Abstract:

To investigate the relationship between the executive functions and the fluid intelligence, the relationship between two problem solving tests, namely the Wisconsin Cart Sorting Test (WCST, a widely accepted test of the executive functioning) and the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices Test (RSPMT, the most frequently used measure of the fluid intelligence) was analyzed by means of the relationship between the Structural Equation Models (SEM). 175 healthy university students participated in the study. RSPMT and WCST were used as data collection instruments. Significant correlations were obtained between the RSPMT`s total score, timing score and twelve different scores of WCST. Following the research hypotheses, the data obtained were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. These findings further supported the relationship between the two tests. As a contribution to the literature, it was shown that besides updating and inhibition, set-formation is also significantly associated with fluid inteligence. The notion which proposes that the executive functions are the reflection of general intelligence and they represent the individual differences in the fluid intelligence performance has been supported with further scientific evidence.

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