Alpha 2.0
Login Register
» Articles » PMID: 21931154

Processing Speed Mediates the Development of General Intelligence (g) in Adolescence

Overview
Journal Psychol Sci
Specialty Psychology
Date 2011 Sep 21
PMID 21931154
Citations 29
Authors
Thomas R Coyle
David R Pillow
Anissa C Snyder
Peter Kochunov
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

In the research reported here, we examined whether processing speed mediates the development of general intelligence (g) in adolescence. Using the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a battery of 12 diverse cognitive tests, we assessed processing speed and g in a large sample of 13- to 17-year-olds obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 6,969). The direct effect of age on g was small compared with the total effect of age on g, which was almost fully mediated through speed. The results suggest that increases in g in adolescence can be attributed to increases in mental speed.

Citing Articles

Co-methylation networks associated with cognition and structural brain development during adolescence.

Jensen D, Chen J, Turner J, Stephen J, Wang Y, Wilson T Front Genet. 2025; 15:1451150.

PMID: 39840280 PMC: 11746905. DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1451150.

Improving processing speed in adolescents at clinical high risk for psychosis with the Specific COgnitive REmediation plus Surround (SCORES) intervention: Study protocol.

Carrion R, Auther A, McLaughlin D, John M, Cornblatt B Early Interv Psychiatry. 2024; 19(1):e13587.

PMID: 38951112 PMC: 11905519. DOI: 10.1111/eip.13587.

Processing Speed throughout Primary School Education: Evidence from a Cross-Country Longitudinal Study.

Tikhomirova T, Kuzmina Y, Malykh A, Malykh S Behav Sci (Basel). 2023; 13(10).

PMID: 37887523 PMC: 10603980. DOI: 10.3390/bs13100873.

Antecedents of Interest and the Investment of Fluid Intelligence in the Formation of Crystalized Intelligence.

Ganzach Y Front Psychol. 2021; 12:679504.

PMID: 34671284 PMC: 8521038. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.679504.

What is a processing speed weakness? Importance of cognitive ability when defining processing speed in a child psychiatric population.

Forchelli G, Vuijk P, Colvin M, Ward A, Koven M, Dews A Child Neuropsychol. 2021; 28(2):266-286.

PMID: 34544318 PMC: 9284538. DOI: 10.1080/09297049.2021.1972957.

References
1.
Frey M, Detterman D . Scholastic Assessment or g? The relationship between the Scholastic Assessment Test and general cognitive ability. Psychol Sci. 2004; 15(6):373-8. DOI: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00687.x. View
2.
Kail R . Longitudinal evidence that increases in processing speed and working memory enhance children's reasoning. Psychol Sci. 2007; 18(4):312-3. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01895.x. View
3.
Kail R . Developmental change in speed of processing during childhood and adolescence. Psychol Bull. 1991; 109(3):490-501. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.109.3.490. View
4.
Salthouse T . The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition. Psychol Rev. 1996; 103(3):403-28. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295x.103.3.403. View