Performance on Middle School Geometry Problems With Geometry Clues Matched to Three Different Cognitive Styles

ABSTRACT— This study investigated the relationship between 3 ability‐based cognitive styles (verbal deductive, spatial imagery, and object imagery) and performance on geometry problems that provided different types of clues. The purpose was to determine whether students with a specific cognitive style outperformed other students, when the geometry problems provided clues compatible with their cognitive style. Students were identified as having a particular cognitive style when they scored equal to or above the median on the measure assessing this ability. A geometry test was developed in which each problem could be solved on the basis of verbal reasoning clues (matching verbal deductive cognitive style), mental rotation clues (matching spatial imagery cognitive style), or shape memory clues (matching object imagery cognitive style). Straightforward cognitive style–clue‐compatibility relationships were not supported. Instead, for the geometry problems with either mental rotation or shape memory clues, students with a combination of both verbal and spatial cognitive styles tended to do the best. For the problems with verbal reasoning clues, students with either a verbal or a spatial cognitive style did well, with each cognitive style contributing separately to success. Thus, both spatial imagery and verbal deductive cognitive styles were important for solving geometry problems, whereas object imagery was not. For girls, a spatial imagery cognitive style was advantageous for geometry problem solving, regardless of type of clues provided.     

Assessing pupils’ intelligence through self,parental, and teacher estimates

This study examined the accuracy of self‐ and other‐estimated intelligence in relation to tested cognitive ability and gender. Three groups of raters were examined: 187 (102 male, 85 female; mean age 14.33 years, SD = .32) pupils of single‐sex comprehensive schools, 109 (55 mothers and 54 fathers) parents, and six teachers of the pupils. Pupils estimated their own overall IQ, while their parents and teachers estimated the pupils’ overall, mathematical, spatial, and verbal abilities. Self‐ and other‐estimates were compared to each other, and to the child’s psychometric test scores in verbal, quantitative, and figural/non‐verbal reasoning ability. Results suggested that participants were reasonably accurate at estimating pupils’ intelligence – teachers significantly more so than parents, and pupils significantly more so than fathers. Although both parents significantly overestimated their child’s IQ, this overestimation was more pronounced in fathers.     

Changes in Intelligence Over a Quarter of a Century

The purpose of the investigation is to study changes in intelligence among Swedish 13 year‐olds during a 25‐year period. The results show that the average of spatial and reasoning intelligence has successively risen. Concerning verbal intelligence, there is a clear increase during the 1960's. After this period the growth has been more irregular. No changes in the differences between social groups were observed. On the other hand, this was the case between boys and girls. In verbal ability, there were only small differences between the sexes in 1961. However, in 1985 the girls were clearly ahead of the boys. In spatial and reasoning ability, the boys were superior in the early 1960's. Twenty‐five years later this difference had almost disappeared.     

Proofreading as an index of crystallised intelligence

This paper reports on four studies that were all concerned with cognitive and non‐cognitive correlates of proofreading (PR) ability. A new, five‐minute PR test was devised and piloted. In the first pilot study (N = 191) it was correlated with a verbal reasoning test. In the second study (N = 103) PR scores were regressed onto measures of personality: approach to learning, general and fluid intelligence (verbal reasoning) as well as a test of general knowledge. All three cognitive ability measures were significant predictors of PR but when entered together, general knowledge alone remained significant and accounted for a third of the variance. The third study (N = 95) was similar, except it also included a measure of typical intellectual engagement. Fluid intelligence (verbal reasoning) and openness were the only significant predictors of PR. In the fourth study (N = 249) participants completed four tests: PR, fluid intelligence (verbal reasoning), vocabulary and spelling. PR was consistently correlated with verbal reasoning but more strongly correlated with measures of crystallised intelligence, namely general knowledge and vocabulary. Implications and limitations are considered.     

Early adolescents' and their parents' mental imagery in relation to perceived reading competence

This cross‐sectional survey study examined the relation between mental imagery (i.e., seeing images of a story ‘in the mind's eye’) and perceived self‐competence in reading. The study was conducted with a group of seventh‐grade to ninth‐grade students in the prevocational educational track of secondary schools in the Netherlands and their parents. Results showed a moderate relation between mental imagery and self‐competence beliefs, also after controlling for the quality of students' home literacy environment. Examination of gender differences revealed that girls outperformed boys in self‐competence beliefs. Furthermore, boys perceived themselves as better readers when their parents had higher mental imagery skills. No direct relation was found between parents' and adolescents' mental imagery skills. These findings imply that parents and teachers may need to be made aware of the importance of mental imagery strategies as it may enhance the reading experiences of boys as well as girls.     

