Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test in Three International Samples

Abstract

Summary: In the current study we compare different theoretical models of the underlying structure of the STAT (Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test), Level-H, by using the techniques of confirmatory factor analysis on a combined sample of 3278 school students from the United States, Finland, and Spain. The results of the comparison of a number of models - using the strategy of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (HCFA) and comparing nested and alternative models, specified under different assumed theories relative to a unidimensional concept of general intelligence, a traditional factorial concept, and a triarchic model - illustrate that the second-order factor model based on the triarchic theory of intelligence achieves the best (albeit far from perfect) fit to the empirical data.