Emotional intelligence as a standard intelligence

The authors have claimed that emotional intelligence (EI) meets traditional standards for an intelligence (J. D. Mayer, D. R. Caruso, & P. Salovey, 1999). R. D. Roberts, M. Zeidner, and G. Matthews (2001) questioned whether that claim was warranted. The central issue raised by Roberts et al. concerning Mayer et al. (1999) is whether there are correct answers to questions on tests purporting to measure EI as a set of abilities. To address this issue (and others), the present authors briefly restate their view of intelligence, emotion, and EI. They then present arguments for the reasonableness of measuring EI as an ability, indicate that correct answers exist, and summarize recent data suggesting that such measures are, indeed, reliable.     

Developmental analyses of individual differences in intelligence: Comments on Demetriou et al. (2013)

In this commentary, I mention strengths of the work reported by Demetriou et al. (2013), including sophisticated methods, a powerful integrative theory, and provocative findings. I also suggest ways in which this line of work could be extended, including extending the developmental trajectory, moving beyond tests and tasks, and exploring the full richness of individual variations.     

Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence

An intelligence must meet several standard criteria before it can be considered scientifically legitimate. First, it should be capable of being operationalized as a set of abilities. Second, it should meet certain correlational criteria: the abilities defined by the intelligence should form a related set (i.e., be intercorrelated), and be related to pre-existing intelligences, while also showing some unique variance. Third, the abilities of the intelligence should develop with age and experience. In two studies, adults (N=503) and adolescents (N=229) took a new, 12-subscale ability test of emotional intelligence: the Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS). The present studies show that emotional intelligence, as measured by the MEIS, meets the above three classical criteria of a standard intelligence.     

Book review section: Computer intelligence and human intelligence

Great Ideas in Information Theory, Language, and Cybernetics Jagjit Singh New York: Dover Publications, 1966 pp. viii + 338, Paperbound, $2.00     

The g-loading of intelligence tests and their relationship with reaction times: A comment on Ruchalla et al.

Ruchalla, Schalt, and Vogel (1985) reported a negative correlation between the g-loadedness of a number of intelligence test subtests and the extent to which the subtests correlated with reaction times (RTs), a result contrary to the position of Jensen and others. A number of possible methodological problems with Ruchalla et al. are described, as are the results of two other studies pertinent to the issue. These results indicate that the g-loadedness of different subtests is in some cases highly positively correlated with the subtests' correlations with RTs, whereas in other cases the relationship is negligible or negative. The key factor appears to be the relative complexity of the RT test: more complex tests showing a strong positive correlation. In the context of these findings, Ruchalla et al.'s results are not out of line—they simply do not tell the whole story.     

Effects of processing speed on intelligence may be underestimated: Comment on Demetriou et al. (2013)

This commentary suggests ways to extend research by Demetriou et al. (2013), who may have underestimated the effects of processing speed on the development of intelligence. It argues that future research should consider variability in processing speed, complexity in speed tasks, and reaction times excluded from speed estimates.     

Measuring emotional intelligence

The purposes of this study were (a) to develop a measure of emotional intelligence, the Emotional Intelligence Inventory and (b) to find the underlying dimensions of the inventory by testing 111 high school students at a bilingual college preparatory school. The inventory has 45 items. After excluding the four weakest items, the reliability coefficient alpha was .83. Subsequently, 319 junior and senior high school students at the same school were administered the 41 items. The reliability coefficient was .81. A maximum likelihood factor analysis with a varimax rotation yielded four factors of empathy, utilization of feelings, handling relationships, and self-control. Psychometric properties were sound, and the revised Emotional Intelligence Inventory can be recommended for use in the investigation of emotional intelligence.     

Culture and intelligence

Intelligence cannot be fully or even meaningfully understood outside its cultural context. Work that seeks to study intelligence acontextually risks the imposition of an investigator's view of the world on the rest of the world. Moreover, work on intelligence within a single culture mayfail to do justice to the range of skills and knowledge that may constitute intelligence broadly defined and risks drawing false and hasty generalizations. This article considers the relevance of culture to intelligence, as well as its investigation, assessment, and development. Studies that show the importance of understanding intelligence in its cultural context are described; the author concludes that intelligence must be understood in such context.     

Family size and intelligence revisited: the role of emotional intelligence.

Studies examining the link between family size and intelligence have consistently found a negative relationship. Children born into larger families tend to score lower on intelligence tests than children raised in smaller families. One recurrent but unexplained finding is that the relation between intelligence and number of siblings is consistently significant for verbal intelligence but inconsistent for nonverbal intelligence. Here, we conceptualize emotional intelligence as one facet of nonverbal intelligence. The research develops a measure of emotional intelligence and uses it to test the hypothesis that emotional intelligence is positively correlated with family size. The results, based upon a sample of graduate students, support the hypothesized relationship. Implications for the study of family size and intelligence, for refining the conceptualizations and measures of nonverbal intelligence, and for leadership theory, are discussed.     

Task novelty and intelligence

Psychology students were presented with a mental puzzle based on knowledge of geometry, with several versions of Wason's selection task, and with some tasks of essay writing. Test scores were obtained on a sentence completion test and a test of spatial configuration. With the different problem-solving tasks, a relationship between success and intellectual ability was observed only in cases where the data indicated that the subjects were familiar with the task in question. The results support the theory previously set forth by Raaheim; that only in situations where the degree of novelty is moderate, will the intelligent use of past experience prove beneficial to problem solving.     

Attentional balance and intelligence

Recent studies of neuroimaging during cognitive tasks suggest that most tasks involve the activity of widespread areas in both cerebral hemispheres. In many cases, information must be shared between the two hemispheres. The coordination of these areas involves the brain's attentional networks. Unilateral brain damage often causes asymmetries in attention and reduced speed of processing. Based on these findings it was hypothesized that mental processing in normals will be more efficient when normal people can shift attention to either hemisphere with equal efficiency. Attentional balance was measured by the degree of asymmetry found during the covert visual-orienting task. Intelligence was measured by the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices. Data from two experiments suggest that low asymmetry in attention shifting is associated with higher intelligence.