The current study provides a methodological review of studies supporting a general factor of intelligence as the primary model for contemporary measures of cognitive abilities. A further evaluation is provided by an empirical evaluation that compares statistical estimates using different approaches in a large sample of children (ages 9–13 years, N = 780) administered a comprehensive battery of cognitive measures. Results from this study demonstrate the ramifications of using the bifactor and Schmid–Leiman (BF/SL) technique and suggest that using BF/SL methods limit interpretation of cognitive abilities to only a general factor. The inadvertent use of BF/SL methods is demonstrated to impact both model dimensionality and variance estimates for specific measures. As demonstrated in this study, conclusions from both exploratory and confirmatory studies using BF/SL methods are significantly questioned, especially for studies with a questionable theoretical basis. Guidelines for the interpretation of cognitive test scores in applied practice are discussed.

中文翻译：

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认知测量的维度评估：方法论混淆和理论问题

当前的研究对支持将智力的一般因素作为当代认知能力测量的主要模型的研究进行了方法论审查。经验评估提供了进一步的评估，该评估比较了对大量儿童（9-13 岁，N = 780）使用不同方法进行的统计估计，这些样本进行了一系列全面的认知测量。这项研究的结果证明了使用双因子和 Schmid-Leiman (BF/SL) 技术的后果，并表明使用 BF/SL 方法将认知能力的解释限制为仅一般因素。BF/SL 方法的无意使用被证明会影响模型维度和特定度量的方差估计。正如本研究所证明的那样，使用 BF/SL 方法的探索性和验证性研究的结论受到严重质疑，尤其是对于理论基础有问题的研究。讨论了在应用实践中解释认知测试分数的指南。