The stability of cognitive abilities: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies.

Cognitive abilities, including general intelligence and domain-specific abilities such as fluid reasoning, comprehension knowledge, working memory capacity, and processing speed, are regarded as some of the most stable psychological traits, yet there exist no large-scale systematic efforts to document the specific patterns by which their rank-order stability changes over age and time interval, or how their stability differs across abilities, tests, and populations. Determining the conditions under which cognitive abilities exhibit high or low degrees of stability is critical not just to theory development but to applied contexts in which cognitive assessments guide decisions regarding treatment and intervention decisions with lasting consequences for individuals. In order to supplement this important area of research, we present a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies investigating the stability of cognitive abilities. The meta-analysis relied on data from 205 longitudinal studies that involved a total of 87,408 participants, resulting in 1,288 test-retest correlation coefficients among manifest variables. For an age of 20 years and a test-retest interval of 5 years, we found a mean rank-order stability of ρ = .76. The effect of mean sample age on stability was best described by a negative exponential function, with low stability in preschool children, rapid increases in stability in childhood, and consistently high stability from late adolescence to late adulthood. This same functional form continued to best describe age trends in stability after adjusting for test reliability. Stability declined with increasing test-retest interval. This decrease flattened out from an interval of approximately 5 years onward. According to the age and interval moderation models, minimum stability sufficient for individual-level diagnostic decisions (rtt = .80) can only be expected over the age of 7 and for short time intervals in children. In adults, stability levels meeting this criterion are obtained for over 5 years. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The relation between Self-Control, Need for Cognition and Action Orientation in secondary school students: A conceptual replication study.

Self-Control can be defined as the self-initiated effortful process that enables individuals to resist temptation impulses. It is relevant for conducting a healthy and successful life. For university students, Grass et al. found that Need for Cognition as the tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking, and Action Orientation as the flexible recruitment of control resources in cognitively demanding situations, predict Self-Control. Further, Action Orientation partially mediated the relation between Need for Cognition and Self-Control. In the present conceptual replication study, we investigated the relations between Self-Control, Need for Cognition, and Action Orientation in adolescence (N = 892 9th graders) as a pivotal period for the development of self-control. We replicated the findings that Need for Cognition and Action Orientation predict Self-Control and that Action Orientation partially mediates the relation between Need for Cognition and Self-Control. In addition, Action Orientation moderates the relation between Need for Cognition and Self-Control. This result implies that in more action-oriented students Need for Cognition more strongly predicted Self-Control than in less action-oriented students. Our findings strengthen theoretical assumptions that Need for Cognition and Action Orientation are important cognitive and behavioral mechanisms that contribute to the successful exertion of Self-Control.

Why the use of segmented regression analysis to explore change in relations between variables is problematic: A simulation study.

Relations between variables can take different forms like linearity, piecewise linearity, or nonlinearity. Segmented regression analyses (SRA) are specialized statistical methods that detect breaks in the relationship between variables. They are commonly used in the social sciences for exploratory analyses. However, many relations may not be best described by a breakpoint and a resulting piecewise linear relation, but rather by a nonlinearity. In the present simulation study, we examined the application of SRA-specifically the Davies test-in the presence of various forms of nonlinearity. We found that moderate and strong degrees of nonlinearity led to a frequent identification of statistically significant breakpoints and that the identified breakpoints were widely distributed. The results clearly indicate that SRA cannot be used for exploratory analyses. We propose alternative statistical methods for exploratory analyses and outline the conditions for the legitimate use of SRA in the social sciences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Students' intelligence test results after six and sixteen months of irregular schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected schooling worldwide. In many places, schools closed for weeks or months, only part of the student body could be educated at any one time, or students were taught online. Previous research discloses the relevance of schooling for the development of cognitive abilities. We therefore compared the intelligence test performance of 424 German secondary school students in Grades 7 to 9 (42% female) tested after the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., 2020 sample) to the results of two highly comparable student samples tested in 2002 (n = 1506) and 2012 (n = 197). The results revealed substantially and significantly lower intelligence test scores in the 2020 sample than in both the 2002 and 2012 samples. We retested the 2020 sample after another full school year of COVID-19-affected schooling in 2021. We found mean-level changes of typical magnitude, with no signs of catching up to previous cohorts or further declines in cognitive performance. Perceived stress during the pandemic did not affect changes in intelligence test results between the two measurements.

