Researchers say a wandering mind may be important to setting goals, making discoveries, and living a balanced life.

Researchers say a wandering mind may be important to setting goals, making discoveries, and living a balanced life.
http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jul-aug/15-brain-stop-paying-attention-zoning-out-crucial-mental-state?utm_source=dsctwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dsctwitter

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Atkins Court Decisions--Pizzuto v Idaho (2019) and Johnson v Texas (2019)

Here are two new Atkins court decisions, provided without comment.

Pizzuto v Idaho (2019).  Prior decisions related to this case can be found here.

Johnson v Texas (2019). 

AAIDD Opposes a Proposed Revision to the DSM-5’s Entry for Intellectual Disability

http://aaidd.org/news-policy/news/releases/2019/07/29/aaidd-opposes-a-proposed-revision-to-the-dsm-5-s-entry-for-intellectual-disability

Declines in vocabulary among American adults within levels of educational attainment, 1974–2016 - ScienceDirect

File under Flynn effect related research

Abstract

We examined trends over time in vocabulary, a key component of verbal intelligence, in the nationally representative General Social Survey of U.S. adults (n = 29,912). Participants answered multiple-choice questions about the definitions of 10 specific words. When controlled for educational attainment, the vocabulary of the average U.S. adult declined between the mid-1970s and the 2010s. Vocabulary declined across all levels of educational attainment (less than high school, high school or 2-year college graduate, bachelor's or graduate degree), with the largest declines among those with a bachelor's or graduate degree. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses separating the effects of age, time period, and cohort suggest that the decline is primarily a time period effect. Increasing educational attainment has apparently not improved verbal ability among Americans. Instead, as educational attainment has increased, those at each educational level are less verbally skilled even though the vocabulary skills of the whole population are unchanged.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289618302198

Webster v IN (2019) decision reported in Washington Times

Webster v IN (2019), which can be found here, was recently covered in the Washington Times.

The Flynn Effect in Families: Studies of Register Data on Norwegian Military Conscripts and Their Families

The Flynn Effect in Families: Studies of Register Data on Norwegian Military Conscripts and Their Families
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/2/3/106/htm

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2 Recent law reveiw articles: Lamparello (2019), Johnson et al. (2019)

Click link to access PDF.

• Johnson, S. L., Blume, J. H. & Hritz, A. C. (2019).  Convictions of innocent people with intellectual disability.

• Lamparello, A. (2019).  IQ, culpability, and the criminal law's "gray area:"  Why the rationale for reducing culpability of juveniles and intellectually disabled adults should apply to low-IQ adults.

Three recent Atkins decisions: Altamirano (2019; Az), Raulerson (2019, Ga), Webster (2019, IN)

Here are three recent Atkins decisions. Click to access PDF.

• Altamirano (2019; Az)
• Raulerson (2019, Ga)
• Webster (2019, IN)

Judge Finds Federal Death-Row Prisoner Bruce Webster Intellectually Disabled, Vacates Death Sentence

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/judge-finds-federal-death-row-prisoner-bruce-webster-intellectually-disabled-vacates-death-sentence

APA 2019 workshop on "New Developments in the Death Penalty and People with Intellectual Disability:

Click on image to enlarge

Communication and cross-examination in court for children and adults with intellectual disabilities: A systematic review - Joanne Morrison, Rachel Forrester-Jones, Jill Bradshaw, Glynis Murphy, 2019

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1365712719851134

Abstract

Courts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have identified children and adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) as vulnerable witnesses. The call from the English Court of Appeal is for advocates to adjust questioning during cross-examination according to individual needs. This review systematically examined previous empirical studies with the aim of delineating the particular communication needs of children and adults with ID during cross-examination. Studies utilising experimental methodology similar to examination/cross-examination processes, or which assessed the communication of actual cross-examinations in court were included. A range of communication challenges were highlighted, including: suggestibility to leading questions and negative feedback; acquiescence; accuracy; memory and understanding of court language. In addition, a number of influencing factors were identified, including: age; IQ level; question styles used. This review highlights the need for further research using cross-examination methodology and live practice, that take into consideration the impact on communication of the unique environment and situation of the cross-examination process.

Keywords Communication, cross-examination, court, intellectual disability, learning difficulties, learning disability, vulnerable defendant, vulnerable witness

Atkins court decisions: Busby v Davis (TX) and Smith v Alabama

FYI--two recent Atkins related decisions

Busby v Davis (TX: 2019)

Smith v Alabama (2019)

Texas ID death penalty update: Death Penalty Reform Bill Gets Watered Down to ‘Nothing’ Before Passing Senate After passing the House.

Death Penalty Reform Bill Gets Watered Down to ‘Nothing’ Before Passing Senate

After passing the House, HB 1139, meant to reform how Texas decides whether a defendant is too intellectually disabled to execute, was significantly softened in Senate committee.  Story at this link. 

