The Relationship between Theory of Mind and Intelligence: A Formative g Approach

The Relationship between Theory of Mind and Intelligence: A Formative g Approachhttps://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence9010011Ester Navarro, S. A. Goring, A. ConwayPublished 2021MedicineJournal of IntelligenceTheory of Mind (ToM) is the ability understand that other people ' s mental states may be different from one ' s own. Psychometric models have shown that individual differences in ToM can largely be attributed to general intelligence (g) (Coyle et al. 2018). Most psychometric models specify g as a reflective latent variable, which is interpreted as a general ability that plays a causal role in a broad range of cognitive tasks, including ToM tasks. However, an alternative approach is to specify g as a formative latent variable, that is, an overall index of cognitive ability that does not represent a psychological attribute (Kovacs and Conway 2016). Here we consider a formative g approach to the relationship between ToM and intelligence. First, we conducted an SEM with reflective g to test the hypothesis that ToM is largely accounted for by a general ability. Next, we conducted a model with formative g to determine whether the relationship between ToM and intelligence is influenced by domain-specific tasks. Finally, we conducted a redundancy analysis to examine the contribution of each g variable. Results suggest that the relationship between ToM and intelligence in this study was influenced by language-based tasks, rather than solely a general ability.**...
Source: Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: blogs