Mathematical thinking of kindergarten boys and girls: similar achievement, different contributing processes

The objective of this study was to examine gender differences in the relations between verbal, spatial, mathematics, and teacher–child mathematics interaction variables. Kindergarten children (N = 80) were videotaped playing games that require mathematical reasoning in the presence of their teachers. The children’s mathematics, spatial, and verbal skills and the teachers’ mathematical communication were assessed. No gender differences were found between the mathematical achievements of the boys and girls, or between their verbal and spatial skills. However, mathematics performance was related to boys’ spatial reasoning and to girls’ verbal skills, suggesting that they use different processes for solving mathematical problems. Furthermore, the boys’ levels of spatial and verbal skills were not found to be related, whereas they were significantly related for girls. The mathematical communication level provided in teacher–child interactions was found to be related to girls’ but not to boys’ mathematics performance, suggesting that boys may need other forms of mathematics communication and teaching.     

Signposts to development: theory of mind in deaf children

Possession of a "theory of mind" (ToM)--as demonstrated by an understanding of the false beliefs of others--is fundamental in children's cognitive development. A key question for debate concerns the effect of language input on ToM. In this respect, comparisons of deaf native-signing children who are raised by deaf signing parents with deaf late-signing children who are raised by hearing parents provide a critical test. This article reports on two studies (N = 100 and N = 39) using "thought picture" measures of ToM that minimize verbal task-performance requirements. These studies demonstrated that even when factors such as syntax ability, mental age in spatial ability, and executive functioning were considered, deaf late signers still showed deficits in ToM understanding relative to deaf native signers or hearing controls. Even though the native signers were significantly younger than a sample of late signers matched for spatial mental age and scores on a test of receptive sign language ability, native signers outperformed late signers on pictorial ToM tasks. The results are discussed in terms of access to conversation and extralinguistic influences on development such as the presence of sibling relationships, and suggest that the expression of a ToM is the end result of social understanding mediated by early conversational experience.     

Assessing the cognitive abilities of culturally and linguistically diverse students: Predictive validity of verbal,quantitative, and nonverbal tests

Verbal and quantitative reasoning tests provide valuable information about cognitive abilities that are important to academic success. Information about these abilities may be particularly valuable to teachers of students who are English‐language learners (ELL), because leveraging reasoning skills to support comprehension is a critical aptitude for their academic success. However, due to concerns about cultural bias, many researchers advise exclusive use of nonverbal tests with ELL students despite a lack of evidence that nonverbal tests provide greater validity for these students. In this study, a test measuring verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning was administered to a culturally and linguistically diverse sample of students. The two‐year predictive relationship between ability and achievement scores revealed that nonverbal scores had weaker correlations with future achievement than did quantitative and verbal reasoning ability scores for ELL and non‐ELL students. Results do not indicate differential prediction and do not support the exclusive use of nonverbal tests for ELL students. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Home Literacy Environment and Preschool Children's Reading Skills and Interest

Research Findings: This study explored the association between the home literacy environment (HLE), conceptualized as comprising parents’ reading beliefs and home literacy practices, and preschoolers’ reading skills and reading interest. It also identified factors in the HLE that predict emerging reading competence and motivation to read. A total of 193 children age 6 years from 14 preschools across Singapore and their parents participated in the study. The parents completed a reading belief inventory, a family literacy activity inventory, and a demographic questionnaire that surveyed the child's reading interest. The children were administered a battery of standardized literacy tests. The study found a moderate relationship between the HLE and children's reading competencies and a strong relationship between the HLE and children's reading interest. When parents’ education level and children's age were controlled, hierarchical multiple regression analyses found that family literacy activities contributed more unique variance to children's reading outcomes and reading interest than did parents’ reading beliefs. Active parental involvement was the strongest component of the HLE, with parent–child engagement in reading and writing emerging as the best predictor of both the child's emerging reading skills and reading interest. With respect to reading beliefs, parents’ efficacy in supporting literacy development before their child attended school positively predicted reading competence, as did parents’ affect and verbal participation in fostering reading interest. However, verbal participation negatively predicted Singapore children's reading competence. Practice or Policy: The implications of the results were discussed.     

What are the relative effects of reasoning ability and prior knowledge on biology achievement in expository and inquiry classes?

