Types of Intelligence and Academic Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Intelligence has evolved from a unitary concept to a multidimensional construct.
• Intelligence is a long-standing predictor of academic performance, alongside factors like executive functions and socio-cultural context.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze the relationship between intelligence and academic performance.
• To examine the moderating effects of country of origin, intelligence type, gender, and age on this relationship.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of 27 studies.
• Inclusion of 42,061 participants across diverse studies.
• Analysis of predictive models incorporating moderating variables.

Main Results:

• A significant, positive, and moderate relationship was found between intelligence and academic performance (r = 0.367; p < 0.001).
• Intelligence type (general vs. implicit) explained 35% of the variance in predictive capacity.
• Country of origin explained 45% of the variance, indicating cultural influence.

Conclusions:

• Intelligence is a robust predictor of academic performance.
• The predictive validity of intelligence is moderated by its type and the country of origin.
• Models considering age and gender as moderators were not significant.