Cognitive ability, cognitive self-awareness, and school performance: From childhood to adolescence

The mediating role of cognitive test anxiety on the relationship between academic procrastination and subjective wellbeing and academic performance

Background

Promoting wellness as a predictor of sustainable development empowers schools to model healthy behavior. The multiple interactions in real and virtual environments that today's youth are subjected to force schools to explore effective educational strategies to provide a quality education for students and their families.

Purpose

This study examines the relationship between academic procrastination, assessment anxiety, subjective wellbeing, and academic performance.

Methods

A convenience sample of 322 undergraduate students () was used, and questionnaires were administered to students measuring academic procrastination, cognitive test anxiety, and subjective wellbeing. For the same target group, the level of academic performance was identified using personal reports. The questionnaires were administered between May and June 2023 in an online format. For the data analysis, we applied correlational analysis and path analysis using.

Results

Both test anxiety and academic procrastination negatively correlate with performance and subjective wellbeing, leading to decreased performance and subjective wellbeing. Procrastination correlates positively with test anxiety. Cognitive test anxiety partially mediated the relationship between academic procrastination and subjective wellbeing and fully mediated the relationship between academic procrastination and academic performance. Thus, high procrastination leads to decreased performance and subjective wellbeing both directly and indirectly through increased test anxiety, leading to decreased performance and subjective wellbeing.

Significance/discussions

As a result of theoretical and practical investigations, it emerges that joint action of educational actors is required in the generation of effective educational strategies for the prevention and control of procrastination and evaluation anxiety, given the fact that both a high level of procrastination as well as assessment anxiety led to the decrease of students' wellbeing, to the registration of low academic performances. In the long term, disruptive behavior (procrastination and anxious behavior) could generate low social and professional performance, which is a research question for a future longitudinal study.

Developmental links between well-being, self-concept and prosocial behaviour in early primary school

BACKGROUND

Well-being is a key aspect of children's education, yet measurement issues have limited studies in early primary school.

AIMS

The current 12-month longitudinal study assesses the temporal stability of child- and parent-reported school well-being and examines developmental links with academic self-concept and parent-rated prosocial behaviour.

SAMPLE(S)

We tracked a sample of 206 children across the transition from the first (T1) to the second (T2) year of primary school (T1 child Mage = 5.3, SD = .46, 54.3% girls) and gathered ratings of well-being, prosocial behaviour and academic self-concept at both timepoints.

METHODS

We used cross-lagged analyses to investigate developmental links between these three constructs.

RESULTS

Parent and child reports of children's well-being showed similar temporal stability and converged over time, such that informants' reports showed a modest but significant correlation at T2. Girls reported greater well-being than boys at both timepoints and received higher parental ratings of well-being than boys at T2. For both girls and boys, associations between the constructs were asymmetric: early well-being predicted later self-concept and prosocial behaviour, but the reciprocal associations were not significant.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support the validity of young children's self-reported well-being, highlight the early onset of gender differences in school well-being and demonstrate that early well-being heralds later prosocial behaviour and positive academic self-concepts.

The interplay between investment traits and cognitive abilities: Investigating reciprocal effects in elementary school age

Based on investment theories and guided by Mussel's (2013) intellect model, the present study investigated reciprocal relations over 1 year (2021-2022) between investment traits (need for cognition, achievement motives, epistemic curiosity) and fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities in 565 German elementary school children (298 girls; Mage = 8.40, SD = 0.59; 59.5% with immigration background). Children's fluid and crystallized abilities increased over time, whereas fear of failure and curiosity decreased. Investment traits barely predicted change in cognitive abilities. However, mathematical ability predicted change in most investment traits (.14 ≤ |β| ≤ .20), even after accounting for control variables. Results largely contradict investment theories but support the role of crystallized abilities for the development of investment traits in elementary school age.

