Elsevier

Intelligence

Volume 35, Issue 1, January–February 2007, Pages 59-68
Intelligence

Psychometric intelligence and achievement: A cross-lagged panel analysis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.04.005Get rights and content

Abstract

There has been considerable debate regarding the causal precedence of intelligence and academic achievement. Some researchers view intelligence and achievement as identical constructs. Others believe that the relationship between intelligence and achievement is reciprocal. Still others assert that intelligence is causally related to achievement. The present study addressed this debate with a cross-lagged panel analysis of WISC-III and achievement test scores of 289 students assessed for special education eligibility with a test–retest interval of 2.8 years. The optimal IQ–achievement model reflected the causal precedence of IQ on achievement. That is, the paths from IQ scores at time 1 to IQ and achievement scores at time 2 were significant whereas the paths from achievement scores at time 1 to IQ scores at time 2 were not significant. Within the limits imposed by the design and sample, it appears that psychometric IQ is a causal influence on future achievement measures whereas achievement measures do not substantially influence future IQ scores.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 289 students (192 male and 97 female) twice tested with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; Wechsler, 1991) for determination of eligibility for special education services. Ethnicity was 78.2% Caucasian, 5.2% Hispanic/Latino, 10.4% Black/African American, 1.0% Native American/American Indian, and 5.2% Other/Missing. Students were diagnosed by multidisciplinary evaluation teams according to state and federal guidelines governing special

Results

Descriptive statistics for the WISC-III IQ and factor index scores across test and retest occasions are presented in Table 1, the correlations between IQ and achievement tests at both times in Table 2, and the correlations between IQ and achievement tests across time in Table 3. Although somewhat lower than the WISC-III standardization sample, IQ scores were consistent with other samples of students with disabilities (Kavale & Nye, 1985–86). The average correlation between IQ scores at time 1

Discussion

There has been considerable debate regarding the separateness of psychometric IQ and academic achievement. Researchers have variously speculated that current achievement causes future IQ, current IQ causes future achievement, and IQ and achievement are mutually influential. In the absence of true experiments, longitudinal designs where both IQ and achievement tests are repeated across time have been recommended for estimating the relationship of IQ and achievement. Using structural equation

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    Note: This research was supported, in part, by an Eastern Illinois University Faculty Development Grant and a Pennsylvania State University College of Education Alumni Society Faculty Research Initiation Grant. The authors wish to express their gratitude to the school psychologists who generously responded to our request for data.

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