Center for Clinical Psychology and Rehabilitation, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
Department of Educational Psychology, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2020 Apr;42(3):240-250. doi: 10.1080/13803395.2019.1705250. Epub 2020 Jan 1.
Substantial overlap between executive functions (EFs) and intelligence has been reported. Yet further research is required with respect to how the specific components of the two constructs are interrelated. The present study was aimed at exploring the relationship between EFs and intelligence by examining the latent structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) and the Executive Functions Module from the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB). The aim was also to test the correspondence of the two measures to the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory. 205 healthy participants, aged 18-89 years, were administered the NAB and WAIS-IV. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to explore the latent constructs underlying the two test batteries. Models based on the current WAIS-IV index structure showed worse model fit than models based on the CHC theory. In particular, factors representing broad CHC abilities comprehension knowledge (Gc), fluid reasoning (Gf), visual processing (Gv), processing speed (Gs), and working memory capacity (Gwm) proved model fit improvement. The best model fit, however, provided a five-factor model combining the Gf and Gwm abilities into one factor and additionally including a retrieval fluency (Gr) factor. The results demonstrate strong relationships between the WAIS-IV and the NAB Executive Functions Module and suggest substantial overlap between EFs and intelligence within the CHC framework. Nevertheless, according to the recent update of the CHC theory, the NAB fluency tasks may represent a distinct EF factor comprising Gr abilities independent from the WAIS-IV.
执行功能（EFs）和智力之间存在大量重叠已被报道。然而，关于这两个结构的具体组成部分如何相互关联，还需要进一步的研究。本研究旨在通过检查韦氏成人智力量表（WAIS-IV）和神经心理评估电池（NAB）中的执行功能模块的潜在结构，来探索 EF 和智力之间的关系。目的还在于测试这两种测量方法与 Cattell-Horn-Carroll（CHC）理论的一致性。205 名年龄在 18 至 89 岁的健康参与者接受了 NAB 和 WAIS-IV 的测试。采用验证性因子分析（CFA）来探索这两种测试组合背后的潜在结构。基于当前 WAIS-IV 指标结构的模型比基于 CHC 理论的模型表现出更差的模型拟合度。特别是，代表广泛的 CHC 能力理解知识（Gc）、流体推理（Gf）、视觉处理（Gv）、加工速度（Gs）和工作记忆能力（Gwm）的因素证明了模型拟合度的提高。然而，最佳模型拟合度提供了一个五因素模型，将 Gf 和 Gwm 能力结合为一个因素，并另外包括一个检索流畅性（Gr）因素。结果表明 WAIS-IV 和 NAB 执行功能模块之间存在很强的关系，并表明在 CHC 框架内 EF 和智力之间存在大量重叠。然而，根据 CHC 理论的最新更新，NAB 流畅性任务可能代表一个独立于 WAIS-IV 的 Gr 能力的独特 EF 因素。
