Predicting Achievement and the Theory of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence

Abstract

Measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence, intellectual disposition, need for achievement, and level of aspiration were administered to 80 students enrolled in an introductory course in educational psychology. Fluid intelligence and intellectual disposition correlated significantly with crystallized intelligence. For the 77 students who finished the course, crystallized intelligence and level of aspiration correlated significantly with performance on five tests in educational psychology. Need for achievement did not correlate with this criterion. When fluid intelligence was partialled from the relationships, crystallized intelligence was significantly related to intellectual disposition and course test performance. However, when crystallized intelligence was removed from the relationships, fluid intelligence demonstrated no significant correlation with these variables. These results were viewed as supportive of the theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence.