Irregular Error Patterns in Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices: a sign of underachievement in testing situations?

Abstract

Underachievement, defined as the discrepancy between ability and achievement, may present a problem when individuals are administered an intelligence test. This research examined underachievement in a testing situation in two different cultures under comparable conditions. The sample consisted of 720 Chinese and 930 Dutch young male and female adolescents between 10 and 16 years of age. All participants were administered Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, the Self‐Description Questionnaire, the Me‐scale, and a School Questionnaire. As an index of underachievement the Guttman Coefficient of Reproducibility was calculated for each subject separately. The two samples were compared. Results show that Chinese underachievers featured characteristics similar to those reported in the literature. Dutch underachievers, however, showed more positive scores on several variables related to self‐concept. Underachievement in a test situation may suggest there are personality characteristics that are relevant for achievement, or alternatively that there are cultural differences involved.