Abstract
In this article the authors analise the contribution of confirmatory factor analysis in the evaluation of structural models of cognitive abilities. Alternative models are tested in a sample of high school and college students (N=849), in a battery of 12 tests that evaluate three processes (comprehension, reasoning and divergent thinking) considering four itens contents (verbal, figural-abstract, spatial and numerical). A model with six factors, that reflects the variance of the cognitive processes involved and the content of the tasks appears to be the most adjusted. In this context, it is concluded that it may be necessary to re-analyse the traditional dichotomy between hierarchical and taxonomic models of cognitive abilities, once both are seen as complementary.
