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An investigation of the relationship between chronometric performance and school achievement in Singapore university undergraduates
Author
Lim, Alvin Kheng Seng
Supervisor
Tan, Liang See
Abstract
Reaction Time (RT) on elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs) is a ratio measure that corresponds strongly with psychometric g, and the two variables are likely to share some predictive value on criteria like academic achievement. If this is true, RT may be useful in screening undergraduate students for underachievement and facilitate early identification and counselling of underperforming and candidates with a learning disability.
The advantages of using RT or RT standard deviation (RTSD) instead of intelligence quotient (IQ) as a screening variable include but are not limited to the following. One, chronometric measures yield ratio scores rather than the ordinal scores of typical psychometric measures. These are mathematically powerful and exempt from conceptual obscurity. Two, related to this is the fact that RT data have an asymptotic lower bound and no upper limit, and are therefore not limited as psychometric data are by ceiling and floor effects. This makes their use with populations in distribution tails particularly appealing. Three, RT-based tests are computerised and may be administered en masse and perhaps by school personnel who are not trained in psychometrics. Four, being entirely not knowledge-based, RT tests should be affected by a smaller practice component and therefore be usable more often. Five, it is easy to generate new RT test banks using the same paradigms and stimulus creation algorithms.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between RT/RTSD and scholastic performance (grade point average: GPA) in 98 local undergraduates (78 male, 20 female, aged 21 to 26 years, in years 1 to 4 in business, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, or technology courses). It was found that GPA regresses onto RT in two CHRONOMETRIC PERFORMANCE AND SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT of four ECT measures, and that these regression models are not improved by the addition of intelligence. Age, gender, course of study, and year of study did not moderate these relationships. The conclusion was that RT appears to be a candidate for replacing measures of intelligence in predicting school performance. Recommendations for future research were presented.
The advantages of using RT or RT standard deviation (RTSD) instead of intelligence quotient (IQ) as a screening variable include but are not limited to the following. One, chronometric measures yield ratio scores rather than the ordinal scores of typical psychometric measures. These are mathematically powerful and exempt from conceptual obscurity. Two, related to this is the fact that RT data have an asymptotic lower bound and no upper limit, and are therefore not limited as psychometric data are by ceiling and floor effects. This makes their use with populations in distribution tails particularly appealing. Three, RT-based tests are computerised and may be administered en masse and perhaps by school personnel who are not trained in psychometrics. Four, being entirely not knowledge-based, RT tests should be affected by a smaller practice component and therefore be usable more often. Five, it is easy to generate new RT test banks using the same paradigms and stimulus creation algorithms.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between RT/RTSD and scholastic performance (grade point average: GPA) in 98 local undergraduates (78 male, 20 female, aged 21 to 26 years, in years 1 to 4 in business, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, or technology courses). It was found that GPA regresses onto RT in two CHRONOMETRIC PERFORMANCE AND SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT of four ECT measures, and that these regression models are not improved by the addition of intelligence. Age, gender, course of study, and year of study did not moderate these relationships. The conclusion was that RT appears to be a candidate for replacing measures of intelligence in predicting school performance. Recommendations for future research were presented.
Date Issued
2014
Call Number
LA1239.8 Lim
Date Submitted
2014