Cognitive Abilities of Senior High School Students

Abstract

The Scholastic Assessment Test is a test used to measure cognitive abilities. The Scholastic Assessment Test predicts prospective students who are able to complete their studies in college well and on time. This study aims to (1) describe the cognitive abilities of high school students through the scores of the Scholastic Assessment Test on Computer-Based Written Examination in 2021; (2) find out the subtest that has the most influence on the Scholastic Assessment Test score. This study uses secondary data, namely the mean score of the SMA/MA Scholastic Assessment Test in the province of Yogyakarta Special Area which is included in the Top 1000 results of the 2021 Computer-Based Written Examination. In the Province of Yogyakarta Special Area, there are 83 schools that fall into the Top 1000 category with details: 28 Senior High Schools in Yogya City, 23 schools in Sleman Regency, 18 schools in Bantul Regency, 7 schools in Gunung Kidul Regency, and 7 schools in Kulon Progo Regency. The data analysis methods used in this study were descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The results of data analysis show that the highest average of students’ cognitive ability in the low group is reading comprehension and writing ability, in the medium group the highest average is reasoning ability, and in the high group, the highest average is quantitative ability. Based on the results of the regression analysis, it can be seen that the reasoning ability subtest has the greatest contribution to the Scholastic Assessment Test scores of high school students in the Special Area of Yogyakarta.