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Learning, working memory, and intelligence revisited.

Elaine Tamez1, Joel Myerson, Sandra Hale

  • 1Department of Psychology, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, Box 1125, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States. emtamez@artsci.wustl.edu

Behavioural Processes
|March 1, 2008
PubMed
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Learning, not just working memory, significantly predicts intelligence test performance. A verbal learning task explained substantial variance in Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) scores, challenging prior assumptions.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psychometrics
  • Learning Sciences

Background:

  • Historically, psychologists underestimated the role of learning in intelligence, focusing instead on working memory.
  • Early research showed weak correlations between laboratory learning tasks and intelligence test scores.
  • A 2006 study by Williams and Pearlberg introduced a novel verbal learning task with unexpected findings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To replicate and validate the findings of Williams and Pearlberg regarding learning and intelligence.
  • To investigate the predictive power of a three-term contingency learning task on intelligence test performance.
  • To determine if complex verbal working memory adds predictive value beyond the learning task.

Main Methods:

  • Participants completed a verbal learning task based on three-term reinforcement contingencies.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Performance on the learning task was correlated with scores on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM).
  • Complex verbal working memory was assessed using the operation span task.

    • Main Results:

    • The three-term learning task accounted for approximately 25% of the variance in RAPM scores.
    • Adding working memory span did not significantly improve the prediction of RAPM scores.
    • The learning task explained most of the variance in RAPM scores that working memory also captured.

    Conclusions:

    • The findings strongly support a significant role for learning in intelligence test performance.
    • The three-term learning task is a potent predictor of fluid intelligence, as measured by RAPM.
    • Working memory's contribution to intelligence may be largely mediated by learning processes.