Cognitive gender differences are disappearing.

Gender differences in cognitive abilities were determined using the norms from the four standardizations of the Differential Aptitude Tests conducted between 1947 and 1980, and from the four standardizations of the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/Scholastic Aptitude Test conducted between 1960 and 1983. The standardized gender differences (ds) were averaged over grade of examinees and year of standardization to obtain a mean effect size for each ability, and variations among effect sizes were examined for grade, year, and Grade?×?Year trends. Girls scored higher than boys on scales of grammar, spelling, and perceptual speed; boys had higher means on measures of spatial visualization, high school mathematics, and mechanical aptitude; and no average gender differences were found on tests of verbal reasoning, arithmetic, and figural reasoning. Gender differences declined precipitously over the years surveyed, and the increases in these differences over the high school grades have diminished. The important exception to the rule of vanishing gender differences is that the well-documented gender gap at the upper levels of performance on high school mathematics has remained constant over the past 27 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A model for representing gender differences in the pattern of cognitive abilities.

Comments on A. Feingold's (see record 1988-18577-001) meta-analytic assessment of gender-related performance on the Differential Aptitude Tests, which indicated a trend toward disappearing gender differences in the profile of cognitive abilities (CAs). In a review of potential explanatory models for this finding, the present author considers the mechanisms by which both biological and sociocultural factors might influence the developing pattern of human CAs. A satisfactory model might include the identification of a mechanism such as gender, and individual, differences in the frequency of engagement in sex-dimorphic behaviors. This model would predict a specific relationship between early activity patterns and the pattern of later CAs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactions of learner characteristics with the difficulty level of the instruction.

Investigated 152 college students' learning from programmed materials varying in redundancy and difficulty level. Measures employed were the Test Anxiety Scale, Achievement Motivation subscale (Personality Research Form), and Scholastic Aptitude Test Verbal and Quantitative subscales and total score. Ss with high achievement needs and low fear of failure did increasingly better on the posttest as the instructional difficulty increased from 6.9 to 40.0% errors. The low-need-achievement, high-fear-of-failure group's performance decreased with an increase in difficulty. Cognitive ability interacted with instructional variables, so that the group scoring high on the Scholastic Aptitude Test performed better than the low when the instruction entailed more errors and less time on task. Qualifications, implications, and the need for considering relevant learner characteristics when prescribing optimal instruction are discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining gender differences on SAT-math items.

Used a cognitive process approach to explain gender differences on the math subtest of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). This approach specifies that gender differences exist because male students may carry out certain cognitive operations (e.g., knowledge access, strategy assembly) more effectively than female students. High school students were given SAT items and measures of their prior knowledge and strategies. Results showed that male students performed better than female students on the SAT items. Regression analyses, however, showed that whereas prior knowledge and strategies explained nearly 50% of the variance in SAT scores, gender explained no unique variance. These findings suggest that it is not one's gender that matters as much as one's prior knowledge and strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirical distributions of range restricted SDx in validity studies.

The Schmidt–Hunter validity generalization procedure (Schmidt & Hunter, 1977) uses a hypothetical distribution of range restricted standard deviations and the expected value obtained from that distribution. In this article we investigate 12 empirically derived distributions, using the General Aptitude Test Battery, Law School Admissions Test, and Scholastic Aptitude Test validity studies. These empirical distributions of range restricted standard deviations are compared with both the assumed distribution used in most validity generalization research and with those few other empirical distributions reported in the literature. The findings are discussed in terms of differences in setting and ways these empirical results could be used in validity generalization analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comment on Zajonc.

Comments that the article by R. B. Zajonc (see record 1987-02628-001) using the confluence model to establish a connection between birth order and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, is interesting and provides valuable suggestions for future research, but that there are errors of omission and assumption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The decline and rise of scholastic aptitude scores.

In response to the article by R. B. Zajonc (see record 1987-02628-001) on the prediction of the turnaround in the decline of Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, the present author comments that the major part of the solution to the SAT puzzle still remains unexplained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive sex differences and mathematics and science achievement.

Comments on the original article "Sex Differences in Intrinsic Aptitude for Mathematics and Science?: A Critical Review," by E. S. Spelke (see record 2005-15840-001). Spelke considered "three claims that cognitive sex differences account for the differential representation of men and women in high-level careers in mathematics and science." The focus of this comment is on the claim regarding gender differences in mean levels of cognitive abilities. Spelke claimed (p. 954) that "most investigators of sex differences have concluded that males and females have equal cognitive ability, with somewhat different profiles." There are two major components to this comment. The first is mainly theoretical, and the second is both theoretical and empirical. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between cognitions and performance in math anxious students: A failure of cognitive theory.

Investigated the cognitions of 34 high- and 37 low-anxious undergraduates in solving mathematical problems by asking them to think aloud while solving problems from the College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test. Cognitions generated from this procedure were examined for sex and anxiety-related differences and were used in a regression equation to predict performance. Results show that 2nd-step cognitive variables (review of information, strategic calculations, conclusions, neutral statements, and silence) did account for a significant amount of variance in the combined performance problems beyond that of the 1st step cognitions (attention control, self-facilitation, irrelevancies, and self-inhibition). It is suggested that cognitive and cognitive-behavioral approaches to counseling should be subject to empirical verification if a strong data base for these interventions is to be created. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Birth order, SAT, and confluence: Spurious correlations and no causality.

