Table 2.

Description of cognitive tasks

Broad cognitive ability	Test	n	Description	Source
Reasoning	Matrix Reasoning	1756	The participant selects the best alternative to complete the missing cell in a matrix.	odd-numbered items from Raven (1962)
Reasoning	Cattell’s Matrices	420	The participant selects the best of six alternatives to complete the missing cell of a 2×2 or 3×3 matrix.	Institute for Personality and Ability Testing (1973)
Reasoning	Figure Classification	459	Two or three groups of figures are presented at the top of the page, with figures within each group related in some way. Rows of figures are presented, and the participant marks which group the figures belong to.	Ekstrom, French, Harman, & Dermen (1976)
Reasoning	Shipley Abstraction Test	420	The participant is given a series and responds with the number, letters, or word that completes the series.	Zachary (1986)
Reasoning	Letter Sets	796	The participant selects which groups of letters do not belong in each of 20 sets of letters.	Ekstrom et al. (1976)
Spatial Visualization	Spatial Relations	1154	The participant mentally assembles an unfolded piece of paper and then determines which of four three- dimensional structures it most closely resembles.	Bennett, Seashore, & Wesman (1997)
Spatial Visualization	Paper Folding	944	A piece of folded paper with a hole punched through the folded surface is presented, and the participant identifies the pattern of holes that would result when the paper is unfolded.	Ekstrom et al. (1976)
Spatial Visualization	Form Boards	467	The participant selects the set of pieces which can be assembled to form a specified shape.	Ekstrom et al. (1976)
Memory	WMS-III Free Recall	411	A list of 12 words is presented orally four times, with the participant recalling as many words as possible following each presentation. A second list of words is then presented and recalled, followed by an attempt to recall as many of the words from the original list.	Wechsler (1997b)
Memory	Rey Auditory Learning Test	586	Fifteen words are read to the participant, followed immediately by a recall attempt. Five trials are given with the same list, with each trial consisting of a presentation and recall attempt.	Schmidt (1996)
Memory	Paired Associates	822	A set of six word pairs is presented orally. The participant receives a page containing the first member of each pair, and responds with the second member. A second trial is then given with a new set of word pairs.	Salthouse, Fristoe, et al. (1996)
Speed	Letter Comparison	3182	The participant makes same-or- different judgments for pairs of letter strings as quickly as possible. Two pages of letter string pairs are presented, with 30 seconds allowed for each page.	Salthouse & Babcock (1991)
Speed	Pattern Comparison	3182	Similar to Letter Comparison, except instead of letter strings, the participants is presented pairs of patterns composed of line segments.	Salthouse & Babcock(1991)
Speed	WAIS-III Digit- Symbol Substitution	411	Two minutes were allowed for the participant to write symbols below digits according to a code table displayed at the top of the page.	Wechsler (1997a)