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This study investigated the combined predictive validity of intelligence and personality factors on multiple measures of academic achievement. Students in a college of higher education in the Netherlands ( N = 137) completed a survey that measured intelligence, the Big Five personality traits, motivation, and four specific personality traits. Student performance was measured with grade point average (GPA) and time to graduation, as well as with five specific performance measures: regular exams, skills training, team projects, internships, and a written thesis. Results show that 33% of the variance in GPA and 30% of the variance in time to graduation can be explained by combining intelligence, personality, and motivational predictors. Conscientiousness is the best predictor across a broad spectrum of academic achievement measures and explains five times as much variance in GPA as does intelligence. The practical implications are that institutes of higher education should collect personality data on students at the outset and then help students accordingly. Highly conscientious students who are organized and internally motivated might potentially be offered more challenging honours programs with corresponding special commendations on their diplomas, whereas students who score low on conscientious would receive more structure through student study groups, frequent deadlines, shorter assignments, group assignments, clearly defined learning goals, and less second chances for passing examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine whether in the current study the supply of a nutrient dense drink has a positive effect on mental and physical function of institutionalized elderly people. Design: A 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, intervention trial. Setting: Homes for the elderly and nursing homes in the Netherlands. Participants: Institutionalized elderly people older than 60 years, with a BMI ≤ 30 kg/m², and a Mini-Mental State Examination score of at least 10 points. Intervention: In addition to their usual diet the participants (n=176) received either a nutrient dense drink or a placebo drink twice a day during 24 weeks. Measurements: The functionality measures included cognitive function, mood, physical performance and the ability to perform activities of daily living. Results: In the supplement group a favorable effect of the intervention drink on body weight (1.6 kg difference in change; P = .035), calf circumference (0.9 cm difference in change; P = .048), and blood values (e.g. Hcy decreased from 16.8 to 11.2 µmol/L in the supplement group) was found. In the total group no significant effect was found on functionality outcomes. However, a subgroup of participants with BMI at baseline below 24.4 kg/m² performed better on the cognitive subscale of Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (P = .09), and its language sub score (P = .01) after 24 weeks of intervention, Conclusion: The results in the total group of this trial suggest that the nutritional supplement used in this study improves nutritional status. Furthermore, the results of this trial suggest that it is effective as treatment for decreasing function in a subgroup of institutionalized elderly people with low BMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variation in peripheral nerve conduction velocity (PNCV) and intelligence was studied in 18-year-old Dutch twins. It has been suggested that both brain nerve conduction velocity and PNCV are positively correlated with intelligence (Reed, 1984) and that heritable differences in nerve conduction velocity may explain part of the well-established heritability of intelligence. The relationship among IQ, obtained with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and median nerve PNCV was examined in 159 twin pairs. Genetic analyses showed a heritability of 81% for IQ and 66% for onset PNCV. The small but significant phenotypic correlation between IQ and onset PNCV (.15) was entirely mediated by common genetic factors. Analyses of difference scores for PNCV of this study and PNCV from the same subjects collected at age 16 suggest that there might still be development in PNCV in this age interval. This maturation is highly controlled by genetic factors. It is suggested that variation in IQ that is associated with nerve conduction velocity becomes apparent only after the developmental processes in peripheral nerves are completed. This is in line with the suggestion of increasing heritability of IQ in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]