The relationship between non-verbal intelligence and mathematical achievement in high school students

Abstract

The current study focuses on the relationship between non-verbal intelligence and math performance at school measured with a number of methods such as teachers’ evaluation, computerized math tasks and standardized state exams for high school students. The study involved 174 high school students in the last obligatory year of formal education at school in Russia (mean age = 15.77 years, SD = 0.47, 44.8% males) from secondary public school in the Moscow region. It was shown that non-verbal intelligence is a significant predictor of different measures of math performance at high school age. At the same time, we found that the contribution of non-verbal intelligence varies for different measures of math performance: from high values for of the Basic State Exam in Math scores to lower values for teachers’ quarterly ratings. Correlation between math performance measured by teachers’ ratings, computerized math tasks and standardized state exams was found to be moderate. It is possible that different types and configurations of math tasks require different types of cognitive, motivational and emotional resources at high school age.