Measures of self-concept, attitudes, and achievement motivation of primary grade children

Semi-projective measures (suitable for small group testing) of Self-Concept and Attitutes toward School, Home, Peers, and Society along with a teachers' rating instrument of Achievement Motivation have been developed for preschool and primary grade children. National norms for disadvantaged children are reported along with correlations of these measures with standardized achievement tests.     

Working memory and early numeracy training in preschool children

Many factors influence children’s performance in mathematical achievement, including both domain-specific and domain-general factors. This study aimed to verify and compare the effects of two types of training on early numerical skills. One type of training focused on the enhancement of working memory, a domain-general precursor, while the other focused on the enhancement of early numeracy, a domain-specific precursor. The participants were 48 five-year-old preschool children. Both the working memory and early numeracy training programs were implemented for 5 weeks. The results showed that the early numeracy intervention specifically improved early numeracy abilities in preschool children, whereas working memory intervention improved not only working memory abilities but also early numeracy abilities. These findings stress the importance of performing activities designed to train working memory abilities, in addition to activities aimed to enhance more specific skills, in the early prevention of learning difficulties during preschool years.     

Varying preschool arrangements and self-concepts of educable mentally retarded children in grade 1

Differences in measured self-concept among educable mentally retarded children in Grade 1 were examined. Subjects included 90 children randomly selected from larger populations with varying preschool experiences. An initial positive influence of preschool experience on self-concept in Grade 1 appeared to be more pronounced among those subjects exposed to nonhandicapped peers.     

The feasibility of a group bender-gestalt test for preschool and primary school-aged children

This study devised and tested a method for group administration of the Bender-Gestalt Test that would be feasible for screening large groups of beginning school-age children. Secondary considerations of the study were the reliability of the group method of administration as well as the predictive validity of test results gathered using the group technique. Students' (N = 144) age range was from five years through nine years. Results indicate that the group method of presentation using Koppitz's DBSS scoring system can yield results as valid and reliable as the traditional individual method of administering the Bender-Gestalt Test.     

A Swedish non-word repetition test for preschool children

A Swedish non-word repetition test for preschool children was constructed with the aim of measuring short-term phonological memory, which has been shown to correlate with language development and language proficiency. Normative data based on results for 200 children four to six years of age are presented. An item analysis of the original 30-item test resulted in a shortened 24 non-word version found suitable for four- to six-year old children. Results for this shortened version, which had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.73, showed longer non-words to be more difficult to repeat than shorter ones, and significant effects of age and compatibility of the tester's and the child's accent, but not of gender. The results are discussed within the framework of Baddeley's working memory model.     

Relationships between vocational development and self-concept in sixth grade students

Super, in his self-concept theory of vocational development, indicates the existence of a strong relationship between vocational development and the development of self-concept in adolescent and adult subjects. This study was designed to test for this relationship in preadolescent subjects. The study investigated the relationships among a measure of career maturity, self-concept, socioeconomic status, race, sex, place of residence, and age. The research sample included 300 randomly selected sixth grade students enrolled in 22 public schools in the state of Georgia during the fall quarter of 1978. Data were obtained by the administration of two instruments, the Career Maturity Inventory-Attitude Scale (CMI-AS) and the Piers-Harris (P-H) Children's Self-Concept Scale. A multiple regression analysis was utilized to analyze the data. Results of this study indicate a positive but low correlation between the total scores on the CMI-AS and the P-H Scale. All six of the self-concept factors on the P-H Scale were found to be significantly correlated to the CMI-AS score. Socioeconomic status was found to be significantly correlated to the CMI-AS score. Although race was not found to be a significant source of variance on the CMI-AS, the interaction of race and socioeconomic status was found to be significant. Sex, place of residence (urban and rural), and age were not found to be significant sources of variance on the CMI-AS.     

Working memory and vocabulary development in Greek preschool and primary school children

The present research investigated the relative contributions of verbal short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM) to vocabulary development in the early years among Greek-speaking children. Participants were 5.5-, 7.5-, 8.5- and 9.5-year-old (N = 216) native speakers of Greek, a language differing from English in which most investigations have been conducted. Children were assessed with a receptive vocabulary task, four verbal STM measures (word, digit, and non-word list recall, as well as word list matching), and three verbal WM tasks (listening, counting, and backward digit recall). Results offer support to the view that both STM and WM influence vocabulary development in early stages. Vocabulary was associated with verbal STM at 7.5 and 8.5 years, but only with verbal WM at 5.5 years. Associations declined with age (by 9.5 years), earlier than in English-speaking children. Findings are discussed in relation to Greek language characteristics, demonstrating the importance of cross-cultural investigations.     

Perceived tachistoscopic duration and early visual processing in preschool children and adults

Two experiments further explored the Avant et al. (1975) finding that stimulus familiarity influences prerecognition processing to generate differences in the apparent duration of tachistoscopic flashes. The first experiment tested for developmental differences in the effects of upright versus 90°, 180°, and 270° rotations of a single letter or number upon the apparent duration of pre- and postmasked 30- and 50-msec flashes with adults and 4- and 5-year-old children. All age groups judged upright presentations to be of briefer duration. These differences in apparent duration were interpreted to index the automaticity of contacts between stimulus inputs and their memory representations. Failure of the children to recognize the letter and number in any orientation indicates that contact between stimulus inputs and memory representations precedes allocation of attention to the presented stimulus. The second experiment explored the influence of spatial structures which are not coded verbally by testing effects of good and poor dot pattern Gestalts on the apparent duration of tachistoscopic flashes. Adults discriminated between apparent durations of good and poor Gestalts but 4- and 5-year-olds did not. Apparent duration differences in the two experiments showed that spatial pattern structure and familiarity with verbal stimuli influence early visual processing in different ways.     

