The effect of practice and coaching on the performance in intelligence tests of boys selected for courses leading to G.C.E and for boys who just fail to be selected

Abstract

The object of the inquiry was to investigate the effects of unassisted practice, and of practice accompanied by coaching, on the scores made in two intelligence tests by boys who were selected for grammar schools or for a selective modern school in which some children take G.C.E. courses. The two tests were those used in the allocation examination of the hoys concerned, and the same tests were repeated as final tests at the end of the experiment. The use of two tests was intended to minimise the effects of individual inconsistency. 170 boys effectively took part in the experiment and they formed three groups of approximately equal numbers and ability. The first group had three practice tests at weekly intervals before the final tests; the second group, in addition to working the same tests, had one hour of standardised coaching on each of the three practice tests in turn; the third group did normal school work during the three weeks preceding the final tests. The scores in the two final tests, compared with those in the same two tests in the allocation examination showed a total mean gain of 11½ pts. of I. Q. in the practice group, 17½ pts. in the coached group, and 5½ pts. in the control group. Analysis of variance showed all these gains, and the differences between them, to be highly significant. Clearly therefore, the most effective way of raising the mean score of boys in intelligence tests is by a combination of practice and coaching. After the third test there was a falling off in mean score in the practice group whereas gains continued up to the last test in the coached group. The results suggest that practice effect may be inhibited to some extent when practice is under actual selection examination conditions. There is some evidence that the effects of coaching may be relatively short-lived. Individual response to practice and coaching varied considerably and was greater in the coached groups The maximum gains in both groups tended to occur at (initial) I.Q. 120 – 125. It appears that younger boys may benefit more than older ones in the same age-group. In so far as allocation is based on I.Qs. it has been shown that a programme of practice and coaching before selection would, for these boys, have affected the allocation of about 15 per cent of the grammar school places.