The mysterious disappearance of blogmaster of IQs Corner

My regular readers have noticed that I have not posted anything to my three blogs since last thanksgiving.  Why?

Well..I came down with a serious illness and spent 82 days in the hospital, 72 of which were at the world renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN.  I have since returned home and am doing OT and PT rehab....that is now my full time job.  

I want to thank all who learned of my experience and sent kind words of support.  I shall return.

If you want more details you can check out the Caring Bridge log my lovely wife maintained.

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kevinmcgrewiq

--
***********************************************
Kevin S. McGrew,  PhD
Educational Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
www.themindhub.com
************************************************

Happy Turkey day from the blogmaster

Shriver op-ed on Moore v Texas continuing saga with SCOTUS

The LA Times published an excellent op-ed that explains, in simple understandable language, the issues and reasoning behind the recent legal saga of Moore v Texas.  A pdf copy is available here.

Here is link to the latest blog post that can lead you through the past and recent decisions in this case.

The use of the Woodcock-Johnson Fourth Edition (WJ IV) GIA Cognitive IQ score in intellectual disability (ID) determination

The WJ IV Cognitive GIA in iintellectual disability (ID) assessment from Kevin McGrew

Atkins decisions: More on Moore v TX (2018). ABA files brief on behalf of Moore - UPDATED 11-20-18 to include APA amicus brief

Interesting turn of events re: Moore v. Texas. ABA story here.

The AG’s motion can be found here. The ABA amicus brief can be found here.

The trail of prior documents and decision can be found starting here.

11-20-18 UPDATE.  I previously did not have a copy of the APA amicus brief. A copy is now available here.


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Law Review Article: Intellectual Disability in Capital Cases: Adjusting State Statutes After Moore v. Texas

Another new Atkins related law review article available here.


ABSTRACT

In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution of intellectually disabled inmates violates the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment. Twelve years later in Hall v. Florida (2014), the Court revisited its Atkins decision to provide further clarification on how states should assess intellectual disability. This article examines Moore v. Texas (2017), the latest development in the Court's rulings on capital determinations of intellectual disability. It also reviews state statutes and court cases from the thirty-one death penalty states to determine how they comport with the Court's Moore ruling. These statutes and cases shed light on issues with respect to intellectual disability in capital trials that the Court has yet to address. The article concludes with model language to help states make their capital punishment protocols constitutional, so that the intellectually disabled remain free from execution.

Research Byte: Flynn Effect in Kuwait, 1985-1998

This study will be added to the Flynn Effect Archive Project the next time it is update.

https://iqmrdeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2017/09/flynn-effect-reference-project.html

Click image to enlarge

Law Review Article: Evaluating Intellectual Disability: Clinical Assessments in Atkins Cases (Ellis et al., 2018)

This new law review article is, IMHO, the best overview article regarding the history of ID, the legal issues in Atkins cases, and good discussion of the major conceptual and measurement issues found in many Atkins cases. An excellent introduction to ID issues in Atkins cases.

EVALUATING INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: CLINICAL ASSESSMENTS IN ATKINS CASES

James W. Ellis, Caroline Everington, Ann M. Delpha

ABSTRACT

The intersection of intellectual disability and the death penalty is now clearly established. Both under the U.S. Supreme Court's constitutional decisions and under the terms of many state statutes, individual defendants who have that disability cannot be sentenced to death or executed. It now falls to trial, appellate, and post-conviction courts to determine which individual criminal defendants are entitled to the law's protection. This Article attempts to assist judges in performing that task. After a brief discussion of the Supreme Court's decisions in Atkins v. Virginia, Hall v. Florida, and Moore v. Texas, it analyzes the component parts and terminology of the clinical definition of intellectual disability. It then offers more detailed discussion of a number of the clinical issues that arise frequently in adjudicating these cases. For each of these issues, the Article's text and the accompanying notes attempt to provide judges with a thorough survey of the relevant clinical literature, and an explanation of the terminology used by clinical professionals. Our purpose is to help those judges to become more knowledgeable consumers of the clinical reports and expert testimony presented to them in individual cases, and to help them reach decisions that are consistent with what the clinical literature reveals about the nature of intellectual disability and best professional practices in the diagnostic process.

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Neurohype and the Law: A Cautionary Tale by Stephen Morse :: SSRN

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3245373

Law Review Article: Comment post-Moore: Call for national standard for ID def in capital cases

Article can be found here.



