Answer to Question 1
According to Thurstone, the primary mental abilities are as follows:
1 . Verbal comprehension: measured by vocabulary tests
2 . Verbal fluency: measured by time-limited tests requiring the test-taker to think of as many words as possible that begin with a given letter
3 . Inductive reasoning: measured by tests such as analogies and number-series completion tasks
4 . Spatial visualization: measured by tests requiring mental rotation of pictures of objects
5 . Number: measured by computation and simple mathematical problem-solving tests
6 . Memory: measured by picture and word-recall tests
7 . Perceptual speed: measured by tests that require the test-taker to recognize small differences in pictures or to cross out the differences in strings of varied letters
Answer to Question 2
VERBAL REASONING
Vocabulary comprehension Define the meaning of a word. Show an understanding of why the world works as it does.
Absurdities Identify the odd or absurd feature of a picture.
Verbal relations Tell how three of four items are similar to one another yet different from the fourth item.
QUANTITATIVE REASONING
Number series Complete a series of numbers.
Quantitative Solve simple arithmetic-word problems.
FIGURAL/ABSTRACT REASONING
Pattern analysis Figure out a puzzle in which the test-taker must combine pieces representing parts of geometric shapes, fitting them together to form a particular geometric shape.
SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Memory for sentences Listen to a sentence; then repeat it back exactly as the examiner said it.
Memory for digits Listen to a series of digits (numbers); then repeat the numbers either forward or backward or both.
Memory for objects Watch the examiner point to a series of objects in a picture; then point to the same objects in exactly the same sequence in which the examiner did so.