Achievement in science and intellectual style

Some clever high school Ss are academically successful, but others with equally high IQs are not. Thus, it is possible that achievement involves cognitive variables other than simply level of intellect (IQ). Ss were 178 15.8-18.7 yr. olds. Science achievement was shown to be related to several such variables including abstract thinking, originality, and category width. Findings support the importance of intellectual style in achievement. Large sex differences were also obtained. Better understanding of the role of style in classroom performance would be particularly useful in view of the current desire to identify talent early and to foster its realization. (20 ref.)