Basic cognitive processes of intelligence: Bridging the gap between working memory, executive functions and processing speed

Present research on intelligence discusses several candidate processes that may account for individual differences in general intelligence, e.g working memory capacity (WMC), executive functions (EF) or speed of information... [ view full abstract ]

Present research on intelligence discusses several candidate processes that may account for individual differences in general intelligence, e.g working memory capacity (WMC), executive functions (EF) or speed of information processing (PS). Recent results showed that neural processing speed measured with peak latencies of ERP components is strongly related to general intelligence (r = -.89; Schubert, Hagemann & Frischkorn, 2017). One interpretation of these results is that a higher speed of neural information processing may increase WMC and general intelligence by enhancing the efficiency of selective attention and memory updating. This talk will present results from a new study that further explored this idea. We examined the inter-relations of WMC, EFs and PS and their correlations to general intelligence on a behavioral and neural level. Results showed that processing speed and executive functions could not be separated and showed medium to large correlations with general intelligence and working memory capacity (r = .50 - .60), while working memory capacity was strongly related to general intelligence (r > .90). These results contradict the popular idea that attentional control mechanisms within working memory (e.g. executive functions) are decisive for the relationship between WMC and general intelligence. Instead, EFs and PS both seem to rely on similar cognitive processes that are related to WMC as well as general intelligence.

Schubert, A., Hagemann, D., & Frischkorn, G. T. (2017). Is general intelligence little more than the speed of higher-order processing?. Journal Of Experimental Psychology: General, 146(10), 1498-1512.