Background. The emergence of the psychometric tradition in Russian psychology necessitates a thorough exploration and adoption of the international experience in the development of appropriate measurement instruments and methodologies. The goal of the present study was thus to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the International Cognitive Ability Resource (ICAR) instrument in a Russian sample. The modified ICAR instrument consisted of visuo-spatial subtests Three-dimensional Rotation, Mental Reasoning (original ICAR subtests), as well as the previously developed verbal subtests Mill-Hill verbal scale and Analogies (from the ROADS test battery).

Design. The ICAR battery was administered to n=681 individuals (377 females) in the age from 17 to 59 years (Med=23, M=25.83, SD=7.58 лет) who were either college students or adults with a college degree from the city of Moscow who volunteered for the study. The test battery was administered without (n=284) as well as with (n=397) a time limit.

Results. The study demonstrated adequate psychometric properties of the modified ICAR battery, and revealed a fundamentally bifactor structure of the battery both at the level of individual items as well as at the level of subtests. Thus, individual’s performance on each item or subtest can be conceptualized as being driven by specific (e.g., fluid or verbal) as well as general (g) intelligence factors. We also show that introducing the time limit distorts the psychometric structure of the battery, lowers internal consistency, and reduces the g-saturation of the resulting scores, a finding that has important implications for the theory and practice of testing.

Most modern psychologists who deal with preschool age emphasize the development of executive functions as one of the most important factors in this age. The paper compares two most important and common approaches to disclosing and diagnosing voluntariness in the preschool age: the model of executive functions «unity with diversity» of A. Miyake and the skills theory of L.A. Venger. The model of the executive functions considers three main components of executive functions: working memory; flexibility of attention or switching; restraining control. The basis of cognitive abilities theory is the concept of cultural facilities (sensory standards, visual models, etc.) that are being developed throughout the preschool period. In accordance with these two diagnostic complexes were drawn up, aimed at diagnosing voluntariness in preschool years. The study involved 48 children aged 5-6 years, kindergarten students (24 girls and 24 boys) conducted in Moscow, Russia. The results showed that despite a variety of theoretical approaches to early childhood and voluntariness they reverberate the same reality. 

The most revealing methods (the results of which you can predict the eventual consequences) were elaborated: the method of «Inhibition» (subtest of neuropsychological diagnostic complex techniques NEPSY-II, Korkman et al, 2007) in the case of A. Miyake model, and methods of «Schematization» in the abilities theory of L.A. Venger (Venger, Kholmovskaya, 1978).