It is well established that analogical reasoning can be explained by the efficiency of working memory (WM) but it remains unclear what processes are involved when the child learns to reason analogically. The present study examined the relationship of executive functions (EF) and fluid intelligence (gF) and the ability to learn analogies in a sample of 210 10-year-old children. First, with regard to the structure of EF, a four-factor model fitted the data well, however, shifting and fluency were indistinguishable from attentional control. At the same time, attentional control fully accounted for the interrelationships between other EF. Second, only WM proved to have a direct effect on the ability to learn and on gF, while mediating the effect of attentional control. Third, despite a decent explanatory power of WM, it did not explain the relationship between the ability to learn and gF, indicating the presence of another factor distinct from WM.

Although the measurement of cognitive performance usually relies on achievement sum scores, a growing body of research suggests that the analysis of errors made may have a predictive validity beyond that provided by the number of items correct. This study examined the validity related to one such kind of error scores--the set-loss errors--in the general population of 8- to 11-year-old children. Set-loss errors (also called rule violations) can be conceptualized as a breakdown in the adherence to task-specific rules, and in clinical populations, the propensity to make these errors has shown some specificity for identifying disorders connected with frontal lobes dysfunction. The results, however, indicate that set-loss errors derived from distinct tests could not be effectively explained by a single latent dimension; hence, they do not tap a single construct that could be called set loss or the ability to maintain set. At the same time, there were only few weak associations between various kinds of error scores as well as between the set-loss error scores and relevant constructs such as the ability to learn, attentional control, working memory, fluid and crystallized intelligence, and executive functions-related real-world behaviors, indicating an overrepresentation of construct-irrelevant variance in these kinds of scores. These indications were further accentuated by the analysis of sensitivity and specificity where any elevated number of set-loss error scores was unable to classify individuals on theoretically relevant constructs beyond chance levels. The evidence thus speaks against the use of set-loss error scores in the general population of 8- to 11-year-old children.

The main aim of the study was to explore the relationship between fluid intelligence (gf), attentional control (AC), and learning potential (LP), and to investigate the interaction effect between gf and AC on LP. The sample comprised 210 children attending the fourth grade of a standard elementary school. It was hypothesized that the extent of the association between gf and LP depends on the level of attentional control, so that a low level of AC would weaken or possibly break that link, while a high level of AC would facilitate the employment of fluid general ability in learning situations. The results show that there was a moderate relationship between the measures of gf and LP, while gf was not found to be related to AC. Regarding the hypothesized interaction effect, the data suggested that the relationship between learning potential and fluid intelligence is invariant regarding the level of attentional control in the sample. Possible reasons for the lack of a moderation effect are discussed.