Select variables that may be used to predict success on the New York Regents High School Examination in Biology

he purpose of this investigation is to determine what variables may be used to predict success on the New York Regents High School Examination in Biology.;All high school students in Port Jervis, New York, enrolled in Regents Biology during the 1986-87 school year were tested.;Seven independent variables and the grades or test scores used to measure each variable are: (1) prior knowledge, year-end averages in seventh (Sci 7) and eighth (Sci 8) grade science and Prior Knowledge Test (PK); (2) level of logical thinking, Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT); (3) cognitive style, Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT); (4) cognitive skills quotient, Kuhlmann-Anderson (KA); (5) attitudes toward biology, Test of Biology-Related Attitudes (TOBRA); (6) reading comprehension, Metropolitan Achievement Tests (RCM) and New York Preliminary Competency in Reading (NYS); and (7) biology knowledge gained, biology Achievement Test (ACH). The dependent variables are the total scores and three subscores on the Regents High School Examination in Biology (REB).;The relationships between the independent and the dependent variables are evaluated using Pearson correlation coefficients and step-wise regression analyses.;There are statistically significant (27 at p ;There is no significant relationship between scores on either GEFT or TOBRA and any dependent variable scores.;In one regression equation, the Sci 8 averages account for 36.4% (p...