What factor(s) influence the likelihood a student will succeed in college biology? Some researchers have found the primary determinant to be the student's prior knowledge of biology, while others have found it to be reasoning ability. Perhaps the ability of these factors to predict achievement depends on the instructional method employed. Expository instruction focuses primarily on facts and concepts. Therefore, perhaps the best predictor of achievement in expository classes is domain-specific prior knowledge. Inquiry instruction focuses more on how science is done, i.e., on scientific processes; therefore, perhaps the best predictor in inquiry classes is reasoning ability. This study was designed to test these hypotheses. Students enrolled in a nonmajors community college biology course were pretested to determine reasoning ability and prior knowledge. The number of previous biology courses was also recorded as an indicator of prior knowledge. After a semester of either expository or inquiry (learning-cycle) instruction, students took a comprehensive final examination. Reasoning ability but not prior knowledge or number of previous biology courses accounted for a significant amount of variance in final examination score in both instructional methods and with semester examination and quiz scores in inquiry classes. This suggests that reasoning ability limits achievement more than prior knowledge among these biology students, whether they are enrolled in expository or inquiry classes. Reasoning ability explained more of the variance in final examination scores for students enrolled in expository classes (18.8%) than in inquiry classes (7.2%). The reason for this is not clear, but significant improvements in reasoning were found in the inquiry but not in the expository classes. These improvements were accompanied by significant differences in achievement in the inquiry classes. Perhaps the reasoning improvement facilitated the better and more equal achievement for students in the inquiry classes, thus reducing the correlation between initial reasoning ability and final achievement. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 89-103, 1998.     

Fluid/spatial and crystallized intelligence in relation to domain-specific working memory: A latent-variable approach

Fluid/spatial intelligence, crystallized intelligence and their relationships to verbal and visuospatial working memory (WM) were studied. A total of 120 Finnish Air Force recruits participated in this study. Fluid/spatial intelligence was assessed using four different tasks, while crystallized intelligence was defined with the help of test scores of Finnish upper secondary school National Matriculation Tests in three different academic subjects and one additional Verbal Relations task. Complex WM span tasks were used to measure visuospatial and verbal WM capacities. Structural equation modeling indicated that verbal WM was related to crystallized intelligence when both WM tasks were included in the model, whereas performance on the visuospatial WM task was related to fluid/spatial intelligence, but not to crystallized intelligence. Verbal WM was not related to fluid intelligence when used as a single WM predictor. The results indicate that verbal WM might be related to verbal ability and learning at school, while visuospatial WM is relatively strongly related to nonverbal reasoning and spatial visualization. The current results further suggest that WM capacity is not a unitary system.     

Verbal aggression by parents and psychosocial problems of children

Analyses of data on a nationally representative sample of 3,346 American parents with a child under 18 living at home found that 63% reported one or more instances of verbal aggression, such as swearing and insulting the child. Children who experienced frequent verbal aggression from parents (as measured by the Conflict Tactic Scales) exhibited higher rates of physical aggression, delinquency, and interpersonal problems than other children. This relationship is robust since it applies to preschool-, elementary school-, and high school-age children, to both boys and girls, and to children who were also physically punished as well as those who were not. Children who experienced both verbal aggression and severe physical violence exhibited the highest rates of aggression, delinquency, and interpersonal problems.     

Examining number sense and algebraic reasoning through cognitive styles

Recently, a new cognitive style approach was introduced, which refers to two types of visualizers. This approach is based on neuropsychological evidence and neuroimaging results, which suggest the existence of two distinct imagery subsystems, the object and the spatial imagery subsystems. The goal of the study was twofold: first to examine a possible relationship between this new cognitive style approach and achievement in number sense and algebraic reasoning tasks, and second to explore a possible relationship between the strategies used in solving the aforementioned tasks and cognitive styles. A mathematical test on number sense and algebraic reasoning and the self-report Object–Spatial Imagery and Verbal cognitive style questionnaire were administrated to 83 prospective school teachers (PSTs). The results indicated that spatial imagery, in contrast to the object imagery and verbal cognitive styles, is related to achievement in number sense and algebraic reasoning. In addition to this, the results revealed that the higher the PSTs’ tendency towards spatial imagery cognitive style, the more conceptual and flexible strategies they employ in algebraic reasoning and number sense tasks.     

Toy-playing behavior,sex-role orientation,spatial ability,and science achievement

The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the possible relationships among children's extracurricular toy-playing habits, sex-role orientations, spatial abilities, and science achievement. Data were gathered from 282 midwestern, suburban, fifth-grade students. It was found that boys had significantly higher spatial skills than girls. No significant differences in spatial ability were found among students with different sex-role orientations. No significant differences in science achievement were found between girls and boys, or among students with the four different sex-role orientations. Students who had high spatial ability also had significantly higher science achievement scores than students with low spatial ability. Femininely oriented boys who reported low playing in the two-dimensional, gross-body-movement, and proportional-arrangement toy categories scored significantly higher on the test of science achievement than girls with the same sex-role and toy-playing behavior.     

