The moderating effects of motivation, social control, and self-regulation in predicting academic achievement were examined in Grades 11-12 for 3,281 seventh through nine graders. Standardized assessments of college readiness and student self-reported measures of psychosocial factors were used in the study. The results showed that females in Grades…

This longitudinal study investigated development in expectancy for success (perceived competence), 3 types of task value (utility, interest, attainment), and 3 types of perceived cost (opportunity, effort, psychological) for engineering students during their first 2 years of college. Latent growth curve models indicated declines in expectancy and…

We introduce the concept of "differential prediction generalization" in the context of college admissions testing. Specifically, we assess the extent to which predicted first-year college grade point average (GPA) based on high-school grade point average (HSGPA) and SAT scores depends on a student's ethnicity and gender and whether this…

This is the first meta-analysis that investigates the differential prediction of undergraduate and graduate college admission tests for women and men. Findings on 130 independent samples representing 493,048 students are summarized. The underprediction of women's academic performance (d = 0.14) and the overprediction of men's academic performance…

The current study explored individual differences in ability and motivation factors of retention in first-year college students. We used discrete-time survival mixture analysis to model university retention. Parents' education, gender, American College Test (ACT) scores, conscientiousness, and trait affectivity were explored as predictors of…

Students identified by talent search programs were studied to determine whether spatial ability could uncover math-science promise. In Phase 1, interests and values of intellectually talented adolescents (617 boys, 443 girls) were compared with those of top math-science graduate students (368 men, 346 women) as a function of their standing on…

This article examines the nature of confidence in relation to abilities, personality, and metacognition. Confidence scores were collected during the administration of Reading and Listening sections of the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT) to 824 native speakers of English. Those confidence scores were correlated…

The relative contribution of undergraduate grade point average (UGPA) and the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) to predicting academic performance in each of three years of law school was investigated. The LSAT makes its greatest contribution in early years and UGPA in later years. (Author/BW)

A study with 118 high school students tested the hypothesis that anxiety concerning examinations covering different subjects (the Scholastic Assessment Test) is an additive function of dispositional text anxiety and the anticipated results of individual tests. Results indicate that the anxiety associated with different exams is an incremental…

Puerto Rican students took the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the Prueba de Aptitud Academica (PAA), and the Pruebas de Aprovechamiento Academico. The strength of the relationship between scores on the SAT given in English and the PAA given in Spanish increased as proficiency in English as a second language increased (Author/BW)

Many errors in the selection of college students are inversely related to the validity of the predictors employed. The generally weak validity with which grade point average (GPA) has been predicted may be a criterion problem rather than a predictor problem. GPA prediction is inferior to single-class grade prediction. (BJG)

Gender-related differences in participation in and scores on the College Board's Advanced Placement and Achievement examinations were studied for the years 1982 through 1992. There was little change in patterns of examination participation, and patterns of sex differences in scores were generally stable, with some evidence of difference narrowing.…

Results indicate that the SAT-V and SAT-M scores have sufficient validity for use in predicting how well the typical students would do during the course of their academic career and also in predicting students' relative level of achievement if they persist until graduation, especially if measured by achievement tests. (Author/BJG)

A special preparation curriculum for the analytical section of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Aptitude Test was developed and administered to self-selected GRE candidates. Analyses revealed an effect that stemmed from improved performance on two of the three analytical item types formerly included in the analytical section. (Author/PN)

Earlier research has shown that prior knowledge of psychology is positively associated with course achievement. But are these effects attributable to preexisting differences in general ability or aptitude? The authors administered 2 pretests to 353 students early in an introductory psychology course and obtained measures of general student…