Crystallized intelligence as a product of speed and drive for experience: the relationship of inspection time and openness to g and Gc Timothy C. Bates*, Alexandra Shieles Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109, Australia Received 14 July 2002; received in revised form 30 September 2002; accepted 1 October 2002 Abstract The five-factor model personality domain of openness (O) is theoretically independent of intelligence and thus should not correlate with information-processing speed markers of general ability ( g). Simultaneously, if information-processing speed is basic to g, then computational speed should correlate not only with g but also with subsidiary facets of intelligence, such as crystallized intelligence (G C ). These important relationships were explored using the inspection time (IT) measure of information-processing speed together with the O scale of the NEO-PI R (Costa & McCrae, 1995) and separate psychometric tests of g (Raven’s Matrices) and G C (vocabulary and comprehension). Raven’s and the Gc measure correlated .598, while IT correlated with both Ravens (r =  .558) and G C (r =  .401) supporting a basic role of computational speed in g. O correlated significantly with G C (r =.338), but not with Raven’s nor with IT. Structural equation modeling supported two models in which O was independent of g, with IT being basic to g, and with G C reflecting the joint action of g and O. Paths from O to IT or to Raven’s were not significant, suggesting that any apparent relationship of O to intelligence is due not to effects of O on ability, but rather to the effects of O on interest in knowledge, a joint final path with ability. D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: IQ; Intelligence; g; 5-FM; NEO-PI R; Openness; Inspection time; Speed of information processing 0160-2896/03/$ – see front matter D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. PII:S0160-2896(02)00176-9 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +61-2-9850-7111; fax: +61-2-9850-6059. E-mail address: tim@maccs.mq.edu.au (T.C. Bates). Intelligence 31 (2003) 275 – 287