Introduction Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been increasingly applied to investigate the neural architecture of intellectual giftedness; however, current evidence remains fragmented due to heterogeneous definitions, small sample sizes, and methodological variability. Aim This scoping review synthesises MRI findings on the structural and functional neural correlates of giftedness in children and adolescents, to identify convergent patterns and pinpoint key conceptual and methodological gaps. Methods A comprehensive search of the literature identified eleven peer-reviewed studies using functional MRI, diffusion MRI, and structural morphometry. Studies were screened according to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) framework and summarized narratively across imaging modalities. Results Across modalities, the available evidence suggests recurring patterns consistent with a systems-level neural organisation. Gifted youth tend to show broader and more bilateral engagement of the fronto-parietal network during demanding reasoning and visuospatial tasks, alongside indications of strengthened long-range white-matter pathways and distinctive morphometric characteristics—including reduced cortical thickness and increased cortical surface area in association networks.Connectomic analyses further suggest more globally efficient and less segregated large-scale structural organisation. Discussion Substantial heterogeneity in definitions of giftedness and inconsistency in imaging methodologies limit the comparability and interpretability of findings. Current evidence is consistent with a developmental interpretation of some recurring neural patterns observed across heterogeneous high-ability samples, although this interpretation remains provisional given the predominantly cross-sectional nature of the data. Future research should prioritize harmonized identification criteria, longitudinal multimodal imaging, and large-scale collaborative datasets to build a cumulative neuroscience of giftedness.
This study, using data from the 2022–2023 INVALSI assessment, examined whether differences in mathematics and reading achievement, in terms of both mean scores and variability, exist between northern and southern Italian provinces and between boys and girls in fifth grade (Mage = 10.96, SD = 0.30, range = 9–13). We used a moderated factor analysis on a representative sample of about 10,000 students to test whether the differences reflected true underlying abilities or item-specific biases. As for mathematics, results showed that girls scored slightly lower and showed less variability compared to boys, while students from southern provinces showed a negligible mean advantage. In reading, girls scored higher. Students from southern provinces scored lower, with no meaningful variability differences. The analysis also revealed differential item functioning in both mathematics and reading, suggesting item-specific biases in relation to sex and provinces. Overall, these findings suggest that the achievement gaps reflect the complex interaction between student abilities and item-specific bias across different demographic characteristics.
In order to accurately assess and characterize spatial ability, commonly used measures of this ability need to be evaluated psychometrically and compared to determine whether they measure the same or different constructs (Uttal, McKee, Simms, Hegarty, & Newcombe, 2024). Here we examined computer-administered versions of three commonly used tests of mental rotation ability, the Flags Test (Thurstone & Jeffrey, 1959), the Mental Rotations Test (Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978), and the Revised Purdue Spatial Visualization Test (Yoon, 2011). On the basis of Item Response Theory (IRT) analyses, and concerns about the validity of some test items, we created shortened and refined versions of these tests, which maintained the high reliability of the original tests. The three refined test versions were then combined into a 35-item hybrid mental rotation test. The hybrid test showed high reliability and general factor saturation, and was best fit by a Hierarchical Bifactor IRT model, with all items loading on a general ability factor, and the items from each test also loading on subfactors reflecting test-specific differences. No evidence for a separate ability to mentally rotate 3-dimensional vs. 2-dimensional figures was found. The hybrid test showed high precision across a wide range of ability (±2 standard deviations from average) and a small gender difference in favor of men. The hybrid test functions well as an efficient measure of mental rotation ability across a wide range of difficulty that is less confounded by strategy, visual perception, and time constraints than the original individual tests.
