The implementation of the "newer SAT reasoning test" seems to have been just a rename, at least at the time of the name change. From the encycwopedia:
In 1993 de name was changed to SAT I: Reasoning Test (wif de wetters not standing for anyding) to distinguish it from de SAT II: Subject Tests.[34] This change was instituted because of sharp criticism and wongitudinaw studies showing dat de originaw meaning was no wonger accurate; de SAT did not accuratewy measure what it said it was measuring.[citation needed] In 2004, de roman numeraws on bof tests were dropped, and de SAT I was renamed de SAT Reasoning Test.
Did the basic nature of the SAT change recently? Although the SAT has certainly had changes, I wouldn't jump to a conclusion that the IQ correlation results are invawwid because of the changes.
What I was looking at was the 2005 update -- the time at which it became what is often referred to as the "new SAT." From the wiki article quoted above:
2005 changes:
In 2005, the test was changed again, largely in response to criticism by the University of California system.[30] Because of issues concerning ambiguous questions, especially analogies, certain types of questions were eliminated (the analogies from the verbal and quantitative comparisons from the Math section). The test was made marginally harder, as a corrective to the rising number of perfect scores. A new writing section, with an essay, based on the former SAT II Writing Subject Test, was added,[31] in part to increase the chances of closing the opening gap between the highest and midrange scores. Other factors included the desire to test the writing ability of each student; hence the essay. The New SAT (known as the SAT Reasoning Test) was first offered on March 12, 2005, after the last administration of the "old" SAT in January 2005.
The research that correlates IQ with SAT scores was all looking at administrations of the test prior to the 2005 changes. My understanding was that things like the analogies, which were removed in 2005, were the parts that were the most g correlated on the SAT. I took a psychometrics class a few years back at a local university as well in which the professor, a psychometrician, said that the new SAT (2005 and later) was more similar to the ACT and no longer considered a test of aptitude or ability.
A paper in the journal Intelligence (reference below) found that ACT scores were correlated 0.77 with a measure of g, so I think the ACT can be regarded as an IQ test. The authors write "It appears that ACT scores can be used to accurately predict IQ in the general population." They also write,
"As discussed in the opening of this article, ACT, Inc. claims that the ACT is not an IQ test, but rather measures the preparedness of the test-taker for advanced education. Given the results of the current study, this statement is misleading. Colleges that use scores on the ACT and
SAT for admission decisions are basing admissions partially on intelligence test results. Whether this is acceptable or efficient practice is beyond the scope of this article, but we argue that the testing companies have a responsibility to the public to accurately describe what
these widely-used tests measure."
The ACT and the College Board don't use the word "intelligence" in describing what their tests measure, because that immediately raises the question of why large differences exist between average test scores in various demographic groups. The obvious but non-PC answer is that the patterns are the same ones found in "official" IQ tests such as the WISC and Stanford-Binet.
http://www.iapsych.com/iqmr/koening2008.pdfACT and general cognitive ability
Katherine A. Koenig ⁎, Meredith C. Frey, Douglas K. Detterman
Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, United States
Intelligence 36 (2008) 153�160
Received 1 July 2006; received in revised form 16 March 2007; accepted 27 March 2007
Available online 2 May 2007
Abstract
Research on the SAT has shown a substantial correlation with measures of g such as the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude
Battery (ASVAB). Another widely administered test for college admission is the American College Test (ACT). Using the National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, measures of g were derived from the ASVAB and correlated with ACT scores for 1075
participants. The resulting correlation was .77. The ACT also shows significant correlations with the SAT and several standard IQ
tests. A more recent sample (N=149) consisting of ACT scores and the Raven's APM shows a correlation of .61 between Raven'sderived
IQ scores and Composite ACT scores. It appears that ACT scores can be used to accurately predict IQ in the general
population.
