Long-term prospects, personalities, cognitive abilities, and long-term achievement

Dissertation supervisors: Dr. David Bergin and Dr. David Geary.Includes vita.Self-referent performance beliefs can influence people's decision making related to and in pursuit of long-term goals. Current measures of such beliefs, however, do not explicitly focus on the long-term aspects of goal achievement. I introduce and evaluate a new construct, Long-Term Prospects (LTP), which is defined as the self-perception that one can maintain the continuous effort needed to achieve long-term goals. In Study 1, 320 incoming college freshmen were administered measures of LTP, conscientiousness, grit, self-esteem, academic self-concept, and intelligence. Standardized achievement scores (ACT) and high school GPA were obtained from the university registrar. Bayesian and standard regression analyses revealed first semester and first year college GPAs were best predicted by LTP, high school GPA, standardized achievement scores, father's education, and gender. Follow-up analyses confirmed that LTP had higher predictive utility than any of the other non-cognitive measures. In study 2, a sample (n = 200) of non-college adults was administered the same non-cognitive measures, and they reported their annual income. LTP and conscientiousness emerged as independent predictors of income. The results demonstrate the utility of LTP and highlight the importance of people's explicit beliefs about their ability to maintain effort in the pursuit of long-term goals.Includes bibliographical references (pages 49-60)

Development and initial validation of a mathematics-specific spatial vocabulary scale

This study describes the development and initial validation of a mathematics-specific spatial vocabulary measure for upper elementary school students. Reviews of spatial vocabulary items, mathematics textbooks, and Mathematics Common Core State Standards identified 720 mathematical terms, 148 of which had spatial content (e.g., edge). In total, 29 of these items were appropriate for elementary students, and a pilot study (59 fourth graders) indicated that nine of them were too difficult (< 50% correct) or too easy (> 95% correct). The remaining 20 items were retained as a spatial vocabulary measure and administered to 181 (75 girls, mean age = 119.73 months, SD =4.01) fourth graders, along with measures of geometry, arithmetic, spatial abilities, verbal memory span, and mathematics attitudes and anxiety. A Rasch model indicated that all 20 items assessed an underlying spatial vocabulary latent construct. The convergent and discriminant validity of the vocabulary measure was supported by stronger correlations with theoretically related (i.e., geometry) than with more distantly related (i.e., arithmetic) mathematics content and stronger relations with spatial abilities than with verbal memory span or mathematics attitudes and anxiety. Simultaneous regression analyses and structural equation models, including all measures, confirmed this pattern, whereby spatial vocabulary was predicted by geometry knowledge and spatial abilities but not by verbal memory span, mathematics attitudes and anxiety. Thus, the measure developed in this study helps in assessing upper elementary students' mathematics-specific spatial vocabulary

Extrtrinsic [sic] rewards and intrinsic motivation : the search for mechanisms

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 5, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. David BerginIncludes bibliographical references.M.A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2012."July 2012"[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Researchers have found that extrinsic rewards can undermine peoples' intrinsic motivation. However, only a few studies have examined the mechanism that underlies this undermining effect, and little research has considered the individual characteristics that may moderate this effect. People who use dialectical thinking are inclined to tolerate contradictions and expect changes. Thus, it is possible for them to integrate extrinsic motivations and intrinsic motivations rather than see them in opposition. The present study examines the role of overjustification, self-determination, and dialectical thinking in the effect of reward on intrinsic motivation. 52 undergraduate students were recruited for this study. Half of them received a completion-contingent monetary reward while the other students did not receive any monetary reward. Results did not replicate the undermining effect of rewards, but confirmed the association between participants' intrinsic motivation and their degree if overjustification and self-determination. In line with the hypothesis, the interaction between peoples' dialectical thinking and their overjustification was significant when predicting self-reported interest. Results indicated that for participants who are low on dialectical thinking, overjustification was significantly negatively associated with their self-reported interest whereas for participants who are high on dialectical thinking, the association between self-reported interest and overjustification was not significant

Data for Children’s Visuospatial Memory Predicts Gains in Mathematics Achievement Through Early Adolescence’ by Yaoran Li and David C. Geary. PLoS ONE

