Mental Speed: A Review of Its Conceptual Development and Importance

Abstract

Throughout the lifespan, while development is increasing fast day by day in infancy, there is an increasing slowdown in old ages. This is essentially one of the evident features of the life cycle. Individuals with normal development are expected to be physically and mentally at a parallel developmental rate. In cases of developmental delay or superiority in one of the processes, the identification process of the individual begins. Medical diagnosis and educational diagnosis are necessary in the developmental identification and evaluation of individuals. Many variables are evaluated together in identification. Speed is among the common variables studied in both medical and educational diagnostics. While speed provides clinical information based on reaction time in neural transmissions, it provides educational information in assessments based on mental performance. In this study, the studies related to speed are examined in the historical process and the prominent issues in line with the conceptual diversity encountered are emphasized. The literature review was carried out within the framework of the concepts related to speed and it was discussed based on the relevant research. As a result of the reviews, the studies were examined in two historical periods and examined in the context of the process in which they were associated with intelligence. Recent studies have revealed that the concept of processing speed has a wider usage and is close to the concepts of mental speed and cognitive speed. On the basis of studies about speed measurement, implications were presented to researchers in line with the characteristics of speed tests. In this context, it can be argued that this study is important for researchers and practitioners in terms of distinguishing conceptual differences related to measurement of mental performance speed.