Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences - Theses

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Cattell-Horn-Carroll model in neuropsychology

Jewsbury, Paul Adrian ( 2014)

The Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model is a comprehensive and strongly empirically supported model of cognitive abilities with increasing acceptance in diverse psychological assessment settings. However, there is less evidence directly supporting the generality and utility of the CHC model for diagnostic assessment in clinical populations. Thirty-one high quality datasets involving popular neuropsychological tests were reanalyzed with confirmatory factor analysis. The CHC classifications of neuropsychological tests were supported, and the CHC model fit well across a wide range of clinically relevant populations. One issue of special relevance is the place of executive function in the CHC model, as executive function is seen as central in neuropsychological assessment but is not explicitly represented in the CHC model. As a hypothetical additional factor to the CHC model, general executive function was found to be redundant. For specific executive functions, the literature on the Switching, Inhibition, and Updating executive function model was critically reviewed and the executive function model was explained in terms of the CHC model. The CHC model was supported as a paradigm for diagnostic assessment of cognitive disorders. The results have important implications for theoretical models of cognitive abilities, interpretation of popular clinical tests, and neuropsychological assessment.