What determines differences in student achievement? Obvious candidates include individual differences in learning abilities and educational contexts at multiple levels: countries, schools, and classrooms. A fundamental developmental question is whether the relative importance of these factors changes as students mature. We develop and test competing hypotheses: some predict amplification of system-level advantages over time, while others emphasize increasing individual differentiation and institutional sorting. Using a cross-sectional cohort design across three TIMSS cohorts (2011-2023), we compare achievement variance structures in Grade 4 and Grade 8 across dozens of countries. We find a systematic reallocation of achievement variance: the proportion attributable to countries decreases substantially, while the proportion attributable to classes increases consistently-a pattern uniquely predicted by our integrated Individual Differences framework. In a second analysis, we use students' relative standing within their country as a proxy for individual learning characteristics. A formal model predicts that if country-level variance decreases relative to individual-level variance, the slope relating individual characteristics to system quality should be shallower in Grade 8 than Grade 4. We confirm this prediction: students in weaker systems need a smaller compensatory advantage in individual characteristics to reach a given achievement level in Grade 8 than in Grade 4. Both analyses converge on the same conclusion: individual characteristics become increasingly important as students mature. These findings challenge assumptions of straightforward compounding of system-level advantages and illuminate a complex interplay between individual development and educational differentiation.
Despite decades of theoretical and empirical work, consciousness has received comparatively limited attention within psychometrics and individual differences research. Building on Block's (1995) distinction between phenomenal and access consciousness, the present paper argues that access consciousness—the availability of information for reasoning, decision-making, and behavioral control—may be conceptualized as a structured cognitive capacity relevant to intelligence. Major theories of consciousness are reviewed to identify areas of both convergence and divergence with established models of cognitive ability. Drawing on structural dependencies among the types of information available to a system, a five-level model of access consciousness is introduced (Sensory, Perceptual, Causal, Intentional, and Meta-Consciousness), characterized by increasing informational complexity and supported by evidence relating to individual differences, neurophysiological correlates, developmental trajectories, and adaptive function. By framing access consciousness as a quantifiable construct with a hypothesized positive manifold across levels, the paper proposes a candidate group factor of access consciousness (Gac) amenable to future psychometric evaluation. The framework aims to bridge historically separated domains of consciousness and intelligence research, providing a basis for empirical investigation into whether individual differences in conscious access represent a meaningful dimension of cognitive ability.
Differences in emotional intelligence (EI) between gifted and non-gifted peers are commonly proposed, yet available evidence remains equivocal, likely reflecting heterogeneity in EI conceptualization and assessment. We conducted a preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative observational studies conducted since 1990 and available in English, French, Italian, Turkish, Portuguese, or Spanish (OSF registration DOI: blinded). ERIC, MEDLINE, Open Access Theses and Dissertations, PsycInfo, ResearchGate, and TESEO were searched on 8 June 2023 and updated, plus Scopus and WoS, on 26 May 2025; additionally, specialist journals were hand-searched, and reference lists were screened. Two reviewers independently screened titles/abstracts and full texts, extracted data, and resolved disagreements by consensus (third-reviewer adjudication). Of 684 records screened, 61 full texts were assessed, and 29 studies met the inclusion criteria. We synthesized group differences using 28 dimension-specific random-effects meta-analyses, estimating standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals and prediction intervals to gauge expected effects in new samples. EI outcomes were classified by theoretical framework (ability vs. trait-mixed) and measurement modality (performance-based vs. self-report). Across dimensions, pooled effects provided no evidence of systematic EI differences between gifted and nongifted students. Adaptability was the sole dimension favoring gifted students; however, its prediction interval included negative values, indicating limited generalizability and context-dependent effects. Overall, the evidence does not support a generalized EI advantage associated with giftedness, underscoring the importance of dimension-level synthesis.
