Learning and Individual Differences (LEARN INDIVID DIFFER)

Publications in this journal

• Article: Do experimental measures of word learning predict vocabulary development over time?

  Gellert, Elbro
  Learning and Individual Differences 01/2014;
• Article: Intelligence and Metacognition as predictors of the foreign language achievement: A structural equation modelling approach

  Gholam Hassan Khajavy
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  ABSTRACT: This study examined the role of metacognition and intelligence in foreign language achievement on a sample of 143 Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Participants completed Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices as a measure of intelligence, and Metacognitive Awareness Inventory as a measure of metacognition. Learners' scores at the end of the semester were aggregated as a measure of foreign language achievement. The findings revealed that intelligence accounts for 12.2% of the variance in foreign language achievement, and metacognition accounts for 17.6% of the variance. Although each of them had a unique impact on foreign language achievement, metacognition outweighs intelligence as a predictor of foreign language achievement. Finally, the pedagogical implications were discussed in light of foreign language achievement
  Learning and Individual Differences 12/2013;
• Article: When spatial and temporal contiguities help the integration in working memory: "A multimedia learning" approach

  Mammarella N, Fairfield B, Di Domenico A
  Learning and Individual Differences 04/2013;
• Article: The role of motor processes in three-dimensional mental rotation: Shaping cognitive processing via sensorimotor experience

  D. Moreau
  Learning and Individual Differences 02/2013; 22:354-359.
• Article: Understanding the science-learning environment: A genetically sensitive approach.

  Claire M A Haworth, Oliver S P Davis, Ken B Hanscombe, Yulia Kovas, Philip S Dale, Robert Plomin
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  ABSTRACT: Previous studies have shown that environmental influences on school science performance increase in importance from primary to secondary school. Here we assess for the first time the relationship between the science-learning environment and science performance using a genetically sensitive approach to investigate the aetiology of this link. 3000 pairs of 14-year-old twins from the UK Twins Early Development Study reported on their experiences of the science-learning environment and were assessed for their performance in science using a web-based test of scientific enquiry. Multivariate twin analyses were used to investigate the genetic and environmental links between environment and outcome. The most surprising result was that the science-learning environment was almost as heritable (43%) as performance on the science test (50%), and showed negligible shared environmental influence (3%). Genetic links explained most (56%) of the association between learning environment and science outcome, indicating gene-environment correlation.
  Learning and Individual Differences 02/2013; 23(100):145-150.
• Article: Treatment Effects for Older Struggling Readers: An Application of Moderated Mediation.

  Greg Roberts, Jack M Fletcher, Karla K Stuebing, Amy E Barth, Sharon Vaughn
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  ABSTRACT: This study used multigroup structural equations to evaluate the possibility that a theory-driven, evidence-based, yearlong reading program for sixth-grade struggling readers moderates the interrelationships among elements of the simple model of reading (i.e., listening comprehension, word reading, and reading comprehension; Hoover & Gough, 1990). Our specific interest was in the relation of theory, program, and evaluation. Our motivating assumptions were that 1) a well-designed, theory-based program affects performance in predictable ways and that 2) treatment effects may be present even when group differences in posttest means are not robust. The analysis sample comprised 327 students, 113 in the business-as-usual condition and 214 in treatment. We pretested students in the fall of sixth grade and collected posttest data in the fall of seventh grade. There were 217 cases in the posttest sample, 47 comparison students and 170 treatment students at posttest. The findings support the possibility that treated sixth-grade students improved in response to an intensive, yearlong intervention, when conceptualizing change in terms of predictable interrelationships of important underlying skills, rather than in terms of group mean differences at posttest. Specifically, the results suggest that verbal knowledge is less proximal to the reading comprehension of students who have become proficient in the use of text processing and reading comprehension strategies.
  Learning and Individual Differences 02/2013; 23:10-21.
• Article: 'I used to be ashamed'. The influence of an educational programme on tribal and non-tribal children's knowledge and valuation of wild food plants.

