Cited by 87Education and Critical Thinking DevelopmentCognitive Abilities and TestingEducational Strategies and Epistemologies

Critical Thinking Predicts Academic Performance beyond General Cognitive Ability: Evidence from Adults and Children

Ren, Xuezhu, Tong, Yan, Peng, Peng, Wang, Tengfei·2020·Intelligence

Abstract

Abstract The present research investigated whether critical thinking predicts academic performance above and beyond general cognitive ability. Both critical thinking (CT) skills and dispositions were investigated in order to obtain a complete picture of CT and its relations to academic performance and general cognitive ability including fluid intelligence, working memory and processing speed. Measures of these variables were administrated to both university young adults (N = 232, study 1, a self-report scale was used for assessing academic performance) and primary school children (N = 158, study 2). Both studies showed that CT indicated by skills and dispositions made unique contributions to academic performance even when general cognitive ability was controlled for. Further, it was mainly CT dispositions that uniquely contributed to academic performance while the contribution of CT skills to academic performance largely overlapped with general cognitive ability. Our findings provide a first step toward understanding CT as a distinct construct from general cognitive ability in relation to learning and academic performance.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.intell.2020.101487

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Authors
Ren, X., Tong, Y., Peng, P., & Wang, T.
Affiliations
  • Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
  • The University of Texas at Austin (US)
  • Zhejiang University (CN)
Corresponding author
Ren, Xuezhu
Venue
Intelligence
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-09
Volume
82
Pages
101487
ISSN
0160-2896 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3081940463
Cited by
87
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 9
FWCI
15.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Intelligence (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • HUST research Center for Innovative Education & Critical Thinking (2018CT012)
  • Huazhong University of Science & Technology (2019WKZDJC005)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Education and Critical Thinking Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Strategies and Epistemologies
Keywords
critical thinking, academic performance, general intelligence, fluid intelligence, working memory, processing speed, critical thinking disposition, critical thinking skills, children, young adults, unique variance

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