James Crouse

Effects of College Prestige on Men's Occupational Status and Income.

This study assesses the effects of college social prestige and college selectivity on mens occupational status and income. The analyses are based on a national sample of men from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. College selectivity, but not college social prestige, has a significant impact on middle-aged mens income in a single year. Neither college social prestige nor selectivity, however, affect further growth in middle-aged mens income. Nor do they affect mens occupational status.

Validity versus utility of mental tests: Example of the SAT

Abstract Scientific debate over mental tests has focused in the past on their validity, but recent debate has shifted toward questions of their practical value. Research by James Crouse is an example of this trend. Crouse has provided persuasive evidence that aptitude and achievement tests are valid for predicting later educational and economic success. However, he has also provided evidence challenging the Educational Testing Services claim that college admissions decisions are improved by using the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) to supplement the high school record. Major issues in the debate over Crouses research and recommendations concern (a) the SATs incremental value in admissions, (b) the nature of the admissions process, (c) other benefits to colleges of the SAT, (d) its possible benefits for college applicants, and (e) the use of college admissions tests as interventions for improving secondary education. Suggestions are provided for encouraging more analytical assessments of test utility.

Relationships among gender differences in freshman course grades and course characteristics

This article examines relationships among gender differences in freshman college course grades and characteristics of the courses. Gender differences in course grades are not adequately explained by gender differences in previous scholastic achievement. In addition, courses in which gender differences favor women tend to be those in which high school grades and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores are less important for earning higher course grades. These courses also award higher-than-average grades to freshmen with average high school grades and SAT scores and enroll a higher percentage of female freshmen

The IQ Meritocracy Reconsidered: Cognitive Skill and Adult Success in the United States

Working with data drawn from the Project Talent and Kalamazoo Brothers samples, we test six propositions for which empirical support should be found if an IQ meritocracy governs the process of socioeconomic achievement. We find that the model of an IQ meritocracy is only partially supported. There is a trend toward decreasing direct effects of fathers occupational status and family size on educational attainment and occupational status. No such trend is evident for the effects of fathers education. Measured ability has an increasing effect on the attainment of a college education and on occupational status but a declining effect on the completion of high school. Cognitive ability is a significant channel for mobility from socioeconomic origins, but it does little to reduce the influences of family membership within socioeconomic groups. Both socioeconomic and other unmeasured familial factors, unrelated to cognitive ability, are important determinants of educational attainment and early occupational status. A significant fraction of the apparent relationship of cognitive ability to educational attainment is spurious, and the vast preponderance of inequality in schooling and adult economic success is unrelated to differences in measured ability. The effect of ability differences on earnings is, nevertheless, large and robust. Finally, we conclude our analysis by questioning the identification of cognitive ability with merit.

THE EFFECTS OF COLLEGE GRADE ADJUSTMENTS ON THE PREDICTIVE VALIDITY AND UTILITY OF SAT SCORES

Regressing adjusted grade-point averages on freshman SAT scores and high school grade-point averages results in large increases in the incremental predictive validity of the SAT. Even so, the SAT still changes no more than a small proportion of admissions decisions and does not result in substantively important increases in freshman grades. The test does, however, change the composition of the freshman class by altering acceptances to some major areas of study and by limiting the access of women and blacks.

Latent variable models of status attainment

Results from regression models of status attainment may be misleading if variables are not accurately measured. One tempting strategy for dealing with these validity and reliability problems is to construct models which treat measured variables as fallible indicators of true characteristics or as causes of these traits. This paper contrasts results from two such latent variable models with results from the Wisconsin regression model of status attainment. The data come from the Project Talent, Wisconsin, and EEO surveys. Both models illustrate the gains that come from latent variable models compared to regression analyses. They also illustrate the price an investigator pays for such gains.

Storage and Retrieval of Prose Material

72 Ss studied a prose passage under the same conditions of input. Two conditions of recall were compared: free recall in which as much of the passage was recalled as was possible, and question recall in which specific questions were answered. In both conditions, the major interest was in retrieval of the information that answered the questions used in question recall. Questions facilitated retrieval of this answer information from the latter portions of the input passage much more than from the initial portions. Several possible explanations were discussed.

Transfer from free-recall pair learning to free-recall sentence learning

Transfer from free-recall pair learning to free-recall sentence learning was studied in a 3 by 3 factorial experiment The first variable was the intrapair sequence of the List 1 pairs; noun-verb, verb-noun, or noun-noun. Jlie pairs in a given list entered an A-B, A-B, an A-B, CD, or an A-B, A-Br transfer paradigm with the corresponding sequence in the noun-verb-noun sentences in List 2, therefore transfer paradigm was the second variable. The major finding was that, in general, sentence learning was fastest in the A-B, A-B paradigm, intermediate in the A-B, C-D paradigm, and slowest in the A-B, A-Br paradigm These transfer results paralleled the findings of other transfer studies, and were interpreted in terms ofSs using the learned sequences from pair learning to integrate the sentences. Analysis of intrasentence sequence acquisition suggested that the manner in which the sequences are used to integrate the sentence may be quite complex.

The probability of probability concept transfer

An attempt was made to demonstrate positive transfer of probability concepts from tasks in a mathematics classroom setting to similar tasks presented outside of the mathematics classroom. The results indicated that learning occurred as a result of classroom instruction. However, there was no evidence of transfer of the probability concepts.