Level and factor structure differences in selected abilities across race and sex groups

Administered 16 aptitude tests and a rhythm test adapted from the Seashore Measures of Musical Talent to 545 female and 464 male high school seniors of Black, Hispanic, and White ethnic backgrounds. Race and sex accounted for .7% (for Finger Dexterity/Left) to 65% (for Grip/Right) of the test score...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied psychology 1981-10, Vol.66 (5), p.613-624
Main Authors: Sung, Yong H, Dawis, René V
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Ability tests
Aptitudes
Black People
Differences
Discriminant analysis
Females
Hispanic
Human
Human Sex Differences
Latinos/Latinas
Level
Males
Musical Ability
Races
Racial and Ethnic Differences
Socioeconomic Status
Studies
Tests
White People
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Summary:Administered 16 aptitude tests and a rhythm test adapted from the Seashore Measures of Musical Talent to 545 female and 464 male high school seniors of Black, Hispanic, and White ethnic backgrounds. Race and sex accounted for .7% (for Finger Dexterity/Left) to 65% (for Grip/Right) of the test score variance, with a median of 13%. Race accounted for most of the explained variance for Idea Fluency, Tonal Memory, Pitch Discrimination, Inductive Reasoning, Paper Folding, Vocabulary, Ideaphoria, Shape Assembly, and Analytic Reasoning. Sex was more influential than race for Clerical, Word Association, Writing Speed, Finger Dexterity (Left and Right), and Grip (Left and Right). Factor analyses for the separate race and sex groups showed highly similar factor structures, with 10 well-defined factors replicated across all groups, despite pronounced socioeconomic status differences among the race groups. Simplicity of factor patterns for the tests and the well-defined factor structure indicated that redundancy was minimal for the aptitude tests. (21 ref)
ISSN:0021-9010
1939-1854
DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.66.5.613