Separate contributions of general intelligence and right prefrontal neurocognitive functions to academic achievement at university level

It is hypothesized that performance on frontal-lobe neuropsychological tests and intelligence tests may independently contribute to variation in academic achievement in higher education. We examined the ability of an IQ test (the WAIS-IV) to predict grade point averages (GPA) in a sample of 64 under...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in neuroscience and education 2016-12, Vol.5 (4), p.178-185
Main Authors: Pluck, Graham, Ruales-Chieruzzi, Carlos B., Paucar-Guerra, Edgar J., Andrade-Guimaraes, M. Victoria, Trueba, Ana F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Frontal lobe
Higher education
Intelligence
Neuropsychological function
Response inhibition
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It is hypothesized that performance on frontal-lobe neuropsychological tests and intelligence tests may independently contribute to variation in academic achievement in higher education. We examined the ability of an IQ test (the WAIS-IV) to predict grade point averages (GPA) in a sample of 64 undergraduate students. We also included a battery of five neuropsychological assessments of frontal-lobe functions, all known to be unrelated to general intelligence and linked to right-prefrontal function. Regression analysis with stepwise entry of variables revealed separate contributions to the variation in GPA scores explained by general intelligence and two different measures of response inhibition (Stop-signal and Hayling). The addition of the inhibition measures more than doubled the amount of variance in GPA explained by general intelligence alone, from adjusted R2=.115 to adjusted R2=.239, suggesting an important role of right prefrontal-mediated response inhibition in high-level academic achievement. This contrasts with the mainly left-hemisphere contribution from general intelligence.
ISSN:2211-9493
2211-9493
DOI:10.1016/j.tine.2016.07.002