COGNITIVE ABILITIES: VERBAL COMPREHENSION AND ITS MARKER TESTS

In all classifications of cognitive abilities a Verbal
Comprehension factor is prominent. The nature of
this factor is complex, and attempts to analyse it
(Thurstone, 1938; Carroll, 1941; Guilford, 1972)
have made distinctions between receptive ability
(comprehension) and productive ability (fluency),
and between isolated words (vocabulary) and words
in context (discourse). The validity of these distinctions
is discussed. The second part of the article
examines what type of tests are the best markers
for the Verbal Comprehension factor. The Educational
Testing Service's kits of factor referenced cognitive
tests (1 954, 1963, 1976) give only single-word voca bulary
tests, despite suggestions by Cattell (1971) and
Carroll (1974) that other types of tests should also
be used, and despite increasing doubts, especially in
some ESL/EFL circles, about the validity of discretepoint
language testing. The final part of the article
describes an experiment with Hong Kong Chinese
students. The results support the use of single-word
Vocabulary tests as reliable markers of the Verbal
Comprehension factor, but also support the contention
that future Kits' of The Educational Testing Service
should include verbal tests of a more varied nature.