I'm working with an MCI older adults sample, assessing episodic memory. I'd like to know if performance in episodic memory tests (learning curve, delayed recall, recognition) varies according to intelligence level?
Are they related? I doubt if there is a direct connection as each, it would seem, does or is employed for different reasons. Episodic memory will provide avoidance strategies, for example, but intelligence at a much later stage reconsider what at first is purely reactive-(physical response). Although cognition appears to require memory, as does most human faculties, it cannot surely be said that the more developed (sic) the episodic memory the greater individual intelligence.
Yes, absolutely. Intelligence and memory are distinct (to some degree) but overlapping. I think the average correlation between IQ and scores on memory tests runs around r = .50, possibly a bit lower. (It will be lower for recognition than for recall.)
Indeed, episodic memory and intellect are interrelated in the norm. But with pathological processes in the brain, one of the signs of the early stages in the development of the pathological process is the emergence of dissociation between memory and intelligence.
Are they related? I doubt if there is a direct connection as each, it would seem, does or is employed for different reasons. Episodic memory will provide avoidance strategies, for example, but intelligence at a much later stage reconsider what at first is purely reactive-(physical response). Although cognition appears to require memory, as does most human faculties, it cannot surely be said that the more developed (sic) the episodic memory the greater individual intelligence.
Before anyone can answer this question you have to define intelligence. Which type of intelligence do you mean? How is intelligence measured? A vast episodic memory does not imply a high score on an intelligence test in problem solving for example. Or does it?
Since Maria is working with patients in a clinical setting, she must mean psychometric intelligence - i.e., that which is measured by such instruments as the WAIS-IV.
And no, high intelligence and strong episodic memory abilities are not equivalent (i.e., one does not automatically imply the other). But they are positively correlated, and the correlation is not trivial.
Thank you for your comment Stephen.
I do not want to take things for granted. It is possible that Maria mean psychometric intelligence and that this is measured with WAIS. But before I know this for a fact I do not want to comment on episodic memory and intelligence. Where can I find reaserachthat shows this positive correlation between episodic memory and psychometric intelligence?
Hello everyone! Thanks a lot for your answers.
Indeed, I mean psychometric intelligence in terms of the WAIS (total IQ, factors, etc.) And episodic memory assessed with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test.
All your contributions are very useful! Do you have research papers to study this relationship? I'm interested in studying fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence and its relationship with a learning potential version of the AVLT.
Thank you very much.
Try PsycINFO. A search with these parameters:
(Wechsler or WAIS* or WISC*) AND ("Rey Auditory Verbal Learning" or RAVLT) AND correlation
limited to English-language academic journals (but NOT to full-text)
yields 242 hits. Not all will contain the correlation you want, but many will. (I should add that there are also 2 articles in Spanish.)
I would advise running a similar search for the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), another widely used supraspan verbal learning test, and perhaps also for the Wechsler Memory Scale. You also might consider trying it for different IQ tests, such as the Kaufman, DAS, or Stanford-Binet.
The technical manuals for the memory tests are also likely to contain data on correlations with intelligence measures.
Finally, I am attaching copies of two recent theses that examined exactly the relationship you are interested in. (One of them used the Spanish version of the RAVLT!) The correlations between IQ and RAVLT scores are mostly in the .40 - .60 range, about what I'd expect. Naturally this study also cites earlier research.
This is great Stephen. I‘ll follow your advice. And thanks for the attachments.
Thanks very much!!
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