Raw data.Date file names: Race = W (white), B (Black), A (Asian), M (mixed), U (unknown) 05-13 = year of data collection, 2005 to 2013 WS = winter semester FS = fall semester WR = Word Reading NO = Numerical Operations RAN_a = Rapid automatized naming of letters RAN_1 = Rapid automatized naming of numbers SWAN = Strength and Weaknesses of ADHD–symptoms and normal-behavior PL_TS = phonological loop total score VSSP_TS = visuospatial sketch pad total score CE_TS = central executive total scor

Data from: Children's visuospatial memory predicts mathematics achievement through early adolescence

A previous study showed that gains in visuospatial memory from first to fifth grade predicted end-of-fifth grade mathematics but not reading achievement, controlling other factors. In this follow up study, these relations were assessed from sixth to ninth grade, inclusive (n = 145). The results showed that growth in visuospatial memory across the elementary school years was related to growth in mathematics achievement after fifth grade, controlling intelligence, the central executive and phonological memory components of working memory, in-class attentive behavior, parental education, and fifth grade mathematics achievement. As found for fifth grade, this relation was not found for reading achievement after fifth grade. In total, the results suggest that visuospatial memory has a unique influence on ease of learning some types of mathematics and that this influence becomes more important across successive grades

Developmental gains in visuospatial memory predict gains in mathematics achievement.

Visuospatial competencies are related to performance in mathematical domains in adulthood, but are not consistently related to mathematics achievement in children. We confirmed the latter for first graders and demonstrated that children who show above average first-to-fifth grade gains in visuospatial memory have an advantage over other children in mathematics. The study involved the assessment of the mathematics and reading achievement of 177 children in kindergarten to fifth grade, inclusive, and their working memory capacity and processing speed in first and fifth grade. Intelligence was assessed in first grade and their second to fourth grade teachers reported on their in-class attentive behavior. Developmental gains in visuospatial memory span (d = 2.4) were larger than gains in the capacity of the central executive (d = 1.6) that in turn were larger than gains in phonological memory span (d = 1.1). First to fifth grade gains in visuospatial memory and in speed of numeral processing predicted end of fifth grade mathematics achievement, as did first grade central executive scores, intelligence, and in-class attentive behavior. The results suggest there are important individual differences in the rate of growth of visuospatial memory during childhood and that these differences become increasingly important for mathematics learning

Children’s visuospatial memory predicts mathematics achievement through early adolescence

<div><p>A previous study showed that gains in visuospatial memory from first to fifth grade predicted end-of-fifth grade mathematics but not reading achievement, controlling other factors. In this follow up study, these relations were assessed from sixth to ninth grade, inclusive (n = 145). The results showed that growth in visuospatial memory across the elementary school years was related to growth in mathematics achievement after fifth grade, controlling intelligence, the central executive and phonological memory components of working memory, in-class attentive behavior, parental education, and fifth grade mathematics achievement. As found for fifth grade, this relation was not found for reading achievement after fifth grade. In total, the results suggest that visuospatial memory has a unique influence on ease of learning some types of mathematics and that this influence becomes more important across successive grades.</p></div

Results for Mixed Models Predicting Growth in Academic Achievement.

<p>Note: Negative girl vs. boy on intercept estimates mean girls have lower scores in fifth grade. Positive girl vs. boy on slope estimates mean that the sex difference is smaller in earlier grades. RAN = rapid automatized naming; RT = reaction time (sec).</p

Results for Mixed Models Predicting Growth in 6^th-9^th Academic Achievement.

<p>Results for Mixed Models Predicting Growth in 6^th-9^th Academic Achievement.</p

Working Memory Spans and Speed of Processing.

<p>Note: Span scores are reported for the working memory measures and reaction time (RT) in seconds for the rapid automatized naming (RAN) measures. d = effect size, (|M₅–M₁|)/SD₁, where M₅ and M₁ are the respective means for fifth and first grade, and SD₁ is the standard deviation for first grade. d₂ = effect size based on total correct. In first and fifth grades respectively, the central executive was correlated with phonological (rs = .51,.60) and visuospatial (r = .48,.57) memory spans (ps = .0001), which in turn were correlated with each other (r = .25,.45, ps = .0008).</p