A Study of Impulsivity in Low-Achieving and High-Achieving

The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of impulsivity as a stylistic dimension affecting cognitive behavior, and whether impulsivity operates as a comprehensive, inflexible orientation in low achievers more than in high achievers. The Matching Familiar Figures Test / the Porteus Maze Test, and the Stroop Color-Word Test were used to assess impulsivity in 240 lower class, disadvantaged, third and fifth grade children. Analysis of variance and of covariance with IQ control were used to study the effects of achievement, age, and instructional sets; correlational analysis was used to examine the relationship between test indices. Among the conclusions of the study were that: (1) low achieving lower class boys are more impulsive in their approach to cognitive tasks than are high achieving lower class boys; (2) cognitive tasks could he temporarily modified by instructions, but such modification does no