Meta-analyzing individual participant data from studies with complex survey designs: A tutorial on using the two-stage approach for data from educational large-scale assessments.

Descriptive analyses of socially important or theoretically interesting phenomena and trends are a vital component of research in the behavioral, social, economic, and health sciences. Such analyses yield reliable results when using representative individual participant data (IPD) from studies with complex survey designs, including educational large-scale assessments (ELSAs) or social, health, and economic survey and panel studies. The meta-analytic integration of these results offers unique and novel research opportunities to provide strong empirical evidence of the consistency and generalizability of important phenomena and trends. Using ELSAs as an example, this tutorial offers methodological guidance on how to use the two-stage approach to IPD meta-analysis to account for the statistical challenges of complex survey designs (e.g., sampling weights, clustered and missing IPD), first, to conduct descriptive analyses (Stage 1), and second, to integrate results with three-level meta-analytic and meta-regression models to take into account dependencies among effect sizes (Stage 2). The two-stage approach is illustrated with IPD on reading achievement from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). We demonstrate how to analyze and integrate standardized mean differences (e.g., gender differences), correlations (e.g., with students' socioeconomic status [SES]), and interactions between individual characteristics at the participant level (e.g., the interaction between gender and SES) across several PISA cycles. All the datafiles and R scripts we used are available online. Because complex social, health, or economic survey and panel studies share many methodological features with ELSAs, the guidance offered in this tutorial is also helpful for synthesizing research evidence from these studies.

Concurrent and predictive relations of multidimensional perfectionism with test anxiety in secondary school students.

Background and Objectives. Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality trait often viewed as a risk factor for developing test anxiety. A recent meta-analysis showed positive correlations of perfectionism facets with test anxiety dimensions. However, all previous research into the perfectionism-test anxiety relation has been cross-sectional. Thus, it is unclear whether perfectionism facets longitudinally predict test anxiety.Design. In this study, we investigated concurrent and predictive relations of two perfectionism facets with cognitive test anxiety (worry) and affective test anxiety (emotionality) in secondary school students (N = 478, mean age at T1 = 11.95 years). At T1, participants completed self-report measures of text anxiety and perfectionism. Almost five years later, participants again reported their test anxiety levels (T2).Results. Concern over mistakes and doubts correlated positively with current worry and emotionality. Personal standards correlated positively with current worry. Neither concern over mistakes and doubts nor personal standards significantly predicted later test anxiety beyond baseline.Conclusions. Perfectionism and test anxiety share common manifestations. Yet, this study raises the question whether perfectionism truly influences test anxiety development or whether other factors (e.g., construct overlap) may explain the identified cross-sectional correlations. Future research is needed to provide more nuanced insights into perfectionism-test anxiety associations.

Temporal stability and change in manifest intelligence scores: Four complementary analytic approaches.

The temporal stability of psychological test scores is one prerequisite for their practical usability. This is especially true for intelligence test scores. In educational contexts, high stakes decisions with long-term consequences, such as placement in special education programs, are often based on intelligence test results. There are four different types of temporal stability: mean-level change, individual-level change, differential continuity, and ipsative continuity. We present statistical methods for investigating each type of stability. Where necessary, the methods were adapted for the specific challenges posed by intelligence research (e.g., controlling for general intelligence in lower order test scores). We provide step-by-step guidance for the application of the statistical methods and apply them to a real data set of 114 gifted students tested twice with a test-retest interval of 6 months. • Four different types of stability need to be investigated for a full picture of temporal stability in psychological research • Selection and adaption of the methods for the use in intelligence research • Complete protocol of the implementation.

