Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-38275-5 - Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies
John B. Carroll
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Human cognitive
abilities
A survey of factor-analytic studies
JOHN B. CARROLL
Professor of Psychology Emeritus
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
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978-0-521-38275-5 - Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies
John B. Carroll
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cambridge university press
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© Cambridge University Press 1993
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1993
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Carroll, John Bissell, 1916–
Human cognitive abilities : a survey of factor–analytic studies /
John B. Carroll,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0-521-38275-0
1. Cognition. 2. Psychology – Mathematical models. 3. Factor
analysis. I. Title.
BF311.C288 1993
92-12453
153-dc20
CIP
isbn 978-0-521-38275-5 Hardback
isbn 978-0-521-38712-5 Paperback
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Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-38275-5 - Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies
John B. Carroll
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Contents
Preface
page
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO THE SURVEY
v
1
Chapter 1: The Study of Cognitive Abilities
Chapter 2: Historical Foundations of the Study of Cognitive Abilities
Chapter 3: Survey and Analysis of Correlational and Factor-Analytic
Research on Cognitive Abilities: Methodology
Chapter 4: Survey and Analysis of Correlational and Factor-Analytic
Research on Cognitive Abilities: Overview of Outcomes
115
P A R T II: T H E I D E N T I F I C A T I O N A N D D E S C R I P T I O N
OF COGNITIVE ABILITIES
143
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
5: Abilities in the Domain of Language
6: Abilities in the Domain of Reasoning
7: Abilities in the Domain of Memory and Learning
8: Abilities in the Domain of Visual Perception
9: Abilities in the Domain of Auditory Reception
10: Abilities in the Domain of Idea Production
11: Abilities in the Domain of Cognitive Speed
12: Abilities in the Domain of Knowledge and Achievement
13: Psychomotor Abilities
14: Miscellaneous Domains of Ability and Personal
Characteristics
Chapter 15: Higher-Order Factors of Cognitive Ability
3
30
73
145
196
248
304
364
394
440
510
532
542
577
in
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978-0-521-38275-5 - Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies
John B. Carroll
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iv
Contents
PART III: ISSUES
629
Chapter 16: A Theory of Congnitive Abilities: The Three-Stratum
Theory
Chapter 17: Issues about Abilities: Nature and Nurture, and Others
Chapter 18: Implications and Recommendations
631
656
688
References and List of Datasets
715
Appendix A: Codes for Countries, Samples, and Factors
790
Appendix B: Hierarchical Factor Matrix Files
796
Name Index
797
Subject Index
810
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978-0-521-38275-5 - Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies
John B. Carroll
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Preface
This book is in a sense an outcome of work I started in 1939, when, as
a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, I became aware of L.L.
Thurstone's research on what he called "primary mental abilities" and undertook, in my doctoral dissertation, to apply his factor-analytic techniques to
the study of abilities in the domain of language. Over the years of my career
as a specialist in psychometrics, educational psychology, and the psychology
of language I tried to keep abreast of both methodological and substantive
developments in factor analysis, and from time to time I found it useful to conduct factor-analytic studies on topics of particular interest to me. Increasingly,
however, I sensed the field's need for a thoroughgoing survey and critique of
the voluminous results in the factor-analytic literature on cognitive abilities. It
was not until 1974, when I came to the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill as director of the L.L. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory, that
I felt that an appropriate use of my time would be to plan and execute such
a survey.
A sabbatical year in 1979-80 supported by the Kenan Fund at the University
of North Carolina and by the James McKeen Cattell Fund enabled me to start
compiling materials systematically and make visits to prominent investigators
in the U.S. and Europe. The major efforts starting in 1983, after I retired from
the university, were supported chiefly by grant BNS-82-12486 from the National
Science Foundation.
