Relationships between teacher ratings of six “temperament” characteristics and four measures of achievement for 104 first-grade children were analyzed in a short-interval prediction study. Activity level, adaptability, approach or withdrawal, distractibility, and persistence were found to be significant predictors of reading and mathematics grades and reading performance on a standardized test with the effects of IQ controlled. Further, multiple regression analysis demonstrated that persistence and adaptability made significant and sizable contributions to the prediction of achievement over that made by IQ.
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