Circadian preference and academic achievement in school-aged students: a systematic review and a longitudinal investigation of reciprocal relations.

We provide a systematic review of findings on the relation between circadian preference and school achievement published after the last comprehensive review in 2015. We further test this relation in a longitudinal study. Our review of 26 studies revealed a positive relation between morningness and students' school achievement, and a negative relation between eveningness and school achievement. In most studies, these relations were not affected by students' age, sex, or intelligence, but were significantly mediated by students' conscientiousness, motivation, and sleep behavior. Furthermore, circadian preference and school achievement showed no significant relation when school started in the afternoon. All studies were cross-sectional. Therefore, the direction of the relations between circadian preference, school achievement, and potential mediating variables like conscientiousness and motivation could not be investigated. In our longitudinal study, we tested the direction of the relations between circadian preference, academic achievement, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, and attitude toward school over time in a sample of 764 German high school students who were tested in the first (T1) and third (T2) year of high school. Findings from confirmatory cross-lagged models indicated reciprocal relations between circadian preference and school achievement: T1 morningness positively predicted change in grade point average over time while T1 grade point average positively predicted change in morningness and negatively predicted change in eveningness. Furthermore, T1 conscientiousness and T1 attitude toward school both positively predicted change in morningness, whereas T1 morningness and T1 eveningness did not significantly predict change in these variables.

Age and ability differentiation in children: A review and empirical investigation.

Differentiation hypotheses concern changes in the structural organization of cognitive abilities that depend on the level of general intelligence (ability differentiation) or age (developmental differentiation). Part 1 of this article presents a review of the literature on ability and developmental differentiation effects in children, revealing the need for studies that examine both effects simultaneously in this age group with appropriate statistical methods. Part 2 presents an empirical study in which nonlinear factor analytic models were applied to the standardization sample (N = 2,619 German elementary schoolchildren; 48% female; age: M = 8.8 years, SD = 1.2, range 6-12 years) of the THINK 1-4 intelligence test to investigate ability differentiation, developmental differentiation, and their interaction. The sample was nationally representative regarding age, gender, urbanization, and geographic location of residence but not regarding parents' education and migration background (overrepresentation of children with more educated parents, underrepresentation of children with migration background). The results showed no consistent evidence for the presence of differentiation effects or their interaction. Instead, different patterns were observed for figural, numerical, and verbal reasoning. Implications for the construction of intelligence tests, the assessment of intelligence in children, and for theories of cognitive development are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Ability self-concept and self-efficacy in higher education: An empirical differentiation based on their factorial structure.

Ability self-concept (SC) and self-efficacy (SE) are central competence-related self-perceptions that affect students' success in educational settings. Both constructs show conceptual differences but their empirical differentiation in higher education has not been sufficiently demonstrated. In the present study, we investigated the empirical differentiation of SC and SE in higher education with N = 1,243 German psychology students (81% female; age M = 23.62 years), taking into account central methodological requirements that, in part, have been neglected in prior studies. SC and SE were assessed at the same level of specificity, only cognitive SC items were used, and multiple academic domains were considered. We modeled the structure of SC and SE taking into account a multidimensional and/or hierarchical structure and investigated the empirical differentiation of both constructs on different levels of generality (i.e., domain-specific and domain-general). Results supported the empirical differentiation of SC and SE with medium-sized positive latent correlations (range r = .57 - .68) between SC and SE on different levels of generality. The knowledge about the internal structure of students' SC and SE and the differentiation of both constructs can help us to develop construct-specific and domain-specific intervention strategies. Future empirical comparisons of the predictive power of SC and SE can provide further evidence that both represent empirical different constructs.

Talent Development in Achievement Domains: A Psychological Framework for Within- and Cross-Domain Research.