Non-Cognitive Specificities of Intellectually Gifted Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review of the Literature

For several years, there was a growing interest in intellectual giftedness and in particular in the non-cognitive specificities of gifted individuals. This topic attracted much public attention and sometimes led to contradictions with the scientific literature. The current review synthesizes a broad set of results related to non-cognitive specificities of intellectual gifted in children and adolescents. This synthesis of scientific research on giftedness and its associated non-cognitive features does not support the conclusion that there is a stable profile across gifted individuals that would consistently separate them from non-gifted individuals. A few specificities in some areas are noted, but they are not necessarily being systematic. These specificities often turn out to be in favor of gifted youth, contrary to the view sometimes defended in the general public that gifted individuals suffer from major everyday difficulties. Finally, methodological issues are listed regarding the designs of existing studies, with recommendations for future research in the field.

Intimate Partner Violence and Child and Adolescent Cognitive Development: A Systematic Review

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health and human rights issue, with millions of children affected worldwide. While several reviews have explored the emotional-behavioural functioning of children exposed to IPV, this review aimed to examine the relationship between children's exposure to IPV and their cognitive development, and to identify associated factors such as aspects of parenting. The databases MEDLINE, PsycInfo, EMBASE, Family and Society Studies Worldwide, CINAHL, and ERIC were searched using key words related to IPV, such as domestic, family, partner, interparental, spousal, marital, violence, abuse, aggression, assault, combined with key words related to cognitive functioning, such as neuropsychological, executive, intelligence, learning, memory, and key words related to children and adolescents. A total of 38 studies met the criteria for review which included reporting an estimate of the relationship between IPV and cognition using direct assessments of cognitive functioning. Approximately 70% of studies found a relationship between IPV and poorer cognitive functioning, with general IQ the most frequently assessed domain of functioning, followed by verbal abilities and academic skills. Most studies assessed skills during early childhood, with fewer studies assessing children during middle childhood and adolescence. Results were consistent across cognitive domains and developmental stages. In terms of factors associated with IPV and cognition, a range of demographic, individual, and family factors were included, with several studies exploring mediating and moderating mechanisms. The findings suggest that IPV in childhood is associated with poorer cognitive skills across a range of domains. Implications for policy, practice and research are discussed.

The mediating effect of geospatial thinking on the relationship between family capital and academic achievement in geography

Purpose

Family environment has the major impact on children's academic development. The aim of this study was to research the relationship between family capital and academic achievement in geography. Further, geospatial thinking, as a form of spatial thinking focusing on the scale of the geographical environment, is closely related to family environment and academic achievement in geography. Thus, the study was more specifically to apply a mediation model to explore the potential mediating role of geospatial thinking.

Methods

A total of 1,037 upper-secondary-school students in Western China were surveyed using t the Family Capital Questionnaire and the Geospatial Thinking Test Questionnaire. SPSS (version 26.0) was used for descriptive statistical analysis and correlation analysis. The PROCESS plug-in (version 4.0) was used to test the mediating effect of geospatial thinking.

Results

(1) The correlation analysis showed that family capital has a positive effect on academic achievement in geography and is related to geospatial thinking. Moreover, geospatial thinking exerts a positive effect on academic achievement in geography. (2) The results of mediation analysis indicated that geospatial thinking plays mediating and buffering roles in the relationship between family capital and academic achievement in geography after controlling for family residence and gender. The direct and indirect effects accounted for 75.32% and 24.68% of the total effect, respectively.

Conclusion

The results indicated that family capital not only affected academic achievement in geography directly but also indirectly through geospatial thinking. This finding provides some ideas for the development of geography education, which suggests that geography educators need to pay more attention to the influence of the family environment on students' geography learning in curriculum design and teaching processes. Also, the mediating role of geospatial thinking further uncovers the mechanisms underlying the academic achievement in geography. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on both students' family capital and geospatial thinking in the process of geography learning, and carry out more geospatial thinking training to improve academic achievement in geography.

