How students perceive instructional quality in everyday school life: The factorial validity of three basic dimensions on a lesson-to-lesson basis

Scientific Conference (2019, November 06)

Examining grades, achievement test scores, and three intelligence facets within an extended I/E model

Scientific Conference (2019, September 10)

Domain-specific academic self-concepts (ASCs) are mental representations of one’s abilities that are specific to a particular school subject. According to the internal/external frame of reference (I/E ... [more ▼]

Domain-specific academic self-concepts (ASCs) are mental representations of one’s abilities that are specific to a particular school subject. According to the internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model, achievement influences the formation of ASCs via social and dimensional comparison processes: within one domain students not only compare their achievement with their peers (social comparison) but also with their own achievements in other domains (dimensional comparison). However, students’ intelligence as an indicator of achievement has been neglected within the I/E model framework. Yet, intelligence is known to be an important determinant of academic success and thus it can be assumed to influence the formation of academic self-concepts, too. Hence, this research examined the links between verbal, numerical, figural intelligence and domain-specific ASCs while controlling for grades and achievement test scores. We drew on N = 382 German students to analyze verbal, numerical, and figural intelligence, German and math achievement, domain-specific self-reported grades and ASCs in math, physics, German, and English. We performed structural equation modeling using Mplus 8 with grades, achievement scores and intelligence facets specified as manifest predictors and domain-specific ASCs as latent criteria. Positive within-domain relations indicating social comparison effects were found between math, physics, German, and English grade to their corresponding self-concept as well as from math achievement to math ASC. Dimensional comparison effects are implied by a positive cross-domain path between physics grade and math ASC and by negative cross-domain paths from math grade to German, physics, and English ASC. Further, a positive cross-domain relation was found between math achievement and physics ASC while a negative cross-domain path was found between German achievement and math ASC. With regard to the intelligence facets, positive paths were found between numerical intelligence and physics ASC as well as between verbal intelligence and English ASC. Our findings thus suggest numerical and verbal intelligence to be valid predictors of ASC formation in an extended I/E model beyond grades and test scores. Overall, the proposed I/E model permitted meaningful relations to be drawn between domain-specific achievement indicators and ASCs suggesting that these variables provide incremental validity. [less ▲]

Die Stabilität von akademischen Selbstkonzept-Profilen: Befunde einer „latent transition analysis“

Scientific Conference (2019, September)

Nach dem „internal-external frame of reference“ Modell (Marsh, 1986), spielen u.a. dimensionale Vergleiche (Vergleich der eigenen Leistung in einem Fach mit der eigenen Leistung in einem anderen Fach ... [more ▼]

Nach dem „internal-external frame of reference“ Modell (Marsh, 1986), spielen u.a. dimensionale Vergleiche (Vergleich der eigenen Leistung in einem Fach mit der eigenen Leistung in einem anderen Fach) eine Rolle für die Ausbildung fachspezifischer akademischer Selbstkonzepte (ASKs). Dabei kommt es zu Kontrasteffekten: Eine gute Leistung in Mathematik stärkt das Mathematik-ASK, schwächt aber das Deutsch-ASK und vice versa. Schüler schätzen sich daher oft als fähiger in einem der beiden Fächer ein. Diese Typisierung ließ sich auch in personenzentrierten Ansätzen zeigen. Eine Profilanalyse von Marsh, Lüdtke, Trautwein und Morin (2009) ergab, dass ASK-Profile entweder einem Mathematik-Typ (höheres Mathe-ASK, niedrigeres Sprach-ASK), einem Sprach-Typ (niedrigeres Mathe-ASK, höheres Sprach-ASK) oder einem Mischtyp (gleich hohe ASKs in allen Domänen) folgten. Ob diese Profile über die Zeit hinweg stabil sind oder Schüler in Abhängigkeit ihrer Erfahrungen im Schulalltag zwischen den Typen wechseln können, ist bisher unklar. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, diese Frage zu beantworten. Eine Stichprobe von N = 382 Schülern aus 18 Klassen und vier Bundesländern beantwortete einen Fragebogen zum Mathematik-, Physik-, Deutsch- und Englisch-ASK an zwei Messzeitpunkten, mit einem Intervall von vier Wochen. Eine „latent transition analysis“ ergab eine Vier-State Lösung (BIC = 7797.8, Entropie = 0.884). Die vier States beschrieben einen Mathematik-Typ (höhere ASKs in Mathematik und Physik, niedrigere ASKs in Deutsch und Englisch), einen Sprach-Typ (höhere ASKs in Deutsch und Englisch, niedrigere ASKs in Mathematik und Physik), und zwei Mischtypen (gleich hohe ASKs für alle Fächer mit generell höheren ASKs bzw. niedrigeren ASKs). Die Ergebnisse zeigten eine hohe Stabilität der States: Alle Personen wurden an beiden Messzeitpunkten demselben State zugewiesen; die Transitionswahrscheinlichkeiten lagen bei 0% bis 5%. Weitere Ergebnisse zur Stabilität von ASK-Profilen bei noch kürzeren Zeitabständen, basierend auf „Experience Sampling“ Daten, werden diskutiert. Marsh, H.W. (1986). Verbal and math self-concepts: An internal/external frame of reference model. American Educational Research Journal, 23, 129-149. Marsh, H.W., Lüdtke, O., Trautwein, U., & Morin, A.J.S. (2009). Classical latent profile analysis of academic self-concept dimensions: Synergy of person- and variable-centered approaches to theoretical models of self-concept. Structural Equation Modeling, 16, 191–225. [less ▲]