CONCLUSION

The Supreme Court's decision in Moore served as little more than a lackluster attempt to provide states with guidance in creating a standard for determining intellectual disability for the purposes of capital punish-ment. While the Court attempted to narrow the leniency it provided to states with its holdings in both Moore and Hall, it has likely done nothing more than cause confusion as states attempt to create legislation that ad-heres to the Court's mandates. The Court's refusal to provide states with a functional definition of intellectual disability in capital cases might seem merely frustrating at first glance, but it is also potentially unconstitu-tional-arguably violating both the Eighth Amendment and the equal pro-tection clause. What is more, as each state creates its own test for deter-mining intellectual disability, the states increase their risk of violating the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Thus, the Court should provide the states with a definition to avoid these pressing constitutional concerns.

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Death penalty switched to life in prison for Alabama man who killed 4 children | AL.com

https://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/10/death_penalty_sentence_reduced.html

Breaking death penalty news: State of Washington Supreme Court rules death penalty unconstitutional

Opinion is here.


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Supreme Court could limit execution of people with dementia

Supreme Court could limit execution of people with dementia
https://apnews.com/13565de9a786423b90038f271d63d236

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Atkins court decisions: Lane v Alabama (2028) and Wright v Florida (2018)

Two recent Atkins court decisions.

Lane v Alabama (2018)

Wright v Florida (2018)

As a reminder, when I first started this blog I would sometimes comment on psychometric issues in decisions. I believed it professionally responsible to stop this practice after I started to serve as an expert witness in Atkins cases.


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Nature, Nurture, and Human Autonomy with James Flynn - Scott Barry Kaufman

https://scottbarrykaufman.com/podcast/nature-nurture-and-human-autonomy-with-james-flynn/

Nature, Nurture, and Human Autonomy with James Flynn

"When you turn your back on reality you lose the ability to manipulate reality. One would think that is self-evident. I didn't go into this to not try to find the truth." — James Flynn*

Today it is an honor to have Dr. James Flynn on the podcast. Dr. Flynn is Professor Emeritus at the University of Otago and recipient of the University's Gold Medal for Distinguished Career Research. In 2007, the International Society for Intelligence Research named him its Distinguished Contributor. His TED talk on cognitive and moral progress has received over 3.5 million visits. His long list of books include Are We Getting Smarter?, What is Intelligence?, Where Have All the Liberals Gone?, Fate and Philosophy, How to Improve Your Mind, and most recently, Does Your Family Make You Smarter?: Nature, Nurture, and Human Autonomy.

In this episode we cover a wide range of topics relating to intelligence and its determinants, including:

• Flynn's attempts to clarify intelligence and its causes
• The g factor, and what gives rise to it
• The validity of multiple intelligences theory
• Intergenerational trends (the "Flynn effect") vs. Within-generation trends
• The "social multiplier" model of intergenerational trends in intelligence
• Individual multipliers vs. social multipliers
• The multiple causes of black-white differences in IQ
• Charley Murray and the meritocracy thesis
• Transcending the politics of intelligence research
• The dangers of suppressing ideas and research
• The 20% wiggle room of autonomy on IQ tests
• The difference between internal and external environment
• The impact of having a "family handicap" on SAT scores
• What we can learn from astronomy about human intelligence
• Toward a meta-theory of intelligence
• Toward a more humane society

Links

Why our IQ levels are higher than our grandparents [TED Talk]

Reflection about intelligence over 40 years

Heritability Estimates Versus Large Environmental Effects": The IQ Paradox Resolved

IQ Bashing, Breadkdancing, the Flynn Effect, and Genes

Men, Women, and IQ: Setting the Record Straight 

The Flynn Effect and IQ Disparities Among Races, Ethnicities, and Nations: Are There Common Links?

The Role of Luck in Life Success Is Far Greater Than We Realized 

Twitter Q & A with James Flynn

1. "Would a 100 IQ person today be a genius if transported to the year 1918? If not, why not." https://twitter.com/robkhenderson/status/1027707019317403650

Flynn: No, they would just be better adapted in their ability to meet educational demands.

2. "Are you concerned with the growing misuse of genetic causal fallacies in heritability research, and what can be done to make sure that researchers do not assert implications that are not supported by the data? Is this a question of education?" https://twitter.com/NathanH90714587/status/1027690457504002048

Flynn: Whenever I catch them I am disturbed by both bad genetic hypotheses and bad environmental ones.

3. "What has caused the Flynn reversal in Nordic and some other rich countries? Markus Jokela suggested it could be health related." https://twitter.com/mark_ledwich/status/1027685177231695872

Flynn: See this article in Intelligence by myself and Shayer on IQ decline.

4. "Prof. Flynn has written about the increase in non-verbal reasoning on IQ tests that is attributed to the exposure to analytical/sequential/logical reasoning through technology. What should we do, then, to increase the verbal side of our reasoning, or have we reached the peak?" https://twitter.com/jakub_ferenc/status/1027682377169076224

Flynn: Read good literature and stand out against the trend to read less and less (see Flynn, The Torchlight List  and The New Torchlight List.

