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Culture-Fair Cognitive Ability AssessmentInformation Processing and Psychophysiological ApproachesUniversity of New Mexico
University of California, San Diego, and San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare System
San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University Valid assessment with diverse populations requires tools that are not influenced by cultural elements. This study investigated the relationships between culture, information processing efficiency, and general cognitive capacities in samples of Caucasian and Mexican American college students. Consistent with the neural efficiency hypothesis, pupillary responses (indexing mental effort) and detection accuracy scores on a visual backward-masking task were both significantly related to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) Full Scale scores. These measures of information processing efficiency were similar in the two groups. However, they were related only to Caucasian American, but not to a comparable sample of Mexican American, students WAIS-R scores. Therefore, the differential validity in prediction suggests that the WAIS-R test may contain cultural influences that reduce the validity of the WAIS-R as a measure of cognitive ability for Mexican American students. Information processing and psychophysiological approaches may be helpful in developing culture-fair cognitive ability measures.
Key Words: cognitive ability information processing intelligence psychophysiology pupillary response racial and ethnic differences test bias
Assessment, Vol. 12, No. 3,
303-319 (2005) |
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