Using the implicit association test to measure self-esteem and self-concept

Experiment 1 used the Implicit Association Test (IAT; A. G. Greenwald, D. E. McGhee, & J. L. K. Schwartz, 1998) to measure self-esteem by assessing automatic associations of self with positive or negative valence. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that two IAT measures defined a factor that was distinct from, but weakly correlated with, a factor defined by standard explicit (self-report) measures of self-esteem. Experiment 2 tested known-groups validity of two IAT gender self-concept measures. Compared with well-established explicit measures, the IAT measures revealed triple the difference in measured masculinity-femininity between men and women. Again, CFA revealed construct divergence between implicit and explicit measures. Experiment 3 assessed the self-esteem IAT's validity in predicting cognitive reactions to success and failure. High implicit self-esteem was associated in the predicted fashion with buffering against adverse effects of failure on two of four measures.     

A 3-year longitudinal study of self-concept and classroom behavior of grade 1 retained pupils

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between repeating Grade 1, self-concept scores, and classroom behavior. In Canada, a large number of pupils repeat grades. The literature on repeating a grade suggests that this practice has no benefit on academic achievement or social behavior and practically none on self-concept. Data from a 3-yr. longitudinal study indicate that Grade 1 repetition has no clear relation with self-concept scores and classroom behavior, even when remedial teaching provided during or after the repeated grade is taken into account. It appears classroom behavior problems are related to other factors which existed prior to grade repetition. Furthermore, self-concept tends to be related to achievement rather than grade repetition.     

The relational self-concept scale: a context-specific self-report measure for adolescents.

This paper describes an alternative approach to measuring the self that directly accounts for the way individuals ruminate on their external actions in order to inform and maintain their self-image. This was achieved by designing the Relational Self-Concept Scale (RSCS), a measure that explores the role and impact that different social encounters within and around the school context have upon self-concept formation. Analysis of responses to this context-specific self-report measure, obtained from a large sample of adolescents (N = 978), confirmed that the scale is multidimensional, possesses appropriate psychometric properties, and contains a high degree of ecological validity.     

The relation of sex-role self-concept and sex-role attitudes to the marital satisfaction and personal adjustment of dual-worker couples with preschool children

The present study was designed to investigate the relation of sex-role self-concept and sex-role attitudes to the marital satisfaction and personal adjustment of dual-worker couples with preschool children. One hundred husbands and wives completed an assessment package consisting of the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Personal Attributes Questionnaire, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Locke- Wallace Marital Adjustment Test, and the Profile of Mood States. As predicted, androgynous individuals reported the greatest levels of marital satisfaction and personal adjustment. This was true for both men and women and across occupational levels. In addition, congruence between spouses' sex-role attitudes was associated with greater marital satisfaction.The present study is based on a masters thesis by the first author under supervision of the second and third authors. The authors thank Manuel Barrera and Sandy Braver, who were very helpful committee members, and Larry Cooper and Clark C. Presson for their helpful comments.     

Memory for companions in preschool children

Memory of preschool children (4 years of age) for companions was investigated by comparing interview data using a picture sociometric technique with observational data on actual play companions. Accuracy decreased with successive nominations, and length of recall period. However children were able to name companions played with today, yesterday, last week and at the beginning of term, at well above chance levels. Accuracies improved during the term. The relevance of friendships and social experience for memory and cognitive processes in young children is discussed.     

The measurement of locus of control in black preschool and primary school children

Developed a form of the Preschool and Primary Nowicki-Strickland locus of control scale (PPNSIE) for use with black children (PPNSIE-B). The psychometric data suggest that the new scale is worthy of further examination and development.     

The Mullen scales of early learning: ceiling effects among preschool children

Two cognitive tests were administered to typically developing children (36–67 months): the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), which is appropriate for very young children and thus often used in research with atypical samples (e.g., children with Autism Spectrum Disorder), and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). This was done in order to re-examine possible MSEL ceiling effects in a new sample and achieve a more in-depth understanding of these ceiling effects, if indeed present. Results indicated that among children ranging in age from 51 to 68 months, MSEL scores were significantly lower than K-ABC scores, and that with increasing age the number of children who completed the MSEL without establishing a ceiling level increased. Our results indicated that the MSEL scores are affected by ceiling effects and, therefore, the test underestimates cognitive abilities among older and more cognitively able children.     

Syntactic awareness and verbal performance from preschool to fifth grade

Children from preschool to fifth grade were given two independent series of language tasks. The first tested aural sentence memory and was designed to assess children's ability to exploit syntactic structure and semantic cohesion to facilitate sentence recall. The second tested children's syntactic awareness, as reflected in their ability to correct grammatically deviant sentences. Results showed increases with grade level both in children's syntactic awareness and in their use of linguistic structure in sentence recall. Further, syntactic awareness increased with age, independently of vocabulary age. Syntactic awareness was significantly related both to reading achievement and to the use of syntactic structure and semantic structure to facilitate sentence recall, even with the effects of vocabulary age and grade statistically controlled. Although strongly correlated with verbal ability, syntactic awareness appears to constitute a higher-order language skill that is associated with other aspects of verbal performance.This research was carried out at the University of Melbourne and was supported by a University of Melbourne Research Development Grant.