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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Intelligence and achievement

Overview

  • Influence: Intelligence and achievement
  • Domain: Student
  • Sub-Domain: Prior knowledge and background
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to considerably accelerate
  • Influence Definition: The effects of prior ability in similar subject matter to later achievement on process-related skills when they work with a new task

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 8
  • Number of studies: 1,176
  • Number of students: 617,882
  • Number of effects: 1,751
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.96
  • Robustness index: 5

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Review of Educational Research Hattie & Hansford Personality and intelligence: What relationship with achievement? 1982 Intelligence and achievement 72 NA 503 0.98
Intelligence Roth, Becker, Romeyke, Schafer, Domnick, & Spinath Intelligence and school grades: A meta-analysis 2015 Intelligence and achievement 240 105,185 240 1.28
Educational Research Review Kriegbaum, Becker, & Spinath The relative importance of intelligence and motivation as predictors of school achievement: A meta-analysis 2018 Intelligence and achievement 74 80,145 74 1.19
Psychological Bulletin Peng, Wang, Wang, & Lin A meta-analysis on the relation between fluid intelligence and reading/mathematics: Effects of tasks, age, and social economics status 2019 Fluid Intelligence and achievement 680 374,577 793 0.82
Intelligence Georgiou, Guo, Naveenkumar, Vieira, & Das, PASS theory of intelligence and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review 2020 PASS and achievement 62 NA 93 0.90
Journal of Intelligence Lozano-Blasco, Quílez-Robres, Usán, Salavera, & Casanovas-López Types of intelligence and academic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis.  2022 Intelligence and achievement 27 42,061 27 0.79
Journal of School Psychology Zaboski, Kranzler & Gage Meta-analysis of the relationship between academic achievement and broad abilities of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory.  2018 Intelligence and reading 9 15,914 9 2.20
Book Arkan & Baloglu A meta-analysis of relationship between second order factors (Broad cognitive abilities) and mathematical achievement. 2022 Intelligence and math achievement 12 NA 12 0.61
TOTAL/AVERAGE 1,176 617,882 1,751 1.10
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