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Supporting factors of intelligence

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Besides fluid and crystalline intelligence, there are also additional factors that are important for high intelligence:

  • Visual processing: it involves the ability to perceive, analyze, manipulate, and relate visual content (visual memory and spatial relations).
  • Auditory processing: the perception of auditory stimuli and the ability to discriminate, analyze, and modify them (memory for sound patterns and sound localization).
  • Processing speed: The ability to perform cognitive processes quickly and automatically (simple arithmetic problems or knowing that the capital of Italy is Rome). One needs this ability for virtually all intellectual tasks (computational speed and perceptual speed).
  • Reaction speed: The ability to react quickly to basic problems or situations and find the right answer or a simple solution (speed of mental comparison and decision-making speed).
  • Short-term memory: the ability to take in a limited amount of new information, store it in the short term, and process it (working memory, learning ability, and memory span).
  • Long-term memory: The ability to store and retrieve information over the long term, focusing on the efficiency of storage and the ability to recall the information minutes, days, months, or decades later (associative memory and naming speed).