Higher-order models versus direct hierarchical models: g as superordinate or breadth factor?

Abstract

Intelligence research appears to have overwhelmingly endorsed a superordinate (higher-order model) conceptualization of g, in comparison to the relatively less well-known breadth conceptualization of g, as represented by the direct hierarchical model. In this paper, several similarities and distinctions between the indirect and direct hierarchical models are delineated. Based on the re-analysis of five correlation matrices, it was demonstrated via CFA that the conventional conception of g as a higherorder superordinate factor was likely not as plausible as a first-order breadth factor. The results are discussed in light of theoretical advantages of conceptualizing g as a first-order factor. Further, because the associations between group-factors and g are constrained to zero within a direct hierarchical model, previous observations of isomorphic associations between a lower-order group factor and g are questioned.