Each of these second-order stratum factors can be measured by means of two or more subtests constructed by means of different approaches to automatic item generation (for an overview: Arendasy and Sommer, 2012, Arendasy and Sommer, 2013 and Irvine and Kyllonen, 2002). All subtests were calibrated by means of the 1PL Rasch model and exhibited good construct and criterion validities (for an overview: Arendasy et al., 2008). In order to obtain a screening measure of psychometric g the following four subtests were completed: figural-inductive

reasoning (FID), arithmetic Raf inhibitor review flexibility (NF), verbal short-term memory (VEK) and word meaning (WB). The subtests were selected to cover a broad range of stratum two factors to avoid construct-underrepresentation www.selleckchem.com/products/abt-199.html in estimating psychometric g (cf. Major, Johnson, & Bouchard, 2011). All subtests were presented as computerized adaptive tests with a target reliability corresponding to α = .60. Factor loadings obtained with a representative Austrian norm sample were used to estimate the g-factor score based on the subtest results. The factor scores were further converted into IQ scores using the Austrian norm sample. The DTI scans were collected on a 3-T Siemens Magnetom Skyra Scanner (Siemens Medical Systems, Erlangen, Germany), using a 32-channel head coil. A single shot echo planar imaging with a twice-refocused

spin echo pulse sequence, optimized to minimize eddy current-induced image distortions (Reese, Heid, Weisskoff, & Wedeen, 2003) was performed on all subjects with the following parameters: TR/TE = 6600/95 ms, voxel size 2 × 2 × 2 mm, FOV = 240 mm, slices = 50, b = 1000 s/mm2, diffusion directions = 64. To minimize movement artefacts, the head of the subject was firmly fixed with cushions.

All images were investigated to be free of motion, ghosting, high frequency Lck and/or wrap-around artefacts at the time of image acquisition. Diffusion tensor imaging analysis was performed using FDT 3.0 (fMRIB’s Diffusion Toolbox V3.0) and TBSS (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics; Smith et al., 2006), part of FSL 5.0.6 (Smith et al., 2004). First, raw images were preprocessed using Eddy Current correction and a binary brain mask was created using BET (Brain Extraction Tool; Jenkinson, Pechaud, & Smith, 2005). Eigenvalues (λ1, λ2, λ3) and eigenvectors (ε1, ε2, ε3) of the diffusion tensor matrix for each voxel were computed from the DTI volumes for each subject on a voxel-by-voxel basis using established reconstruction methods ( Basser & Jones, 2002). Thus, maps for fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD = λ1), and radial diffusivity (RD = λ2 + λ3/2) could be generated to increase interpretability of our findings. All subjects’ FA data were then aligned into a common space using the nonlinear registration tool FNIRT ( Andersson et al., 2007a and Andersson et al., 2007b), which uses a b-spline representation of the registration warp field ( Rueckert et al., 1999).