Relative Effects of Response Tempo and Accuracy on Problem Solving and Academic Achievement

Abstract

HASKINS, RON, and MCKINNEY, JAMES D. Relative Effects of Response Tempo and Accuracy on Problem Solving. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1976, 47, 690-696. To examine the relationship between response accuracy and tempo, as measured by the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF) and criterion measures, 233 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old children were given the MFF, 2 problem-solving tasks, and a test of academic achievement. Univariate correlations between the MFF variables and the problem-solving and academic achievement variables revealed a number of significant correlations involving MFF errors but relatively few significant correlations involving MFF latency. Multiple regression demonstrated that neither MFF variable added substantially to the univariate correlations. Part correlations showed that the relatively stronger relationship between MFF errors and criterion variables did not result from variance that errors and latency had in common. It was concluded that greater attention should be devoted to the manner in which competent and less competent problem solvers process information rather than to their tempo of responding.