Novel or Repeated Rules: Why is Working Memory Capacity Related to Intelligence?

The present research study is designed as a critical test of the relationship between Working Memory Capacity (WMC) and fluid intelligence (Gf). Instead of a singular measure of Gf (Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices), we are examining WMC’s relationship to three different measures (Letter Sets, Number Series, and Picture Reasoning Test). Subjects are given 10 problems of each of these measures of intelligence. Each problem is paired with another problem that requires the same rule to successfully solve it. These problems are presented one after the other such that the first problem the pair subjects receive is the first time subjects are presented with that rule (novel rule) and the next problem is the second time subjects are presented with that rule (repeated rule). The order of the problems is counterbalanced so that an individual problem is a novel rule problem for half of our subjects and a repeated rule problem for the other half of our subjects. The critical comparison is whether WMC is more strongly related to the novel rule or the repeated rule problems for the three different sets of Gf tests.

Subjects in this research study have to complete two measures of WMC (Operation Span and Symmetry Span), one traditionally presented measure of Gf (Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices), and three modified measures of Gf (Letter Sets, Number Series, Picture Reasoning Test).