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How well does IQ predict neuropsychological test performance in normal adults?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2004

CATHERINE M. DIAZ-ASPER ,
DAVID J. SCHRETLEN  and
GODFREY D. PEARLSON
CATHERINE M. DIAZ-ASPER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
DAVID J. SCHRETLEN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
GODFREY D. PEARLSON
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut Olin Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, Institute of Living, Hartford, Connecticut
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Abstract

The strength and nature of the association between IQ and performance on other cognitive tests has both practical and conceptual significance for clinical neuropsychology. In this study, 28 measures derived from 16 cognitive tests were analyzed as a function of IQ in 221 adults. Participants were grouped by their IQ scores as having below average (BA), average (A), or above average (AA) intelligence. Planned comparisons revealed that A adults performed significantly better than BA adults on 25 of the 28 cognitive measures, and that AA adults performed significantly better than A adults on 19 of 28 measures. Effect sizes averaged .74 for BA–A comparisons and .41 for A–AA comparisons. Linear, quadratic, and cubic functions described the relationships between IQ and cognitive test performance equally well for most individual test measures and for a composite index of test performance, whereas quadratic and cubic functions explained the proportion of abnormal performances better than a linear function. These findings confirm that IQ predicts concurrent neuropsychological performance across the entire spectrum of intelligence, but more so among persons of average IQ or less than among those with above average IQ. (JINS, 2004, 10, 82–90.)

Keywords

IntelligenceNeuropsychologyNormal adults

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 82 - 90
Copyright
© 2004 The International Neuropsychological Society

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