Achievement in different domains, such as academics, music, or visual arts, plays a central role in all modern societies. Different psychological models aim to describe and explain achievement and its development in different domains. However, there remains a need for a framework that guides empirical research within and across different domains. With the talent-development-in-achievement-domains (TAD) framework, we provide a general talent-development framework applicable to a wide range of achievement domains. The overarching aim of this framework is to support empirical research by focusing on measurable psychological constructs and their meaning at different levels of talent development. Furthermore, the TAD framework can be used for constructing domain-specific talent-development models. With examples for the application of the TAD framework to the domains of mathematics, music, and visual arts, the review provided supports the suitability of the TAD framework for domain-specific model construction and indicates numerous research gaps and open questions that should be addressed in future research.

Development of achievement goals and their relation to academic interest and achievement in adolescence: A review of the literature and two longitudinal studies.

Adolescence is important for the development of achievement motivation, including achievement goal pursuit. Longitudinal research is scarce on adolescents' goal development and its implications for academic outcomes. In our research, we first present a systematic review of findings on achievement goals in adolescence. Then we report 2 longitudinal studies with German adolescents in which we investigated the separate as well as joint development of achievement goals, interest, and achievement in the domain of mathematics. Study 1 comprised 745 students assessed in 4 waves in grades 5-7 (43% female; age MT1 = 10.66). Study 2 comprised 1,420 students assessed in 4 waves in grades 5-8 (47% female; age MT1 = 10.58). Students reported their mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals and their interest in mathematics. Mathematics achievement was assessed by school grades (Studies 1 and 2) and standardized test scores (Study 1). Data were analyzed using latent growth curve, multiple process, and cross-lagged models. Findings for the 2 studies evidenced a substantial degree of consistency. All goals decreased and the decrease became smaller over time in most instances. Controlling for nonfocal goals and demographic variables (socioeconomic status, gender), multiple process models revealed that change in mastery and performance-approach goals was positively related or unrelated to change in interest and achievement, whereas change in performance-avoidance goals was negatively related or unrelated to change in interest and achievement. Cross-lagged models revealed that relations between the achievement goals on the one hand and interest and achievement on the other hand were reciprocal rather than unidirectional. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

General intelligence and specific cognitive abilities in adolescence: Tests of age differentiation, ability differentiation, and their interaction in two large samples.

Differentiation of intelligence refers to changes in the structure of intelligence that depend on individuals' level of general cognitive ability (ability differentiation hypothesis) or age (developmental differentiation hypothesis). The present article aimed to investigate ability differentiation, developmental differentiation, and their interaction with nonlinear factor analytic models in 2 studies. Study 1 was comprised of a nationally representative sample of 7,127 U.S. students (49.4% female; Mage = 14.51, SD = 1.42, range = 12.08-17.00) who completed the computerized adaptive version of the Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery. Study 2 analyzed the norming sample of the Berlin Intelligence Structure Test with 1,506 German students (44% female; Mage = 14.54, SD = 1.35, range = 10.00-18.42). Results of Study 1 supported the ability differentiation hypothesis but not the developmental differentiation hypothesis. Rather, the findings pointed to age-dedifferentiation (i.e., higher correlations between different abilities with increasing age). There was evidence for an interaction between age and ability differentiation, with greater ability differentiation found for older adolescents. Study 2 provided little evidence for ability differentiation but largely replicated the findings for age dedifferentiation and the interaction between age and ability differentiation. The present results provide insight into the complex dynamics underlying the development of intelligence structure during adolescence. Implications for the assessment of intelligence are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

High-Ability Grouping: Benefits for Gifted Students' Achievement Development Without Costs in Academic Self-Concept.

Effects of full-time ability grouping on students' academic self-concept (ASC) and mathematics achievement were investigated in the first 3 years of secondary school (four waves of measurement; students' average age at first wave: 10.5 years). Students were primarily from middle and upper class families living in southern Germany. The study sample comprised 148 (60% male) students from 14 gifted classes and 148 (57% male) students from 25 regular classes (matched by propensity score matching). Data analyses involved multilevel and latent growth curve analyses. Findings revealed no evidence for contrast effects of class-average achievement or assimilation effects of class type on students' ASC. ASC remained stable over time. Students in gifted classes showed higher achievement gains than students in regular classes.

