Thurstone s theory posited 79 primary mental abilities pmas that were independent of a higherorder gfactor. As a clinical test, it would measure these seven abilities. Thurstone s primary mental abilities theory purposes that, researches can pinpoint specific group factors and define those factors specifically. Then combine this c with the next letter, which is a. Understanding human intelligence institute for applied.
Thurstone, in full louis leon thurstone, born may 29, 1887, chicago, illinois, u. Thurstone has given the following six primary factors. Of all published articles, the following were the most read within the past 12 months. As morgan 1996 has noted, thurstone was the first theorist to suggest that the human organism is too complex for intellectual activity to be determined only by a single human factor. We present and develop the notion of universal psychometrics as a subject of study, and eventually a discipline, that focusses on the measurement of. Thus, subscales for the assessment of verba l comprehen sion, word fluency, space, perceptual speed, reasoning. One of his chief, early concerns had to do with the development of a rational metric for mental ability. Pdf on jan 1, 2017, nikki blacksmith and others published. Secondary mental abilities and aging by yureka pirtle on prezi. Edgerton educational and psychological measurement 2016 1.
Thurstone described what he called primary mental abilities and introduced intelligence testing to measure intellectual functioning. The thurstone primary mental abilities tests and college. Louis leon thurstone 353 little more to investigate intelligence from this particular point of view, at least explicitly. Thurstone theory focussed on seven different primary mental abilities. There is much in common between his abilities and those issuing from the arp program, but there are also numerous points of difference that it would seem useful to point out. For those who employ the thurstone primary mental abilities. A psychological subject that is at the present time very much in the public mind is that of intelligence tests.
A second group of mental operation has its own unifying primary factor, and so on. In other words, there are a number of groups of mental abilities, each of which has its own primary factor, giving the group a functional unity and cohesiveness. Thurstone 1938 in his list of primary mental abilities, included a verbal factor v and a word fluency factor w. Applied history of psychologytheories on intelligence. Louis leon thurstone proposed theory in 1930s that intelligence is. Thurstones primary mental abilities theory nursing. Request pdf primary mental abilities one of the earliest. What sets the area of mental abilities apart is the perceived importance of these. Mckee university of california this investigation attempts a preliminary evaluation of the thurstone tests of primary mental abilities for ages 5 and 6 pma. Thurstones primary mental abilities, gma, and job performance.
Thurstones primary mental abilities theory our intelligence may be broken down into seven factors. In the study that seemed to support spearmans theory thurstone and thurstone. Thurstones primary mental abilities test iq test prep. Factorial analysis of thurstones seven primary abilities. Charles spearmans s factors are considered a prequel to this idea spearman, 1927, along with thurstone s theory of primary mental abilities citation needed.
Most of the psychological tests that are in common use have been arrived at principally by trying different tests for different purposes until certain tests have been found to. Thurstons group factor theory louis thurston came out with the group factor theory 1937 saying that intelligence is a cluster of abilities these mental operations then constitute a group a second group of mental operations has its own unifying primary factor. The work was made possible by financial grants from the social science research committee of the university of chicago, the american. The thurstone primary mental abilities tests and college marks mary lou ellison and harold a.
Theory of mind tom and the structure of intelligence were investigated in 115 4. It reports the first large experimental inquiry, carried out by the methods of factor analysis described by. These correlation coefficients were factored to four factors, interpreted as a general factor, a reasoning factor, a verbal factor, and, tentatively, a specific memory factor. Joy paul guilford continued thurstone s work and expanded the model of seven primary mental abilities to 150 different skills waterhouse, 2006. The seven abilities include verbal comprehension reasoning, perceptual speed, numerical ability, word fluency, associative memory, and spatial visualization. Intercorrelation coefficients among thurstone s seven primary mental abilities scores were obtained from scores of 170 freshmen engineering students on the experimental edition of theprimary mental abilities tests. This rotation has been favored by a lot of psychometricians. The thurstone test of mental alertness tma is one of the most. The tests of primary mental abilities thurstone 1957. Besides innate dancing or musical predispositions, other factors contributing to success in these highly competitive domains are important to investigate. This yields not one, but a set of primary mental abilities. Such thoughts led to a question that led to organizing a conference, which led to writings and the idea of putting the writings together in a book. Secondary mental abilities and aging changes in fluid intelligence example of fluid intelligence declines with age individual differences remain stable over time what comes next in this series of numbers.
