Mental Speed: A Review of Its Conceptual Development and Importance

Abstract

Throughout the lifespan, while development is increasing fast day by day in infancy, there is an increasing slowdown in old ages. This is essentially one of the evident features of the life cycle. Individuals with normal development are expected to be physically and mentally at a parallel developmental rate. In cases of developmental delay or superiority in one of the processes, the identification process of the individual begins. Medical diagnosis and educational diagnosis are necessary in the developmental identification and evaluation of individuals. Many variables are evaluated together in identification. Speed is among the common variables studied in both medical and educational diagnostics. Processing speed refers to the time it takes for the individual to understand the information and react in the process that begins with the receipt of the stimulus. While speed provides clinical information based on reaction time in neural transmissions, it provides educational information in assessments based on mental performance. In this study, the studies related to speed are examined in the historical process and the prominent issues in line with the conceptual diversity encountered are emphasized. The literature review was carried out within the framework of the concepts related to speed and it was discussed based on the relevant research. As a result of the reviews, the studies were examined in two historical periods and examined in the context of the process in which they were associated with intelligence. Recent studies have revealed that the concept of processing speed has a wider usage and is close to the concepts of mental speed and cognitive speed. On the basis of studies about measurement of speed, implications were presented to researchers in line with the characteristics of speed tests. In this context, it can be argued that this study is important for researchers and practitioners in terms of distinguishing conceptual differences related to measurement of mental performance speed.

Keywords

• Intelligence measurement
• speed measurement
• processing speed
• mental speed
• conceptions of speed

Zihinsel Hız: Kavramsal Gelişimi ve Önemine Dair Bir Derleme Çalışması

Öz

Bebeklikten yaşlılığa ilerleyen yaşam döngüsünde; bebeklik dönemindeki gelişimde günden güne artan hızlılık, yaşlılık döneminde günden güne artan yavaşlama söz konusudur. Bu, döngünün belirgin özellikleri arasındadır. Normal gelişim gösteren bireylerde beklenen, fiziksel gelişim ile zihinsel gelişim hızının paralel olmasıdır. Gelişimsel olarak süreçlerden birinde ortaya çıkan geri kalma ya da ileri olma bireyin tanılanmasını gerektirmektedir. Bireylerin gelişimsel olarak tanılanması ve değerlendirilmesinde tıbbi tanılama ve eğitsel tanılama devreye girmektedir. Tanılamada birçok değişken birlikte değerlendirilmektedir. Bu değişkenlerden biri olan zihinsel hız da hem tıbbi hem de eğitsel tanılamada incelenen ortak değişkenler arasındadır. Hız, bireyin uyarıcıyı alması ile başlayan süreçte, bilgiyi anlama ve buna tepki verme süresini ifade eder. Hız, sinirsel iletilerdeki tepki hızına bağlı olarak klinik yönden bilgi sunarken, zihinsel performans hızına bağlı değerlendirmelerde eğitsel yönden bilgi sunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada hız ile ilgili çalışmalar tarihsel süreç içerisinde incelenmiş ve karşılaşılan kavramsal çeşitlilik doğrultusunda ayırt edici hususlar üzerinde durulmuştur. Alanyazın taraması hız ile ilgili kullanılan kavramlar çerçevesinde yapılmış ve ilişkili araştırmalar temelinde tartışılmıştır. Çalışmalar, tarihsel olarak iki dönemde incelenmiş ve zekâ ile ilişkilendirildiği süreç bağlamında irdelenmiştir. Yakın dönem çalışmaları, işleme hızı kavramının daha geniş bir kullanım alanına sahip olduğu, zihinsel hız ve bilişsel hız kavramları ile yakın anlamlarda kullanıldığı sonuçlarını ortaya koymuştur. Hız ölçümüne yönelik çalışmalar temelinde ise araştırmacılara hız testlerinin özellikleri doğrultusunda öneriler sunulmuştur. Bu bağlamda çalışmanın, zihinsel performans hızı ölçümüne ilişkin kavramsal farklılıkların ayırt edilmesi bakımından, araştırmacı ve uygulayıcılar için önem taşıdığı söylenebilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Zekâ ölçümü
• hız ölçümü
• işleme hızı
• zihinsel hız
• hız kavramları

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