Changing priorities in the development of cognitive competence and school learning: A general theory

This paper summarizes a theory of cognitive development and elaborates on its educational implications. The theory postulates that development occurs in cycles along multiple fronts. Cognitive competence in each cycle comprises a different profile of executive, inferential, and awareness processes, reflecting changes in developmental priorities in each cycle. Changes reflect varying needs in representing, understanding, and interacting with the world. Interaction control dominates episodic representation in infancy; attention control and perceptual awareness dominate in realistic representations in preschool; inferential control and awareness dominate rule-based representation in primary school; truth and validity control and precise self-evaluation dominate in principle-based thought in adolescence. We demonstrate that the best predictors of school learning in each cycle are the cycle’s cognitive priorities. Also learning in different domains, e.g., language and mathematics, depends on an interaction between the general cognitive processes dominating in each cycle and the state of the representational systems associated with each domain. When a representational system is deficient, specific learning difficulties may emerge, e.g., dyslexia and dyscalculia. We also discuss the educational implications for evaluation and learning at school.

School Readiness Test and Intelligence in Preschool as Predictors of Middle School Success: Result of an Eight-Year Longitudinal Study

Research has shown that the development of cognitive and social skills in preschool predicts school readiness in kindergarten. However, most longitudinal studies are short-term, tracking children’s development only through the early elementary school years. This study aims to investigate the long-term impact of preschool predictors, intelligence, and mothers’ education on grade six school performance. This study presents the results of an eight-year-long longitudinal study. The sample includes 202 Hungarian children (89 boys) from a disadvantaged region of southeastern Hungary. The independent variables were the preschool measures: DIFER (Diagnostic System for Assessing Development), a widely used, standardized school readiness test that measures cognitive and social skills; the Raven intelligence test; and socioeconomic status. The dependent variables in grade six were: National Standardized tests in math and reading (NABC, National Assessment of Basic Competencies) and school grades (GPA). Cronbach’s alpha reliability of each test is above 0.76. Correlations and a series of multiple regressions were used for analysis. All three independent variables have significant predictive power for school performance in sixth grade. DIFER skills were the best predictors for reading achievement, intelligence for math achievement, and GPA was best predicted by mothers’ education. The results show that developing preschool skills, mothers’ education and IQ in preschool are essential to long-term learning success.

Divergent thinking in Italian elementary school children: the key role of probabilistic reasoning style

Divergent thinking is widely recognised as an individual creative potential and an essential factor in fostering creativity since the early stages of life. Albeit previous research revealed that creativity could be pursued through controlled mental processes (e.g. reasoning), the debate about the impact of children's reasoning on divergent thinking and, ultimately, creativity is still open. The present study sought to deepen the relationships between probabilistic reasoning and divergent thinking in a sample of 106 Italian children (mean_age = 8.64, SD_age = 1.34; 58 F). The Beads Task was used to evaluate probabilistic reasoning, whereas the Alternative Uses Task was administered to assess divergent thinking. Results revealed that analytical, slow, and effortful forms of thought underpinned by high probabilistic competencies predict children's divergent production. These findings suggest that a higher score for divergence of thinking depends on a high involvement of reasoning style, which in this study relies on the ability to make probabilistic decisions in ambiguous situations. Future research directions were discussed.

Global Pandemic Prevention Continual Learning—Taking Online Learning as an Example: The Relevance of Self-Regulation, Mind-Unwandered, and Online Learning Ineffectiveness

Since the global COVID-19 pandemic began, online learning has gained increasing importance as learners are socially isolated by physical and psychological threats, and have to face the epidemic and take preventive measures to ensure non-stop learning. Based on socially situated cognition theory, this study focused on exploring the relevance of online learning ineffectiveness (OLI) predicted by self-regulated learning (SRL) in different phases of learning (preparation, performance, and self-reflection) and its interaction with mind-unwandered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The subjects of the study were senior general high and technical high school students. After completing the online questionnaire, the PLS-SEM method of the structural equation model was used to analyze the data. Results demonstrated that self-regulation in two phases of preparation (i.e., cognitive strategy and emotional adjustment) and performance (i.e., mission strategy and environmental adjustment) in SRL are positively related to mind-unwandered in online learning. Moreover, mind-unwandered in online learning was positively related to the self-reflection phase (i.e., time management and help-seeking) of SRL. Additionally, self-reflection of SRL was negatively related to online learning ineffectiveness. PLS assessments found that the preparation and performance sub-constructs of SRL were negatively related to online learning ineffectiveness mediated by mind-unwandered and self-reflection of SRL. The results suggest that teachers can enhance their students’ self-regulation in online learning, and assist them in being more mind-unwandered in online learning.