In response to the article by R. B. Zajonc (see record 1987-02628-001) on the confluence model describing the influence of family factors on the Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, the present author argues that the confluence model is not as powerful a behavioral model as the article implies, and that the question whether birth order is related to intellectual development is more important. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reestimating Zajonc's confluence effects on the SAT.

In response to the article by R. B. Zajonc (see record 1987-02628-001) on the confluence model and prediction of national Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, the present authors reestimate Zajonc's model using their estimates of proportion of high school seniors taking the SAT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ego identity status, adjustment, and academic achievement.

81 male undergraduates were interviewed to determine their identity-status, were administered the Zuckerman Mood Affect Adjective Checklist (MAACL), and their GPAs and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores were obtained. Analyses of variance showed: (a) no differences between groups on MAACL subscales of identity, depression, and anxiety; (b) that SAT scores were not associated with identity status; and (c) that the relationship between identity achievement and GPA is strong. It is concluded that identity status and college performance cannot be attributed to differences in adjustment, and that college students who have achieved a strong identity perform better, are more task-oriented, and their work is more meaningful to them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Utility of predicting group membership and the role of spatial visualization in becoming an engineer, physical scientist, or artist.

Explicates how the prediction of group membership can augment test validation designs restricted to prediction of individual differences in criterion performance, and illustrates the utility of this methodology by documenting the importance of spatial visualization for becoming an engineer, physical scientist, or artist. This involved various longitudinal analyses on a sample of 400,000 high school students tracked after 11 yrs following their high school graduation. The predictive validities of Spatial–Math and Verbal–Math ability composites were established by successfully differentiating a variety of educational and occupational groups. One implication of the findings is that physical science and engineering disciplines appear to be losing many talented persons by restricting assessment to conventional mathematical and verbal abilities, such as those of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the Graduate Record Examination. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships among gender differences in freshman course grades and course characteristics.

Examines relationships among gender differences in freshmen college course grades and characteristics of the courses. Gender differences in course grades are not adequately explained by gender differences in previous scholastic achievement. In addition, courses in which gender differences favor women tend to be those in which high school grades and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores are less important for earning higher course grades. These courses also award higher-than-average grades to freshmen with average high school grades and SAT scores and enroll a higher percentage of female freshmen. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Methodological errors in the prediction of ability.

Claims that U. Neisser et al (see record 83-26553) failed to challenge repeated methodological errors in the prediction of intellectual ability in their APA Task Force Report on Intelligence. Two such errors, one related to monozygotic twins, and the other related to the absence of information on the actual Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score distributions in group studies, are discussed. To the extent that the task force did challenge such errors, they tended to sustain, however unintentionally, the hereditarian position. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creativity and Occupational Accomplishments Among Intellectually Precocious Youths: An Age 13 to Age 33 Longitudinal Study.

This study tracks intellectually precocious youths (top 1%) over 20 years. Phase 1 (N = 1,243 boys, 732 girls) examines the significance of age 13 ability differences within the top 1% for predicting doctorates, income, patents, and tenure at U.S. universities ranked within the top 50. Phase 2 (N = 323 men, 188 women) evaluates the robustness of discriminant functions developed earlier, based on age-13 ability and preference assessments and calibrated with age-23 educational criteria but extended here to predict occupational group membership at age 33. Positive findings on above-level assessment with the Scholastic Aptitude Test and conventional preference inventories in educational settings generalize to occupational settings. Precocious manifestations of abilities foreshadow the emergence of exceptional achievement and creativity in the world of work; when paired with preferences, they also predict the qualitative nature of these accomplishments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in predictions of college grades from scholastic aptitude test scores.

Appraised 2 explanations for sex differences in over- and underprediction of college grades by the Scholastic Aptitude Test: sex-related differences in (1) the nature of the grade criterion and (2) the variables associated with academic performance. An entire freshmen class at a large state university was studied. Women's GPA was underpredicted (and men's GPA was overpredicted), but only by a small amount. When the GPA was adjusted for differences in grading standards for individual courses, over- and underpredictions were not affected, but when sex differences were controlled for in individual-differences variables concerned with academic preparations, studiousness, and attitudes about mathematics, over- and underprediction were reduced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More on correlates of success in undergraduate statistics.

A study of 70 undergraduate psychological statistics students showed that grades in this class, in another psychology course, and an introductory statistics course intercorrelated at approximately the same level; and all were strongly and equally associated with cumulative general grade point average (GPA). There was essentially no correlation for these courses and Mathematics scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of college achievement from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule using intellectual ability as a moderator.

Following the procedures of Goodstein and Heilbrun (see 37:3), scores for 102 males on the EPPS, the Minnesota Scholastic Aptitude Test (MSAT), and 2 grade-point indices were analyzed for the entire sample and for low, middle, and high ability groups using partial correlation with MSAT scores held constant. The results show little agreement with those reported by Goodstein and Heilbrun. The sample was also randomly divided into cross-validation groups and a similar analysis performed. These results were not stable. The possible moderating effects of intellectual ability are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristics of college students volunteering for service to mental patients.

85 male college students volunteering for service as companions to chronically ill mental patients were compared to a group of 85 control students on a number of psychological tests administered during the students' freshmen years. These tests consisted of the MMPI, EPPS, Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Scale of Values, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, and the Terman Concept Mastery Test. Students taking part in the Companion Program are not differentiated from their control counterparts in any clinical respect. There is evidence that the companions are: (a) slightly more religiously oriented, (b) more morally concerned, (c) more compassionate, and (d) more introverted than the control students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)