Grigorenko and Sternberg measured analytical skill using the Series and the Matrices subtests of the Test of g: Culture Fair, Level II (Cattell, 1940; Cattell and Cattell, 1973) to measure fluid skills. A test of crystallized cognition was adapted from existing traditional tests of analogies and synonyms/antonyms used in Russia. Creative cognition was measured by asking participants to describe the world through the eyes of insects and to describe who might live and what might happen on a fictitious planet called "Priumliava." Responses were rated for novelty, quality, and sophistication. For practical cognition, participants were asked to report their practical skills in the social domain (e.g., effective and successful communication with other people), in the family domain (e.g., how to fix household items, how to run the family budget), and in the domain of effective resolution of sudden problems (e.g., organizing something that has become chaotic). The participants were also asked to respond to 4 vignettes, based on themes of (1) how to maintain the value of one's savings; (2) what to do when one makes a purchase and discovers that the item one has purchased is broken; (3) how to locate medical assistance in a time of need; and (4) how to manage a salary bonus one has received for outstanding work. Participants were asked to select the best option among five presented for each vignette. The most frequently chosen option was used as the keyed answer. Finally, self-report measures of physical and mental health were used to assess successful adaptation. Participants received a summary score on their physical health based on reports of chronic illness and other debilitation injuries or diseases. They also completed the Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS, Beck, Epstein, Brown, and Steer, 1988) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI, Beck et al., 1961), as well as five items that measured their self-efficacy for adaptation.

Grigorenko and Sternberg found that practical cognition consistently predicted self-reported adaptive functioning on all indicators, with higher practical cognition associated with better physical and mental health. Analytical cognition was associated with lower anxiety and higher self-efficacy on two items. Creative cognition was marginally associated with poorer physical health, but lower anxiety. When the data was analyzed separately by gender, creative skill was found to associate with lower anxiety for women, but poorer physical health and lower self-efficacy for men. The results suggest that both analytical and practical cognition have a positive effect on adaptive functioning. There is inconclusive evidence regarding the role of creative cognition.

2.4.2 Measures of practical cognition

In addition to the STAT and self-report questions, Sternberg and his colleagues have developed measures targeted specifically at practical cognition (see Sternberg et al., 1993; Sternberg et al., 1995; Wagner, 1985). Practical cognition is viewed as relevant to successful performance of everyday problems, whether the problems are of a social, emotional, or task-related nature. Therefore, measures of practical cognition hold promise for elucidating some of the unexplained portion of success that have not been accounted for by traditional cognition tests. Sternberg and his colleagues have taken a knowledgebased approach to measuring practical cognition. Tacit knowledge, as an aspect of practical cognition, is experience-based knowledge relevant to solving practical problems. As such, tacit knowledge can pertain to social or emotional information. Therefore, tacit knowledge may provide a common approach to understanding various forms of nonacademic cognition. In the sections that follow, we delineate further the construct of tacit knowledge, describe methods of measuring tacit knowledge, and review a program of research that provides growing support for the validity of tacit knowledge, and subsequently, practical cognition.