In order to accurately assess and characterize spatial ability, commonly used measures of this ability need to be evaluated psychometrically and compared to determine whether they measure the same or different constructs (Uttal, McKee, Simms, Hegarty, & Newcombe, 2024). Here we examined computer-administered versions of three commonly used tests of mental rotation ability, the Flags Test (Thurstone & Jeffrey, 1959), the Mental Rotations Test (Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978), and the Revised Purdue Spatial Visualization Test (Yoon, 2011). On the basis of Item Response Theory (IRT) analyses, and concerns about the validity of some test items, we created shortened and refined versions of these tests, which maintained the high reliability of the original tests. The three refined test versions were then combined into a 35-item hybrid mental rotation test. The hybrid test showed high reliability and general factor saturation, and was best fit by a Hierarchical Bifactor IRT model, with all items loading on a general ability factor, and the items from each test also loading on subfactors reflecting test-specific differences. No evidence for a separate ability to mentally rotate 3-dimensional vs. 2-dimensional figures was found. The hybrid test showed high precision across a wide range of ability (+/- 2 standard deviations from average) and a small gender difference in favor of men. The hybrid test functions well as an efficient measure of mental rotation ability across a wide range of difficulty that is less confounded by strategy, visual perception, and time constraints than the original individual tests.
In this piece there is a resume of some of the most-cited (though maybe less-than-closely-read) articles on construct validity, and a rediscovery that they articulate it in various ways, including destroying it. That moves on to considering: whether ideas about construct validity are different from/part of the philosophy of science; whether scientists generally and those, more specifically, working in intelligence, acquaint themselves with these ideas and guide their practice from having done so (and whether it matters if they don't); and whether the relationship between writers about construct validity/philosophy of science and empirical researchers is bite or bark (aka fire or smoke). Then, with attention to the construct/idea/field of individual differences in intelligence, there is an as-honest-as-introspection-affords account of what intelligence is like in this researcher's head: thus, the murder board, the magic number, and the breadcrumb trail. Conclusion: whereas intelligence test scores continue to accrue their impressive empirical regularities and its bio-, psycho-, and social- origins prove hard to divine, and whereas there will continue to be writings about construct validity, maybe most researchers in the field will continue to have their bespoke and more-or-less well-researched and -applied guardrails against bad science.
This study examined whether intelligence is associated with the link between sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) and depressive symptoms, and whether emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) help explain this association. Using cross-sectional survey data from 3453 students (ages 10-15) in an academically oriented public school in Beijing, China, we used the second type of mediated moderation to examine the total and indirect moderating associations of intelligence with the SPS-depressive symptoms link via emotion regulation strategy use. Results showed that SPS was significantly and positively associated with depressive symptoms (r = 0.344, p < .001). Intelligence was indirectly associated with the strength of the SPS-depressive symptoms link via two emotion regulation strategies. Intelligence was positively associated with cognitive reappraisal (beta = 0.103, p < .001), and this pathway was linked to a weaker SPS-depressive symptoms association (indirect effect = -0.009, 95% CI [-0.014, -0.004]). Intelligence was also negatively associated with expressive suppression (beta = -0.050, p = .011), and lower expressive suppression was in turn associated with a weaker SPS-depressive symptoms association (indirect effect = -0.002, 95% CI [-0.005, -0.001]). Effect sizes were small, and findings should be interpreted as preliminary associations pending replication. The findings suggest that individual differences in intelligence may be linked to depressive symptoms partly through differences in emotion regulation strategy use, while SPS remains positively associated with depressive symptoms. Given the cross-sectional design, conclusions are limited to associations. These findings may inform future longitudinal research and school-based support for students with high SPS.
Transformational giftedness has recently emerged as an important construct in giftedness research; however, instruments to measure attitudes toward it remain limited. Thus, we aimed to develop a valid and reliable instrument to assess attitudes toward transformational giftedness among gifted middle school students, following Zhou's (2019) five-step mixed methods model. We first qualitatively explored transformational giftedness with 20 students. Secondly, we generated the item pool for the Transformational Giftedness Scale (TGS). Third, eight field experts evaluated the TGS items to establish content validity. Fourth, following the pilot study, we administered the TGS to 571 gifted students. Lastly, we examined the items' construct-based validation, including EFA, CFA, convergent-discriminant validity, and measurement invariance for gender. The EFA revealed a twofactor structure (transformational and transactional) explaining 51.64% of the total variance, and the CFA supported this structure. In addition, the findings demonstrated acceptable convergent validity, satisfactory discriminant validity, and measurement invariance for both boys and girls. Furthermore, the TGS scores demonstrated high internal consistency (alpha = 0.81-0.93; omega = 0.80-0.92), with a stratified alpha coefficient of 0.93 for the total score. Consequently, the TGS emerges as a robust and reliable instrument for measuring middle school gifted students' attitudes on transformational giftedness.
