THE NEED FOR THIS SURVEY

The chief goal of this volume is to present an up-to-date review and critique of the extant literature on the identification, characteristics, and interpretation of cognitive abilities. Much of the literature covered consists of studies using factor analysis, but some attention is also given to studies that did not use factor analysis but presented correlations among pertinent variables, in some cases with further analysis by various techniques such as multiple regression and multidimensional scaling.

Surveys of the correlational and factor-analytic literature on cognitive abilities have appeared periodically over the course of the last 60 years. Spearman's Abilities of Man (1927) considered a limited number of investigations of cognitive abilities; most were appraised in terms of whether they supported Spearman's two-factor theory of intelligence. Next in chronological sequence was Wolfle's (1940) survey of factor analysis to 1940, covering both methodological and substantive progress to that year. In the domain of cognitive factors, Wolfle reported that the factors most generally agreed upon were the verbal, number, space, memory, speed, and reasoning factors, besides, of course, the general factor recognized by Spearman.

Of major importance and influence was a monograph by French (1951) containing a compilation and comparison of the findings from 69 factorial datasets, available at the time, that met certain criteria.