On the asymmetry of g

In this paper the strength of general intelligence at different levels of g is explored. This represents a replication of 1996 work by Dreary, et al. using a very large sample of young persons. By examining differences in cor relation between subscales and by undertaking a confirmatory factor analysi s of a standard ability measure, the Armed Services Vocational Ability Batt ery, at high and low levels of g (n=c. 600 at each level), it is shown that at lower levels of g the factor structure is quite similar to, although no t as well defined as, the factor structure for the complete sample, that is , a single general factor; however, at higher levels of g, the factor struc ture is not as clear-cut. The differences in mean correlations between the high and low intelligence groups ranged from .12 to .46 depending on the sp ecific analysis. We established the level of g in three different ways usin g different indicators of g with different strengths and weaknesses. Result s of all three analyses converged. The results imply that people with high intelligence demonstrate this in quite different ways, while those with low g have intellectual deficits in all domains of intelligence. The dominance of g in the factor structure reflects this similarity of scores at the low end of the set of abilities. The prevalence of specific abilities is due t o the variety of ways in which people can demonstrate high ability. One can Visualize this in three dimensions by imagining the various abilities as f lowers arranged in a narrow vase-at the bottom they are bound together ligh tly, at the top they spread out broadly.