Early Detection of Final Performance in an Introductory Course in General Psychology

Abstract

Final grades in an introductory psychology course were found to correlate significantly with a test representative of course content and ACT scores. Contrary to traditional predictions, the content specific test was not superior to the general abilities test in the prediction of final grades. Course content tests taken during the first three weeks of the academic quarter correlated .85 with course content tests taken during the last 3 wk. of the academic quarter. Both general ability tests and specific content tests given early in the academic year could be used to assign students to course programs that might provide the special assistance some students require to cope with traditional large lecture college courses.

The Validity of the Nelson-Denny Reading Test as a Predictor of Performance in Introductory Psychology

“…Scores on these measures often correlate more highly with grades in individual courses than with the over-all GPA (Passons, 1967). Zimmerman, Wise, and Smith (1974) used the American College Testing (ACT) Program tests (American College Testing Program, 1973) to predict grades in introductory psychology classes with some success. They reported correlations varying from 0.36 to 0.53 for the ACT subtests and one of 0.56 for the ACT Total measure.…”