Dead Russian geniuses brain collection

Interesting post at Mind Hacks regarding a collection of brains of dead Russian geniuses.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, neuropsychology, brain, Russia, Soviet Union

Brain scan neurohype

Thanks to Mind Hacks for the tip regarding very good article in Wired Magazine regarding the over-hype of brain scans for individuals.

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IQ's Corner Recent Literature of Interest 5-20-08

This weeks recent literature of interest can be found by clicking here.

Technorati tags: teaching tool. psychology. educational psychology. school psychology.

Guide to your body- how to age well

Nice article in NY TIMES regarding a guide to your body and how to age well.

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IQ Brain Clock research summary packet

This is a copy of a post I just made at IQ's Corner sister blog--The IQ Brain Clock.


The Interactive Metronome neurotechnology company, with some assistance from yours truly (see conflict of interest disclosure), has put together a "Timing Research" packet that summarizes some (but not all) of the major mental timing (IQ Brain Clock) research studies published to date, some dealing with the IM-specific intervention research, others dealing with related background research articles.

Click here to view/download (warning...it is 5+ MB and may download slow if you are on dial-up or are using wifi). It will also be added to the key research articles section of the IQ Brain Clock blog.

Misc: Gallery of drug ads

From the "Of Two Minds" blog

This gallery is sweet! The Online gallery of modern and vintage psychiatric drug advertising has a large selection of some pretty scary old drug advertisements and packaging.

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IQs Corner Book Nook APA reviews 5-20-08

A new issue of PsycCRITIQUES is available online.

• If you would like subscription information, please go to http://www.apa.org/psyccritiques.
• If you have a subscription to the product and experience any access problems, please go to http://members1.apa.org/memhelp1.html.

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May 21, 2008
Volume 53, Issue 21

Book Reviews
1.	Authoritative Communities: The Scientific Case for Nurturing the Whole Child Author: Kathleen Kovner Kline (Ed.) Reviewer: David W. Carroll
2.	Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience Author: Alice Rothchild Reviewer: Andrea Blanch
3.	Handbook of Emotion Elicitation and Assessment Authors: James A. Coan and John J. B. Allen (Eds.) Reviewer: Sharon Rae Jenkins
4.	The Substance Abuse Handbook Authors: Pedro Ruiz, Eric Strain, and John Langrod Reviewer: John C. Roitzsch
5.	Sex Discrimination in the Workplace Authors: Faye J. Crosby, Margaret S. Stockdale, and S. Ann Ropp (Eds.) Reviewer: Steven M. Elias
6.	In the Shadow of Death: Restorative Justice and Death Row Families Authors: Elizabeth Beck, Sarah Britto, and Arlene Andrews Reviewer: Norman A. White
7.	Social Competence in Children Author: Margaret Semrud-Clikeman Reviewers: Victoria Talwar and Sarah-Jane Renaud
8.	Closing the Leadership Gap: How District and University Partnerships Shape Effective School Leaders Authors: Teresa N. Miller, Mary Devin, and Robert J. Shoop Reviewer: Catherine Scott
9.	Freud's Art—Psychoanalysis Retold Author: Janet Sayers Reviewer: Gerd H. Fenchel
10.	Bullying: A Handbook for Educators and Parents Authors: Ian Rivers, Neil Duncan, and Valerie E. Besag Reviewers: Georgette Yetter and Stephanie Backof
11.	Biology of Freedom: Neural Plasticity, Experience, and the Unconscious Authors: François Ansermet and Pierre Magistretti (Susan Fairfield, Trans.) Reviewer: E. James Lieberman
Video Review
12.	Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents With Multiple Problems with Alec L. Miller Reviewer: Kristin B. Webb

Research Bytes # 3: Working memory in recent Intelligence issues

I give up. I can't keep up with the sheer mass of working-memory research articles I acquire, with the full intention of reading and make blog comment posts. There is simply tooooooo much being published. My prior post today (Working memory research is hot) provides links to all IQ's Corner working memory posts and a fresh working memory reference bibliography.