Some aspects of this evaluation demand an external criterion, for which the stanfordbinet revision, 1937, form. Using his new approach to factor analysis, thurstone found that intelligent behavior does not arise from a general factor, but rather emerges from seven independent factors that he called primary abilities. Thurstones primary mental abilities is a test created to measure the primary mental abilities of superior children. Along with an interview and a reference check, many companies also use an assessment test to evaluate potential candidates. General mental ability 1 in press, personnel psychology running. Lniversity of chicago pres, this publication is the opening number of a series which the psycho metric society proposes to issue. Itshould be stated at the outset that we claim no priority for the discovery of primary mental abilities, which have long been known as special abilities without being isolatedfactorially inthe con. A different theory of intelligence was offered by louis l. Although thurstone is largely given credit for the multiple. Specifically, we asked whether childrens intelligence involves both general and specific aspects and whe. Louis leon thurstone 29 may 1887 30 september 1955 was a u. An experimental edition of tests for seven primary mental abilities. Thurstone developed new statistical techniques to evaluate large quantities of data. Thurstone used a simple structure rotation that isnt really all that simple, but it involved weighing the observed variables say, specific scores on different ability subtests differently.
Schaie thurstone adult mental abilities test stamat. The theory of primary mental abilities, a model of human intelligence that challenged charles spearmans thendominant paradigm of a unitary conception of intelligence. The primary mental abilities theory proposed by thurstone acknowledged that some tests can be grouped such as verbal and spatial emphasized the differences between abilities instead of common elements of all measures. From this point of view there are seven primary mental abilities. This factor can include reading and verbal equivalences. After deciding that these seven factors made up intelligence, thurstone rearranged the existing subtests and devised some new ones. Most of the psychological tests that are in common use have been arrived at principally by trying different tests for different purposes until certain tests have been found to be successful.
Evolution of chc theory of intelligence and assessment. It reports the first large experimental inquiry, carried out by the methods of factor analysis described by thurstone in the vectors of the mind 1. If so, expect to take a preemployment test, in addition to an interview. Applied history of psychologytheories on intelligencegardners. Thurstone 18871955 offered a differing theory of intelligence. The seven primary mental abilities in thurstone s model were verbal comprehension, word fluency, number facility, spatial visualization, associative memory, perceptual speed and reasoning. By 1991, john horn, a student of cattells, had expanded the gfgc model to include 8 or 9 broad abilities. The new statistical techniques developed by thurstone provided the necessary tools for his most enduring contribution to psychology. Thurstone 1938 analyzed the data from 56 different tests of mental abilities and concluded that to the extent that there is a general factor of intelligence, it is unimportant and possibly epiphenomenal. He described the v factor as being logical in character, dealing with the understanding of ideas in discourse, rather than of isolated words. Pdf differences in primary mental abilities between. From the standpoint of statistically oriented theory, thurstone s new conceptions of testing were decidedly more notable.
Instead of viewing intelligence as a single, general ability, thurstone s theory focused on seven different primary mental abilities. What is the thurstone test of mental alertness tma. Incremental validity of thurstones 38 primary mental abilities over general mental ability in job performance in the metaanalytic study by lang et al. Thurstone s theory divided up spearmans concept of intelligence as a single, general ability into eight distinct clusters of mental abilities. Thurstone listed the follow factors of intelligence. These 7 factors, or primary mental abilities, are word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial visualization, number facility, associative memory, reasoning, and perceptual speed. This factor involves a persons ability to understand verbal material. Thurstone s primary mental abilities, which have been well known in the literature for the past 30 years. This publication is the opening number of a series which the psychometric society proposes to issue. Thurstones theory of primary mental abilities by aubree. Historical perspective human intelligence differences. The seven primary mental abilities in thurstones model were verbal. Spearman and thurstone used factor analysis to identify clusters of related intelligence abilities.