Dimensional Comparison Effects on Facets of Subject-Specific Anxieties: A Nested Modelling Approach

Scientific Conference (2019, August 16)

Implementing intelligence facets as predictors into the generalised I/E model

Scientific Conference (2019, August 13)

The internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model postulates that achievement influences the formation of academic self-concept (ASC) via social and dimensional comparison processes. Its recent ... [more ▼]

The internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model postulates that achievement influences the formation of academic self-concept (ASC) via social and dimensional comparison processes. Its recent extension as the generalized I/E model allows further domains than math and verbal achievement. However, intelligence facets as an indicator of achievement have been neglected within the GI/E model framework. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explore the influences of three intelligence facets (verbal, numerical, figural) on domain-specific ASCs beyond grades and achievement scores. We drew on N=382 German students to analyze verbal, numerical, and figural intelligence, German and math achievement, self-reported grades and ASCs in four domains. We performed a structural equation model using Mplus with grades, achievement scores and intelligence facets specified as predictors and domain-specific ASCs as criteria. Positive paths were found from math, physics, German and English grade to their corresponding self-concepts. A positive path was found between physics grade and math ASC while negative paths were found from English grade to math and physics ASC and from math grade to German, physics and English ASC. The path coefficients from math achievement to math ASC as well as to physics ASC were positive; German achievement was negatively related to math ASC. Lastly, numerical intelligence was positively related to physics ASC, and verbal intelligence was positively related to English ASC. Thus, intelligence, specifically numerical and verbal intelligence, seem to be valid predictors of domain-specific ACSs beyond grades and achievement test scores. [less ▲]

Developing and validating a short-form assessment of conscientiousness competencies

Scientific Conference (2019, August)

Minimalist life orientations as a dialogical tool for happiness

in British Journal of Guidance and Counselling (2019)

Big-Five personality and political orientation: Results from four panel studies with representative German samples

in Journal of Research in Personality (2019)

The aim of this brief report was to replicate the meta-analytic findings concerning the relationship between Big-Five personality and political orientation reported in Sibley, Osborne, and Duckitt (2012 ... [more ▼]

The aim of this brief report was to replicate the meta-analytic findings concerning the relationship between Big-Five personality and political orientation reported in Sibley, Osborne, and Duckitt (2012) in a sample of N = 29,015 participants from four panels involving representative German samples. We replicated the expected significant correlations for Openness to Experience (r = ?0.07; 95% CI [?0.10, ?0.05]) and Conscientiousness (r = 0.06, 95% CI [0.05, 0.08]), but the effect sizes were smaller than in Sibley et al. (2012). We also found significant correlations for Agreeableness (r = ?0.04; 95% CI [?0.05, ?0.03]) and Neuroticism (r = ?0.04; 95% CI [?0.06, ?0.02]), indicating small but significant relations of additional Big-Five dimensions on political orientation. [less ▲]

Differentiating between static and complex problems: A theoretical framework and its empirical validation

in Intelligence (2019), 72

Why are difficult figural matrices hard to solve? The role of selective encoding and working memory capacity

in Intelligence (2019), 72

It is well documented that figural matrices tests are harder to solve when multiple rules need to be induced because multiple rules are traditionally associated with a greater demand for dynamically ... [more ▼]

It is well documented that figural matrices tests are harder to solve when multiple rules need to be induced because multiple rules are traditionally associated with a greater demand for dynamically managed sub-goals (goal management), which requires more working memory capacity (WMC). The current research addresses the necessity to apply selective encoding as a requirement that goes beyond the ability to manage goals when solving figural matrices. In the first study (N = 38), we found that selective encoding demands are present in items with multiple rules in addition to goal management demands. Furthermore, eye movement data indicated that rule induction was hampered when selective encoding demands were present. The second study (N = 127) de-monstrated that individuals' ability to filter relevant features in working memory was positively related to figural matrices items with selective encoding demands. Moreover, there was no evidence that other sources of WMC are related to goal management in figural matrices. Hence, this study provides preliminary evidence that fil-tering of relevant information in working memory is critical for solving figural matrices with multiple rules and challenges the view that goal management is the only driver of the relationship between WMC and performance in solving figural matrices with multiple rules. [less ▲]