Effects of achievement differences for internal/external frame of reference model investigations: A test of robustness of findings over diverse student samples.

BACKGROUND: Achievement in math and achievement in verbal school subjects are more strongly correlated than the respective academic self-concepts. The internal/external frame of reference model (I/E model; Marsh, 1986, Am. Educ. Res. J., 23, 129) explains this finding by social and dimensional comparison processes. We investigated a key assumption of the model that dimensional comparisons mainly depend on the difference in achievement between subjects. We compared correlations between subject-specific self-concepts of groups of elementary and secondary school students with or without achievement differences in the respective subjects. AIMS: The main goals were (1) to show that effects of dimensional comparisons depend to a large degree on the existence of achievement differences between subjects, (2) to demonstrate the generalizability of findings over different grade levels and self-concept scales, and (3) to test a rarely used correlation comparison approach (CCA) for the investigation of I/E model assumptions. SAMPLES: We analysed eight German elementary and secondary school student samples (grades 3-8) from three independent studies (Ns 326-878). METHOD: Correlations between math and German self-concepts of students with identical grades in the respective subjects were compared with the correlation of self-concepts of students having different grades using Fisher's Z test for independent samples. RESULTS: In all samples, correlations between math self-concept and German self-concept were higher for students having identical grades than for students having different grades. Differences in median correlations had small effect sizes for elementary school students and moderate effect sizes for secondary school students. CONCLUSIONS: Findings generalized over grades and indicated a developmental aspect in self-concept formation. The CCA complements investigations within I/E-research.

Profile formation of academic self-concept in elementary school students in grades 1 to 4.

Academic self-concept (ASC) is comprised of individual perceptions of one's own academic ability. In a cross-sectional quasi-representative sample of 3,779 German elementary school children in grades 1 to 4, we investigated (a) the structure of ASC, (b) ASC profile formation, an aspect of differentiation that is reflected in lower correlations between domain-specific ASCs with increasing grade level, (c) the impact of (internal) dimensional comparisons of one's own ability in different school subjects for profile formation of ASC, and (d) the role played by differences in school grades between subjects for these dimensional comparisons. The nested Marsh/Shavelson model, with general ASC at the apex and math, writing, and reading ASC as specific factors nested under general ASC fitted the data at all grade levels. A first-order factor model with math, writing, reading, and general ASCs as correlated factors provided a good fit, too. ASC profile formation became apparent during the first two to three years of school. Dimensional comparisons across subjects contributed to ASC profile formation. School grades enhanced these comparisons, especially when achievement profiles were uneven. In part, findings depended on the assumed structural model of ASCs. Implications for further research are discussed with special regard to factors influencing and moderating dimensional comparisons.

Variables associated with achievement in higher education: A systematic review of meta-analyses.

The last 2 decades witnessed a surge in empirical studies on the variables associated with achievement in higher education. A number of meta-analyses synthesized these findings. In our systematic literature review, we included 38 meta-analyses investigating 105 correlates of achievement, based on 3,330 effect sizes from almost 2 million students. We provide a list of the 105 variables, ordered by the effect size, and summary statistics for central research topics. The results highlight the close relation between social interaction in courses and achievement. Achievement is also strongly associated with the stimulation of meaningful learning by presenting information in a clear way, relating it to the students, and using conceptually demanding learning tasks. Instruction and communication technology has comparably weak effect sizes, which did not increase over time. Strong moderator effects are found for almost all instructional methods, indicating that how a method is implemented in detail strongly affects achievement. Teachers with high-achieving students invest time and effort in designing the microstructure of their courses, establish clear learning goals, and employ feedback practices. This emphasizes the importance of teacher training in higher education. Students with high achievement are characterized by high self-efficacy, high prior achievement and intelligence, conscientiousness, and the goal-directed use of learning strategies. Barring the paucity of controlled experiments and the lack of meta-analyses on recent educational innovations, the variables associated with achievement in higher education are generally well investigated and well understood. By using these findings, teachers, university administrators, and policymakers can increase the effectivity of higher education. (PsycINFO Database Record

How distinctive are morningness and eveningness from the Big Five factors of personality? A meta-analytic investigation.