Below are working-memory articles (reference and abstracts only) that were either in the latest issue of Intelligence or are "in press" in the journal. If someone wants to take the time to read one or more of these articles and produce a guest Virtual Scholars blog post, I'd be willing to provide the volunteers with access to the articles off-line. Contact me via email if you are interested in helping keep readers abreast of recent research in this area.

Vock, M & Holling, H (2008). The measurement of visuo–spatial and verbal–numerical workingmemory: Development of IRT-based scales. Intelligence, 36, 161–182

• The objective of this study is to explore the potential for developing IRT-based working memory scales for assessing specific working memory components in children (8–13 years). These working memory scales should measure cognitive abilities reliably in the upper range of ability distribution as well as in the normal range, and provide a much-needed, reliable, and valid test for assessing high intellectual abilities in children. Six computer-assisted working memory tasks were administered to 172 children from regular schools and to 202 children from special schools and other institutions for the gifted. A factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure and the existence of a verbal–numerical and a visuo–spatial working memory scale. Classical item analysis and IRT analysis yielded good psychometric properties for both scales and revealed that the scales are appropriate for measuring high cognitive abilities. Both scales showed substantial and differential power for the explanation of variance in school achievement.

Lynn, R. & Iwring, P. (2008). Sex differences in mental arithmetic, digit span, and g defined as working memory capacity. Intelligence, 36, 226–235

• Meta-analyses are presented of sex differences in (1) the (mental) arithmetic subtest of the Wechsler intelligence tests for children and adolescents (the WISC and WPPSI tests), showing that boys obtained a mean advantage of .11d; (2) the (mental) arithmetic subtest of the Wechsler intelligence tests for adults (the WAIS tests) showing a mean male advantage of .47d; (3) the digit span subtest of the Wechsler intelligence tests for children and adolescents (the WISC and WPPSI tests), showing that girls obtained a mean advantage of .134d; (4) the digit span subtest of the Wechsler intelligence tests for adults (the WAIS tests) show in a male advantage of .116d among adults. These results show that the sex differences on mental arithmetic are not consistent with the sex differences on digit span. It is proposed that the reason for this is that mental arithmetic is a measure of working memory capacity while digit span is a measure of immediate memory capacity. If this is accepted, the results indicate that there is virtually no sex difference in immediate memory capacity (measured by digit span) but a small male advantage among children and a substantial male advantage among adults in working memory capacity (measured by mental arithmetic). The results are further interpreted in terms of Kyllonen's theory that working memory capacity is g. If this is accepted, it follows that males have an advantage in g and that the higher average means obtained by men in IQ tests like the WAIS and the Progressive Matrices is attributable to their advantage in g.

Colom, R. et al. (2008, in press). Working memory and intelligence are highly related constructs, but why?

• Working memory and the general factor of intelligence (g) are highly related constructs. However, we still don't know why. Some models support the central role of simple short-term storage, whereas others appeal to executive functions like the control of attention. Nevertheless, the available empirical evidence does not suffice to get an answer, presumably because relevant measures are frequently considered in isolation. To overcome this problem, here we consider concurrently simple short-term storage, mental speed, updating, and the control of attention along with working memory and intelligence measures, across three separate studies. Several diverse measures are administered to a total of 661 participants. The findings are consistent with the view that simple short term storage largely accounts for the relationship between working memory and intelligence. Mental speed, updating, and the control of attention are not consistently related to working memory, and they are not genuinely associated with intelligence once the short-term storage component is removed.

Oberauer, K. et al. (2008, in press). Which working memory functions predict intelligence? Intelligence.

• Investigates the relationship between three factors of working memory (storage and processing, relational integration, and supervision) and four factors of intelligence (reasoning, speed, memory, and creativity) using structural equation models. Relational integration predicted reasoning ability at least as well as the storage-and-processing construct. Supervision, measured as specific switch costs, was not related to intelligence, but general switch costs were moderately correlated to the reasoning factor. The results question the view of working memory as a device for storage and processing, and the executive-attention account of working memory. They are better explained by theories describing working memory as a system for building relational representations through tempora