256.

    Google Scholar 

  50. Carroll, J.B. (1972), “Stalking the Wayward Factors,” review ofJ.P. Guilford and R. Hoepfner, The Analysis of Intelligence (McGraw-Hill, New York 1971), Contemporary Psychology, 17, 321–324.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Cronbach, LJ., and Snow, R.E. (1977), Aptitudes and Instructional Methods: A Handbook fir Research on Interactions, Irvington, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Hom, J.L., and Knapp, J.R. (1973), “On the Subjective Character of the Empirical Base of Guilford’s Structure-of-Intellect Model,” Psychological Bulletin, 8o, 33–43.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Guilford, J.P. (1981), “Higher-Order Structure-of-Intellect Abilities,” Multivariate Behavioral Research, 16, 411–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Harman, H.H. (1976), Modern Factor Analysis, 3rd ed., revised, University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  55. Cattell, R.B. (1978), The Scientific Use of FactorAnalysis in Behavioral and Life Sciences, Plenum, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  56. Hakstian, A.R., and Cattell, R.B. (1974), “The Checking of Primary Abilities Structure on a Broader Basis of Performances,” British Journal of Educational Psychology, 44, 140–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Hakstian, A.R., and Cattell, R.B. (1978), “Higher-Stratum Ability Structures on a Basis of Twenty Primary Abilities,” Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 657–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. McArdle, J J. (1996), “Current Directions in Structural Factor Analysis,” Current Directions in Behavioral Science, 5, I I-18.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Jöreskog, K.G. (1978), “Structural Analysis of Covariance and Correlation Matrices,” Psychometrika, 43, 443–477•

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  60. Jöreskog, K.G., and Sörbom, D. (1989), LISREL 7 User’s Reference Guide, Scientific Software, Mooresville, IN.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Bentler, P. M. (1985), Theory and Implementation of EQS, a Structural Equations Program, BMDP Statistical Software, Los Angeles.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Sternberg, R J., Wagner, R.K., Williams, W.M., and Horvath, J.A. (1995) “Testing Common Sense,” American Psychologist, 50, 912–927.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Holzinger, K., and Swineford, E (1939), A Study in Factor Analysis: The Stability ofa Bifactor Solution, Supplementary Educational Monographs, No. 48, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  64. Carroll, J.B. (1961), “The Nature of the Data, or How to Choose a Correlation Coefficient,” Psychometrika, 26,347–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Kaiser, H.F. (1960), “The Application of Electronic Computers to Factor Analysis,” Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 141–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Carroll, J.B. (1995b), “On Methodology in the Study of Cognitive Abilities,” Multivariate Behavioral Research, 30, 429–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Montanelli, R.G., Jr., and Humphreys, L.G. (1976), “Latent Roots of Random Data Correlation Matrices with Squared Multiple Correlations on the Diagonal: A Monte Carlo Study,” Psychometrika, 41, 341–348.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  68. Kaiser, H.F. (1958). “The Varimax Criterion for Analytic Rotation in Factor Analysis,” Psychometrika, 23, 187–200.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  69. Hendrickson, A.E., and White, P.O. (1964), “PROMAX: A Quick Method for Rotation to Oblique Simple Structure,” British Journal of Statistical Psychology, 17, 65–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Tucker, L.R. and Finkbeiner, C.T. (1981), “Transformation of Factors by Artificial Personal Probability Functions,” Educational Testing Service Research Report RR-81–58, Princeton, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  71. Tucker, L.R. (1984), personal communication.

    Google Scholar 

  72. . MacCallum, R. (1986), “Specification Searches in Covariance Structure Modeling,” Psychological Bulletin, l00, 107–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  73. Jensen, A.R., and Weng, L.-J.(1994), “What is a Good g?,” Intelligence, 18, 231–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Lord, F.M., and Novick, M. R. (1968), Statistical Theories of Mental Test Scores, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. With contributions by Allan Birnbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  75. Ekstrom, R.B., French, J.W., and Harman, H.H. (1976), Manual for Kit of Factor-Referenced Cognitive Tests, 1976, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  76. Wothke, W, Bock, R.D., Curran, L.T., Fairbank, B.A., Augustin, J.W., Gillet, A.H., and Guerrero, C., Jr. (1991), Factor Analytic Examination of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) and the Kit of Factor-Referenced Tests, Air Force Human Resources Laboratory, Brooks Air Force Base, TX.

    Google Scholar 

  77. Gottfredson, L.S. (1997), “Mainstream Science on Intelligence: An Editorial with 52 Signatories, History, and Bibliography,” Intelligence, 24, 13–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  78. Plomin, R., and Petri11, S.A. (1997), “Genetics and Intelligence: What’s New?,” Intelligence, 24,52–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. John B. Carroll
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Bernie Devlin Stephen E. Fienberg Daniel P. Resnick Kathryn Roeder

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Carroll, J.B. (1997). Theoretical and Technical Issues in Identifying a Factor of General Intelligence. In: Devlin, B., Fienberg, S.E., Resnick, D.P., Roeder, K. (eds) Intelligence, Genes, and Success. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0669-9_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0669-9_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-94986-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-0669-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation