Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin: Clerical Speed and Elementary Cognitive Speed are Different by Virtue of Test Mode Only

Abstract

Current taxonomies of intelligence comprise two factors of mental speed, clerical speed (Gs), and elementary cognitive speed (Gt). Both originated from different research traditions and are conceptualized as dissociable constructs in current taxonomies. However, previous research suggests that tasks of one category can be transferred into the other category by simply changing the mode of administration, i.e., in form of a paper-and-pencil test or in from of a computer-based elementary cognitive task. However, cross-mode correlations for specific tasks are usually only moderate. In the present study, mental speed was assessed as a broad construct across different tasks and stimulus materials. This allowed modeling mental speed as a hierarchical construct for paper-and-pencil as well as for computer-based tests. Cross-mode correlations of the respective general factors were moderate (r = 0.64), while the cross-mode correlations of task-specific components depended on task type (r = 0.12 to r = 0.71). Only the g factors of mental speed, but not the task-specific components, were found to be related with working memory capacity as a marker of cognitive ability. The speed general factor modeled across computer-based tests was more highly correlated with working memory capacity (r = 0.66) than the general factor modeled across paper-and-pencil tests (r = 0.46). These findings corroborate a crucial role of the assessment method and imply that validity of speed tests is affected by the choice of the test format.