Contributions of Individual Intellectual Integrations to the Academic Achievement of Humanities Students

Abstract

The contributions of individual intellectual integrations to the academic achievement of humanities students from the standpoint of the system’s principle, the system-integrative approach and the concept of dual systems were studied. System 1 (integral individuality) and system 2 (intelligence and creativity) were considered in the context of the cultural and educational environment. The purpose of the study was to identify the effects that this dual system produces on the academic achievement of students. The effects were tested under two conditions: (1) systems 1 and 2 operated together, and (2) systems 1 and 2 operated in parallel and separately. The study involved 415 humanities students of higher educational institutions of Perm, including 293 females and 122 males aged 17 to 22 years ( M = 18.6; SD = 1.0). Specially developed methods were used to study the properties of individuality (nervous system, temperament and personality), indicators of crystallized and/or fluid intelligence, and indicators of creativity (fluency, originality and flexibility). During the study, three models (full, correlated and uncorrelated) were developed and tested. The full model had an acceptable fit with the data and indicated the contribution of Conscientiousness (system 1) and Crystallized Intelligence (system 2) to the academic achievement. The correlated model was in good fit with the data and indicated the contribution of Conscientiousness , Neuroticism (system 1), and Crystallized Intelligence (system 2) to the academic achievement. Taken together, these properties explained 19% of the variance in the academic achievement. The uncorrelated model was consistent with the correlated model, except for the integration of systems 1 and 2, and was badly fitted to the data. The results of the study correlated well with the results of meta-analyses. The individual intellectual integrations were limited and selective. They affected some variables but did not touch other ones. Thus, the considered dual system functions rather jointly than separately.