The relationship between cognitive ability and chess skill: a comprehensive meta-analysis

Burgoyne, Alexander P., Sala, Giovanni, Gobet, Fernand ORCID: 0000-0002-9317-6886, Macnamara, Brooke N., Campitelli, Guillermo and Hambrick, David Z. (2016) The relationship between cognitive ability and chess skill: a comprehensive meta-analysis. Intelligence, 59. pp. 72-83. ISSN 0160-2896

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Abstract

Why are some people more skilled in complex domains than other people? Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between cognitive ability and skill in chess. Chess skill correlated positively and significantly with fluid reasoning (Gf) (r−=0.24), comprehension-knowledge (Gc) (r−=0.22), short-term memory (Gsm) (r−=0.25), and processing speed (Gs) (r−=0.24); the meta-analytic average of the correlations was (r−=0.24). Moreover, the correlation between Gf and chess skill was moderated by age (r−=0.32 for youth samples vs. r−=0.11 for adult samples), and skill level (r−=0.32 for unranked samples vs. r−=0.14 for ranked samples). Interestingly, chess skill correlated more strongly with numerical ability (r−=0.35) than with verbal ability (r−=0.19) or visuospatial ability (r−=0.13). The results suggest that cognitive ability contributes meaningfully to individual differences in chess skill, particularly in young chess players and/or at lower levels of skill.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/intelligence
Additional Information:	© 2016 Elsevier Inc
Divisions:	CPNSS
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Date Deposited:	26 Oct 2019 14:54
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2024 18:27
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/102241

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