Jensen''s reaction-time investigations of intel-ligence: A critique

Abstract Jensen has reported a series of reaction-time studies which lead him to conclude that various parameters correlate significantly with IQ. Certain of these parameters are especially emphasized because of their theoretical background and the resulting theoretical light they shed upon the nature of intelligence. Two of the lime-lighted parameters are slope of RT across set size and increasing correlations of RT with IQ as set size increases. I review these studies in detail. I conclude that Jensen's claims are unwarranted. There are many difficulties in his approach that cover the entire gamut from method to data to theory. Some original reseach of my own is reported to illustrate the methodological problems with Jensen's procedure. The data that he alludes to often do not support his claims. The theory that he applies does not fit his paradigm. My conclusion: such research is not easy.

[1]  D. F. Fisher,et al.  Hick's law and the speed-accuracy trade-off in absolute judgment , 1972 .

[2]  G. Miller,et al.  Plans and the structure of behavior , 1960 .

[3]  John Theios,et al.  Reaction Time Measurements in the Study of Memory Processes: Theory and Data1 , 1973 .

[4]  W. E. Hick.  Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology , 1948, Nature.

[5]  W H Teichner,et al.  Laws of visual choice reaction time. , 1974, Psychological review.

[6]  R. Hyman.  Stimulus information as a determinant of reaction time. , 1953, Journal of experimental psychology.

[7]  H. Schiffman.  Sensation and Perception: An Integrated Approach , 1976 .

[8]  E. Hunt.  Mechanics of Verbal Ability. , 1978 .

[9]  L L SLOAN,et al.  Peripheral visual acuity with special reference to scotopic illumination. , 1947, American journal of ophthalmology.

[10]  T Nettelbeck,et al.  Intelligence, reaction time, and inspection time. , 1977, American journal of mental deficiency.

[11]  R. E. Morin,et al.  INFORMATION AND REACTION TIME FOR "NAMING" RESPONSES. , 1965, Journal of experimental psychology.

[12]  A. Jensen,et al.  Methodological and Statistical Techniques for the Chronometric Study of Mental Abilities , 1985 .

[13]  J. Carroll.  Individual Difference Relations in Psychometric and Experimental Cognitive Tasks , 1980 .

[14]  Robert G Pachella,et al.  The Interpretation of Reaction Time in Information-Processing Research 1 , 1973, Human Information Processing.

[15]  A. Jensen,et al.  Reaction Time and Psychometric g , 1982 .

[16]  R. Sternberg.  Nothing Fails Like Success: The Search for an Intelligent Paradigm for Studying Intelligence. , 1981 .

[17]  Howard S. Bashinski,et al.  Enhancement of perceptual sensitivity as the result of selectively attending to spatial locations , 1980, Perception & psychophysics.

[18]  P. Goolkasian,et al.  Peripheral vision location and kinds of complex processing. , 1974, Journal of experimental psychology.

[19]  E. A. Alluisi,et al.  Some variables influencing the rate of gain of information. , 1962, Journal of experimental psychology.

[20]  P. Vernon.  Reaction time and intelligence in the mentally retarted , 1981 .

[21]  S. Sternberg.  Memory-scanning: mental processes revealed by reaction-time experiments. , 1969, American scientist.

[22]  P. Vernon.  Speed of Information Processing and General Intelligence. , 1983 .

[23]  A. Jensen,et al.  Reaction Time, Movement Time, and Intelligence , 1979 .

[24]  J. Kerr,et al.  Visual resolution in the periphery , 1971 .

[25]  A. L. Edwards,et al.  An introduction to linear regression and correlation. , 1985 .

[26]  S. Madigan,et al.  Sex differences in the correlation of memory span with scan and other episodic memory tasks , 1982 .

[27]  E. B. Coleman.  The Solzhenitsyn Finger Test: A significance test for spontaneous recovery. , 1979 .

[28]  Joan E. Regan,et al.  Automaticity and learning: Effects of familiarity on naming letters. , 1981 .

[29]  T. Nettelbeck,et al.  Measures of timed performance and intelligence , 1983 .

[30]  A. Jensen,et al.  Reaction time, evoked brain potentials, and psychometric g in the severely retarded , 1981 .

[31]  C. E. SHANNON,et al.  A mathematical theory of communication , 1948, MOCO.

[32]  James C. Johnston,et al.  Effects of advance precuing of alternatives on the perception of letters alone and in words. , 1981 .

[33]  Allen Newell,et al.  Report on a general problem-solving program , 1959, IFIP Congress.