In a study, researchers administered a battery of cognitive tests to 500 adults. They found that performance on vocabulary, mathematical reasoning, spatial rotation, and processing speed were all positively correlated. A factor analysis extracted a single dominant factor that accounted for a substantial portion of the variance across tests, while leaving smaller residual variance unique to each subtest.
A potential confound limiting the generalizability of the g factor in this study is if
- Acheck_circle
The 500 adults were drawn from a single cultural and educational background
- B
Vocabulary and math were both included in the battery
- C
Multiple subtests were administered to each participant
- D
The factor analysis used standard statistical software
Explanation
A culturally and educationally homogeneous sample restricts the range of cognitive experience, which can inflate intercorrelations and limit how well g generalizes across populations.