Is speed of processing information related to intelligence and achievement?

Speed of processing information, measured by mean response time and slope of response times for tasks of varying levels of complexity, was correlated with intelligence (measured by the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test, which emphasizes power rather than speed) and with achievement (measured by Stanford Achievement Test scores in reading and mathematics). Three tasks (sentence–picture comparison, pictorial similarities and differences, and matrix analysis) were individually administered to 94 6th graders, 51 males and 43 females. Reliability of mean response time was greater than that of slope and correlated significantly with IQ (–.6) and with achievement (–.4–.5). Correlations with achievement dropped to near zero with IQ partialled out. Speed of processing information was found to generalize across experimental tasks and to reliably indicate intellectual ability. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)