Depression and Reasoning Ability in Adolescents: Examining the Moderating Role of Growth Mindset

The present two-year longitudinal study aimed to examine the relationship between depression and reasoning ability in adolescents, and further investigated the modulation effect of growth mindset on this relationship. A total of 1,961 and 1,667 Chinese adolescents participated in the study for the first year (T1) and second year (T2), respectively. The results showed that T1 depression was negatively correlated with T1 growth mindset (r = -0.35, p < 0.001), T1 reasoning (r = -0.30, p < 0.001), and T2 reasoning (r = -0.23, p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that T1 depression and the interaction between T1 depression and T1 growth mindset significantly predicted T1 reasoning (β = -0.220/-0.044, all ps < 0.05). After controlling for gender, age, family socioeconomic status, and T1 reasoning ability, both T1 depression and the interaction between T1 depression and T1 growth mindset still significantly predicted T2 reasoning (β = -0.104/β = 0.054, all ps < 0.05). The simple slope analysis found that the negative correlation between depression and reasoning in the high growth mindset group was weaker than that of the low growth mindset group in both T1 and T2, suggesting that growth mindset plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between depression and reasoning. In conclusion, depression was negatively correlated with reasoning ability in adolescents, in addition, growth mindset moderated the relationship between depression and reasoning.

How Wisdom Emerges from Intellectual Development: A Developmental/Historical Theory for Raising Mandelas

This paper invokes cognitive developmental theory as a means for preparing citizens to deal with and resolve conflicts within or across nations. We take the centuries-old Greek–Turkish dispute as an example. We first outline a theory of intellectual development postulating that mental changes emerge in response to changing developmental priorities in successive life periods, namely, interaction control in infancy, attention control and representational awareness in preschool, inferential control and cognitive management in primary school, and advanced forms of reasoning and self-evaluation in adolescence. Based on this model, we outline a control theory of wisdom postulating that different aspects of wisdom emerge during development as different levels of control of relations with others: trust and care for others in infancy, taking the other’s perspective, reflectivity, and empathy in preschool, rationality and understanding the rules underlying individual and group interactions in primary school, and understanding the general principles of societal operation explaining the differences in approach and interest between groups in adolescence and early adulthood. We also outline the educational implications of this theory for the education of citizens by capitalizing on intellectual strengths at successive developmental periods to comprehensively understand the world and to act prudently when dealing with interpersonal and social or national conflict. Finally, the paper discusses the political constraints and implications of this theory. This is the first attempt to derive wisdom from the development of cognitive and personality processes from infancy through early adulthood and to connect it to serious world problems.

Socio-Emotional Skills as Predictors of Performance of Students: Differences by Gender

Socio-emotional skills seem to have an important influence on the academic performance of students. This performance is usually higher in girls than in boys. Our aim was to determine which socio-emotional skills influence academic performance and whether gender is a variable that can explain these differences. The results indicated that the socio-emotional skills of adolescents were high, highlighting self-awareness, relationship management, and decision-making. The lowest scores were in social awareness and self-management. Girls obtained higher grades, and students with higher grades had a higher level of social-emotional skills, except in self-management, where there were no differences. Self-management was greater in boys and relationship management was greater in girls. Students who failed did not differ from those who obtained very high results, except in decision-making. Overall, decision-making appeared to be the most important variable in students’ academic performance. Therefore, it would be necessary to design strategies that promote this ability in students. Hence, the adoption of active and collaborative methodologies that facilitate the achievement of this goal is suggested.