Achievement in Dental School as Related to Personality and Aptitude Variables

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Abstract
Attempts to predict performance in dental school from individual scales of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) have yielded equivocal results. A search for combinations and clusters of scales therefore seemed to be advisable. A five-scale regression equation to predict grades and faculty ratings was developed, based on a sample of 251 dental students. This index included responsibility, achievement via conformance, and psychological-mindedness with positive weighting, and social presence and good impression with negative weighting. Cross-validational correlations of.38 were obtained in two samples (N = 68 and N = 37). Conceptual analysis of the CPI index suggested implications of dependability, conscientiousness, and perseverance at one pole, versus impulsiveness, carelessness, and immaturity at the other.