Psychometric Evaluation of Aurora- a : An Augmented Assessment of Analytical, Practical, and Creative Abilities in Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence

Abstract: The Theory of Successful Intelligence defines intelligence as the integrated set of abilities and competencies in specific domains needed to attain success in life. Informed by this theory, we examined the dimensionality, reliability, and validity of an augmented intelligence test, Aurora- a , a 17-subtest assessment of analytical, practical, and creative abilities and figural, numerical, and verbal competencies in middle childhood and early adolescence. Using data from 3, 470 students (1, 808, or 52.1%, identified as male) from the United Kingdom and the United States, we found support for the unidimensionality and adequate reliability of the 17 subtests. An exploratory structural equation model outperformed confirmatory factor analysis on goodness of fit, theory alignment, model parsimony, and interpretability, illustrating the multifaceted nature of items assessing analytical, practical, and creative abilities. Weak to strong correlations (ranging r = .20 to .72) with criterion assessments of academic performance corroborated the validity of Aurora- a .