Trajectories of performance change indicate multiple dissociable links between working memory and fluid intelligence

NPJ Sci Learn. 2021 Nov 29;6(1):33. doi: 10.1038/s41539-021-00111-w.

Abstract

Many areas of psychology assume that performance on tasks of interest is stable through time. Here, using time-sensitive modeling of working memory task performance, we show not only was this assumption incorrect, but that certain components of the performance trajectory (e.g., final task performance; rate of change) were independently predictive of fluid intelligence. This fact has clear implications for theoretical frameworks linking working memory and fluid intelligence, and beyond.