5. "Could the Flynn effect be based at least partially on a trade off, meaning that with change in culture promoting development of skills associated with higher IQ scores, this rise is at a cost of eg working memory?" https://twitter.com/Kapusta2365/status/1027689783219380225

Flynn: I don't think there is a downward trend in working memory – see Does Your Family Make You Smarter?

6. "Do the intelligence gains the Flynn effect reveals show an in increase in the g factor?" https://twitter.com/DabneyPierce/status/1027684042022432768

Flynn: No – see "Reflection about intelligence over 40 years" just posted on the net.

7. "What do you make of American SAT/ACT trends, that is the Asian scores increases and the Native-American scores declines?" https://twitter.com/UnsilencedSci/status/1027682180737130497

Flynn: Sorry I have only looked at black and white.

8. "Does you ever think there will come a time when rational, non-bigoted people can publicly discuss race and gender topics relating to your research?" https://twitter.com/AFIChai/status/1027732647349547009

Flynn: Well I hope so – but there is no trend in that direction.

—

* Quote taken from a lecture Flynn gave at the University of Cambridge on July 20, 2012.

Related

Dr. Stuart Ritchie on Intelligence, IQ Testing and GeneticsMay 3, 2016In "intelligence"

The Latest Science of Attachment with R. Chris FraleyJuly 5, 2017With 2 comments

Straight Talk about IQ with Christopher ChabrisJune 8, 2015In "intelligence"

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Beyond IQ: Mining the “no-mans-land” between Intelligence and IQ: Journal of Intelligence special issue

I am pleased to see the Journal of Intelligence  addressing the integration of non-cognitive variables (personality; self-beliefs; motivational constructs; often called the “no-mans land” between intelligence and personality— I believe this catchy phrase was first used by Stankov) with intellectual constructs to better understanding human performance. I have had a long-standing interest in such comprehensive models as reflected by my articulation of the Model of Academic Competence and Motivation (MACM) and repeated posting of “beyond IQ” information at my blogs.

Joel Schneider and I briefly touched in this topic in our soon to be published CHC intelligence theory update chapter. Below is the select text and some awesome figures crafted by Joel.

Our simplified conceptual structure of knowledge abilities is presented in Figure 3.10. At the center of overlapping knowledge domains is general knowledge—knowledge and skills considered important for any member of the population to know (e.g., literacy, numeracy, self-care, budgeting, civics, etiquette, and much more). The bulk of each knowledge domain is the province of specialists, but some portion is considered important for all members of society to know. Drawing inspiration from F. L. Schmidt (2011, 2014), we posit that interests and experience drive acquisition of domain-specific knowledge.

In Schmidt's model, individual differences in general knowledge are driven largely by individual differences in fluid intelligence and general interest in learning, also known as typical intellectual engagement (Goff & Ackerman, 1992). In contrast, individual differences in domain-specific knowledge are more driven by domain-specific in-terests, and also by the “tilt” of one's specific abilities (Coyle, Purcell, Snyder, & Richmond, 2014; Pässler, Beinicke, & Hell, 2015). In Figure 3.11, we present a simplified hypothetical synthesis of several ability models in which abilities, interests, and personality traits predict general and specific knowledge (Ackerman, 1996a, 1996b, 2000; Ackerman, Bowen, Beier, & Kanfer, 2001; Ackerman & Heggestad, 1997; Ackerman & Rolfhus, 1999; Fry & Hale, 1996; Goff & Ackerman, 1992; Kail, 2007; Kane et al., 2004; Rolfhus & Ackerman, 1999; Schmidt, 2011, 2014; Schneider et al., 2016; Schneider & Newman, 2015; Woodcock, 1993; Ziegler, Danay, Heene, Asendorpf, & Bühner, 2012).

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Intellectual disability in capital (Atkins) cases: Adjusting state statutes after Moore v Texas

INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY IN CAPITAL CASES: ADJUSTING STATE STATUTES AFTER MOORE V. TEXAS.

• Source: Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy . 2018, Vol. 32 Issue 2, p527-562. 36p.
• Author(s): UPDEGROVE, ALEXANDER H.; VAUGHN, MICHAEL S.; DEL CARMEN, ROLANDO V.

• Abstract: In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution of intellectually disabled inmates violates the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment. Twelve years later in Hall v. Florida (2014), the Court revisited its Atkins decision to provide fu rther clarification on how states should assess intellectual disability. This article examines Moore v. Texas (2017), the latest development in the Court, 's rulings on capital determinations of intellectual disability. It also reviews state statutes and court cases from the thirty-one death penalty states to determine how they comport with the Court's Moore ruling. These statutes and cases shed light on issues with respect to intellectual disability in capital trials that the Court has yet to address. The article concludes with model language to help states make their capital punishment protocols constitutional, so that the intellectually disabled remain free from execution.