Previous studies have found that students' concept-building approaches, identified a priori with a cognitive psychology laboratory task, are associated with student exam performances in chemistry classes. Abstraction learners (those who extract the principles underlying related examples) performed better than exemplar learners (those who focus on…

Preinstruction SAT scores and normalized gains (G) on the force concept inventory (FCI) were examined for individual students in interactive engagement (IE) courses in introductory mechanics at one high school (N=335) and one university (N=292), and strong, positive correlations were found for both populations (r=0.57 and r=0.46, respectively).…

Sex differences in spatial visualization ability accounted for sex differences in mathematical ability for a group of college students. With spatial visualization statistically controlled, no significant sex differences in Quantitative Scholastic Aptitude Test scores were found. Males were more predictable than females due to higher spatial…

Using data on approximately 2,000 students drawn from three talent searches conducted by the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, this study investigated the relationship of possible sex differences in science achievement to sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability. (BS)

Analysis of the relative contribution of age, gender, and verbal and mathematical reasoning abilities (measured by subtests of the Scholastic Aptitude Test) as predictors of success in accelerated secondary science courses found that a composite of verbal and mathematical reasoning ability was the most powerful predictor and verbal reasoning…

Results of seventh-grade students taking Scholastic Aptitude Test indicate that, by age 13, a large sex difference in mathematical reasoning ability exists; among students scoring greater than 700, boys outnumbered girls 13 to 1. Hypothesized factors thought to influence the difference (such as course taking, attitudes) were not supported by data…

This article compares measures of abstract thinking preference and divergent thinking to standard mathematics ability measures such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). In this study involving gifted tenth graders, mathematical creativity was found to be a special kind of creativity not necessarily related to divergent thinking ability. (PB)

The purpose of this study was to examine for the middle grades how students' cognitive reasoning level contributes to the variability of their achievement test performance. While previous investigations have indicated that measures of reasoning development are associated with measures of achievement, few such studies have attempted to control for…