The UTC Graduate School is pleased to announce that Bailee Smith will present Master's research titled, INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTELLIGENCE AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION THROUGH VISUAL SCANNING STRATEGIES on 03/06/2025 at 9:30 in 540 McCallie, Room 357. Everyone is invited to attend. 

Psychology

Chair: Dr. Eschman

Co-Chair: 

Abstract:

Executive function (EF) refers to a set of cognitive processes responsible for higher-order thinking, behavioral regulation, and goal-directed behavior, while intelligence is considered a contributing factor to cognitive performance. Previous research has explored the relationship between these two constructs, but it has potentially overlooked the individual differences necessary for a comprehensive understanding of its complexity. This study aimed to investigate these individual differences in EF by employing novel eye-tracking methodology within a foundational measure of EF, the Go/No-Go task. 91 participants from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga were recruited to complete an adapted Go/No-Go task with the incorporation of eye-tracking and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence Second Edition (WASI-II). I hypothesized that visual scanning strategies (such as saccade and fixation count, fixation duration, and number of comparisons) would provide evidence of individual differences that would offer insight into the predictive relationship between EF and intelligence. Additionally, these eye-tracking metrics, along with traditional EF measures from the Go/No-Go task would be correlated with higher intelligence as assessed by the WASI-II.