The brain's modular organisation is essential for cognition, yet how anatomical modularity relates to cognitive performance in children and depends on network construction methods remains unclear. We investigated this in 29 male children (15 gifted, 14 control) by comparing anatomical modular patterns of the von Economo (VE) atlas between morphometric similarity networks (MSNs) and morphometric inverse divergence (MIND) networks across densities. Group-and individual-level analyses examined VE-region pair connectivity and intra-/inter-modular connectivity using directional statistics, mean signed Euclidean distance, and Spearman correlation. In this dataset, MSN showed stronger group discrimination and cognitive associations than MIND, with the clearest patterns in the 0.05-0.15 density range. Across both networks, higher cognitive performance was associated with stronger intra-modular connectivity and, more clearly in MSN, reduced inter-modular connectivity. Convergent descriptive patterns across metrics highlighted increased within-module connectivity in frontal association areas (VE 2-2) and secondary sensory areas (VE 4-4), and reduced coupling between posterior association and secondary sensory areas (VE 3-4). Divergent patterns in certain pairs (e.g., VE 1-7, 2-7 and 5-6) underscore methodological distinctions between network types. Because many VE-pair and density-specific analyses were exploratory and no formal multiple-comparisons correction was applied, the highlighted pairwise findings are interpreted as pattern convergence across complementary metrics rather than as corrected confirmatory inference. These exploratory findings, limited to a small sample of male children, suggest that network construction method and density choice can influence detection of modularity-behaviour associations. This offers preliminary guidance for future work on anatomical modularity and cognition in children.
The present study tested the properties of a cognitive psychometric model for the joint analysis of responses and response times in binding-type working memory capacity (WMC) tasks. These models aim to decompose the task solving process into a set of informative process parameters and to dissociate person and item effects at the same time. Specifically, we fit an IRT-race model with two accumulators to data from three binding-type WMC tests (letter-colour: N = 2,385, word-number: N = 3,898, letter-position: N = 2,272). The accumulator for correct responses (knowledge accumulator) was interpreted as the efficiency of binding processes, the accumulator for incorrect responses (discontinuation accumulator) as a tendency to discontinue the task at hand. The fitted models displayed decent fit to the data. Reliability of the trait estimates across the three tests was satisfactory (omega = 0.86 and omega = 0.76 for the two accumulators). Validity of the trait estimates was investigated through correlations with performance in different working memory updating tests, a test of crystallized intelligence, and with the Big Five personality traits. Notably, the trait estimate for the knowledge accumulator was correlated more strongly with updating performance (r = 0.62) as compared to standard accuracy scores (r = 0.52). Furthermore, there was a moderate negative correlation of the trait estimate for the discontinuation accumulator with Openness (r = -0.26) and with crystallized intelligence (r = -0.26). This study demonstrates that individual differences in process parameters can be incrementally predictive when modelled reliably.
Construct validation in intelligence testing is often driven by factor-analytic models. Yet global fit can coexist with weak evidence that item demands represent the target attribute. This article introduces Construct-Signature Validity (CSV), a design-based framework. Within the CSV framework, one source of evidence for construct validity is the degree to which pre-specified ability-by-complexity patterns are observed in test data. CSV treats intelligence as observable in person-by-task-demand patterns rather than only as a trait inferred from undifferentiated covariation. CSV outlines three nested signatures: a within-subtest signature (SCI), indexed by ordered correlations among low-, medium-, and high-complexity band scores across ability levels; a within-domain signature (DCI), indexed by a shift of the peak cross-subtest coherence to the complexity level matching group ability; and an item-level signature (ICI), indexed by ordered success probabilities and drop-contrast conditions across complexity bands. CSV is demonstrated with a secondary analysis of norming data from the Anadolu-Sak Intelligence Scale (ASIS). Items from four nonverbal subtests were classified a priori into three complexity levels, and children were divided into three IQ groups. SCI matched the predicted order at both low- and high-ability bands. However, the evidence was partial because the adjacent correlations were close and the key differences were small. The medium band showed adjacency without the predicted transition. DCI supported the expected peak shift in the high-ability group, but only partially in the low-ability group, and was absent in the medium-ability group. At the item level, percent-correct profiles and a binomial GEE model showed a reliable ability-by-complexity interaction. CSV complements factor models by providing testable evidence about where construct representation and calibration hold or fail across the ability distribution.
