Patterns of relationships of fluid and crystallized mental abilities to achievement in different ethnic groups

Important variations of mental abilities and their relationships to achievement patterns in different ethnic groups have not been thoroughly studied in a systematic manner. A basic premise is that ethnic influences result in different kinds of intellectual skills. This premise can be translated into questions of the meaning, in terms of fluid and crystallized mental abilities, of ethnic group membership and the relationship of patterns of mental abilities to achievement in different ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that there were no differences in patterns of mental ability among different ethnic groups and that there were no differences in patterns of relationships between ability and achievement for different ethnic groups. By examination of the entire set of means on measures of mental abilities it was possible to determine that three ethnic groups--Mexican American, White, and Black--could be differentiated in terms of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Stepwise discriminant analysis was used to determine the dimensions of differences that occurred. Canonical correlation was used to determine relationships between ability and achievement variables; coefficients of congruence were calculated for pair-wise comparisons of canonical vectors between groups, and specific ethnic patterns of relationships were found.