  Gisella Cruz-Garcia, Patricia L. Howard
  Learning and Individual Differences 01/2013; forthcoming.
• Article: A Spanish version of the short Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (sMARS)

  Núñez-Peña, Suárez-Pellicioni, Guilera, Mercadé-Carranza
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  ABSTRACT: The aimof this studywas to adapt and assess the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the sMARS in terms of evidence of validity and reliability of scores. The sMARS was administered to 342 students and, in order to assess convergent and discriminant validity, several subsamples completed a series of related tests. The factorial structure of the sMARSwas analyzed by means of a confirmatory factor analysis and results showed that the three-factor structure reported in the original test fits well with the data. Thus, three dimensions were established in the test: math test, numerical task and math course anxiety. The results of this study provide sound evidence that demonstrates the good psychometric properties of the scores of the Spanish version of the sMARS: strong internal consistency, high 7-week test–retest reliability and good convergent/discriminant validity were evident. Overall, this study provides an instrument that allows us to obtain valid and reliable math anxiety measurements. This instrument may be a useful tool for educators and psychologists interested in identifying individuals that may have a low level of math mastery because of their anxiety.
  Learning and Individual Differences 01/2013; 24:204-210.
• Article: Teachers adapt their instruction in reading according to individual children’s literacy skills

  Jari-Erik Nurmi, Noona Kiuru, Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen, Pekka Niemi, Anna-Maija Poikkeus, Timo Ahonen, Esko Leskinen, Anna-Liisa Lyyra
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  ABSTRACT: This study examined the extent to which first grade teachers adapt their reading instruction to the literacy skills of particular children in their classroom, and investigated whether teacher and classroom characteristics influence such adaptation. Three hundred seven Finnish children were tested with regard to their literacy skills at the end of their kindergarten year. At the beginning of the first grade, the teachers of these children filled in a questionnaire on the reading support they had given each child. The results showed, first, that the poorer the literacy skills a child showed at the end of kindergarten, the more personal reading instruction the teacher gave the child in grade 1. Second, teachers who were less experienced or had fewer teaching assistants in the classroom adapted their instruction on the basis of children's literacy skills to a greater extent than other teachers did.
  Learning and Individual Differences 01/2013; 23:72-79.
• Article: Explaining altruistic sharing in the dictator game: The role of affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and justice sensitivity

  A. Edele, I. Dziobek, M. Keller
  Learning and Individual Differences 01/2013;
• Article: Associations between reasons to attend and late-high school dropout.

  Beau Abar, Caitlin C Abar, Melissa Lippold, Christopher J Powers, Alice E Manning
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  ABSTRACT: This study addressed (1) whether there were unique profiles of student self-reported reasons for attending school among 10(th) graders, (2) whether these profiles were differentially associated with late high-school dropout, and (3) whether parent characteristics differed across profiles. Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (N = 15,362), five latent classes were found. The first class (49%) reported intrinsic, identified/introjected, and external motivations for attending school. The second class (32%) attended for identified/introjected and external reasons, while the third class (11%) reported intrinsic and identified/introjected reasons. The final two classes reported only identified/introjected (5%) or external (4%) motivations. Individuals in the identified/introjected and external classes were at greatest risk of dropping out between 10(th) and 12(th) grade. A host of parenting characteristics differed across class, with students in the intrinsic-identified/introjected-external class displaying the most favorable pattern of results. Implications for dropout prevention and academic promotion programs are discussed.
  Learning and Individual Differences 12/2012; 22(6):856-861.
• Article: The developmental dynamics of task-avoidant behavior and math performance in kindergarten and elementary school

  Riikka Hirvonen, Asko Tolvanen, Kaisa Aunola, Jari-Erik Nurmi
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  ABSTRACT: Besides cognitive factors, children's learning at school may be influenced by more dynamic phenomena, such as motivation and achievement-related task-avoidant behavior. The present study examined the developmental dynamics of task-avoidant behavior and math performance from kindergarten to Grade 4. A total of 225 children were tested for their arithmetic skills in kindergarten and in Grades 1, 2, and 4 of elementary school. Children's task-avoidant behavior in learning situations was rated by their teachers. The results of latent growth curve analyses showed that math performance and task-avoidant behavior develop in tandem: an increase in task-avoidant behavior was related to less improvement in math performance. Furthermore, a high initial level of task-avoidant behavior predicted less improvement and slower improvement in math later on.
  Learning and Individual Differences 12/2012; 22(6):715-723.