Intellectual Competence & the Death Penalty: 2023

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Generational intelligence tests score changes in Spain: Are we asking the right question? - ScienceDirect

Generational intelligence tests score changes in Spain: Are we asking the right question? - ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289623000533

Generational intelligence test score gains have been documented worldwide in the twentieth century. However, recent evidence suggests these increased scores are coming to an end in some world regions. Here we compare two cohorts of university freshmen. The first cohort (n = 311) was assessed in 1991, whereas the second cohort (n = 349) was assessed thirty years later (2022). These cohorts completed the same intelligence battery including eight standardized speeded and power tests tapping reasoning (abstract and quantitative), language (vocabulary, verbal comprehension, and verbal meanings), rote calculation, and visuospatial relations. The results revealed a global gain of 3.5 IQ points but also upward and downward changes at the test level. The 2022 cohort outperformed the 1991 cohort on reasoning (abstract and quantitative), verbal comprehension, and vocabulary, whereas the 1991 cohort outscored the 2022 cohort on rote calculation, visuospatial relations (mental rotation and identical figures), and verbal meanings. These findings are thought to support one key claim made by James Flynn: generational changes on the specific cognitive abilities and skills tapped by standardized tests should be expected without appreciable or substantive changes in the structure of the intelligence construct identified within generations. This main conclusion is discussed with respect to theoretical causal implications putatively derived from current intelligence psychometric models.

******************************************
Kevin S. McGrew, PhD
Educational & School Psychologist
Director
Institute for Applied Psychometrics (IAP)
https://www.themindhub.com
******************************************

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Inmate convicted in 1981 Memphis murder moved off death row

Inmate convicted in 1981 Memphis murder moved off death row
https://wreg.com/news/investigations/shelby-county-inmate-moves-off-death-row/?utm_source=TMP-Newsletter&utm_campaign=c18c273c09-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_05_10_11_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e02cdad9d-c18c273c09-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Friday, March 3, 2023

Looking for Flynn effects in a recent online U.S. adult sample: Examining shifts within the SAPA Project - ScienceDirect

Looking for Flynn effects in a recent online U.S. adult sample: Examining shifts within the SAPA Project - ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289623000156?via%3Dihub

Compared to European countries, research is limited regarding if the Flynn effect, or its reversal, is a current phenomenon in the United States. Though recent research on the United States suggests that a Flynn effect could still be present, or partially present, among child and adolescent samples, few studies have explored differences of cognitive ability scores among US adults. Thirteen years of cross-sectional data from a subsample of adults (n

= 394,378) were obtained from the Synthetic Aperture Personality Assessment Project (SAPA Project) to examine if cognitive ability scores changed within the United States from 2006 to 2018. Responses to an overlapping set of 35 (collected 2006–2018) and 60 (collected 2011–2018) items from the open-source multiple choice intelligence assessment International Cognitive Ability Resource (ICAR) were used to examine the trends in standardized average composite cognitive ability scores and domain scores of matrix reasoning, letter and number series, verbal reasoning, and three-dimensional rotation. Composite ability scores from 35 items and domain scores (matrix reasoning; letter and number series) showed a pattern consistent with a reversed Flynn effect from 2006 to 2018 when stratified across age, education, or gender. Slopes for verbal reasoning scores, however, failed to meet or exceed an annual threshold of |0.02| SD. A reversed Flynn effect was also present from 2011 to 2018 for composite ability scores from 60 items across age, education, and gender. Despite declining scores across age and demographics in other domains of cognitive ability, three-dimensional rotation scores showed evidence of a Flynn effect with the largest slopes occurring across age stratified regressions.

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Reframing the clouded scientific spectacles of the Flynn effect: A view through two lenses - ScienceDirect

Reframing the clouded scientific spectacles of the Flynn effect: A view through two lenses - ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160289623000168?via%3Dihub

Flynn argued that the Flynn effect was due to an increasing use of "scientific spectacles" among the general population (Flynn, 2010), yet the Flynn effect itself has been viewed through clouded scientific spectacles. Most research has focused on Flynn's main finding: IQ scores have increased over time. Flynn (1987) presumed the effect was a cohort (generational) effect, yet a variety of within- and between-person processes could give rise to the observed secular changes. Many theories have been put forth as to the fundamental cause of the Flynn effect. Frequently ignored is what a specific cause implies the Flynn effect would look like at different levels of analysis and in the context of different research designs. In this paper we present two 'lenses' with which to view a potential causal model of the Flynn effect, in the hopes of closing some of the current gaps emerging from past research. First, we propose an examination of within- versus between-person processes. Relatedly, we propose that the exclusive focus on normed measures of intelligence has hampered understanding of what functional form the Flynn effect might take, particularly during development. Consideration of "raw" intelligence is likely to be fruitful. For our second lens, we consider the framework of age-period-cohort modeling to categorize what kind of effect a given model implies. We examine several causal theories of the Flynn effect through these lenses. Viewed through our lenses, we find that certain causal theories are, perhaps, somewhat incomplete in their specification of all the relevant processes.

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Law and psychology must think critically about effect sizes | SpringerLink

Law and psychology must think critically about effect sizes | SpringerLink
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44202-022-00062-2

Abstract
This comment examines a threat to the development of law and psychology as a "public science" (i.e., one that goes beyond theory to address important issues in society), a failure to think critically about effect sizes. Effect sizes estimate the strength or magnitude of the relationship between variables and therefore can help decision makers understand whether scientific results are relevant to some legal or policy outcome. Accordingly, I suggest that those conducting and reporting law and psychology research should: (1) justify why observed effect sizes are meaningful and report them candidly and transparently, (2) scrutinize effect sizes to determine if they are plausible, and (3) plan studies such that they fit with the researchers' inferential goals. I explore these points by way of case studies on influential law and psychology studies, such as implicit bias in the courtroom. I end with suggestions for implementing my recommendations, including a metaresearch agenda for law and psychology

Intellectual Competence & the Death Penalty