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Objective: The present study aimed to better understand key conceptualizations and operationalizations of intraindividual variability (IIV). We expected that differing types and metrics of IIV would relate to one another and predict outcomes (academic achievement) similarly. Method: The sample comprised 238 young adults. IIV was computed within and across six measures – three related to math and three more generally cognitive; in each case, score was separated from response time. We computed three types of IIV (inconsistency, dispersion, and dispersion of inconsistency), across several metrics (standard deviation, coefficient of variability, residualized standard deviation), and assessed their interrelations, and their prediction of academic achievement. Results: Differing metrics of variability were related to one another, but variably so. For prediction, whether or not inconsistency IIV metrics were significant was highly dependent on the measure they were derived from, with or without the primary score for a given measure also included. For dispersion of inconsistency and dispersion, variability metrics were often significant, though this was eliminated in most cases when score was also included in models. Conclusions: By concurrently examining multiple metrics and types of IIV within the same set of measures, this study highlights the need to (a) clarify the type of IIV utilized and why; (b) clarify the rationale for the kinds of measures used to compute IIV, particularly dispersion; and (c) include score alongside timing. Doing so will likely improve the generalizability of IIV findings, and prompt future research avenues, both psychometric- (e.g., simulations) and clinical-related (e.g., across ages and populations). 

With a diverse sample of community college (CC) students (n = 94), we investigated how the working memory (WM)-math relation may be moderated by aspects of acculturation, including cultural adoption and cultural maintenance. We predicted that higher levels of each of the above acculturation factors would improve math performance by way of reducing WM load (via cognitive load). Conversely, we expected a weaker WM-math correlation at lower levels of acculturation due to the increased variability in cultural factors and the adverse effect of lower acculturation on WM through heightened cognitive load. In this cohort, WM correlated with math performance, but acculturation did not significantly influence this relationship. Neither cultural adoption nor cultural maintenance moderated the WM-math association. Results suggest that individualized educational interventions based on acculturation status alone may not be an effective strategy. Instead, institutions such as schools and governmental agencies may focus on providing a better foundation for educational success by enhancing academic and non-academic support systems to promote equitable educational opportunities for all students. Further research should explore additional individual and/or demographic factors (e.g. socioeconomic status, experiences of discrimination, cultural background) to better understand these complex relations. 

The goal of this work is to provide a framework for understanding the relationship between executive function (EF) to reading and other academic achievements to promote future work in this area. After briefly reviewing extant theoretical and empirical support about what is known in this area, we then more deeply evaluate the construct of EF itself. This is necessary because EF means any number of things to any number of individuals, scientists included. Review of several pertinent conceptualizations of EF, including our own, reveals agreement that EF is domain general (although the meaning of domain generality is varied); additional commonalities include a focus on control/management and goal direction. However, there is less agreement on whether EF is singular or plural, or whether EF is one or more “thing(s)” versus process(es). These alternatives are discussed with a focus on the implications for understanding the role of EF for important functional outcomes.