Time limits in testing: An analysis of eye movements and visual attention in spatial problem solving

Individuals with an aptitude for interpreting spatial information (high mental rotation ability: HMRA) typically master anatomy with more ease, and more quickly, than those with low mental rotation ability (LMRA). This article explores how visual attention differs with time limits on spatial reasoning tests. Participants were assorted to two groups based on their mental rotation ability scores and their eye movements were collected during these tests. Analysis of salience during testing revealed similarities between MRA groups in untimed conditions but significant differences between the groups in the timed one. Question‐by‐question analyses demonstrate that HMRA individuals were more consistent across the two timing conditions (κ = 0.25), than the LMRA (κ = 0.013). It is clear that the groups respond to time limits differently and their apprehension of images during spatial problem solving differs significantly. Without time restrictions, salience analysis suggests LMRA individuals attended to similar aspects of the images as HMRA and their test scores rose concomitantly. Under timed conditions however, LMRA diverge from HMRA attention patterns, adopting inflexible approaches to visual search and attaining lower test scores. With this in mind, anatomical educators may wish to revisit some evaluations and teaching approaches in their own practice. Although examinations need to evaluate understanding of anatomical relationships, the addition of time limits may induce an unforeseen interaction of spatial reasoning and anatomical knowledge. Anat Sci Educ 10: 528–537. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

THE STRUCTURE OF PRIMARY MENTAL ABILITIES OF BELGIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

A factor analysis was conducted of a test battery designed for use with Belgian secondary school students and based on Thurstone's earlier work on the primary mental abilities. The analysis provided construct validity evidence for the existence of verbal, numerical, spatial, and reasoning abilities in the Belgian sample and thus confirmed the theoretical conceptions guiding the development of the test battery. An examination of the factorial organization of these mental abilities for different age groups revealed a progressive differentiation of abilities with age. There was also evidence that intensive academic specialization improves performance in the abilities required by these specializations.     

The Relationship between Intelligence Quotients and Gain in Reading Achievement with Arithmetic Reasoning,Social Studies,and Science

Abstract

The purpose of this sstudy was to ascertain the effect of the degree of supervision upon performance and attitudes of students varying in mental ability in a school laboratory setting. The population consisted of 142 seventh grade boys and girls. From this population, 30 subjects representing the upper mental ability and 30 representing the lower mental ability were randomly assigned in equal numbers to the three treatment groups, producing a 2 X 3 factorial design. The learning task employed in the investigation was the construction of a bookend. Each subject viewed a video tape demonstration, received post-demonstration instructions, including an explanation of the degree to which the subject would be supervised, completed the learning task, and received preinstructions for and completed the Shop and Laboratory Attitude Inventory which was tape recorded. Three judges rated the 60 bookends. Their scores were averaged by the investigator and used in the statistical analysis. A two-way analysis of variance revealed that no significant difference existed in the performance scores of the varying mental ability groups or the three supervised groups. A significant difference was found between the mean attitude scores for the Degree II supervised group and the other two supervised groups.     

Formal reasoning ability and misconceptions concerning genetics and natural selection

Students often hold misconceptions about natural phenomena. To overcome misconceptions students must become aware of the scientific conceptions, the evidence that bears on the validity of their misconceptions and the scientific conceptions, and they must be able to generate the logical relationships among the evidence and alternative conceptions. Because formal operational reasoning patterns are necessary to generate these logical relationships, it was predicted that, following instruction, formal operational students would hold significantly fewer misconceptions than their concrete operational classmates. To test this hypothesis 131 seventh-grade students were administered an essay test on principles of genetics and natural selection following instruction. Responses were categorized in terms of the number of misconceptions present. The number of misconceptions was compared to reasoning ability (concrete, transitional, formal), mental capacity (<6, 6, 7), verbal intelligence (low, medium, high), and cognitive style (field dependent, intermediate, field independent). The only student variable consistently and significantly related to the number of misconceptions was reasoning ability; thus, support for the major hypothesis of the study was obtained.     

The Relationship Between Children's Drawings of Rectangular Solids from Memory and Performance in Cognitive Tests,Art and Practical Subjects

A total of 127 11 + and 81 12 + subjects drew rectangular solids from memory, after viewing them from different positions. The results were correlated with IQ, vocabulary, verbal judgement and reasoning, and a spatial test with assessment in art and crafts. Unexpectedly high and significant correlations were yielded between drawing solids and cognitive tests involving verbal ability, when compared with correlations between solids, the spatial test and craft subjects, especially for the 12 + group. This appeared contrary to received views on the association of aptitude in drawing with spatial ability. Furthermore, as spatial factors are considered to underpin drawing and craft subjects, a closer association between these, rather than between drawing and verbal ability, was expected. This outcome raised certain theoretical questions concerning drawing and its interaction with perception, language, memory and intellectual development.