This study examined the relationship between creative self-beliefs and critical thinking disposition using a network analysis approach. The sample comprised 672 final-year undergraduates who completed the Short Scale of Creative Self (SSCS) and the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (CTDS). A regularized partial correlation network estimated via EBICglasso revealed that the two domains were largely organized into distinct but weakly connected communities. Although cross-construct associations were generally small, bridge centrality analyses identified specific items—particularly those reflecting openness to new ideas and perceived capacity to cope with complex situations—as key connectors between the two systems. Classical centrality indices further indicated that creative personal identity constituted the structural core of the creative self-beliefs network, whereas reflective self-monitoring emerged as central within critical thinking disposition. Community detection analysis further supported a two-community structure consistent with partial segregation between constructs. Overall, the findings suggest that creative self-beliefs and critical thinking disposition function as relatively differentiated yet selectively integrated systems. These results highlight the importance of targeting specific bridge processes when designing educational interventions aimed at fostering both creative and critical thinking in higher education.
Figural matrices typically consist of multiple distinct logical rules, requiring test-takers to disengage from one rule before applying the next. Prior studies have consistently shown moderate associations between matrix performance and task-switching ability. However, these findings are largely based on correlational data. The present two-study article aimed to (a) determine, on a theoretical level, whether task-switching ability is functionally involved in matrix processing, and (b) assess, from a diagnostic perspective, whether relaxing the constraint of distinct rules within a single matrix threatens psychometric validity. To this end, we manipulated matrices to include both distinct-rule and identical-rule transitions, enabling experimental within-subject comparisons of matrix processing in both conditions based on log file analyses. In study 1 (N = 209), task-switching ability exerted a functional influence only during distinct-rule transitions. However, the correlation between task-switching ability and matrix performance remained comparably strong even during identical-rule transitions. This dual pattern supports both a switch-dependency hypothesis (i.e., that task-switching is functionally involved in matrix processing) and a shared-resource hypothesis (i.e., that task-switching and matrix processing draw on a common cognitive resource). In study 2 (N = 258), we evaluated the convergent validity of the newly designed mixed-rule format against the traditional distinct-rule format. Test scores were highly correlated (r = 0.87), and test characteristics (e.g., reliability, IRT and TIF parameters) and external validity were very similar. Taken together, these findings suggest that although task-switching demands can vary depending on matrix design, relaxing rule constraints does not compromise psychometric validity. This flexibility in item development may be particularly useful in large-scale assessments or student selection tests that require continuous item renewal.
Cultural intelligence (CI) is becoming a critical competence in today's globalized environment. Previous research has shown that CI can be assessed through maximum-performance measures (e.g., the Sternberg Cultural Intelligence Test, SCIT) and typical-performance measures (e.g., the Cultural Intelligence Scale, CQS). However, most prior research is limited to single-country samples, raising questions about the cross-cultural generalizability of these constructs. To address this gap, the present study examined CI by administering both the SCIT and the CQS to adults in the United States (n = 157), China (n = 140), and Greece (n = 157). Results showed that both measures were robust across the three cultural contexts. Notably, the SCIT emerged as a distinct yet related construct from the CQS. SCIT scores were more closely correlated with other ability tests such as general intelligence, while CQS scores were more strongly associated with personality traits. These patterns were consistent across samples, suggesting that despite cultural differences, the structure and functional components of CI show substantial cross-cultural similarity, offering a robust foundation for future research in intercultural competence.
