| Previous studies have related college students' chemistry achievement to Piagetian cognitive development, but none appear to have examined the relationship between chemistry achievement and other cognitive abilities. This study examined the relationship between success in general chemistry and fluid reasoning. Participants were volunteers from different sections of a college general chemistry course. Each participant was given standardized measures of both fluid reasoning and crystallized intelligence. Scores on these tests were compared with students' course grades and cumulative grade point averages (GPAs). Statistical analyses showed that students' chemistry grades related most strongly to overall GPA. Cognitive abilities, as measured by the tests given, did not appear to have more of an influence on chemistry grades than on overall GPA, and fluid reasoning ability had no greater influence than crystallized intelligence. These findings suggest that success in general chemistry depends largely on the same qualities that contribute to academic success in general. |