The book has three parts. Part I (Chapters 1-4) is introductory, historical,
and methodological. Part II consists of chapters covering each of a number of
domains of ability, ending with Chapter 15 on higher-order factors of ability,
including g or general intelligence. In Part III, I consider more general issues
about abilities. In Chapter 16 I propose a three-stratum theory of cognitive
abilities. In Chapter 171 outline the implications of such a theory for problems
of nature and nurture, and more generally for cognitive psychology. In
Chapter 18 1 make recommendations for future research, for the application of
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John B. Carroll
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vi
Preface
currently available cognitive ability tests, and for problems of public policy
on testing.
The book has been planned mainly as a monograph for use by researchers
and students of cognitive abilities. As such, it should serve as a reference work
and as a textbook in advanced courses in individual differences. But it also
contains considerable material addressed to psychologists in general, particularly those parts dealing with the structure of cognitive abilities and what
is known about the measurement and interpretation of such abilities. The
general reader may be interested in some portions, especially those treating the
history of cognitive ability studies and the implications for public policy on
uses of cognitive ability tests.
A feature of the work is that it contains reanalyses of more than 460 data
sets found in the factor-analytic literature. The reanalyses use techniques of
what is called exploratory factor analysis as developed progressively over the
last 60 years or more, rather than the currently more fashionable methods of
confirmatory factor analysis. As I explain in Chapter 3, it is my view that
properly controlled exploratory techniques are more suitable than confirmatory
techniques for initially identifying cognitive abilities and their structure.
Students may find it of interest, however, to attempt to verify or revise my
findings by using confirmatory techniques. The final results of my exploratory
reanalyses are contained in a set of files on computer disks that are available
as a companion publication.
Because of its emphasis on the reanalysis of previous studies, the work may
seem to look backward more than it looks forward. Currently the field of
individual differences in cognitive abilities is very active. Since finishing the
final draft of my manuscript I have become aware of many recent studies and
discussions that I wish I could have considered. My hope is that future
investigators will be able to profit from my analyses, and in this sense the work
looks toward the future.
A word is in order about the name and subject indexes. To save space in the
text, data sets are often cited without mentioning the names of the author or
authors of the source publications. A reader wishing to find citations of the
work of a particular investigator, therefore, should consult not only the name
of that investigator in the name index but also, in the subject index, the one or
more data sets of that investigator as listed in the list of references (pp. 715-89).
I wish to express gratitude to the many people who have helped me in this
project. First of all I must mention appreciation to the investigators whose
studies I have reviewed or reanalyzed here. I trust that none of them—at least
those still living and active in the field—will take umbrage at the ways in which
I have reinterpreted or even possibly distorted their findings and conclusions.
My intention has been simply to present what was in my opinion the most
accurate, reasonable, and consistent picture of the total domain of cognitive
abilities.
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John B. Carroll
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Preface
vii
During the period of greatest activity in collecting and reanalyzing materials
from previous studies, I was ably assisted by two people who were then graduate
students in the Quantitative Psychology program at my university, Christina
M. Gullion and Ann C. Meade. They helped develop special main-frame computer programs and algorithms for this work, and executed a large number of
analyses. Also assisting in the project at various periods were James Staszewski,
Brynda Holton, and Melanie Miller, who helped assemble bibliographical
materials or performed analyses on microcomputers.
I want also to mention my indebtedness to colleagues at the university, Lyle
V. Jones, Edward S. Johnson, and Marcy Lansman, for insightful discussions of
problems or for reviews of drafts of my manuscript. Richard E. Snow of Stanford
University was a most capable outside reviewer of the manuscript, and made
many suggestions that I was able to use in revising it. Ledyard R Tucker of
the University of Illinois was most gracious in making certain computer
programs available to me. Richard Helwig and Kenneth Pauwels gave unfailing
help in connection with the use of computers. Ruth A. Childs and Valerie S.
Williams gave useful comments as students in a course at UNC in which a
preliminary version of the manuscript was a text. None of these people, of
course, is to be held responsible for any errors or questionable points of view
that may be found in this book.
As always, I am grateful to my wife, Mary S. Carroll, not only for her active
assistance in a great variety of ways but also for her patience and encouragement
over more years than I like to count.
Chapel Hill
September 1992
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978-0-521-38275-5 - Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies
John B. Carroll
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