Recent results of international assessment programs (e.g., PISA) have shown a large difference in high school students' performance between northern and southern Italy. On this basis, it has been argued that the discrepancy reflects differences in average intelligence of the inhabitants of regions and is associated with genetic factors ( and ).…

Research has consistently revealed that average IQ scores vary significantly across macro-level units, such as states and nations. The reason for this variation in IQ, however, has remained at the center of much controversy. One of the more provocative explanations is that IQ across macro-level units is the result of genetic differences, but…

Although academic achievement is a heritable construct, to date research has yet to explore its molecular genetic underpinnings. Drawing on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the current longitudinal study investigated the associations between polymorphisms in three dopaminergic genes (DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4) and…

Receptive foreign language proficiency is usually measured with reading and listening comprehension tasks. A novel approach to assess such proficiencies--viewing comprehension--is based on the presentation of short instructional videos followed by one or more comprehension questions concerning the preceding video stimulus. In order to evaluate a…

Studied the unique contribution of motivation to academic achievement after controlling for the predictive power of cognitive abilities. Results for more than 200 female high school students and their parents and teachers show that IQ and motivation are not correlated, that parents' and ratings were not closely related to the children's own…

Studied the correlates of intellectual giftedness and gender differences in giftedness in 6 groups of 10th graders (n=12,630). Discusses implications for U.S. youth achievement levels, manpower planning, and possible educational interventions. (SLD)

Physical and medical correlates of mathematical giftedness were studied in gifted (497 males and 508 females) and environmentally privileged (high socioeconomic status) (647 males and 485 females) tenth graders. Medical and physical well-being appears more highly associated with mathematical giftedness than with socioeconomic privileges. (SLD)