#11728. Marked Intraindividual Cognitive Variability in a Sample of Healthy Graduate Students

July 2026publication date
Proposal available till 15-05-2025
4 total number of authors per manuscript0 $

The title of the journal is available only for the authors who have already paid for
Journal’s subject area:
Law;
Psychiatry and Mental Health;
Places in the authors’ list:
place 1place 2place 3place 4
FreeFreeFreeFree
2350 $1200 $1050 $900 $
Contract №11728.1 Contract №11728.2 Contract №11728.3 Contract №11728.4
1 place - free (for sale)
2 place - free (for sale)
3 place - free (for sale)
4 place - free (for sale)

Abstract:
In this pilot study, intraindividual variability in neurocognitive test performance was examined in 24 healthy individuals with high levels of education and average full-scale IQ of 121.9 on a short neuropsychological battery across multiple cognitive domains. Marked variability was found across all domains. Intraindividual differences between the highest and lowest z-scores ranged from 2.05 to 6.92 (M = 3.89, SD = 1.25). Based on the definitions of abnormality proposed by Lezak, Wechsler and Heaton, 46% of our sample participants had at least one score that was more than 2 standard deviations below the population mean; 50% had at least one score that was less than the 5th percentile (z < 1.68); 66% had at least one score below the 10th percentile (z < 1.28); and 92% had at least one score lower than one standard deviation below the mean (z 1.0 SD) across our sample. Our findings suggest the need for caution when inferring the presence of cerebral dysfunction in high academic achievers, particularly in a medical legal setting where false-positive diagnoses may be of particular consequence.
Keywords:
Graduate students; Healthy sample; Intraindividual variability; IQ; Misdiagnosis; Normal variability; Type I error

Contacts :
0