Temporal resolution power and general intelligence: On the mediating role of perceptual attention

Previous research showed that individual differences in temporal resolution power (TRP) are related to individual differences in intelligence. However, this relationship was challenged by the fact that temporal as well as non-temporal information processing afford perceptual attention and, hence, might be explained alternatively by perceptual attention as a common source of variance. Therefore, the present study aimed to arrive at a better understanding of the interplay among TRP, perceptual attention, and intelligence. For this purpose, a latent variable approach was used to dissociate attention-paced speed variance (Mediator 1) in latency-based measures of attention from residual non-experimental speed variance (Mediator 2). A bootstrapped mediation analysis revealed that both mediators did not account for the functional relationship between TRP and intelligence. Hence, the present finding confirmed that TRP is a reliable and substantial determinant of individual differences in intelligence. Future studies have to clarify the potential mediating role of executive attention