Elementary cognitive task

An elementary cognitive task (ECT) is any of a range of basic tasks which require only a small number of mental processes and which have easily specified correct outcomes.[1][2][3] Although ECTs may be cognitively simple there is evidence that performance on such tasks correlates well with other measures of general intelligence such as Raven's Progressive Matrices.[4] For example, corrected for attenuation (random measurement error), the correlation between IQ test scores and inspection time (how long the subject needs to discriminate between 2 stimuli at a specified level of accuracy) is about 0.5.[5] It has been found that when a battery of ECTs is factor analyzed, the general factor that emerges from this is strongly correlated with general intelligence extracted from traditional IQ batteries, and relates similarly to other variables.[6][7][8]

Arthur Jensen invented a simple measurement tool for easily collecting reaction time data, subsequently called a Jensen box.[7] Using this, he restarted research on the link between general intelligence and ECTs in the 1970s which had previously been considered a dead end.[9] This earlier conclusion was based on research conducted around 1901-1911 by Clark Wissler with methodology considered very problematic by today's standards.[2] Today, mental chronometry is a significant research topic with about 3800 papers published per year in the period 2005-2015.[10]

The term was proposed by John Bissell Carroll in 1980,[11] who posited that all test performance could be analyzed and broken down to building blocks called ECTs. Test batteries such as Microtox were developed based on this theory and have shown utility in the evaluation of test subjects under the influence of carbon monoxide or alcohol.[12]

See also

• Mental chronometry
• Inspection time

References

1. Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies By John Bissell Carroll 1993 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-38712-4 p11
2. Hunt, Earl B. (2011). Human intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 142. ISBN 9780521881623. OCLC 567165797.
3. Haier, Richard J. (2016-12-28). The neuroscience of intelligence. New York, NY. p. 227. ISBN 9781107089778. OCLC 951742581.
4. Arthur R. Jensen Process differences and individual differences in some cognitive tasks Intelligence, Volume 11, Issue 2, April–June 1987, Pages 107-136
5. J. Grudnik and J. Kranzler, Meta-analysis of the relationship between intelligence and inspection time, Intelligence 29 (2001), pp. 523–535.
6. Luo, D (June 1999). "Elementary cognitive tasks and their roles in g estimates". Intelligence. 27 (2): 157–174. doi:10.1016/S0160-2896(99)00020-3.
7. Jensen, Arthur R. (2006). Clocking the Mind : Mental Chronometry and Individual Differences. Burlington: Elsevier. pp. 175. ISBN 9780080463728. OCLC 437173754.
8. Luo, Dasen; Thompson, Lee A; Detterman, Douglas K (January 2003). "The causal factor underlying the correlation between psychometric g and scholastic performance". Intelligence. 31 (1): 67–83. doi:10.1016/S0160-2896(02)00113-7.
9. Nettelbeck, Ted (January 1998). "Jensen's chronometric research: Neither simple nor sufficient but a good place to start". Intelligence. 26 (3): 233–241. doi:10.1016/S0160-2896(99)80006-3.
10. Colonius, Hans; Díaz, José A.; Wong, Willy; Medina, José M. (2015). "Advances in modern mental chronometry". Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 9: 256. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2015.00256. ISSN 1662-5161. PMC 4422014. PMID 25999843.
11. Carroll, John B. (1980). Individual Difference Relations in Psychometric and Experimental Cognitive Tasks. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina.
12. Roger W. Russell, ed. (1990). Behavioral Measures of Neurotoxicity: Report of a Symposium. Pamela Ebert Flattau, Andrew MacPherson Pope. National Academies Press. ISBN 0-309-04047-7.

Further reading

• Jensen, Arthur R. (2006). Clocking the Mind: Mental Chronometry and Individual Differences. Burlington: Elsevier. ISBN 9780080463728. OCLC 437173754.