«Concept Synthesis» Test for Intelligence Research: Qualitative Analysis and Conceptual Commentaries

“Concept Synthesis” test (by M. A. Kholodnaya) was suggested within an ontological approach to intelligence studies as an alternative tool for measuring intellectual abilities. The aim of this paper is to summarize our experience of using this test as well as to provide some conceptual commentaries on the original criteria developed for rating the answers. We compiled a database of 924 answers for “Concept Synthesis” test, collected from 2013 to 2015 in three different studies (all together, 104 participants) and rated in accordance with the original criteria. All the answers underwent a thorough qualitative analysis and were rerated independently by three experts. The updated criteria for assessing the answers were suggested as a result of this work. We also provide conceptual commentaries on more than 40 particular answers and discuss the most common technical issues emerging while using “Concept Synthesis” test.

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