Assessing Critical Thinking Processes in the Gifted: Predicting GRE Analytical Performance from Watson-Glaser Results

• Main Author: Garrott, Susie
• Format: Others
• Published: TopSCHOLAR® 1985
• Subjects: Applied Behavior Analysis; Education; Educational Administration and Supervision; Higher Education Administration; Psychology; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2389; https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3388&context=theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the constructs measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the Graduate Record Examination Analytical Scale in "gifted" adolescents 15 to 17 years of age. There were three hypotheses addressed in this study: 1) "gifted" adolescents would be able to think critically as measured by college level norms when measured by the Watson-Glaser and the GRE-Analytical; 2) significant differences would exist between different levels of gifted populations; and 3) a factor or group of factors of the Watson-Glaser subscales would significantly predict performance on the GRE-Analytical Scale. The Watson-Glaser and the GRE-Analytical were administered to 104 high school students, most of whom were seniors in high school or in the summer preceeding their senior year. The subject pool labeled "national gifted" consisted of 50 students in summer programs for academically gifted sudents at the University of Indiana and Western Kentucky University. The "local gifted" group consisted of 54 students in secondary schools in western Kentucky and northern middle Tennessee. Analysis of Watson-Glaser total scores indicated that the national group mean was at the 60th percentile and the local group mean was at the 30th percentile when compared to college senior women. GRE-Analytical total raw scores converted to scaled scores were 580 for the national group and 440 for the local group. Statistical analysis confirmed the significantly superior performance of the national group over the local group on both instruments. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationship between the GRE-Analytical and the Watson-Glaser for both national and local samples. The relationship between the performance on the two instruments was highly significant for both groups. The local group data were subjected to stepwise regression analysis to determine which individual subscale or group of subscales best predicted GRE-Analytical performance. In the local sample, Subscale 4 clearly emerged as the best single predictor. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients based on a median-split of data from each test indicated that lower half total (national plus local) and local group scores were slightly more consistent than were the upper halves of these groups. Implications of these results for expanding the cognitive processes and motivating the gifted student were discussed.