This study explores relations between measures of individuals' circadian preferences and the Big Five. To this end, we compared a model of circadian preferences that acknowledges morningness (M) and eveningness (E) as separate dimensions to that of a model that places M and E on a single continuum (M-E). Analyses of 620 correlations from 44 independent samples (N = 16,647) revealed weak to modest relations between both dimensions of circadian preferences and the Big Five personality traits. The strongest observed relation was found between Conscientiousness and M (ρ = .37). In the next step, regression analyses revealed that personality traits accounted for between 10.9% and 16.4% of the variance in circadian preferences. Of all the Big Five dimensions, Conscientiousness exhibited the strongest unique relation with M (ß = .32), E (ß = -.26), and M-E (ß = .32). Extraversion and Openness exhibited moderate unique relations with E (ß = .23 and ß = .17, respectively), whereas relations with M (ß = .00 and ß = .04), and M-E (ß = -.05 and ß = -.06) were relatively weak. Neuroticism exhibited a modest unique and negative relation with M (ß = -.16), and Agreeableness was largely unrelated to all circadian preference variables. To determine whether these findings translated into anything of applied significance, we explored relations between circadian preference and academic performance. M and E incremented slightly over the Big Five factors in predicting grade-point average. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Parents' assessment of circadian preference in elementary school-aged children: Validity and relations to educational outcomes.

Meta-analyses suggest that morning-oriented students obtain better school grades than evening-oriented students. This finding has generally been found for students in high school using self-report data for the assessment of circadian preference. Two studies (N = 2718/192) investigated whether these findings generalize across samples (i.e. elementary school-aged students) and methods (i.e. parent reports). These studies also explored whether the relation between circadian preference and school achievement could be explained within an expectancy-value framework. To this end, the Lark-Owl Chronotype Indicator (LOCI) was modified to obtain parents' evaluations of their children's circadian preference, while students completed a battery of assessments designed to explore the test-criterion evidence. Structural equation modeling and correlational analyses revealed: (1) morning and evening orientation were two separable factors of children's circadian preference; (2) correlations with behavioral (e.g. sleep and eating times) and psychological (e.g. cognitive ability) data supported the test-criterion validity of both factors; (3) morning orientation was positively related to school achievement and (4) consistent with an expectancy-value framework this relation was mediated by children's academic self-concept (ASC). These findings have important research and policy implications for considering circadian preference in the schooling of elementary students.

Developmental Dynamics of General and School-Subject-Specific Components of Academic Self-Concept, Academic Interest, and Academic Anxiety.

The present study investigated the developmental dynamics of general and subject-specific (i.e., mathematics, French, and German) components of students' academic self-concept, anxiety, and interest. To this end, the authors integrated three lines of research: (a) hierarchical and multidimensional approaches to the conceptualization of each construct, (b) longitudinal analyses of bottom-up and top-down developmental processes across hierarchical levels, and (c) developmental processes across subjects. The data stemmed from two longitudinal large-scale samples (N = 3498 and N = 3863) of students attending Grades 7 and 9 in Luxembourgish schools. Nested-factor models were applied to represent each construct at each grade level. The analyses demonstrated that several characteristics were shared across constructs. All constructs were multidimensional in nature with respect to the different subjects, showed a hierarchical organization with a general component at the apex of the hierarchy, and had a strong separation between the subject-specific components at both grade levels. Further, all constructs showed moderate differential stabilities at both the general (0.42 < r < 0.55) and subject-specific levels (0.45 < r < 0.73). Further, little evidence was found for top-down or bottom-up developmental processes. Rather, general and subject-specific components in Grade 9 proved to be primarily a function of the corresponding components in Grade 7. Finally, change in several subject-specific components could be explained by negative effects across subjects.