Abstract Fluid reasoning (Gf)—the ability to reason abstractly—is typically measured using nonverbal inductive reasoning tests involving the discovery and application of complex rules. We tested whether Gf, as measured by such traditional assessments, can be equivalent to relation processing (a much simpler process of validating whether perceptually available stimuli satisfy the arguments of a single predefined relation—or not). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the factor capturing variance shared by three relation processing tasks was statistically equivalent to the Gf factor loaded by three hallmark fluid reasoning tests. Moreover, the two factors shared most of their residual variance that could not be explained by working memory. The results imply that many complex operations typically associated with the Gf construct, such as rule discovery, rule integration, and drawing conclusions, may not be essential for Gf. Instead, fluid reasoning ability may be fully reflected in a much simpler ability to effectively validate single, predefined relations.

中文翻译：

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流体推理等价于关系处理

摘要流体推理（Gf）——抽象推理的能力——通常使用涉及发现和应用复杂规则的非语言归纳推理测试来衡量。我们测试了通过这种传统评估衡量的 Gf 是否可以等同于关系处理（验证可感知刺激是否满足单个预定义关系的论点的简单得多的过程）。验证性因子分析表明，三个关系处理任务共享的捕获方差的因子在统计上等同于三个标志性流体推理测试加载的 Gf 因子。此外，这两个因素共享了工作记忆无法解释的大部分剩余方差。结果意味着许多复杂的操作通常与 Gf 结构相关，诸如规则发现、规则整合和得出结论，对于 Gf 来说可能不是必不可少的。相反，流畅的推理能力可以完全反映在更简单的有效验证单个预定义关系的能力上。